The day had finally arrived. Team 7, following Kakashi's instructions, arrived at the familiar Ninja Academy building. They quickly found their target—the classroom with the '301' sign hanging by the door.
However, the scene before them was somewhat unexpected. At the classroom entrance, a young man in a full green jumpsuit with a mushroom haircut was being shoved around by two Ninja, seemingly taking a beating.
It was Rock Lee. Although Naruto knew he was probably executing a 'low-key' operation, this method of actively getting beaten up...was it a bit too straightforward?
The two Ninja blocking the door were extremely arrogant, constantly mocking the examinees trying to enter the classroom.
"With your meager abilities, do you even deserve to participate in the Chunin Exams?"
"I think everyone should just go home! You inexperienced brats can't even get through this door!"
At this moment, a very cute girl with twin buns, Tenten, rushed forward to help the somewhat disheveled Lee, pleading in a pitiful, tearful voice. "Please, let us pass..."
Meanwhile, the Byakugan user standing nearby—Hyuga Neji—silently turned his face away.
Of course, it wasn't because he was ashamed of being powerless while his teammate was humiliated; he just couldn't stand the clumsy act of these two guys playing innocent, nor his teammate's overly committed 'acting'...it was too embarrassing.
Although the two at the door used a rather ingenious Transformation Technique, in Naruto's eyes, their true identities were clear at a glance—they were Konoha's two 'Gatekeepers,' Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.
Speaking of which, ten years ago, when Naruto was three, did he blast the main gate when he attacked Konoha disguised as Menma for the second time?
Thinking about it that way, hadn't he achieved something that even Pain couldn't? But at that time, these two were taken down by the Nine-Faced Beast in the very first round...Naruto silently apologized in his heart for what happened ten years ago.
Sakura, standing beside him, watched this infuriating scene, temporarily stopping her nervous habit of pretending to write in her palm. She keenly noticed that the surrounding atmosphere felt off. Was it a Genjutsu barrier?
And for the Uchiha Clan, who are masters of Genjutsu, seeing through a Genjutsu barrier of this level was as simple as asking Satsuki to solve one plus one. Satsuki merely glanced at it, and a barely perceptible sneer curved her lips.
Naruto, of course, knew this was the first hidden hurdle of the Chunin Exams—testing whether examinees possessed the basic insight to see through Genjutsu. Even without a reminder, he had already noticed the abnormally distorted Chakra flow in this space, and his perception was exceptionally clear.
Strange, why do I feel particularly sensitive to this kind of energy fluctuation? Could it be that I actually have a talent for perception Ninjutsu like 'Kagura Mind's Eye'?
"Yo! Isn't that Izumo and Kotetsu?" Naruto's face broke into a sunny, enthusiastic smile as he waved at the two still diligently performing. "Why aren't you guarding the Konoha gate today, but instead watching the exam gate here? However, the real exam hall should be up another floor."
Having completed several short out-of-village missions after the Land of Waves mission, Naruto had already become familiar with these two 'Gatekeepers' of Konoha.
Izumo and Kotetsu, who were vigorously mocking the examinees, instantly froze in place, their movements and expressions rigid. This kid...he just blurted out the answer in front of everyone?!
"What? Do we know each other? You...what are you talking about, I don't understand at all?" The two tried to feign ignorance, hiding the embarrassment on their faces.
Just then, Satsuki keenly noticed an unusual gaze. She sharply turned her head and saw a young man with pure white pupils not far away, staring intently at Naruto without any restraint.
Hyuga Neji's heart was filled with surprise and confusion at this moment. Why? He had never met this blond kid before, so why did such an inexplicable sense of familiarity well up within him?
On the other side, under Naruto's series of confident identifications and cheerful smiles, Izumo and Kotetsu finally gave up struggling and reluctantly admitted defeat.
They naturally knew that this young man was a Genin highly valued by Kakashi and even the Third Hokage, so they could only smile wryly and accept it. Amidst the astonished gazes of the surrounding examinees, the two figures shifted, returning to their original appearance as adult Ninja nearing thirty. They openly admitted their identity as examiners, then dispelled the Genjutsu barrier and hurriedly left the scene.
"Let's go, Satsuki, Sakura."
Watching the room number change from '301' back to its original '201,' Naruto was about to call his two teammates upstairs when he unexpectedly found Satsuki glaring at Hyuga Neji with a wary expression, like a protective kitten. And Neji was staring intently at him with a gaze that contained suppressed fervor, a look that made Naruto feel a little unnerved.
Strange...why is he looking at me like that? According to the setting, his 'maxed out affection' target should be Menma, right?
Neji, however, was rapidly analyzing in his mind. He finally understood where this inexplicable sense of familiarity came from—it was that deep-seated feeling of security!
Only ten years ago, on the night that changed his and his father's fate, the man who was by his side and gave him salvation—Lord Menma—was the only one from whom he had felt the same aura!
Could it be...that this person in front of him has some connection to Lord Menma?
For Neji now, his greatest dream was to repay Menma, the benefactor who saved his father, earn his approval, and become his aid. And his second dream was to meet again that existence who terrified the entire Ninja World but uniquely gave him light. In his heart, Menma was not a calamity but the beautiful reunion he most longed for.
Tenten, standing nearby, finally sensed that the atmosphere was off. She looked at her usually aloof teammate, Neji, who was now staring at a boy from another team with such... indescribable eyes? And on the other side, her teammate Rock Lee was intently focused on the pink-haired girl in the other team with that heart-pounding, sparkling gaze...
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