The noise coming from the Konoha genin in room 301 didn't go unnoticed.
"Hey, you there! Keep it down!" A tall guy with ashen hair, round glasses, and dressed in purple—an outfit that looked more like a nurse's robe than a shinobi uniform—walked up to the group. Yakushi Kabuto. His voice was sharp, but a second later he looked the group over and softened his tone, as if remembering he was talking to kids. "Ah, rookies, straight from the academy? You're loud… like schoolgirls at recess. This isn't a picnic."
"You're not our teacher to lecture us," Menma remarked lazily, his expression unchanged.
"Maybe not, but look around you." Kabuto adjusted his glasses. The lenses caught the lamp light with a quick gleam.
Menma reluctantly let his gaze wander across the room. Half the people were glaring at their group with open hostility, the rest watching as if waiting for free entertainment. Only a small fraction of their own team looked uneasy, the others clearly used to this kind of attention.
"Everyone's on edge here. Extra noise just makes it worse," Kabuto advised with a soft, almost friendly smile. "Anyway, Menma, it's your first time here, you don't know the ropes yet. Just be more careful."
Karin leaned in quietly toward her teammate. "Do you know him?"
The rest of their group also exchanged looks, obviously with the same question.
"Yeah, he stopped by my shop a couple of times," Menma replied, watching his 'casual acquaintance' closely. Not a single muscle twitched on Kabuto's face. "His name is—"
"Kabuto!" Naruko deliberately avoided looking in Sai's direction, but instantly latched onto a familiar face. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you: who's your father?"
Kabuto blinked, clearly thrown off. "I don't know. I grew up in an orphanage. Why?"
"It's just your hair. That color's rare. I know only one other person with the same shade," Naruko said innocently, twirling a lock of her own red hair around her finger. "So I thought, maybe you're Kakashi's son?"
Silence fell. Team 7 stared at her like she'd lost her mind. Sai's fake smile fell right off his face, Sakura's jaw dropped so far it looked like it might hit the desk, and even Sasuke looked like someone had just declared Iruka his brother.
But Naruko, as always, didn't stop. "Now that it turned out Lee is Gai's son, it all makes even more sense. Kakashi and Gai are eternal rivals. Maybe they decided to have kids too, just to keep the score even?"
"Lee is Gai's son?!" Sakura rasped.
"We figured that out on the way here," Naruko waved it off carelessly. "Feels like this exam has some kind of family reunion vibe. Who knows, maybe more people will find surprise parents?"
"Sis, please… stop," Menma was already clutching his ribs, barely holding back laughter. The looks on their classmates' faces were far too precious not to enjoy.
"Ahem…" Kabuto hurried to divert attention, clearly embarrassed. "I'd better share some information with the rookies."
He pulled a deck of cards from inside his clothes and set it carefully on the floor before him. "Everything's here, on info cards. I've been collecting them for four years. I recorded the data using chakra."
His fingers touched the top card and it came alive. A map of the Land of Fire and neighboring countries appeared. Bars rose over the territories, showing the number of shinobi participating in the exam.
"This is participant statistics, broken down by country. This year a new village showed up—the Sound. So far, they haven't proven themselves."
The twins tensed at the same time. Their beastlike pupils caught the movement before anyone else turned their heads.
From the back of the room, a shinobi with a Sound forehead protector leapt onto the desks. His face was tightly wrapped in bandages, leaving only his eyes visible, making him look like a mummy.
"You called Sound weak?!" he barked. "What do you say to this?!"
His partner, wearing the same camouflage pants, was already airborne, ready to throw a shuriken.
The twins didn't even exchange a glance. In their hands, kunai flashed, thrown blunt-side first. Mid-flight, the weapons multiplied through shadow cloning and rained down on the attackers.
Thuds, two cries of pain—and a moment later, the two 'fierce' Sound shinobi were writhing on the floor, cursing through clenched teeth.
"Not fatal, but it cures annoying pests quick," Menma snorted, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Naruko added with a sly smile, "Yeah. No side effects, except maybe bruises on the soft parts."
The room buzzed even louder, everyone now talking about the new show.
"Go on, Kabuto," Menma said with a lazy smile, as if nothing had just happened and the entire hall wasn't staring at them in shock.
Kabuto returned a soft, almost friendly smile, though his eyes narrowed slightly. [Better to stay on good terms with Orochimaru's top spy. Let him think I value our friendship.]
"You've got info on individual shinobi?" Sasuke cut in. His voice was cold and sharp, his black eyes fixed on Kabuto's glasses.
"Oh? Someone already caught your interest?" Kabuto adjusted his glasses, pretending this was just normal curiosity. "Of course I do. The data might not be complete, but I've gathered quite a bit. Give me a name and we'll see."
"Menma and Naruko Uzumaki from Konoha," Sasuke said firmly, arms crossed over his chest.
The hall fell into brief silence. The twins exchanged puzzled looks in perfect sync.
[What's going on in this avenger's head? Suddenly decided to test his allies? Is the Sharingan pressing on his brain, or is it just his personality?]
"You want to start by studying those who'll be at your side?" Kabuto remarked with a faint smirk. "Interesting. Well then, let's see…"
He shuffled the cards with the ease of a gambler and drew one. "Now this is unusual. Information on two people on a single card. The twins are so inseparable, they share one record."
"Stop stalling. Show it," Sasuke demanded, impatience slipping into his voice.
Kabuto touched the card, pouring chakra into it. The surface came alive, projecting an image: two faces—Menma and Naruko, standing shoulder to shoulder.
"Let's see… Uzumaki twins," Kabuto began reading aloud. "They possess a unique paired nin-taijutsu, graduated from the academy with top scores in all disciplines. Each is a jinchūriki. In the last three months they've completed twenty D-rank missions and…" He froze, eyes widening. "And two A-rank missions."
Noise erupted in the hall, someone even shouted. Kabuto, looking as if he could hardly believe his own words, continued: "They've already been added to the Bingo Book for killing four chunin and four jonin. Codename—Twin Demons. Bounty on each of them: five million ryō."
The classroom fell silent again.
"Two A-rank missions…" Kiba whispered hoarsely, unable to believe his ears.
"We told you," Menma shrugged, as if it weren't worth mentioning.
"You only told us about one!" Kiba jumped to his feet, waving his arms like he could grab the answer out of thin air.
"No time to explain," Naruko shrugged in the exact same calm way. "Every mission of ours turns into a bounty-hunting adventure."
The twins clapped their palms together in sync.
Then a stranger's voice rang out in the classroom. "Hey, brats!" a foreign shinobi bellowed, glaring at them. "You think killing a few strays makes you hot stuff? Everyone knows missing-nin are trash. The elite of every village came here for this exam! And the first chance we get, we'll slit your throats and take the price on your heads!"
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The air vibrated with invisible tension as dozens of eyes locked on the twins. A wave of bloodlust crashed down on them. Some shinobi even made a show of sharpening kunai or checking blades against the light.
Half their classmates went pale, trembling, sweat breaking out on their brows. Even Kabuto, playing the part of the frightened bystander, took a step back as if trying to move away.
But the Uzumaki twins didn't move. Instead, they clasped hands and stretched their lips into demonic grins.
"The elite, huh?" Menma said loudly, his voice carrying across the room. "Perfect. We'll be waiting for your attacks. The Twin Demons will gladly devour your souls."
And in that instant, the space itself seemed to shudder.
A wave of killing intent surged from the twins. It was thick and heavy, like tar, clinging to the air and crushing chests. Behind them rose a crimson silhouette—an enormous, twisted demon's head with four eyes. Those eyes radiated insatiable hunger for blood, a killing urge that made teeth ache.
The classroom convulsed. Half the shinobi collapsed, foaming at the mouth, unable to withstand the pressure. The rest froze, paralyzed by fear, cold sweat trickling down their backs. Only a few dozen remained conscious, and even they looked deathly pale.
[How sweet it is to see horror on the faces of those who mocked us moments ago. Pure bliss.]
Only two stood firm. One was a red-haired boy in black, carrying a massive gourd on his back—Gaara. His lips curled into a mad smile, hunger gleaming in his eyes, practically licking his lips as he stared at the twins.
The other was Sasuke. His Sharingan, burning with three tomoe, didn't blink. He stood calmly, absorbing every detail, and there was no fear in his gaze. Only interest.
[Already maxed out his Sharingan? So Kakashi really has been grinding him mercilessly. And that sword on his back speaks for itself. Not to mention, I can feel a strong affinity with lightning from him.]
"A fine display of power," Sasuke said evenly, glancing over the weaklings sprawled on the floor. But in his tone there was a trace of anticipation. "I want to fight the two of you."
"Gladly," Menma smirked, accepting the challenge.