Time passed.
Two days later.
A beautiful day with clear skies, no clouds, no shade.
At this moment, Kyo and his group had successfully arrived outside the gates of Konoha.
Looking at the wide white walls extending to both sides,
And the boundless trees and grass around, the three Amegakure's students were all stunned.
"Th-This is Konoha? It's huge..."
"One of the five Great Shinobi Villages in the world actually looks like this..."
The three murmured in amazement.
They had all grown up in Amegakure.
This was their first time seeing a Shinobi Village of such magnificent scale.
Kyo ignored them, simply looking at Konoha before him, a faint smile on his face.
Konoha. This was his second time here.
But compared to last time, there didn't seem to be much difference.
Except that it was night then, and now it was broad daylight.
"Let's go. We should enter."
Kyo said blandly to his three students,
Then he stepped forward directly, walking openly towards the main gate of Konoha.
The three young boys and girls behind quickly followed.
However,
Just as they were about ten meters from the gate,
Several Konoha's Shinobi on guard duty immediately noticed people approaching and, as per routine, called out:
"Halt! Stop right there! Who goes there!?"
Hearing this, Kyo remained expressionless, didn't stop walking, but simply pulled a letter from his pocket, tossed it over casually, and said blandly:
"Amegakure. Here to participate in the Chunin Exams."
As his words faded,
The white letter flew into the Konoha's Shinobi's hand.
The man's mind stirred, and he immediately focused on it. After carefully reading it once and confirming it was correct, he slowly relaxed.
He then turned and waved to the Shinobi guarding the gate, saying:
"Identity confirmed!"
"The Amegakure's Shinobi team for the Joint Chunin Exams is here!"
"Open the gate!"
As his words faded, the guard in the distance was momentarily startled, then quickly reacted, directly deactivating the barriers and mechanisms at the gate.
After handling this, he looked over and smiled politely:
"Welcome, guests from the Amegakure. Please, come in."
As a gatekeeper of Konoha,
He had been personally instructed by Hiruzen beforehand.
No matter which small village the Shinobi came from, they must be shown sufficient respect.
Only then could they demonstrate the style of a great Shinobi Village.
Therefore,
Even though he noticed Amegakure had only sent four people, he didn't show his surprise too obviously.
The gate ahead opened, the barriers deactivated.
Kyo nodded, said nothing, and leisurely walked straight in.
The three behind him all seemed to have varying degrees of nervousness.
That was normal.
After all, it was their first time entering another Shinobi Village, so they naturally had all kinds of complex feelings.
But at this moment,
They hadn't walked far when they suddenly saw a person approaching directly from the front.
He was walking quickly towards them.
This was a young Shinobi.
He wore standard Konoha's Shinobi attire and carried a sword on his back.
Although his features were delicate, his complexion was pale, with very dark circles under his eyes, making him look very weak.
Instantly, a phrase came to Kyo's mind-
'Kidney deficiency, sometimes occurring after overwork, as if the body has been hollowed out...'
Kyo raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled lightly.
He naturally knew who this was-
The true protagonist of Naruto Shippuden: The real main character! The man named "Hayate"! (T/N: Shippuden means Legend of the Gale, and Hayate also means Gale.)
Just at that moment,
This kidney-deficient young Shinobi stopped about a meter in front of them.
Then, he showed them a very friendly smile and said weakly and gently:
"The Amegakure's participating team, right?"
"Hello, I am Tokubetsu Jonin of Konoha, Gekko Hayate."
"I am also one of the examiners for this Chunin Exam."
"Welcome to Konoha."
"The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama, instructed me to guide you."
"Please... cough cough... please follow... cough... me."
"cough cough... s-sorry... my physical condition... isn't good... cough..."
He barely got halfway through his sentence,
Before he started covering his mouth and coughing,
Coughing and explaining to them with a pale face.
Hearing this,
Kyo simply smiled and nodded, saying nothing.
Although he really wanted to ask if his kidneys were overdrawn, this occasion clearly wasn't suitable.
"Cough cough... Please... cough... follow me."
Hayate, coughing, gestured to Kyo.
Then he turned and led the group in one direction down the street.
It took a good while before the coughing gradually subsided.
And at this moment,
As he walked forward, he suddenly seemed somewhat curious and said:
"Come to think of it..."
"Several guests, you seem to be the smallest team in terms of number among all the participating Shinobi from various countries in this Chunin Exam."
"Is your Amegakure only sending four people total to participate in the exam this time?"
Hayate asked, tilting his head slightly.
His tone was very calm, his expression merely one of ordinary surprise.
It seemed like just a casual question.
But in fact,
What others didn't know,
Was that when Hiruzen instructed him to host the Amegakure's Shinobi, he had also given him a secret mission.
That was to find out the details and background of the Amegakure's participants, just in case.
Therefore,
Hayate's question was not without purpose.
However,
As his words faded,
Kyo simply raised an eyebrow slightly and shook his head blandly, saying:
"You're overthinking it."
"I am their teacher. I am not participating in this Chunin Exam, only leading them here."
"...Huh?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Hayate was momentarily stunned and involuntarily stopped walking.
Then he looked over and said in surprise:
"So... your Amegakure is actually only sending three participants?"
"That's right."
"Uh... s-so that's how it is."
Hayate scratched his head awkwardly and smiled sheepishly:
"M-My apologies..."
"I misjudged the situation just now..."
Hayate said this on the surface, but his mind was filled with surprise.
What's going on...?'
'This glasses-wearing man's Chakra level seemed even weaker than the three kids behind him... and he's their teacher?'
'That's strange...'
Just as he was pondering this, he suddenly noticed something odd.
This Amegakure instructor with the black-rimmed glasses had a sword with a black scabbard and a dark gold tsuba slung diagonally at his waist.
And the three Amegakure Genin behind him each also carried a black straight sword on their backs.
Looking at this posture,
They didn't look like Shinobi, but rather like samurai.
'Hmm?'
'Wait, what's going on?'
Hayate was momentarily stunned.
'When did Amegakure start popularizing the samurai-style sword-carrying combat method like the Land of Iron...?'
'Why is everyone carrying a sword?'
'Are they planning to... overthrow Konoha with their swords?'
...
After pondering for a moment,
Hayate decided to just ask directly.
He raised his eyes again to look at Kyo and immediately asked in a very casual tone with a smile:
"It s-seems you teach them swordsmanship, is that right?"
"I noticed each of you carries a sword. Such attire isn't very common in other places..."
Hayate spoke as if making small talk.
However, as his words faded, Kyo simply rolled his eyes and said blandly:
"Carrying a sword isn't common?"
"What's that on your own back then? A model? Or an umbrella?"
"...Huh?"
Hayate was momentarily stunned, then the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
He suddenly remembered that his own words just now did seem a bit problematic...
After all, he himself did carry a sword around all day...
"Uh... a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue."
Hayate scratched his head awkwardly, then smiled sheepishly:
"Please... please continue to follow me."
Having said that,
He said no more, turned directly, and walked forward.
However,
The expression on his face, when turned away from them, was somewhat dejected.
'Damn...!'
'This Amegakure glasses guy, although he looks so honest, why is he so sharp-tongued when he speaks...'
'I have heard that people who wear glasses are especially good at, so this is what it feels like...'
Hayate Gekko smiled wryly.
He knew,
It would probably be very difficult to pry information from this Amegakure's team easily.
Walking on the streets of Konoha,
People came and went.
Konoha's residents seemed already accustomed to seeing foreign Shinobi on the streets, so no one made a fuss about Kyo and his group's appearance.
Hayate also stopped talking, silently leading them forward.
But just at that moment,
Another person suddenly appeared ahead of them.
This person had white hair, wore a black mask, and his Konoha's forehead protector was slanted down, covering his left eye.
He also wore standard Konoha's Shinobi attire, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a small yellow book which he was reading.
Naturally, it was the famous master of the 50-50 fight in the Shinobi World, Hatake Kakashi.
The moment he saw him,
Hayate ahead brightened and greeted with a smile:
"Yo! Kakashi-senpai!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Kakashi looked up.
The first thing to enter his view was naturally Hayate's kidney-deficient face.
But then, Kakashi noticed the four individuals with various appearances standing behind him.
'Huh?'
'Are these... Amegakure's Shinobi?'
Kakashi's gaze moved towards Kyo's face.