"Ahem, anyway, for this second exam, my fellow proctors and I are here to greet you examinees. For you all, I'm a pretty important messenger, you know."
Iruka cleared his throat twice and got back on topic. "Anyway—first, congratulations on passing the second exam. And with the best record in history at that."
"This test was designed to evaluate your ability to actually carry out a mission. Opening the scrolls along the way was a forbidden act. Escorting confidential intelligence to the destination—that was the test. Mn, not including the part about swapping out the exam papers ahead of time so everyone else would fail."
Hanabi tilted her head, stuck out her tongue, and tried to look cute. "Ehehe~"
[Ehehe my ass]
[The Chunin Exam arc, gloriously concluded]
[Morino Ibiki, the man who saved the entire story]
[The examiners after this are going to be guarding against Hanabi like she's a thief]
"Anyway, this five-day test is to see whether you're qualified to be Chunin. You took a shortcut, sure, but intelligence is part of strength too."
Once he'd said that, Iruka stepped back to the writing on the wall.
"The text here is the Chunin credo written by Lord Third. The characters missing from it are the 'human' character you just saw in the scroll."
Iruka read it out: "If there is no heaven, then know wisdom in preparation for opportunity. If there is no earth, then seek out the source in pursuit of gain. Open the Heaven and Earth scrolls, and the dangerous road returns to the proper path. This is the ultimate principle of the human, and can be a guide."
"'Heaven' here means a person's mind, and 'earth' means a person's body. The first line means: if you don't have a brain—like Naruto—you need to study and build up knowledge so you're ready when the time comes. The second line is, if your stamina is the weak point, you need to train relentlessly. If you possess both heaven and earth, you'll always be able to complete a mission safely. And 'human' is the symbol of a Chunin."
"A Chunin is the leader of a squad—they bear the responsibility of leading the team. Don't ever forget this Chunin credo. And that's what I came to pass on to you."
Iruka had given Naruto a lesson again, for the first time in a while.
"Got it~"
Naruto thumped his chest in acknowledgment.
"Ah. You all are… the students I'm proudest of. Naruto—give it your all in the third exam."
Best record in history for clearing the second exam.
Whether by cleverness or not, it proved that the three of them were no longer who they used to be.
Maybe… they'd already surpassed him.
"Yo!" Naruto adjusted the forehead protector on his head.
It was the one Iruka had given him.
"Of course." Sasuke's gaze hardened.
"Mn-hm~" Hanabi was the same as ever.
After meeting with Iruka, the three of them entered the tower.
Karin had been moved inside to recover too.
A little later, Hikari arrived.
"Hanabi!"
Hikari greeted Hanabi the moment she came in.
"Mn?"
Sasuke looked over at her.
This person resembled him a little, and even gave off a strange, familiar feeling.
"Right, I think I saw her this morning…"
Hadn't she come to deliver a bento for Hanabi?
"Yo, hi there, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. So you're Hanabi's friend?!" Naruto greeted her with his usual brash energy.
What he got in return was a look of pure disgust from Hikari.
"Uh." Naruto had the door slammed in his face.
"This is Hikari, my friend. She's staying in the annex you used to use," Hanabi said.
"She… came alone?"
Sasuke wasn't Naruto—naturally, he caught the issue.
"You're joking, right, alone?!" Naruto was just as shocked once he caught on.
"It's nothing. Hanabi can do it too." Hikari's expression was withering.
Sasuke was nonplussed—when had he ever offended her?
"On an actual battlefield, this so-called Forest of Death is just a joke."
As someone who'd come from the Warring States period to the present, Hikari had the standing to say that.
"Uu…"
At that moment, Karin came to.
"I'm… ah…"
Even though everyone around her was a stranger, the blond who'd called himself her relative was still there, which let Karin relax. There was also a handsome boy beside him.
To Karin's surprise, the bite marks on her hand seemed to be gone, and her body no longer felt as weak as before.
—Had these people healed her?
"Karin, your teammates… they've already… mn…" Naruto stumbled. "Anyway, you'd really better not go back to Kusagakure."
"It's hard to explain in detail right now," Hanabi said. "But if you want to escape Kusagakure, we can help you."
"Hanabi was the one who healed you, you know." Naruto didn't know exactly how Hanabi had healed Karin, but it was definitely Hanabi who did it. "Oh, right—this is Hyuga Hanabi, this is Uchiha Sasuke. They're my teammates and friends, and they're people you can trust."
"Thank you." Karin bowed her thanks to Hanabi.
"So—do you want to escape Kusagakure? We'll shelter you," Hanabi said.
"But… won't that cause you trouble?" Karin hesitated.
"Are you kidding? When has Kusa ever dared to come knocking on Konoha's door?" Sasuke didn't particularly like the deadweight, but he didn't dislike her either. She was simply an outsider.
His words snapping her out of it, Karin steadied herself.
"Please… help me. Is there anything I should do?" Karin's mother was already dead. There was nothing left for her in Kusagakure.
"Of course. Just one thing—please, live well." Hanabi smiled. "Hikari, I'll leave it to you. Take her out of here first."
"Mn!" Hikari answered.
Then Hanabi escorted Karin and Hikari to the back door.
"By the way, Hikari—what do you think of Sasuke?" Since the camera wasn't on her, Hanabi just asked directly.
Karin couldn't understand them anyway.
"His strength is mediocre. I could finish him one-handed. The grit, though, isn't bad," Hikari said.
Karin didn't say anything.
She just felt these two were calmly discussing the handsome boy who, apparently, was named Sasuke.
And right now, Karin's read on Sasuke was simple:
So that cocky-looking handsome boy is actually a dead-last who can't fight?
Then Naruto must be the genius top student!
"Achoo—! Achoo—!"
Naruto sneezed twice in a row.
"Naruto." Kushina's voice sounded in Naruto's ear.
"Huh? What?" Naruto looked up.
"I have another jutsu here. Your current situation is dangerous—I think you need it right now…"
"What is it?" The fox demon was going to teach him another jutsu?
"This time I can actually learn it, right?"
Adamantine Sealing Chains had been too hard, but this time it shouldn't be that kind of thing—right?
"Ah, this one is a signless ninjutsu—the Rasengan."