'He... why is he here?!'
Gaara's pupils slightly contracted, involuntarily freezing in place.
Although the person before him had a completely different aura and many differences in appearance from that man back then,
He could not forget those golden eyes that exuded a faint pressure!
Because,
On that very day back then,
For the first time, he had been knocked unconscious by an attack, causing his consciousness to be completely taken over by Shukaku.
And it was also on that day,
He first began to feel the deep-seated dread emanating from Shukaku's soul!
That's right.
It wasn't any other emotion, but deep dread!
Even that usually lawless monster, on that day, experienced the emotion called "fear" for the first time.
It was afraid of this man with the golden eyes!
In fact,
For a long time after that incident-
Gaara, back in Sunagakure, suddenly noticed that Shukaku rarely emerged to cause trouble while he was sleeping...
To the point where sometimes, even if Gaara deliberately relaxed his mind, he couldn't awaken its consciousness...
It was as if it was deliberately avoiding something.
It was only after a long time,
Once Shukaku seemed to confirm its own safety, that it returned to its previous state and started acting up again...
"..."
At this moment, looking at Kyo ahead, Gaara slightly gritted his teeth.
In his eyes, there was also a trace of deep dread.
At this moment,
He suddenly understood as well.
No wonder, when leaving the house this morning, Temari suddenly told him not to conflict with the Shinobi who had come from Amegakure this time.
So...
This golden-eyed guy had come personally!
Thinking this,
Gaara's gaze darkened slightly.
'A guy with this level of strength was actually participating in the Chunin Exams...?'
'How could the plan... succeed?'
"..."
As an emotionless killing machine,
For the first time, Gaara began to doubt this plan...
And at this moment,
When Gaara stopped,
The entire Sunagakure's group naturally stopped as well.
Temari and Kankuro's expressions couldn't help but change slightly, their faces somewhat frozen.
They also hadn't expected,
To run into this man again as soon as they arrived here...
However,
What they never expected,
Was that Kyo opposite them merely glanced slightly, then withdrew his gaze and casually said to his three Amegakure's students:
"Keep walking. Ignore them."
As his words faded,
He remained expressionless and continued walking forward.
From start to finish,
His expression hadn't even flickered once.
For a moment,
The atmosphere became suddenly and awkwardly quiet.
Sunagakure, one of the five great nations, was actually making way for participants from a small nation like Amegakure...
Seeing this scene, many Shinobi even had question marks on their faces, wondering if they were seeing things.
They began to discuss curiously.
"Hey hey, what's going on...?"
"The usually arrogant Sunagakure's Shinobi are actually... unprecedentedly giving way to Shinobi from another village?"
"My god, I must not be awake yet!"
"Uh, come to think of it, is that... the Amegakure's team?"
"Judging by the forehead protectors, it should be. But why have they started using swords? How strange..."
"Maybe they're learning the samurai combat style from the Land of Iron..."
...
Shinobi from various small nations conversed amongst themselves.
Kyo paid them no attention.
As he led the three forward, he felt a slight surprise in his heart.
'What's going on?'
'Why hasn't the system's main mission started yet...?'
'Logically, I had already led the students into the exam venue. Didn't that count as participation?'
'Hmm...'
'Maybe I could try directly spoiling the actual content of the exam for them?'
'Although it was cheating, that should count as participation, right?'
Thinking this,
Kyo felt amused and thought it feasible.
So, he deliberately led the three students to the edge, away from the crowd, and then said blandly as they walked:
"You three, listen carefully."
"For this Chunin Exam, due to special circumstances, I used some method to obtain information about the exam content in advance."
"So, you need to remember what I'm about to say."
"-?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the three students were momentarily stunned.
'Hmm?!'
'Kyo-sensei... actually obtained information on Konoha's exam?!'
However,
Before they could react, Kyo directly said:
"The first exam."
"You will encounter a total of ten questions."
"The entire team must pass, otherwise everyone fails."
"However, the first nine questions will be beyond your level."
"So, you just need to cheat. As long as the examiner doesn't catch you, you pass."
"As for the tenth question, it will only be given at the very end of the exam."
"The examiner will probably give a long speech telling you that if you answer it wrong, you can never take the Chunin Exam again."
"But don't listen to his nonsense, you three. Just choose to answer it."
"Got it?"
"...?"
Kyo finished quickly in one breath, and the three students were completely stunned.
'Huh???'
'What kind of exam questions are these?'
'Just by choosing to answer, you can pass directly...?'
They couldn't help but feel confused.
And at this moment, the girl among the three suddenly asked in surprise:
"K-Kyo-sensei, how did you obtain information on such strange Chunin Exam questions...?"
"..."
Hearing this, Kyo raised an eyebrow and casually said:
"Uh, from a pay-per-view channel."
"Huh?"
As his words faded, the three were simultaneously stunned.
'What?'
'Pay... per-view channel?'
'Seems like we've never heard of it...'
The three students exchanged glances, all somewhat confused.
'Could it be someone's name...?'
However,
Kyo wasn't just making things up on the spot.
Back when he was a child, he had indeed watched this Chunin Exam in Naruto through a pay-per-view channel on TV.
But that was a very long time ago...
"Alright."
"The exam is about to start. Let's go, head inside."
"Just remember what I said."
Kyo slightly raised his eyes and then walked forward.
The system hadn't sent a prompt sound, meaning this major incident hadn't officially started yet. It seemed he couldn't rush.
The three students obediently followed behind him.
But at this moment,
An even more coincidental situation occurred.
Kyo happened to encounter another familiar face at the entrance of a passage-
Hatake Kakashi.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
Behind him were three young Shinobi.
One wore an orange jumpsuit, had blond hair and blue eyes, with whisker-like markings on his face, looking very talkative.
One wore a blue shirt with white pants, had spiky black hair, a blank expression, hands in his pockets, looking cold and seemingly skilled at showing off.
And a pink-haired girl, never mind.
The moment he saw them,
Kyo's eyes flickered slightly, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
'Hmm?'
'What a coincidence, running into the protagonist team?'
That's right, the four before him were naturally the protagonist team from the original Naruto story - Team 7.
Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura, who seemed purely there to make up the numbers.
Just at this moment,
A system prompt sound suddenly popped up in Kyo's mind.
[Ding, congratulations Host, side mission accomplished!]
[Successfully encounter the full members of "Team 7" once (1/1), completed! Reward: Spiritual Pressure +500, Mall Points +200!]
'...?'
Hearing this prompt sound, Kyo couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
'So this is the treatment for the original protagonist team. Just meeting them once triggers a side mission completion.'
And just as he was thinking,
Kakashi opposite naturally noticed Kyo as well.
For a moment, he couldn't help but be stunned, subconsciously stopping in his tracks.
And behind him,
Naruto and the others were naturally stunned as well.
After a moment, Naruto looked up at Kakashi and asked confusedly: "Kakashi-sensei, do you know them?"
This question interrupted Kakashi's thoughts.
Kakashi was silent for a moment, then slightly raised his eye to look over and said blandly:
"We've met."
"However, this guy doesn't admit it."
"Eh...?"
This naturally puzzled Naruto and the others.
However, at this moment, Kyo chuckled lightly.
He didn't continue looking at them, but directly raised his eyes to look ahead and said leisurely:
"Let's go."
Then, he turned directly and led the students inside.
Completely ignoring Kakashi's words.
"..."
The atmosphere quieted once more.
Kakashi looked at Kyo's back, his eyes flickering, thinking about something.
Naruto, Sasuke, and the others also happened to notice this,
And couldn't help but feel a little surprised in their hearts.
'Kakashi-sensei, who usually seemed indifferent to external matters, was actually so curious about a Shinobi from another village...?'
At this moment,
Sakura asked curiously:
"Kakashi-sensei, did that person... do something back then?"
As her words faded,
Kakashi snapped back to reality and prepared to explain directly to them.
However, just as the words were about to leave his mouth, he suddenly stopped.
Then, he shook his head helplessly and said:
"Nothing..."
He certainly couldn't tell others, "He traded information for my perverted book"...
No one would believe it anyway.
However,
Just at this moment,
Suddenly, a person emerged from a compartment beside them.
The moment they saw him,
Naruto and the others had no reaction,
But Kakashi couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
"Hmm? Shikaku-san...?"
The person appearing before them was none other than that Nara Shikaku!
At this moment,
He walked over with a fixed gaze, looked at Kakashi, and spoke in a low voice:
"Kakashi,"
"Did you just say that Amegakure's Shinobi doesn't admit to having met you before...?"
"That is to say... he has disguised his identity, is that right?"
Shikaku asked quickly in a heavy tone, his gaze very sharp.
In fact,
He had been hiding in a compartment of the exam passage all along, carefully observing the entrance of participants from various countries to find clues.
However, he hadn't expected,
To accidentally witness that scene just now!
Sensing something was amiss, he immediately appeared and decided to personally verify with Kakashi.
And at this moment,
Hearing this, Kakashi was also momentarily taken aback,
Then, he nodded with a slightly fixed gaze and said:
"Barring any unforeseen circumstances,"
"I saw him once in the Land of Fire a few years ago."
"But back then, he didn't look like this, nor was he wearing an Amegakure uniform..."
"-?!"
Hearing this, Nara Shikaku's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Seen in the Land of Fire?'
'Could it really be him...?'
'The one who attacked the guarding Shinobi and stole the Scroll of Seals... is from Amegakure...?!'
Thinking this,
Shikaku's gaze darkened, and looking at Kakashi, he said fixedly:
"Kakashi,"
"Could I trouble you..."
"To find a way to test this Amegakure's Shinobi?"
"Last night, Konoha was attacked by an unknown assailant. I need to confirm... whether he is that perpetrator!"
"...!?"