"Then why even pretend to be friendly?" Tenten asked.
"I told you from the start—don't misunderstand! This exam wasn't created to keep balance between nations through killing. It was made for the dreams of ninjas and the honor of their countries!" Sarutobi said seriously.
Even though Sarutobi said that's not the case, Naruto felt like it *was* exactly like that!
If it really wasn't, then there's no need to say all this confusing stuff.
Out of all the people who came for the exam, how many are actually here for their so-called dream?
And how many are fighting for their village?
Out of the 18 people who passed the second round, three from the Sunagakure came to destroy Konoha, three from the Sound Village were there on Orochimaru's mission, and even three from Konoha were also involved in Orochimaru's mission. The remaining nine Konoha ninjas each had their own reasons.
Naruto was just doing it to complete a mission from his system.
Sasuke was here to improve himself. Whether he became Chunin or not didn't really matter to him.
Sakura joined because she wanted to keep up with Naruto and Sasuke and not fall behind.
Neji accepted it as fate, and Tenten was following Neji.
Probably only Rock Lee, that passionate guy, was truly fighting for his dream!
"Ahem… Hayate!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice, and a Jonin wearing a headband appeared in front of him, kneeling on one knee. "I'll take over from here, Lord Hokage."
"Mm." Sarutobi nodded, signaling to Hayate Gekko to take full charge.
Gekko Hayate turned around to face the examinees. Just as he was about to speak, he had a sudden fit of coughs due to his poor health.
"..."
Is this exam proctor really okay?
"Cough cough… I'm Jonin Gekko Hayate, the proctor for the third round of the Chunin Exam."
Gekko Hayate said seriously, "Before the third round officially starts, we'll be adding a preliminary round!"
"Preliminary?"
"That's right. Since there are too many of you who made it this far, we'll add a preliminary round according to Chunin Exam rules to reduce the number of participants in the third round."
"The reason for this extra round is because there will be many VIPs watching the third round, so we can't afford to waste time. The exam needs to stay on schedule."
"And if anyone feels unwell… *cough cough cough cough*! You can leave the exam now."
"..."
All the examinees rolled their eyes.
Isn't *he* the one who's unwell?
After waiting a bit, no one dropped out due to health reasons, so Gekko Hayate began explaining the rules.
Naruto glanced over at Kabuto with a bit of concern.
He didn't quit—was it because he couldn't find a good excuse, or did he have other plans?
"The next part is one-on-one battles. The winners move on to the third round. There are no other rules. The fight goes on until someone dies, falls unconscious, or gives up!"
"So if you don't want to die, you'd better give up quickly. But if I think the match is already decided… cough… I'll step in and stop you to prevent unnecessary deaths."
"Now we'll use the digital board to randomly pick your matchups!"
As Gekko Hayate finished speaking, the names on the digital board began to shuffle quickly—until they finally stopped on two names.
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi!
The match lineup didn't change—the two of them were still facing off.
In the original story, Sasuke was injured and still beat Akado Yoroi. Now, after a few days of rest, there's no way Yoroi can beat him.
Once Naruto and the others, who weren't involved, went up to the second-floor stands, the fight between Sasuke and Yoroi began.
Yoroi was good at using an ability that could absorb chakra from his opponent.
Judging by his build, he also seemed like he should be good at hand-to-hand combat.
But against Sasuke, he didn't stand a chance at all.
He was weak in both speed and strength. Sasuke just swung his giant sword sideways and knocked him to the ground, leaving him struggling to get up.
And just as Yoroi finally started to move, Sasuke's blade was already at his neck.
"First match over. Uchiha Sasuke wins and passes the prelims!"
"What a waste of time."
Sasuke was clearly annoyed about being matched with such a weak opponent.
His eyes scanned the other contestants above—Rock Lee, Neji, Gaara—and finally stopped on Naruto.
"Damn it."
He was confident facing any of the others, but when it came to Naruto, he still didn't see any chance of winning.
He even wondered if he'd just give up on the spot if Naruto had been his opponent.
"Congrats, Sasuke!"
Sakura ran over, trying to hug him as he came back, but Sasuke dodged her.
"Nice job, Sasuke," Kakashi said with a squint and a smile.
"Yeah." Sasuke responded flatly, showing no excitement about the win.
Then, the screen showed the next match.
Zaku vs. Aburame Shino!
This fight didn't change much. Even though Zaku wasn't injured this time, Shino's bugs were still too strong. After crawling into his arm, Zaku couldn't fight back at all and was easily taken down.
Third match: Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro. Kankuro won.
Fourth match: Haruno Sakura vs. Dosu!
Seeing Sakura's opponent, Naruto hesitated and grabbed her arm before she could go down to the ring. "Sakura, just give up. You're not going to win this one."
"I…"
Sakura hesitated.
She didn't want to give up that easily, but if even Naruto didn't believe in her, was it really worth trying?
While she was still unsure, Kakashi smiled and said, "Sakura, if you really don't want to give up, give it a try. If things get bad, I'll step in and save you."
With that bit of support from Kakashi, Sakura finally worked up the courage to face Dosu seriously.
But Naruto still didn't think the fight would go well.
Sasuke had the kind of talent that let him grow stronger under pressure. Sakura didn't.
Still, since Sakura insisted, he didn't say anything more.
It's not like he'd be the one getting beat up anyway.
"Naruto," Kakashi suddenly said.
"What?" Naruto replied.
"I know you don't think Sakura is strong, but protecting her too much isn't a good thing either. Sooner or later, she has to be able to stand on her own."
"I was just being honest," Naruto said casually. "Besides, with a Jonin like you guiding her, I don't think she'll need protection forever."
Kakashi went quiet for a moment, then said, "But I won't be your team's Jonin forever."
Neither of them said anything after that, and the match below started quickly.
Dosu's skill level was already at Chunin level, while Sakura was barely even a decent Genin.
Going up against someone a full rank above her, Sakura was beaten horribly—coughing blood, hair all messed up, and even lost two teeth.
In the end, Kakashi had to jump in to stop the fight from getting any worse.
"Told you to just surrender. Wasn't worth taking a beating like that."
Naruto looked at the unrecognizable Sakura and couldn't help but shake his head.
He wondered if Ino, who had already been knocked out of the Chunin Exams, would feel lucky now seeing what happened to Sakura.
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