"A blank paper?"
Sasuke thought it over for a moment, then nodded. "As rookies who just graduated, we haven't done anything outstanding, and we've barely been on real missions. Yet Kakashi-sensei recommended us for the Chūnin Exams. Something about that feels off."
"And you were preparing for this Chūnin Exam months ago. That means the new genin in our year were already arranged by Konoha's higher-ups. Which also means—even if I turn in a zero on the written test, I'd still pass the first stage."
"Oh?" Naruto stared at him with amused interest. "So you think I'll hand in a blank paper too? Then what?"
"I used to think it was coincidence that you and I ended up on the same squad," Sasuke continued, eyes locked on Naruto. "But after everything you've done in Team 7… and after Kakashi told me not to teach you Chidori… I finally understood. That was arranged too."
Sasuke's voice stayed calm. "Kakashi's been desperate to raise my strength. Especially after I first awakened the Sharingan, he taught me with everything he had, holding nothing back."
"That's not normal. Not when you deliberately act like an idiot during training. And judging by talent alone, Sakura's ability isn't weaker than mine—yet Kakashi treats her halfheartedly. Even stranger: he acts indifferent to you most of the time, but whenever we went on missions, his attention was always on you."
"They're watching you. Konoha is watching you. Even Kakashi pushing me so hard… it's to counter you."
Clap, clap, clap.
Applause echoed in the lab.
Naruto's expression remained even as he spoke. "Anything else you haven't said?"
"Yes. I have one last question I need to confirm."
Seeing that Naruto wasn't wearing his usual mocking look, Sasuke steadied himself and pressed on. "You told me to switch to two three-tomoe Sharingan, to be ready to use Izanagi. Is it because someone plans to steal my eyes during the Chūnin Exams?"
"No."
Naruto shook his head slightly, then curved his lips. "So after all that, that's what you really wanted to confirm?"
"Yes."
Annoyance flashed through Sasuke's eyes—because Naruto's familiar expression was back.
"It's not as simple as someone coveting your eyes," Naruto said. He formed a few hand seals, his tone turning eerie. "Someone has their sights on you. They want to claim you—body and mind."
"…What?" Sasuke had just finished recording the hand seals Naruto used. Hearing that, a chill crawled up his spine. He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Naruto said. "The meaning you're thinking of."
Naruto stepped behind him and slapped a palm between Sasuke's shoulder blades. A black sealing formula flashed and vanished.
"You sealed half my chakra?" Sasuke tested it, then asked, "Why don't you seal your own chakra too?"
"I don't need to," Naruto replied.
He formed another seal, creating a Shadow Clone. "And this is the only jutsu I bother showing. If I sealed my chakra on top of that, do you think the village would still let me take the Chūnin Exams?"
"What do you mean by that…?" Sasuke's gaze shifted. "Don't tell me you already—"
"You should go prepare for tomorrow's exam," Naruto cut in.
Before Sasuke could finish, the Shadow Clone grabbed him—and vanished.
As soon as Sasuke was gone, a pale, projected figure appeared in the lab.
"Elder Hiashi," Naruto said evenly. "Contacting me at a time like this… what is it?"
The next day, 2:00 p.m.
Outside the Ninja Academy, Sakura sat on a swing, glancing around again and again. After a while, a figure entered her view, and she immediately hopped down.
"Sasuke-kun~ You're here!"
"Yeah. Naruto hasn't arrived yet?" Sasuke asked.
"No," Sakura said. She pulled out a small digital watch from her pouch and checked the time, lowering her voice. "It's still early—Naruto should…"
Before she could finish, Sasuke's eyes shifted to the side. Following his gaze, Sakura saw Naruto strolling toward them, unhurried as ever.
"Afternoon," Naruto greeted with a smile. "Am I late?"
"Uh—no," Sakura shook her head.
But inside, her inner voice was screaming: Jerk! I got here right after lunch at noon!
Sasuke didn't answer. He only looked at Naruto.
After returning to Konoha last night, Sasuke had replayed Naruto's words over and over. Add in how Naruto's sealing technique had once prevented him from using Water Style… and how Sasuke himself had "never been able" to master the other jutsu Kakashi taught him…
Sasuke finally understood.
Someone had sealed Naruto's power—someone from Konoha. Which explained why Naruto kept pretending he only knew the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
But did Konoha's seal actually work?
Obviously not. If it did, Naruto wouldn't be this terrifying.
What Sasuke couldn't figure out was what Naruto intended to do during the Chūnin Exams. And beyond that—what role Sasuke played in Naruto's plan.
"What?" Naruto asked calmly. "Do you have a problem with me?"
"Let's go." Sasuke withdrew his gaze and headed for the Academy gates.
Sakura was still confused by the look Sasuke had given Naruto. When Sasuke started walking, she hurried to follow.
Naruto paused a moment longer before entering the Academy.
The three of them went to the old classroom building. Just as they reached the second floor, Sakura's expression tightened—she was about to speak, but Sasuke turned without hesitation and walked toward the staircase leading to the third floor instead. Naruto smiled and followed.
"As expected of Sasuke-kun!" Sakura blinked, then hurried up to walk at his side, admiration in her eyes.
Sasuke frowned slightly. He could tell she wasn't just swooning—but it still sounded irritating.
If he couldn't spot a cheap genin-baiting genjutsu trap like that, what right did he have to be an Uchiha?
They soon arrived at Room 301. When they pushed the door open and entered, dozens of eyes immediately turned to size them up.
"So many people… are they all here for the Chūnin Exams?" Sakura whispered, stunned. A rough glance told her there had to be over a hundred.
"Sasuke! You finally came!" A figure lunged straight at him.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke shifted aside and asked coldly.
He recognized her—Yamanaka Ino, one of the girls who used to chase after him.
"Stay away from Sasuke!" Sakura snapped, stepping in front of him.
"Oh my, I didn't notice you were here too, Sakura." Ino smirked. "But Sasuke-kun would never like a big-foreheaded ugly girl like you~"
"What did you say, Ino-pig?!"
"I said you're ugly!"
Sasuke's eyes filled with disgust. When he glanced away, he realized Naruto had somehow drifted into another cluster of people—talking with Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chōji.
Hinata still doesn't know the Hyūga are about to break away from Konoha? Sasuke thought sourly.
Hinata looked like a naive girl as she spoke to Naruto—so normal it was almost unsettling.
Then Sasuke's eyes narrowed sharply and he turned toward the crowd.
At least four people just locked onto me.
He scanned the room, but the sensation vanished as quickly as it came. Remembering what Naruto had said yesterday, that creeping chill rose again.
At that moment, a man stepped forward—silver hair tied into a ponytail, glasses perched on his nose.
"You rookies should keep it down," he said in a soothing tone. "The exam will start soon."
"Who are you?!" Sakura and Ino shouted in unison, snapping their heads toward him mid-argument.
"I'm Yakushi Kabuto," he introduced himself softly, smiling. "As a senior who's participated before, I suggest you take this more seriously."
"Huh?" Sakura sized him up, puzzled. "Then why are you still here, senpai?"
"Can't be helped." Kabuto scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "I've taken the Chūnin Selection Exam seven times. I failed every time."
"Seven times…?" Shikamaru's eyes sharpened. His father had warned him: the cruelest part of the Chūnin Exams wasn't whether you passed—it was whether you survived.
This guy was not simple.
"Then you must know the exams really well, senpai," Naruto said, stepping to the front with curiosity. "Could you tell us rookies anything about what's coming?"
"It's this kid…" Kabuto stared at Naruto as old memories surfaced—of slipping back into Konoha years ago, in a corridor.
Remembering his mission, Kabuto swept his gaze around the room. His eyes lingered on Sasuke for the briefest moment before he took a few steps forward. He glanced at the wall clock, then pulled a stack of cards from his waist pouch and crouched down.
"Alright, I'll share a little information with you cute juniors," he said. "But time's short, so I'll keep it brief."
"These cards are intel I collected over the last four years. They contain personal information on the other participants in this Chūnin Exam. If there's someone you're interested in, then as long as—"
BANG!
Before Kabuto could finish, a thick cloud of smoke erupted from the front platform.
"Quiet down, all of you!"
Everyone jolted and turned. When the smoke cleared, Morino Ibiki stood there with more than a dozen proctors behind him.
Kabuto, still crouched, darkened his gaze. He'd still have chances to complete his task later—but being interrupted like this was irritating.
"Get up, senpai," Naruto said, offering him a hand. "Didn't expect the proctors to arrive this early. Too bad—we didn't get to hear your intel."
"It's not that the proctors arrived early," Kabuto replied with a smile as he took Naruto's hand and stood. "It's that you arrived a bit late."
Then, after a moment, Kabuto asked, "Your name is Naruto, right?"
Naruto looked surprised. "You know me?"
"Heh. Like I said—I collected everyone's information. Of course you're included."
Kabuto glanced at Ibiki, who was already announcing rules. With one hand on Naruto's shoulder, he leaned in and whispered:
"Just a friendly tip… if you cheat, be careful. Get caught, and you'll be eliminated."
After that, Kabuto straightened, adjusted his glasses, and gave Naruto a narrowed-eyed smile before heading toward the front.
Meanwhile, everyone began collecting their seat number tags.
A short while later, Naruto received his own—and to his surprise, aside from the seats to his right and front, the people on his left and behind were familiar faces.
Behind him was Inuzuka Kiba, a dog perched on his head, wearing a cold grin. To Naruto's left was his old buddy Chōji, practically vibrating with excitement as he kept shooting Naruto looks.
Naruto couldn't help but laugh. Chōji was doomed to be disappointed.
Soon the proctors distributed the test papers. Naruto wrote his name and set his pencil down.
A few minutes later, he propped his chin up with his left hand. His consciousness slipped into a "mirror world." He opened a pop-up window and saw that only one battle was currently underway. He expanded it and watched:
Only Minamoto Yoshikazu was fighting Chiyo's puppets, while the four tailed beasts watched like spectators.
Naruto shook his head, closed the window, and tapped Kabuto's icon.
"Heh. After shaking hands with me, you even sprinkled tracking powder on my shoulder."
Naruto smiled faintly, then opened the Third Hokage's icon.
"Jiraiya still hasn't returned… is he really planning to wait until the preliminaries are over before coming back to Konoha…?"
"Tch. Danzō actually had people disguise themselves as Iwagakure and Kumogakure shinobi to harass the borders before the finals. The Third has to stay in the village as Hokage—so naturally, he sent that 'Darkness of the Shinobi World' out to the front lines last night."
"That way, if Orochimaru shows up in the Forest of Death tomorrow, it won't be Danzō's fault—at least, not on the surface. There'll be no evidence linking it to him."
The conversation on-screen was… interesting. Though Danzō accepted the Third Hokage's order with a gloomy expression, he claimed he was stretched too thin: he could only go to deal with Kumogakure's side, while the Iwagakure front would require the Hokage to send someone else.
After a brief pause, the Third ordered someone to notify the village's two other advisors. In the end, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were sent together to command the defensive line near Iwagakure.
Watching Homura and Koharu, Naruto recalled an arc from his previous life—when Kakashi had nearly become Hokage.
Back then, after news returned that Danzō had been killed by Sasuke, those two advisors approached Kakashi and urged him to become Hokage. Their evaluation of Danzō wasn't mild at all—they even said that the era when "Hiruzen handled the outside, and Danzō handled the inside" was Konoha at its strongest.
The screen quickly went dark.
Naruto looked once, selected Uchiha Itachi's icon—and his body instantly turned into a streak of light.
At the same time, the Third Hokage sat on a sofa in a spacious room inside the Academy's administration wing. Kakashi and Yamato stood behind him.
On the wall ahead hung a large monitor displaying the live feed from Room 301.
After a while, the Third Hokage frowned. He raised a black remote and pressed a button—the camera zoomed in on Sasuke.
"He hasn't written a single word?"
Kakashi's gaze sharpened, but he didn't speak. Sasuke sat with his arms crossed, unmoving. He hadn't even written his name.
Yamato stayed silent as well. He had his guesses, but since Kakashi—Sasuke's jōnin-sensei—wasn't speaking, he held his tongue.
The Third pressed another button. The feed switched to Naruto.
"What's going on? Naruto isn't writing either?"
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