August 6th, Konoha Year 60, the official start date of the Chunin Exams' third round.
This morning, Naruto's family had a hearty breakfast and then went their separate ways.
As Hokage, Minato needed to oversee the entire situation and receive some VIPs, including the Fourth Kazekage, who had been hacked.
Although both Minato and Kushina possessed sensory Ninjutsu, they couldn't confirm whether the Kazekage was Orochimaru in disguise, possibly because he had changed skins so many times. Since Chakra was composed of physical and spiritual energy, Orochimaru's Chakra might have changed a long time ago.
Kushina needed to go to the Barrier Team to reconfirm the barrier, and then go to the arena to watch the matches.
Kimimaro had recovered almost completely after two days of recuperation. Following the route designated by Minato, he went for a morning run with his three Melon Head Team teammates, but in reality, he was responsible for patrolling.
As everyone knew, the Melon Head Team passed through various places in Konoha every day. Even the tourists were used to it, so they were probably the most inconspicuous patrol team...
Haku and Karin stayed at home because, although they had decided to continue being ninjas in the future, Haku had not yet been officially incorporated into a Konoha ninja squad, and Karin still needed to brush up on the basics. Therefore, in the event of a war in Konoha, it was better for them to stay at home. As for why they didn't go to the shelter... just kidding, once the barrier at home was activated, its defensive capabilities were no worse than the shelter's.
Naruto, needless to say, as a contestant, had to participate in the competition. He also planned to send four Shadow Clones to the east, south, west, and north directions of Konoha to be responsible for liaison work. Although his dad might have arranged for the Yamanaka clan, it was better to be prepared, anyway, it would only waste a little Chakra.
Neighboring countries. Countries that had an alliance with the Land of Fire. Or nominally an alliance, but actually a subordinate. These countries sent important figures to watch the competition.
Since Naruto arrived relatively early, the stands were empty when he arrived at the arena. It looked like a dueling arena or a Head-Patting Arena from some money-grabbing mobile game. He wondered if he could pat Gaara's head when they fought later.
Only Genma was in the waiting room, with a senbon in his mouth, looking like he was very handsome.
"Brother Genma, are you the proctor today?" Naruto greeted.
"Naruto, you're here early. I am indeed the proctor, but I won't go easy on you." Genma said with the senbon in his mouth, which trembled as if it might fall down at any moment.
"That doesn't matter. I'm just curious, do you really not have a younger sister named Mai Shiranui?"
Genma, full name Shiranui Genma, a member of the Shadow Guard, Naruto had met him many times and was quite familiar with him. He, Tatami Iwashi, and Namikaze Raidō were collectively known as the Genma Squad, and they could use the Flying Thunder Formation Technique—since the Flying Thunder God Technique was too difficult to learn, Minato had improved it so that the three of them could use it together, but still only they had learned it.
"You've asked me many times, I really don't have a younger sister, and I don't know anything about Mai Shiranui." Genma replied helplessly, but this name was not bad, and he could consider using it if he had a daughter in the future. It seemed that Naruto was more normal at naming than the Fourth Hokage.
(Sarutobi Laifu, who failed to challenge his grandfather with Frostmourne the day before yesterday, said you were too naive.)
"What about Brother Hayate?" Naruto remembered that he hadn't had time to take revenge on him yet. He shouldn't have been beaten to death, right?
"He has other tasks." Genma thought, such an important occasion, of course, they couldn't send someone who kept coughing to be the proctor, it would affect Konoha's image too much, but it was hard to say this to Naruto. Damn it, why could a guy like Hayate have a girlfriend?
After chatting with Genma for a few words, he finally waited for the first little partner to arrive.
"Oh, Shikamaru, you actually came so early? Where's Choji?" Naruto asked.
"Choji, because he was too nervous last night, he ate a lot of things, and as a result, he got a stomachache and is still in the hospital."
The reason why Shikamaru came so early was because he had clearly calculated the time in the morning and wanted to lie down at home for a while longer, but his mother nagged him a few times. His father helped explain, but he was also complained about by his mother, who said that the lazy ghosts of the Nara family were hopeless, etc. According to his mother's habits, he estimated that he and his father would be kicked out of the house together in five minutes, so he might as well come out earlier.
As for why he didn't explain it to Naruto, it was too troublesome.
"Huh?" Naruto, upon learning that Choji would be absent, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Well, that was very Choji. If Kiba knew that Choji had defeated him and then was absent from the finals for this reason, he wondered if he would be depressed to the point of self-isolation.
Next, the contestants arrived one after another, and the audience entered. Hinata was sitting in the audience area with Hiashi, Hizashi, and Hanabi, and the other Xiaoqiang who had not qualified for the finals were also in the audience area.
At this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing a dress specially prepared for him by Biwako, stood behind Minato as the Third Hokage, preparing to watch the ceremony. Retirement was retirement, but he still had to show his face on this occasion.
Looking at the Kazekage walking onto the stage, Minato greeted, "Fourth Kazekage, you've had a long journey."
The Kazekage looked at Minato, and then deeply looked at the Third Hokage behind Minato, and said, "Fourth Hokage, I've heard of you for a long time. Third Hokage, you look quite healthy."
"Although I'm getting old, I still want to watch the young sprouts of Konoha grow up well." The Third Hokage thought he was just being polite, and looking at the Konoha examinees in the arena, he was overjoyed. Choosing Minato back then was indeed the right decision.
"It's about time, let's begin." Minato said, walking to the front of the stage, and said with a full voice:
"Thank you, distinguished guests, for coming to watch the Chunin Exams. Now, the third round of the exam officially begins!"
"Oh~" A huge cheer erupted from the audience.
Genma looked at the examinees, took out a piece of paper, and said to the 8 contestants in front of him, "Everyone is here. Dosu and Zaku from the Hidden Sound Village are late without reason and are considered to have forfeited the exam. Akimichi Choji from Konoha Village is absent due to illness, so the order of your battles has also changed. Please reconfirm your respective opponents."
Naruto looked at the list. The first match was Sasuke versus Rock Lee, the second match was Neji versus Kankuro, the third match was himself versus Gaara, and the fourth match was Shikamaru versus Shino.
Genma, seeing that the examinees had finished reading the list, said, "Then Uchiha Sasuke and Rock Lee, who are in the first match, please stay, and the others go to the waiting area."
The examinees retreated one after another. Naruto lagged behind a step, looked up at the weather—it was a sunny day—and then looked at Sasuke's cool expression, thinking, This kid isn't going to get beaten up, is he?
So Naruto specially reminded Sasuke, "Don't underestimate him, Sasuke, be careful of a mishap."
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