"I don't understand why you're fighting me… with your strength," said Tendo Pain, voice unusually tinged with human emotion. "Why resist?"
"I knew I would die," Hinata replied, quietly.
For the first time, Pain's otherwise cold and mechanical tone revealed confusion—genuine puzzlement.
Hinata Hyuga had reached Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto, pinned down by black chakra rods, looked up as she approached. From his view, her form shimmered in the sunlight—blood trailing from her forehead, smearing down her nose and past her lips.
His voice trembled. "Hinata…"
He didn't understand. Why would she do this?
He had lived his entire life in solitude. Since childhood, he had been scorned, feared, left alone. Only after becoming a ninja and being placed into Team 7 did he begin to form real bonds.
To Naruto, Sasuke Uchiha had always been a rival—but also the first person he considered a true comrade. Jiraiya wasn't just a master—he was a father figure.
But then Sasuke left.
And Jiraiya died.
He returned to his isolation.
So Naruto never expected—never believed—anyone would stand for him like this. Especially not someone like Hinata.
Her sacrifice stunned him.
Why?
Why would she choose to do this—for him?
Blood dripping, face bruised, Hinata forced a soft smile—one beautiful, yet hauntingly sorrowful. It was a smile that seared itself into Naruto's soul like a blinding light in a void.
Then, she spoke—words that broke something deep within him.
"Do what you say… and move forward bravely."
"Because…"
"This is… my way of ninja."
Naruto's eyes widened. His pupils dilated.
He stared at her, utterly paralyzed—not by pain, but by the weight of her words.
These weren't empty declarations. They weren't confessions of love. They were something deeper—something that spoke to his very core.
In that moment, those words pierced him more than if she'd said, "Because I love you, Naruto-kun."
Pain, uninterested in prolonging the scene, struck her with a swift blow—sending Hinata flying. Her small body crashed near him, kicking up a storm of dust.
Without pause, Pain summoned a black chakra rod into his hand and thrust it directly into Hinata's chest—piercing her heart.
Pfft!
---
"Hinata!"
---
Far away, in the Hyuga Clan compound, an explosive force burst forth.
Doors and windows shattered. The walls trembled.
Hyuga Hiashi, eyes wide with anguish, let out a silent scream. His Byakugan flared as wind swirled around him. His hair floated as if defying gravity.
Beside him, Hanabi Hyuga trembled in terror.
But Hiashi swallowed the seething rage and sorrow in his heart. With a strained smile, he knelt beside Hanabi and whispered:
"Don't tell your sister… what happened today."
---
"Just like that? She died just like that?" Killer Bee snapped, voice unusually devoid of rhythm or rhyme.
"Trash Konoha! Utter trash!"
Even he had no words to rhyme. Hinata's death stunned him speechless.
Not just him—all of Kumogakure was seething.
Of the six Paths of Pain, four had already been destroyed by Naruto. Hinata had managed to destroy another. Only Tendo remained.
And yet—no one from Konoha moved.
Not one jonin.
Not one clan head.
Not even the Hyuga clan.
It was shameful.
Disgraceful.
Hinata had restrained Pain. If even a few had jumped in to assist—perhaps even to free Naruto—the entire tide of battle might've changed.
But the Konoha shinobi… just watched.
---
Onlookers from above—silent.
Even those with blood ties to Hinata—motionless.
Laughable.
---
Yugito Nii's knuckles turned white. The Kumo-nin could barely contain their disgust.
Was this what it meant to be "the greatest village in the world"?
To let your comrades die?
Konoha… truly excelled at one thing:
Failure.
---
"You Konoha shinobi should be proud," a Kumo-nin scoffed.
"Top-tier cowardice. Top-tier hypocrisy."
"Congratulations—No. 1 Ninja Village? You're No. 1 in shame!"
"Put that in the exam space: Konoha—greatest turtle in the ninja world!"
Laughter followed. Bitter, scornful laughter.
---
In Sunagakure, Gaara watched, unmoving.
In Hinata, he saw a kindred spirit.
Someone abandoned by the world.
Just like him.
Just like Naruto.
---
Back in the Exam Space, Jiraiya's fists clenched.
His face was pale.
He couldn't believe it—Konoha's upper echelon had simply stood by.
He couldn't understand.
Konoha wasn't a village of cowards. Hatake Kakashi, Choza Akimichi, and many others had given their lives in battle.
So why…?
Why now?
---
"Dead... she's really dead?" Naruto whispered, stunned.
As Hinata collapsed, a sharp pain tore through his chest.
Like something vital was yanked out of him.
On-screen, Naruto howled—a deep, primal roar. His body distorted, red chakra erupting around him. Bones snapped. Fangs grew. The Nine-Tails emerged, cloaked in hatred and fury.
The screen flashed—
---
[Uzumaki Naruto defeated and persuaded Pain. All who died in the Konoha attack were resurrected.]
---
The image shifted.
Hatake Kakashi walked through Konoha's shattered gates, Naruto slung over his shoulder. Dozens of villagers waited—tears in their eyes.
A hero had returned.
Cheers erupted.
The screen faded.
---
[End of the Fifth Question Analysis]
---
"…That's it?" someone gasped.
"…It's over?"
"What the hell!?"
"That's how you end it?"
---
Frustration erupted across the ninja world.
The video cut off just as Naruto transformed—just when things were getting good.
They wanted to see the full Nine-Tails vs. Pain battle! To see the destruction, the power—Naruto's wrath unleashed.
But instead… it ended.
Replaced by a paragraph of cold text.
Naruto convinced Pain?
People were resurrected?
How? When? Why?
No answers. Just a void.
They felt cheated.
All they saw was Hinata dying, Naruto erupting—and then... resolution?
How convenient. How cheap.
---
"It's like giving birth to a story, then skipping the labor!" someone shouted.
Others agreed.
What happened to the Nine-Tails transformation?
How did Naruto defeat Pain?
Why did Pain revive the dead?
Where was the emotional climax?
---
"Thankfully, there are still four more videos," someone muttered.
"Please let the next one not be so… anticlimactic."
"That was a kick to the gut."
---
In Kirigakure, Terumi Mei trembled with frustration.
She clenched her fist.
Something about that scene gnawed at her—like claws dragging across her chest.
It left her breathless.
---
Meanwhile, in the Exam Space, the Akatsuki watched in silence.
They had been waiting to mock their leader—Nagato—but the screen had betrayed them all.
Only Nagato understood.
He watched the resurrection text with a haunted expression.
"…I used Gedo: Rinne Rebirth," he murmured.
He recognized it instantly.
At the cost of his own life—he resurrected Konoha.
But why?
Did Naruto's words reach him?
---
"I'm the only one who doesn't get to live, huh?" Nagato muttered, tongue clicking.
Behind him, Konan was tense.
Her eyes searched the space.
"…Something's watching us."
Nagato turned.
"What?"
"I'm sure of it," she whispered. "Since entering this exam space… I've felt eyes on us."
"Impossible," Nagato replied. "No one can do that. Not even me."
Then—
"Exam space," Konan called out, half-sarcastically. "Is someone watching us?"
She didn't expect an answer.
But one came.
---
[To ensure fairness in the exam, everyone in the ninja world can see your words and actions.]
[The integrity test begins with you—and me.]
---
Silence.
Utter, bone-deep silence.
Everyone froze.
Everyone went pale.
They had been watched—this entire time?
Every word. Every expression.
The ninja world had borne witness to all of it.
---
And thus, the stage was set for the next reckoning.