After the wooden carving incident, Sasuke secretly investigated Naruto. He learned about the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. After all, it was information many adults knew, and it wasn't difficult to find out. Most importantly, yesterday, while passing over someone's roof, he overheard the people inside talking in their sleep, mentioning that Naruto was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.
This caused Sasuke to realize everything. Therefore, Sasuke believed that the chances of Naruto hiding his strength were very high, possibly even that he was already hiding it.
If Naruto was hiding his strength, then he must have been doing so since childhood. To have such a complex mind at such a young age truly shocked Sasuke.
He knew that although he, Sasuke, was exceptionally talented as a child, he didn't have such a deep mind. If his family hadn't been destroyed, he wouldn't have become what he was now.
But looking at Naruto beside him, watching the smile constantly plastered on his face, Sasuke suddenly felt that this smile held a hint of unreality, yet it was also full of sorrow.
Thinking about how Naruto had hidden everything from a very young age to protect himself, silently enduring countless pressures and the cold stares, Sasuke shook his head inwardly.
Originally, because of the destruction of his family, Sasuke had been disappointed in Konohagakure. Now, he was completely disheartened, even feeling that this village was pitiful.
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke looked at Naruto again, thinking about finding an opportunity to witness Naruto's true strength.
[Experience +1]
The experience points prompt kept flashing before his eyes. Naruto looked at the increasingly smaller experience orbs around the other students, and once again began to ponder the source of these experience points.
He didn't know exactly how these experience orbs increased, or if something bad would happen after absorbing them. This was a problem he still needed to solve.
Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out how to replenish the experience points for now, so Naruto could only continue to earn them.
Thump, thump, thump!
The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps echoed, and Iruka, the class teacher, rushed in. An experience orb, albeit a small one, floated around him.
"Class, we just received orders from the Third Hokage, and the Genin Exam will be held today," Iruka announced straightforwardly.
"The exam? Today? Seems a bit earlier than usual," Inuzuka Kiba frowned.
"It is indeed earlier than usual; it usually takes a few more days," Nara Shikamaru replied.
"Who cares? Isn't it better sooner? We can become ninjas sooner," Ino said expectantly.
Everyone agreed with her, nodding in agreement, except for Naruto, who frowned and remained silent.
Because the early Genin Exam had disrupted his plans; he was still thinking about earning more experience points.
Forget it, it doesn't matter if it's earlier. I can see how strong I am.
Naruto pondered whether to show off some of his strength during the exam. After all, the Clone Technique for the exam was very simple for him, especially since his Clone Technique had been enhanced.
"Everyone, quiet down."
Iruka tapped on the table. "Now, the Genin Exam will begin. Those whose names are called, go to the next classroom for the exam. This time, the test is the Clone Technique."
After Iruka finished speaking, he began to call out names and led the examinees to the next classroom for the exam.
However, when Iruka announced the Genin Exam, Naruto made a surprising discovery.
He discovered…
When Iruka mentioned the official Genin Exam, the experience orbs around all the plot characters in the class began to change at that very moment, slowly filling up.
The experience orb around Hinata, which was originally the size of a ping pong ball, actually increased by a small circle in a short time, which truly surprised Naruto.
"Why is this happening? Why is it starting to recover? Is it related to the exam?" Naruto muttered inwardly. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he vaguely guessed the general idea.
"Is it the plot? Could it be that when plot characters experience the plot, their experience points will recover?" Naruto thought, vaguely feeling that this possibility was true.
Of course, he had to test it properly to see if it was really true.
"It seems I have to hide my strength this time and see what's going on with the experience points and the plot. I can't perform too well and ruin the plot."
Naruto made a silent decision. He then waited in the classroom, occasionally chatting with characters from the plot to earn more experience points. This also proved quite rewarding for him.
A few minutes later.
He was called, and he walked over to the adjacent classroom.
"Let's begin, Naruto."
Iruka and Mizuki sat on stools, waiting for Naruto to start the exam as proctors.
"Alright."
Naruto nodded, but didn't start immediately. Instead, he sized them both up.
It was inevitable that an experience orb would appear around Iruka, but the fact that the villain Mizuki also had an experience orb surprised Naruto.
Although this experience orb was tiny, smaller than a tomato, it contained at least 20 experience points. Seeing Mizuki, Naruto had an idea.
He would use Mizuki to test if a character would die after the experience orb was completely absorbed.
If Mizuki died, Naruto wouldn't be worried. After all, Mizuki wasn't a good person. In fact, in the upcoming storyline, Mizuki would trick him into stealing the Forbidden Technique Scroll.
"Naruto, start using the Clone Technique. I know you're worried; after all, you're not good at the Clone Technique, but you have to face this eventually."
Seeing Naruto standing still, Iruka thought he was nervous and scared. He felt sympathy for Naruto and even considered whether he should secretly give Naruto a break.
For example, if others could create three clones, Naruto could pass if he made two. This was Iruka's absolute minimum. He had to be responsible for Naruto's future.
Therefore,
He looked at Naruto with encouraging eyes, waiting for him to use the Clone Technique, hoping for a miracle to happen.
Yes, it's a miracle.
He didn't actually have much faith in Naruto. Without a miracle, Naruto was destined to fail.
"Alright, I'll start."
Naruto formed hand seals, preparing to use the Clone Technique. But to avoid messing with the plot, he couldn't create too many clones. It had to be like the original story, just one useless clone.
However, he had a lot of Chakra, and the Clone Technique had been enhanced. It was still quite difficult for Naruto to create a garbage clone.
Therefore, he tried his best to suppress the Chakra within him, minimizing its output so he wouldn't appear too outstanding.
Boom!
Smoke filled the air. Two perfect clones stood on either side, making Naruto frown slightly.
He had already suppressed himself as much as he could, yet he still created two perfect clones. And why did they look so lively?
"Huh? Naruto, you made two clones! Not bad!" Iruka said in surprise.
Originally, he hadn't been optimistic about Naruto. However, Naruto had actually managed to create two clones, which surprised him. Overjoyed, he was ready to declare Naruto had passed the exam.
But seeing Iruka's expression, Naruto didn't want him to announce his passing. Thus, Naruto subtly manipulated his will, making the two clones lie on the ground, pretending to be useless.
Bang! Bang!
Two thudding sounds echoed. The two clones, which had been standing, collapsed directly onto the ground, unmoving, as if they were useless.
"This..."
Iruka and Mizuki were dumbfounded by this scene, their minds slightly blank.
The clones had clearly been successful, so why were they lying on the ground? And in such a defeated posture, it felt almost theatrical.
The key was that they had never seen such a phenomenon before and couldn't understand what was happening.
"Ahem, Iruka-sensei, Naruto's stamina and agility are not bad. Why don't we let him pass the Genin Exam?" Mizuki smiled, acting the part of a good guy.
"This…"
Iruka hesitated slightly. He looked at the two "useless" clones beside Naruto and was silent for two seconds.
"Originally, I was going to let him pass, but if the clones are useless, then it won't work. I'm very sorry, Naruto."
[Experience +1] [Experience +1]
"Phew, finally didn't pass." Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then pretended to be angry.
(End of Chapter)