"Don't even think about it!"
Kakashi shouted sternly; he wouldn't let anyone target his student!
Before his voice even faded, his hands had already turned into a blur of afterimages!
The piercing chirps of a thousand birds exploded as dazzling lightning chakra frantically condensed in his palm!
Lightning Blade!
"Lightning Blade—!!"
"Even if you are Orochimaru, one of the Sannin," Kakashi said with a frown, staring at Orochimaru, "with my current ability, I can still take you down with me!"
"Take me down with you!?"
Orochimaru's smile widened as he looked down with interest at the sound, eyeing the mass of Lightning Release chakra in Kakashi's hand. Just as he was about to comment—
A sudden change occurred!
'Danger?!'
Orochimaru's expression changed drastically!
A violent attack struck from behind him without any warning!
The speed was so fast that he didn't even have time to fully turn his head!
Boom—!!!
A dull explosion rang out!
A fist slammed solidly into Orochimaru's skull!
In an instant, his head burst apart... red and white matter splattered everywhere!
The headless body swayed for a moment before going limp and falling to the ground.
Tejima Shinichi maintained his punching posture, standing where Orochimaru had originally been. He slowly withdrew his fist and shook off the filth clinging to his hand.
He looked at the "corpse" on the ground, which had turned into a pile of snakes, and spoke indifferently:
"...Just a Snake Clone? It seems the pressure Lord Third is putting on you is quite significant, since you didn't even dare to show up in person!"
"However... consider that a bit of interest paid back for the ambush in the Forest of Death."
The light of the Lightning Blade in Kakashi's hand slowly dissipated as he looked in shock at Tejima Shinichi, who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Shinichi? Why are you here?"
Tejima Shinichi looked up at Kakashi. "I came to try my luck and see if there would be any pleasant surprises... but I've been disappointed."
Hearing this, Kakashi's tense body finally relaxed, and his headband once again covered his Sharingan.
He let out a soft sigh of relief. "After all, Lord Third personally ordered the search. Even if he is Orochimaru, he wouldn't dare risk his true body so easily at a time like this."
Tejima Shinichi didn't respond, looking instead at the unconscious Uchiha Sasuke on the ground.
"Is he alright?"
"Yeah, the Cursed Seal has been temporarily sealed."
Tejima Shinichi nodded slightly and said no more, turning to walk out of the secret room.
"The preliminaries should be ending soon. I'm leaving first."
"..."
Kakashi remained silent, standing where he was and watching Tejima Shinichi's departing back until the figure vanished into the shadows of the doorway.
Silence returned to the secret room, leaving only himself and the unconscious Sasuke.
A wave of complex emotions welled up in his heart. Kakashi raised a hand to rub his brow and let out a sigh.
Once upon a time, he too was hailed as a genius and was the world-renowned "Copy Ninja"; but now, facing this "junior," he felt a sense of powerlessness at the gap between them.
Recalling his boastful words, a self-deprecating bitter smile appeared on the corner of Kakashi's mouth.
'Take him down with me... Heh, if that had really been Orochimaru's original body just now, I'm afraid I wouldn't have even been able to scratch him...'
...When Tejima Shinichi returned to the ground floor hall of the Central Tower, the preliminaries happened to be drawing to a close.
"Shinichi! You're back!"
Kobayashi Takeshi spotted him immediately and hurried over with Satō Yū. Both had exhaustion on their faces, yet also seemed somewhat relieved.
"Just in time... the matches have all finished."
Tejima Shinichi's gaze fell upon the two.
Kobayashi Takeshi's headband was slightly askew, his face was bruised, and his breathing was a bit hurried;
Satō Yū had obvious bruises on her arms and legs, looking like marks from Taijutsu strikes.
Although they tried to keep their backs straight, under Tejima Shinichi's gaze, they couldn't help but lower their heads slightly with looks of shame.
"We... lost," Satō Yū said, her voice low.
As it turned out, the preliminaries had continued after Tejima Shinichi left.
Kobayashi Takeshi had encountered Konoha's Akimichi Choji. Facing the power and size advantage of the Multi-Size Jutsu, though he struggled to maneuver, he ultimately lost due to the gap in strength and defense.
Satō Yū, unfortunately, had been matched against Rock Lee... It went without saying that even though Satō Yū gave her all, she couldn't keep up with Rock Lee's swift and fierce Taijutsu rhythm, resulting in a regrettable defeat.
The rest of the advancement list was roughly the same as the original story. Those who successfully advanced included:
Hyuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee, Temari, Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke, Kankuro, Shino Aburame, and Gaara, who was "unexpectedly" given a bye!
Looking at the two dejected figures, Tejima Shinichi wasn't very surprised.
He knew the potential and limits of Kobayashi Takeshi and Satō Yū. This wasn't because they didn't work hard enough, but rather due to the objective gap in talent and opportunity.
This was also one of the reasons why he had considered leaving his current team during his conversation with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The gap in reality could not be bridged by willpower alone.
He only hoped that in the future, under Yamato's leadership, they would continue to hone themselves and become stronger.
"Don't be discouraged. Only by seeing the gap can you find the direction to move forward!" Tejima Shinichi said, his gaze shifting to Rock Lee, who was excited by Guy's hot-blooded declaration, and Shikamaru and the others who were talking to each other.
"After all, we are still young. As long as we are alive, there is hope..."
Hearing Tejima Shinichi's words, Kobayashi Takeshi and Satō Yū looked at each other with bitter smiles, but ultimately nodded.
"Thank you, Shinichi."
Soon, Gekkō Hayate walked to the center of the arena with a drawing box and announced the drawing ceremony for the final matches.
The ten successful candidates stepped forward one by one and drew a slip of paper from the box that would determine their opponent.
Once the last person had finished drawing, Gekkō Hayate took all the slips and began to announce the final match-ups:
"One month from now, the third round of the Chunin Exams, the official matches, will proceed as follows—"
"Match One: Hyuga Neji vs. Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Match Two: Rock Lee vs. Tejima Shinichi!"
"Match Three: Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru!"
"Match Four: Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke!"
"Match Five: Kankuro vs. Akimichi Choji!"
"Shino Aburame, bye, directly advances to the next round."
When they heard that Tejima Shinichi's opponent was Rock Lee, many of the qualifiers, such as Temari, Kankuro, and even Shikamaru, breathed a collective sigh of relief.
After all, the evaluation criteria for this Chunin Exam focused more on an individual's comprehensive performance in battle.
If they faced an opponent of similar strength, they were confident they could perform well and demonstrate the qualities necessary to be promoted to Chunin.
But if they were unfortunate enough to draw Tejima Shinichi, an outlier... victory or defeat aside, even being able to perform normally in the face of such overwhelming power would be an issue.
Now, these pairings at least gave them hope of showing their worth.
However, unlike the gravity or dejection the others expected, when Rock Lee learned his opponent was Shinichi, after an initial slight startle, a scorching light burst from his eyes!
Coincidentally, a green figure instantly appeared beside Rock Lee!
"Lee—!!!"
Might Guy's eyes were full of tears, reflecting the bright light. He grabbed Rock Lee's shoulders!
"This! This is youth!!!" Guy-sensei's voice trembled. "Facing such a powerful opponent, this is destiny's test of your hard work! It's the best stage to show the results of your training and carry out your Ninja Way!!"
"Guy-sensei?!" Rock Lee was also completely swept up by the emotion. His eyes instantly moistened, and he straightened his chest, responding with all his might. "Yes! I understand! This is my Ninja Way—even when facing the strongest opponent, I must bravely charge forward to prove that even without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, I can still become a splendid Ninja! This is my—Ninja Way!!!"
"Well said! Lee!!!"
Guy suddenly gave a thumbs up, his white teeth giving off a bright ding! flash.
"Let everyone see! See how youth blooms in adversity! Stake the dignity of your youth and fight a battle without regrets!!!"
"Yes!!! Guy-sensei!!!"
Then, the master and disciple embraced tightly, tears streaming down their faces. That fiery atmosphere made the people around them instinctively take half a step back.
For a moment, not to mention the shock and stiffness on the faces of those seeing such a scene for the first time, even those who were long accustomed to the antics of these two mostly looked on with expressions of being unable to watch, instinctively keeping their distance.
Kobayashi Takeshi and Satō Yū couldn't help but huddle closer together, watching the master and disciple who were burning with green flames, their expressions dropping in exasperation.
"Seriously..." Kobayashi Takeshi muttered softly. "Even though I've known for a long time that Guy-sensei and Lee have this style, every time I see it with my own eyes... it's still hard to accept."
Satō Yū nodded in deep agreement, a helpless bitter smile on her face. "Yeah... this passion is simply too dazzling."
Next, the two instinctively turned their gazes toward Tejima Shinichi beside them, wanting to see how their always-unbothered teammate would react to such a scene.
However, when they turned their heads, they found the space beside them empty.
"Huh?" Satō Yū froze for a moment, her eyes quickly scanning the surroundings. "Strange... where's Shinichi?"
Kobayashi Takeshi was also stunned, then shook his head helplessly.
"Man, I didn't expect Shinichi to not even warn us... he slipped away again without a word!"
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/Viki2