Even a tiny fragment of intelligence would be enough for them to formulate countermeasures against their target.
Seeing that the eyes of practically everyone in the courtyard had been drawn to him, Kabuto Yakushi simply decided to let loose.
"From what I know... Shiro once defeated a famous, elite Jonin single-handedly during his very first C-rank mission!" Kabuto announced, his voice carrying over the murmurs.
Before Kabuto's words even fully settled, sounds of absolute shock and disbelief erupted from the surrounding Genin.
"How is that even possible?!"
"Is this four-eyes joking?!"
"Exactly! If he could defeat an elite Jonin, why the hell would he even bother coming here to take a Genin-level exam?!"
Kabuto's revelation undoubtedly dropped a massive bomb into the crowd. These kids were here to take a difficult exam, not to walk into a slaughterhouse. It could be said that the vast majority of the foreign Genin simply refused to believe it; it was too absurd to comprehend.
"What is everyone panicking for?!" Gaara immediately barked, his voice laced with killing intent as he noticed even Temari and Kankuro were starting to look nervous.
"But, Gaara..." Temari began.
"It's just a Jonin," Gaara stated, his expression completely serious and devoid of fear. "It's not as if I couldn't kill one myself."
If it were a weaker, standard-issue Jonin from the Sand Village, Gaara wasn't without a realistic chance of crushing them with his absolute defense and Shukaku's power.
"Pay close attention to my phrasing," Kabuto interrupted, a slight, condescending smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "The Jonin I am talking about is vastly different from the standard Jonin of your Sunagakure."
As everyone in the shinobi world knows, every hidden village has its own, entirely different baseline standards for promoting someone to the rank of Jonin. To the Five Great Ninja Villages, a 'Jonin' from a minor, impoverished village like the Grass or the Rain might only possess the combat capabilities of a decent Chunin.
And even among the Five Great Villages, the internal standards differed significantly. If one were to ask whose Jonin standards were the absolute strictest and strongest, it would likely spark a massive debate between the Cloud and the Stone.
But if one were to ask which of the Great Villages had the absolute lowest, most desperate standards for promotion due to budget cuts and a lack of talent? That would unequivocally be Sunagakure.
Hearing Kabuto coldly state the geopolitical facts, although Temari and Kankuro desperately wanted to argue and defend their village's honor, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept that he was telling the harsh truth. Sunagakure was impoverished; their military simply couldn't compare pound-for-pound to the affluent Leaf or Cloud.
"Then does the Jonin that this 'Shiro' supposedly defeated actually have any merit?" Kankuro demanded defiantly, crossing his arms. "Maybe it was just some washed-up rogue Jonin from a pathetic minor village!"
The summary of Kankuro's argument was simple: *Your village's victory has no real weight.*
"Hmph. Ignorant. Foolish," Kabuto scoffed, adjusting his glasses.
Kabuto's blunt, double-barreled insult almost made Kankuro lose his composure and draw his puppets right then and there. Sometimes lies don't hurt, but the absolute truth is a razor-sharp blade.
"Do you honestly think I am exaggerating his strength?" Kabuto asked, his voice dropping an octave, sounding almost manic. "No. On the contrary, I have already greatly *underestimated* Shiro's capabilities for your benefit!"
Kabuto swept his gaze over the crowd. "If I possessed Shiro's power right now, I could easily slaughter every single one of you in this courtyard before you even blinked. I would leave absolutely no survivors."
"How is that possible?!"
"Stop joking around, four-eyes! There are over a hundred of us here!"
"Exactly! No matter how strong one guy is, with over a hundred elite Genin swarming him, there's no way he could kill us all!"
Quite a few of the foreign Genin were directly enraged by Kabuto's terrifying assessment. They felt insulted.
Only the rookies from Konoha, like Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino, remained silent. Their expressions grew increasingly heavy. Because they knew, deep down, that Kabuto wasn't exaggerating. In fact, based on what they had witnessed in the academy and the Land of Waves, Shiro was likely significantly stronger than what Kabuto was implying.
"If I were you lot, I would start praying right now that the 'Shiro' on the roster is just some random kid with the same name. Because otherwise..." Kabuto let the threat hang in the air, choosing not to finish his sentence.
But everyone knew exactly what the unspoken words were: *Otherwise, you're all dead.*
*Tap... Tap... Tap...*
The rhythmic sound of unhurried footsteps echoed against the stone courtyard.
"How strange. For such a massive, crowded exam venue, no one is speaking," a calm, familiar voice drifted through the tense silence. "It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop."
Before the crowd even saw the person emerge from the shadows of the academy gates, the Konoha rookies recognized the voice instantly.
"It really is Shiro. You guys are completely finished," Kabuto muttered, looking at the surrounding foreign candidates with a face full of genuine sympathy.
As for Kabuto himself? Don't be ridiculous. There was absolutely no way Shiro could defeat him before he successfully surrendered. With nearly ten years of experience in strategically failing and surrendering during these exams, Kabuto was confident he could tap out before Shiro even set his sights on him!
---
"Kabuto-senpai, what are you muttering about? Who's finished?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.
As Shiro strolled casually into the center of the courtyard, Kabuto's confident, 'know-it-all' demeanor instantly evaporated.
"Ah! L-Lord Shiro! I didn't expect you to actually arrive so early!" Kabuto stammered, offering a stiff, incredibly respectful bow.
Even when facing the unpredictable Jinchuriki, Naruto, or the menacing Gaara earlier, Kabuto hadn't shown a fraction of this submissive respect. It could truly be said that the psychological shadow Shiro had cast over the master spy's heart during their encounter at the village gates was simply too deep and traumatic to overcome.
Kabuto still vividly remembered the cold sweat that had drenched his back when he later received the updated intelligence report regarding Shiro's actions in the Land of Waves.
Zabuza Momochi—the legendary Demon of the Hidden Mist, a man who possessed the Executioner's Blade and had assassinated a Mizukage—couldn't even last a single minute against Shiro before being forced to permanently submit!
No matter how extensively Lord Orochimaru had hypothesized about Shiro's "genius" potential, it wasn't nearly as pants-wettingly terrifying as when Kabuto read that confirmed after-action report.
"Doing D-rank missions was getting far too annoying, so I decided to take the Chunin Exams for fun," Shiro stated casually, his hands resting in his pockets as he surveyed the crowd.
His nonchalant words made Kabuto incredibly nervous deep down. *For fun? He's going to massacre these kids for fun?!*
"By the way, Kabuto," Shiro asked, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "What exactly were you all discussing so passionately just now?"
Kabuto froze. He didn't believe for a second that Shiro's enhanced senses hadn't heard every single word he had just broadcasted to the courtyard.
"Ah... well... wasn't everyone just a bit curious about Konoha's newest prodigy?" Kabuto chuckled nervously, adjusting his glasses. "I was just briefly telling everyone the inspiring story of how you defeated a Jonin in the Land of Waves!"
"That's right, Shiro! That's exactly what he was doing!" Sakura suddenly spoke up, stepping forward defensively, feeling the injustice on Shiro's behalf. "These arrogant jerks from the Sand actually said the Jonin you defeated had no merit and was probably weak! It's so hateful!"
Sakura had personally witnessed the sheer, terrifying power of Zabuza Momochi! To hear these ignorant foreigners dismiss Shiro's monumental achievement as 'without merit' was truly infuriating!
But to Sakura's immense surprise, Shiro didn't get angry at all upon hearing the insult. Instead, he chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"Well, they aren't entirely wrong. Defeating Zabuza indeed doesn't hold *that* much merit in the grand scheme of things," Shiro admitted casually.
From Shiro's elevated perspective, it was the truth. If you argued that Zabuza was 'strong', Shiro couldn't go against his conscience and agree that the mercenary was truly top-tier.
Among the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist... whether you compared him to the monstrous chakra reserves of Kisame Hoshigaki or the unparalleled genius of Mangetsu Hozuki (who mastered all seven blades), Zabuza simply wasn't a match. He might not have even been a match for Juzo Biwa, the previous owner of the Executioner's Blade.
After all, there was a reason the Akatsuki Organization specifically recruited Juzo and Kisame, completely ignoring Zabuza. Didn't that explain the power scaling problem well enough?
If you argued Zabuza was 'weak'... well, he was still quite a bit stronger than the bottom-feeders of the Seven Swordsmen. This left Zabuza's overall combat standing in a very awkward, middle-tier position.
However, this clinical, dismissive comparison of strength was strictly from Shiro's god-like point of view! For everyone else in the courtyard listening to the conversation, they were completely, utterly shocked!
"Wait... did he just say... Zabuza?!"
"Could it be... the legendary Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi?!"
When the specific name 'Zabuza' was casually dropped, the arrogant expressions of many foreign Genin—especially those from the Mist and the Sand—instantly drained of color.
"It's said that Zabuza is a master of silent assassination! His 'Silent Killing Technique' is so flawless that it's famous across the entire Ninja World! He's an S-class threat!" a Rain genin yelled, panicking.
"How is that possible?!" Temari gasped, taking a step back, her eyes wide. Kankuro looked equally stunned, his previous bravado vanishing entirely.
"For someone strong enough to defeat the Demon of the Mist to also come and take a Genin exam..." Temari muttered, looking at Shiro with newfound terror. "Then aren't the rest of us completely doomed?"
It had to be said that the casual confirmation of Shiro's achievement was a massive psychological blow to the surrounding competitors. But they had no choice; as shinobi representing their nations, if they cowardly withdrew from the exams before they even began, they would face severe punishment, or even execution, from their respective Kage.
"What's the matter, Kabuto?" Shiro asked, amused by the spy's terror. "Is that all the intelligence you have on me?"
"I-I swear, Lord Shiro! After our... pleasant conversation outside the gates last time, I haven't dared to leak or investigate a single piece of your classified information!" Kabuto babbled, bowing repeatedly.
Shiro was almost amused by Kabuto's frantic behavior. He had only casually shattered the man's psychological core once, but he hadn't expected the master spy to actually remain this traumatized.
"Hmph! So you're this famous 'Shiro'?"
Suddenly, a harsh, grating voice cut through the fearful silence. Someone actually had the audacity to step forward and question Shiro directly.
Shiro slowly turned his head. He looked at Zaku Abumi, one of the three Sound Ninja, who was currently sneering and spouting arrogant nonsense in front of him.
In the very next millisecond!
*Whoosh!*
Shiro vanished. He bypassed the entire courtyard and reappeared, his hand clamping down in an iron, inescapable death grip around a throat.
But it wasn't Zaku's throat.
"GHK! COUGH!"
"I—!!!"
Dosu Kinuta, the leader of the Sound trio who had been standing silently in the back, found his face turning a vibrant, suffocating shade of purple as he was effortlessly lifted completely off his feet by his neck. He couldn't force a single syllable past Shiro's crushing grip.
"So fast!" Gaara's sea-foam eyes widened in absolute shock. *What just happened?! How did he cross that distance?!* With over a hundred highly trained Genin present, not a single person—not even Sasuke with his Sharingan—had been able to track Shiro's movement.
The unfortunate Dosu dangled helplessly, kicking his legs, his single visible eye bulging wide in terror and extreme confusion as Shiro held him suspended in the air.
However, Shiro ultimately decided not to snap the boy's neck right there. Instead, with a flick of his wrist, he violently flung Dosu across the courtyard.
*CRASH!*
Dosu slammed heavily into the academy's exterior wall, cracking the plaster before crumpling to the ground.
"COUGH! HACK! COUGH!"
It took Dosu a long, agonizing minute of gasping for air to finally process what had just occurred. He looked up, clutching his bruised throat.
"Wait... *he* was the one who shouted at you and insulted you!" Dosu rasped, pointing a shaking finger at the dumbfounded Zaku standing nearby. "Why the hell did you attack *me*?!"
At this moment, the surrounding Genin witnessed a truly rare sight: a look of pure, unadulterated, comical grievance on a ruthless Sound ninja's face.
It was utter grievance. Dosu had literally done nothing! He had specifically planned to stay quiet and avoid this exact scenario! Just because his idiot teammate decided to run his mouth, why did Shiro suddenly bypass the loudmouth to attack the silent leader?!
"Oh?" Shiro tilted his head, looking down at Dosu with cold, empty eyes. "Are you questioning my targeting choices?"