"These two girls are seriously a pain…"
"What did you just say?!"
Sakura and Ino turned to look at Shikamaru at the same time, their eyes full of murderous intent. Shikamaru instantly felt guilty and took a step back.
"N-nothing…"
"Hmph!"
The two girls snorted coldly and glared at him like a warning—then went right back to fighting.
Shikamaru wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.
Girls are terrifying.
Just as he was thinking how he should never mess with girls in the future, Naruto suddenly said, "Quiet down."
As soon as Naruto spoke, Sakura instantly fell silent.
Even Ino just glanced at Naruto and didn't argue anymore.
After seeing Naruto's true strength, Ino didn't dare act up in front of him anymore.
And seeing how scared Sakura was of Naruto… who knew if Naruto would actually hit a girl?
Shikamaru looked at how obedient Sakura and Ino had become and was speechless.
So they only bully the nice ones?
"What a pain~" Shikamaru muttered, wondering what kind of person he should be in this world if he wanted to live an easy life.
Sasuke, seeing that the two had quieted down, took the medicine back and said coldly, "I'll do it myself."
Ino and Sakura looked like they wanted to say something,
But worried about upsetting Naruto, they stayed quiet in the end.
"What kind of scroll did you get?" Naruto suddenly asked Hinata.
"The... Heaven scroll." Hinata answered without thinking.
Inuzuka Kiba, standing nearby, looked at her helplessly.
Was that something you could just tell people?
What if other ninjas who had the Earth scroll heard that?
But the next second, he saw Naruto hand Hinata an Earth scroll, and his face instantly lit up with happiness.
"Here, this is for you," Naruto said calmly.
"Ah... I can't take this!"
Hinata had just refused when Inuzuka Kiba grabbed it without hesitation.
"Naruto's being kind, Hinata, don't be shy with him!"
"Thanks, Naruto!"
Naruto glanced at Kiba but didn't say anything.
He gave the scroll to Hinata simply because he had an extra one and wanted to thank her for caring about him.
Even though he wasn't hurt, being cared about still warmed his heart a bit.
Kiba and Hinata were on the same team, so if Kiba took it, it was the same as Hinata taking it.
Ino felt a little tempted watching Naruto give Hinata the Earth scroll, but when she remembered that Naruto's team only had two Earth scrolls, she hesitated and didn't say anything.
Naruto only had two scrolls—if he gave one away, he'd only have one left.
If she asked for one too, she'd probably get punched, right?
"We'll stay here for the night and head out tomorrow."
Naruto looked at the darkening sky, and thinking about Sasuke's injuries, made that decision.
Ino's team and Hinata's team were already planning to rest and move out the next day.
So, seeing Naruto's team staying as well, of course they decided to stick together!
With Naruto around, things felt really safe. No need to worry about danger at all.
Not far away, Neji's team was watching Naruto's group from a distance.
"Neji, what should we do next?" Tenten asked as she looked at Naruto's group starting a campfire below.
"Why don't we go down and rest with them?" Rock Lee suggested.
Neji looked at Naruto, stayed silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No. We're moving on—heading straight to the central tower."
He had no intention of getting closer to Naruto and the others.
There's no need to force yourself into a group you're not familiar with.
...
A few miles away from where Naruto's group was, Orochimaru was standing quietly on a tree, waiting for something.
Not long after, Kabuto appeared behind him.
"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said respectfully.
"Mmm. There's been a change in the plan. The part involving Sasuke will have to be delayed for a while." Orochimaru's voice was deep and raspy, but smooth.
"A change?" Kabuto looked confused. "Did the Third Hokage find out?"
In his mind, the only person in the whole village who could stop Orochimaru-sama was the Third Hokage.
"No. It was Uzumaki Naruto," Orochimaru replied.
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
Kabuto looked shocked. "But he's just a genin, right? And only 12 years old..."
"Kabuto."
Orochimaru turned around with a meaningful smile on his face and said, "He's the most gifted child I've ever seen—more than anyone I've come across so far. I really like him."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses and slightly lowered his head. "Understood. I'll start investigating him."
Orochimaru didn't say much, but Kabuto already understood what he meant.
This Uzumaki Naruto—he's extremely dangerous!
So strong that even Orochimaru-sama is wary of him!
"Don't give up on Sasuke either. I want that boy too," Orochimaru added before melting into the ground and disappearing.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama!"
Kabuto responded to the spot where Orochimaru vanished, then pushed up his glasses and looked in the direction Naruto and the others had gone. A faint, meaningful smile appeared on his face.
"Uzumaki Naruto..."
...
The next morning,
Team 7, who had rested at the same spot overnight, got ready to head toward the central tower.
The night had been very quiet. No ambushes.
Not even wild animals showed up.
Maybe it was because the earlier fights scared everyone off—or maybe the other teams were too far away to reach them.
Whatever the reason, Naruto wasn't going to wait around any longer.
"Naruto, can we come with you?" Hinata asked quietly as she saw them getting ready to leave.
Naruto glanced at Hinata's team and said calmly, "Do what you want. Just keep up."
"Yes! Thank you, Naruto!" Hinata replied happily.
Kiba looked at her and shook his head.
He had originally planned to find a spot to wait and ambush another team to reduce the number of opponents in the third round.
But since Hinata wanted to follow Naruto, he had no choice but to go along.
It wasn't too bad though—he also wanted to find proof that this Naruto wasn't the real one.
Nearby, Ino looked at the two teams walking off together and felt a bit jealous.
"Damn it, why didn't we get both scrolls?" Ino said with frustration.
Because they hadn't collected both scrolls, they couldn't leave with Sasuke and the others.
They still had to find other teams and steal their scrolls.
"Ino, we should get moving too," Shikamaru said.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!"
Ino replied impatiently, then glanced one last time at Sasuke and Sakura before sighing and walking off with Shikamaru and Chouji in another direction.
Sakura heard them leaving and turned around to watch Ino go. For a second, she had the thought of wanting to help her.
But... there wasn't much she could do. Without Naruto and Sasuke, she was useless.
In the end, all she could do was silently hope Ino would pass the exam.
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