Chapter 24: The Shameful Huaomao Prepares to Strike

“Ino, get down from me right now!”

Hachikumo, seeing Ino’s affectionate gesture, immediately grew displeased.

She crossed her arms, her eyebrows furrowed, her face brimming with irritation.

A sour scent of jealousy spread through the air.

Upon hearing this, Ino leapt off Rojie’s back and glared defiantly at Hachikumo.

“Rojie hasn’t said anything—why are Itachi yelling?”

She crossed her arms, tilted her chin up slightly, exuding a defiant air.

Hachikumo’s cheeks flushed red with anger; she stepped forward, standing toe-to-toe with Ino.

“Itachi’re not even on our team—stop hovering around.”

Just as the two were locked in heated exchange, a voice suddenly cut through, instantly silencing the squabbling genin.

“Itachi kids, quiet down a bit.”

“Itachi’d better look around—everyone here has been watching Itachi.”

At these words, the genin immediately grew alert and scanned their surroundings.

Only then did they realize they had become the center of attention, every hostile gaze piercing them like arrows.

After all, they looked like unripe brats.

They looked easy to bully.

Why kick a steel plate when Itachi can kick cotton?

Over at the Suna trio’s side.

A narrow-eyed boy with purple markings on his face stared at them with open provocation.

These brats dare to enter the Chunin Exams?

What do they think ninja are?

A child’s game?

Only in Konoha could such greenhouse flowers ever grow.

The Suna village’s beauty watched from the side, munching popcorn.

Konoha women fighting is far more entertaining than ours in the Land of Wind.

At that moment, a figure stepped slowly out from the crowd.

He wore glasses, his face wearing a gentle smile.

He was none other than the missionary of the Science Cult, the engineer of Edo Tensei, the self-evolving experiment subject, the desecrator of Sage Mode…

Konoha’s greatest dream-weaver, Kabuto Yakushi.

“I’m Kabuto. Consider me your senior.”

As he spoke, Kabuto pointed his thumb at his Konoha forehead protector, indicating his affiliation.

“This is my seventh time taking the Chunin Exams…”

Kabuto’s voice carried a faint note of nostalgia.

“So Itachi’re the bottom of the class?”

Naruto’s eyes widened in shock, his mouth hanging open as if he could swallow an egg whole.

This was the first time he’d ever met someone even more pathetic than himself.

Kabuto froze, his smile vanishing.

The words carried little harm—but immense insult.

He, of all people, had been mocked by a bottom-feeder.

Kabuto narrowed his eyes slightly.

A jinchuriki?

What a troublesome brat.

He chose to ignore the inherently evil fox brat and turned his gaze to the other Konoha genin.

“Ninja battles are, at their core, battles of intelligence.”

“Though my strength isn’t remarkable, I haven’t wasted these seven Chunin Exams.”

As he spoke, he pulled a stack of meticulously prepared ninja ID cards from his robes as if performing a magic trick.

The cards were neatly arranged, each densely filled with detailed information.

“These contain all the intelligence I’ve gathered—detailed profiles on nearly every candidate.”

“Of course, they may not be one hundred percent complete—but all publicly available data is here…”

He paused deliberately, letting his gaze sweep across each face.

“Including yours.”

Everyone’s attention snapped to him.

“What about Rock Lee? Do Itachi have info on him?” Sasuke suddenly asked.

Just moments ago, Sasuke had encountered that green spandex weirdo—and it had shaken him.

Perfect. The target was hooked.

Kabuto secretly smiled inwardly.

“Of course I do.”

“Don’t underestimate my intel network.”

With practiced ease, he pulled one card from the stack—clearly bearing Rock Lee’s name.

“Rock Lee, Konoha genin, sensei is Jonin Might Guy; like Itachi, this is his first time taking the exam…”

As he spoke, Kabuto handed the card to Sasuke.

Sasuke took it, his eyes instantly locked onto the detailed data.

The card listed not only Lee’s estimated strength but also the number of missions he’d completed—its depth was astonishing.

Kabuto hadn’t yet finished speaking.

The door to the exam hall swung open as Senju Ibiki entered with a group of examiners, striding forward.

He was tall and burly, his facial scar glaringly prominent.

His cold gaze sliced through the room like a blade.

Instantly, the hall fell silent.

“The first stage of the Chunin Selection Exam begins now!”

Rojie heard this and felt a pang of regret.

He hadn’t expected Ibiki to arrive so early.

He’d miss seeing the mysterious bandaged man—Lord Toso’s performance.

What a shame.

Toso’s one-in-a-lifetime spotlight moment—gone.

…

As the candidates took their seats,

Exams were quickly distributed to each student.

Everyone stared—and gasped sharply, contributing to global warming.

The exam’s difficulty was beyond imagination.

Except for someone like Sakura the Ultimate Grind Queen.

Whether it was Naruto, the dropout who never finished kindergarten-level training, or other normal genin who’d graduated from ninja academy, all were placed on the same starting line.

Indeed…

Fair and impartial!

But the purpose of this exam wasn’t to test knowledge.

Among the candidates were examiners holding the correct answers.

This exam primarily tested genin intelligence-gathering ability.

In short, it aimed to filter out two types of people.

One who could gather intelligence themselves, and one whose teammate could gather intelligence and share it with them.

The thigh and the thigh accessory.

Morihei Ibiki stood on the podium, coldly observing the genin.

He occasionally gave subtle glances to the examiners beside him.

They immediately understood, dragging out several clumsy cheaters from the crowd, applying heavy psychological pressure on the others.

If Itachi can’t even cheat properly, what good are Itachi?

Sakura sat in her seat, skimmed the exam paper, and smiled confidently.

As the Grind Queen, these questions were child’s play to her.

She could solve every single one.

Ino, seated not far behind Sakura, also smiled confidently.

She couldn’t solve a single one.

But as a Huaomao, she’d already decided to steal her best friend’s answers.

The shameful Huaomao was about to strike.

Rojie picked up the exam paper and glanced at it.

As the second-most obsessive exam-taker after Sakura, he could handle most of the questions with ease.

But a few questions still exceeded his knowledge.

Rojie couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

Is this the gap between me and Master Sakura?

How terrifying must Master Sakura be, to score full marks purely through her own ability.

Although in the original story, one could pass this exam by stubbornly submitting a blank paper.

But no one could be sure if Morino Ibiki might suddenly change the rules.

Moreover, after the Chunin Exam ended, when the final decision on promotion was made, the written test score might well be an important reference.

Thinking of this, Rojie fell silent and waited.

(End of Chapter)