"…I see now."
Back in the real world, Naruto opened his eyes. At last, he had a much clearer understanding of his current situation.
Judging from what the Nine-Tails had told him, he and that gourd-carrying boy were—strictly speaking—this world's alternative form of nuclear deterrence.
The First Hokage had distributed the nine tailed beasts among the various ninja villages…
Then why didn't he just unify the entire shinobi world outright?!
Was the water really that deep in the shinobi world?!
Terrifying.
If that was the case, then he really needed to find a way to grow stronger—and fast.
His current level of strength simply wasn't enough.
All this time, he had been using Hayate Gekkō as his benchmark.
After all, a Konoha jōnin sounded impressive no matter how you looked at it.
That kind of strength should be respectable anywhere in the shinobi world, right?
But now that he thought about it—if even tailed beasts could be assigned like resources, then jōnin-level strength suddenly felt a bit…
Thump—
The tug on his fishing rod snapped him back to reality. He looked down—something had taken the bait.
Naruto's face lit up. Dinner was secured.
The fish here weren't easy to catch every time. Looks like his luck today was exceptionally good.
---
Outside the Exam Hall
Raemon Koshiki and Izuno Akigiku stared wordlessly at their teammate, who had arrived at a leisurely pace.
"We thought you'd forgotten about the Chūnin Exams," Izuno said dryly.
"Not that bad," Naruto replied, rubbing his nose with an awkward smile.
"Where have you been the past two days? I went to your place several times," Raemon asked.
"The usual fishing spot."
"For two days?"
"…That's so you."
Compared to that empty apartment, Naruto much preferred staying at his little hideout in the wild.
"No one's here yet, right?" Naruto asked. He'd timed his arrival to be early.
"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be the first team inside," Izuno said as she pushed the door open.
Looking at the empty classroom, she wore an as expected expression.
...
"Raemon…" Naruto began, explaining the difficulty he'd run into while developing his Shinobi Prosthetic. Raemon had an almost obsessive interest in mechanics—maybe he could offer some advice.
After thinking for a moment, Raemon looked up and asked, "What's the purpose of this shinobi prosthetic?"
"To improve my mobility. There are certain heights and distances that even a ninja's jumping ability can't cover quickly."
There was something Naruto didn't say: he'd used the shinobi prosthetic for most of his previous life. When facing steep terrain, being forced to walk normally again felt… uncomfortable.
Besides, his fighting style hadn't changed much compared to his past life. Chakra had mostly just enhanced his physical abilities.
"…Well," Raemon hesitated, then continued, "Naruto, there are actually many ways to improve mobility. On flat ground, you already have the Body Flicker Technique. Vertical movement isn't that essential. If you really want, forming a summoning contract might be more practical."
"As for the shinobi prosthetic, my suggestion is to treat it as a hobby—something you work on in your spare time. There's no need to be so fixated on it."
It felt as though a clogged drain in Naruto's mind had been forcefully cleared.
He finally saw the problem.
He'd been relying too heavily on his previous life's combat system—and thinking too little about the differences between that life and this one.
"Thank you, Raemon! Why didn't I ask you sooner?!" Naruto grabbed Raemon's hand firmly.
"It's… really nothing," Raemon said, desperately shooting Izuno a look for help.
Help me!
What was Naruto supposed to be in his mind? Strong. Cool-headed. Untouchable.
How did that image collapse so completely in one instant?!
Oh god…
Izuno watched the scene with great interest—and deliberately ignored her boyfriend's plea for help.
Click.
The classroom door opened again.
All three turned to look as the Hidden Rain ninja—dressed like fishmen—filed in. After exchanging brief glances, both sides quietly looked away.
"So?" Raemon sent a look.
"Just fodder." Naruto replied with a reassuring glance.
Izuno: "..."
Why did it feel like the dynamic between these two was heading in a strange direction?
The arrival of the Rain ninja was like opening floodgates—soon, ninja from other villages began pouring into the exam hall.
"Where are the other Konoha ninja?"
Gradually, the three of them realized something was wrong.
"Isn't this a bit too many people already?"
Finally, the appearance of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio broke the suffocating atmosphere.
"They're all dressed so weird… haha…" Ino's voice grew quieter and quieter, until only Shikamaru and Chōji could hear her.
"This is kind of scary," Shikamaru said, scratching his head as he looked at the hostile gazes from other villages' ninja.
When the trio walked over, Naruto asked, "Where are the other Konoha teams?"
"They're probably still downstairs doing the test," Shikamaru replied uncertainly.
"Test?" The three exchanged confused looks.
"You didn't do the genjutsu test either?" Ino asked curiously.
"Genjutsu test? What test?" Raemon asked.
"Either?" Naruto caught the key detail immediately.
"Two seniors set up a fake exam hall downstairs using genjutsu—to scare off people who overestimated themselves," Shikamaru explained, scratching his ear.
"If Shikamaru's brain hadn't suddenly switched on, we'd still be down there getting played like fools," Ino added.
'Switched on,' huh…
Naruto held back a laugh as he looked at Shikamaru's helpless expression.
Honestly, Shikamaru's brain wasn't dull at all—he was just allergic to effort, practically a professional slacker.
"You guys didn't get tested at all?" Ino asked again.
"Not just us," Izuno answered after exchanging looks with her teammates. As the temporary leader, she pointed toward the ninja from other villages. "They didn't either."
"Why?"
"They're outsiders. This is Konoha. We're the exception—we arrived too early," Naruto said, rubbing his chin.
A few minutes later, the rest of the Konoha rookies arrived one after another.
"It's been a long time since everyone was gathered like this," Naruto said with a smile.
"Can't be helped. We've all been assigned to different teams and missions," the others replied with smiles of their own.
"Our rookie class is pretty bold," Shikamaru said. "Most previous classes skipped the first year and waited before taking the Chūnin Exams."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Chōji, Kiba, Sasuke, Sakura, an unknown participant—and Raemon and Izuno.
Aside from Raemon and Izuno, everyone else was from the same class.
Izuno quietly observed them. Aside from Naruto and Sakura, almost all of them were heirs of major clans.
"Hm?" Sasuke frowned and glanced behind him.
"What is it?" Sakura asked softly.
"…Nothing," Sasuke shook his head. The sense of being watched vanished too quickly for him to trace its source.
Naruto discreetly withdrew his gaze from a white-haired man wearing glasses. Judging from the forehead protector, he was a Konoha ninja—but for some reason, his eyes kept drifting toward their group.
Raemon and Izuno, who were always attentive to their teammates' condition, silently marked the white-haired man as someone to watch.