Chapter 53: Kurama, Do You Know What a Cheat Is?
After some time, the teams that passed the exam arrived one after another at the central tower.
In the end, only five teams made it through. The Grass Ninja, Sound Ninja, Mist Ninja, and all sorts of others from Konoha were eliminated, leaving only the Konoha Twelve and the Sand Siblings.
From the original twenty-six groups, only five reached the central tower. Each team had to at least take down one other team. Of the sixteen eliminated groups, Naruto had taken out two extra, while Gaara had eliminated four.
Among the rest, six teams had members injured by wild beasts and were unable to fight, and four teams had opened the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, fallen unconscious, and were disqualified.
Even so, fifteen people was still too many, so seven more needed to be eliminated.
After all, the next stage would no longer be team battles, but individual fights.
In the noisy, restless training hall inside the central tower, the Third Hokage finally arrived. The jonin instructors lined up in a row, staring solemnly at the fifteen who had passed.
The Third Hokage gave his speech on stage, while Naruto yawned below.
It wasn't until the sickly-looking Gekkō Hayate came forward that the rules were explained—too many had advanced, so there would be an additional round.
Reactions varied: some surprised, some nervous. Naruto, however, looked indifferent. He was planning to forfeit anyway.
To him, the Chūnin Exams were only about getting Sakura and Sasuke through. At least he hadn't dragged his teammates down. But if it was going to be one-on-one matches, he had no interest.
He didn't lack money, nor did he care about honor.
Fighting was pointless. He wasn't going to be promoted to chūnin anyway, so he might as well step aside and rest.
Gekkō Hayate coughed a few times, then addressed the group.
"Before the third exam, there will be a preliminary. Anyone who wants to give up, speak now."
As soon as the words fell, a stir went through the crowd—who would voluntarily quit?
"I give up!" Naruto suddenly raised his hand.
The hall fell silent for a moment. All eyes turned toward the raised hand. Seeing it was Naruto, they froze in surprise.
"Naruto! Why are you giving up?" Sakura asked.
"Are you crazy?" Kiba shot him a glance. "You're still perfectly able to fight!"
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata looked at him with concern.
"Damn it, what's that guy up to again?" Sasuke muttered, clutching his injured neck, his face twisted with pain.
On the stage, the Third Hokage's gaze also landed on Naruto. He didn't show much reaction, only nodded.
"Then leave."
The Third hadn't intended to let Naruto take the exams in the first place; he had only been granted a special entry. Now that Naruto chose to quit, the Hokage took it as a whim. Since it didn't affect others, he didn't bother intervening.
"Hey! Naruto!" Shikamaru called from the back. "Why not keep going?"
"Too tiring." Naruto waved without looking back and walked out.
He stepped out of the central tower, still within the Forest of Death.
He didn't go far—he planned to come back later to watch the matches. For now, he just wanted some rest.
Naruto had fully made up his mind. As long as he was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, he could hardly escape his original fate. Whether he was the Child of Prophecy or some god's reincarnation, that was all for later. He wasn't going to think about what hadn't happened yet. If he wanted freedom, he had to get rid of the Nine-Tails.
Whoever wanted to be a jinchūriki could do it. Once his system gave him the right option, he would force the Nine-Tails out.
He would live for himself, refusing everything he didn't want to do.
For now, his thoughts were simple: be a normal ninja, do only what was necessary. As for the higher-ups, he'd deal with them bluntly. Danzo couldn't touch him anyway. If it came to it, he'd fight him openly.
The Four Symbols Seal had ruined him—let him rot without ancestors.
Still, Naruto knew one thing clearly: with the system at his side, his strength would only keep growing. No matter what kind of Ōtsutsuki appeared, nothing could rival the system.
The road would open when he got there. He didn't even need to train ninjutsu.
Just complete the missions, and ninjutsu would be handed to him for free.
Eat well, drink well, enjoy life, and avoid meaningless nonsense. Like the second half of the Chūnin Exam—the individual matches—completely unnecessary. He had no desire to show off his power.
He knew full well: even if no one present could defeat him, the higher-ups would never promote him to chūnin.
And besides, he had no interest in talking others into changing their minds.
The Hyūga's "caged bird" was sheer idiocy. What was there to persuade? Telling others to let go of their hatred was the stupidest thing imaginable. Naruto wanted no part of it.
At the end of the day, all that mattered were his friends and the few girls around him. The village? He felt nothing for it.
Yawning, Naruto lay back on a shady stone step and closed his eyes.
The summer breeze was cool and refreshing.
As his consciousness began to drift, he suddenly snapped his eyes open—he had slipped into the seal space again.
The Nine-Tails, seeing Naruto, barely reacted. It glanced once, then went back to sleep.
Naruto stared at the feigning fox, then swept his eyes around the empty surroundings. The dark sewer-like walls, the pitted ground.
Honestly, not much of a prison.
Seeing Naruto lost in thought, the Nine-Tails opened its eyes, looking at him with a complicated gaze.
"Human, what are you doing?"
"From now on, you should call me Warden."
"What?" The Nine-Tails instantly flared up.
"I'm thinking of improving your cell. This place is too shabby," Naruto said.
That left the Nine-Tails momentarily speechless. It fixed its eyes on him and sneered.
"How about you just die and let me out instead?"
"Don't worry. If I'm ever about to die, I'll make sure to seal you permanently and torment you." Naruto's tone was calm. "Let's be realistic, Kurama. Don't be a coward and fantasize."
"How do you plan to change it?"
"The Four Symbols Seal can bring things in from outside." Naruto picked up a black pair of socks lying on the ground—ones that should have been drying on his balcony. "I'll bring you stuff to pass the time."
"You… why would you do that?" The Nine-Tails sounded shocked.
"Because I don't want you dragging me in here for no reason." Naruto shot him a glare. "Cherish the time you've got with your grandpa here. Before long, I'm tossing you out."
"Heh. You've got a death wish?"
"Not a chance."
"Then what method do you have?"
"You don't need to worry about that," Naruto said, locking eyes with him. "Kurama, you're too weak. There are powers in this world you've never even imagined."
"And… what are they?" The Nine-Tails' voice grew heavier.
"Do you know what a cheat is?"
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