Ino was extremely serious, her face stern, and her words strong and forceful. Her demeanor practically screamed 'impartial' from her forehead.
Sakura, Choji, and other acquaintances didn't dare to make a sound, and Hinata's heart pounded in her chest. Goodness, I don't even recognize you in that outfit!
Ino mimicked Morino Ibiki, repeating the Chunin Exams rules once more.
She was still just as impartial.
The idea of Ibiki letting his Rogue Ninja brother go, or her leaking exam questions—none of that existed. It was slander. She and Ibiki were the sleeping dragons and crouching phoenixes among Konoha Village's enforcers, equally unswayed by personal feelings.
"I am the most stringent enforcer in this world. You are unlucky to fall into my hands! I don't care how you passed the first Chunin Exams. Here, in the second stage, if I catch you cheating, the punishments awaiting you include flogging, caning, and branding. While it won't kill you, that kind of living hell, hehehehe..."
She laughed maniacally.
The Genin shivered in fear, though the acquaintances were no longer afraid.
Hinata and Sakura narrowed their eyes at her. This 'most stringent enforcer in the world' seemed a bit like that Sentomaru she once talked about in her stories? What did that Sentomaru say again? 'The tightest-lipped man in the world'?
Entering the canyon from ten different entrances, the canyon's radius exceeded twenty kilometers, covering a vast area. Ninja who weren't familiar with each other, or even from different Villages, basically fought in their own teams once inside the canyon.
Those with strong abilities and charisma might gather two more teams to form a numerical advantage, an operation that was entirely permissible. But Ino didn't give them time to discuss it. After finishing the rules, she waved her hand, signaling them to proceed to their respective Chunin Exams entrances in their teams to prepare.
The numerous Genin could only remember the faces of their temporary teammates before following the proctor Chunin into their respective Chunin Exams entrances.
"Listen to me, the canyon is huge, and the locations of the other four resource points are uncertain. So, we'll go directly to the blacksmith shop in the central area, occupy it, then wait for reinforcements and scout out the locations of the other four resource points. Someone is bound to see them, and then we'll—"
Choji's team had the Earth Scroll. The fat boy led his team in a sprint as soon as they entered, and, as if Shikamaru had possessed him, he explained the key points of the Chunin Exams.
The fat boy had been trained by Ino and Shikamaru for two months, lured by delicious food, so his speed, while not super fast, was at least not slow.
Kiba and Lee, not to mention, both of them were top-notch in speed, though a bit lacking in brains. Hearing the fat boy speak so eloquently, they didn't object, even though they felt the time, place, and people were all wrong.
On the other side, Hinata's team also received the Earth Scroll and said similar things after entering the canyon. Sakura and Tenten nodded in agreement.
Two teams, six Genin, converged at the blacksmith shop in the central area on the evening of their entry into the canyon, becoming the strongest force in this Chunin Exams.
While chaos and fighting erupted in the four directions of southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest, they successfully defended the blacksmith shop using the Byakugan and Kiba's reconnaissance abilities, Lee and Tenten's skilled cooperation, the fat boy's breakthrough ability, and Sakura's genjutsu. Afterward, they gathered more teammates, used feints, and gradually accumulated advantages, ultimately securing victory for the Earth Scroll team in this Chunin Exams.
The Heaven Scroll team was completely eliminated.
Temari and Haku stayed in Konoha Village, awaiting the third round of the Chunin Exams.
They had nothing to do. Jiraiya, worried that his image as a lecherous fiend might be exposed if he couldn't control himself, thus damaging the relationship between Konoha and Sunagakure and Hidden Mist, asked Ino to entertain the two. This was considered a C-rank mission for her.
Ino was eloquent, capable of killing and deceiving. In the fierce Ninja World, she was definitely a rare talent, a typical versatile individual.
Their status and positions were similar, so her hosting them was most suitable.
Haku was very quiet. He found a garden, looked at the green mountains and clear waters, and could sit there with his legs crossed in a feminine manner for an entire day.
Temari couldn't. She couldn't sit still for ten minutes, a typical tomboy.
Konoha Village didn't want her wandering around. After all, Sunagakure had a dark history, and only half a year had passed; many things weren't forgotten that quickly.
Ino took her shopping, but because of Temari's Sunagakure Ninja forehead protector, she attracted a lot of animosity. She felt incredibly wronged; her reputation was ruined by this strongman.
What to do? Let's go, I'll take you to Shikamaru's family's plantation to play.
So she took Haku and Temari to the Nara Clan's plum deer breeding base outside the Village.
As soon as they entered the breeding base, they saw Shikamaru alone in the woods practicing Shadow Imitation Technique on over a dozen plum deer.
Temari didn't have a deep impression of Shikamaru. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I remember that guy seemed quite lazy? Why is he so diligent at home?"
Where should she begin? Ino hesitated for a moment.
Temari looked at her suspiciously: "Could this also be a Konoha Village secret?"
She specifically emphasized the word "secret."
Ino could only spout nonsense. She pointed to her chest, or rather, the character on her T-shirt.
Originally, there was an "Inoshishi" character there, but after a joking suggestion from Shikamaru, she changed it to "Maki" (scroll).
"Do you know what this character is?"
Temari gritted her back teeth: "I can read, you know..."
"If you can read, then it's easy. This is the mark of our Maki Lotus Sect. Thanks to everyone's kind regard, I am the Vice-Leader of the Maki Lotus Sect."
Ino's tone was a bit strange when she spoke, even Haku, who was admiring the surrounding scenery, looked over.
"Maki Lotus Sect? Is it a martial arts style like those samurai? You're the Vice-Leader, so where's the Leader?" Temari was attracted by the information Ino's words revealed, and unconsciously, the topic veered off course.
Ino sighed deeply: "The Leader went down the mountain and got lost. There's been no news, and he hasn't returned to this day."
Temari was confused: "Huh?...Then you didn't look for him?"
"We looked, of course we looked!" Ino launched into a long story: "The Leader was a famous swordsman in the ten-mile radius back then, with the First Generation Kitetsu in his left hand and Enma in his right..."
Thirty minutes later, Temari and Haku also joined the Maki Lotus Sect's specially organized New Year's internal competition. Anyway, they had nothing to do during the New Year, so a spar was a good thing.
Subsequently, Temari and Haku experienced Konoha Village's internal competition culture. Goodness, at Ino's summons, Sasuke, Neji, and Hinata were all called over to join in.
Naruto even publicly performed a Rasengan, punching a hole through a large tree that two people could embrace, a level that was not allowed to participate in the Chunin Exams in Konoha Village.
Temari: "..."
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