Before long, figures began to fill the empty classroom. Kusuo stood with his sword in his arms, his eyes closed in quiet repose. The sound of chatter gradually grew louder from the doorway. From the names being called, it was clear that the Konoha 12 were arriving one by one.
With his eyes closed but his perception spread throughout almost the entire classroom, a smile played on Kusuo's lips. This feeling of personally participating in a major event was quite wonderful.
The proctor had not yet arrived. Those who had already arrived were generally gathered in small groups of two or three, discussing what they had seen and heard. With his outstanding temperament and handsome appearance, Kusuo naturally became the focus of the entire room. Even though he stood quietly to the side, there was an invisible aura about him that drew everyone's gaze. It was difficult not to attract attention.
Many people looked at him with curiosity and gravity, especially the genin who had witnessed his display downstairs.
"Looking for information? I have some on that person too, you know." The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, who had been whispering among themselves while staring at Kusuo, turned around to see a white-haired ninja with glasses. At this moment, he was holding a small booklet and a large number of cards.
"Are you kidding? That person is our top student. We've been classmates for five years. Do we really need you to provide us with information on our own classmate?" Shikamaru said with a yawn, clearly not taking the white-haired ninja seriously.
"Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Kabuto, and I am a medical ninja. As for the information, there's no harm in listening first." Pushing his glasses up, a glint of light flashed across Kabuto's lenses. His words also attracted the attention of other ninja who were interested in Kusuo. Whether from Konoha or other villages, they all gathered around.
Kabuto flicked out a character card from his stack. On it was printed the name Hatake Kusuo.
"Hatake Kusuo, graduated from the Konoha Ninja Academy in year 60. During his time at the school, he was the top student for five consecutive years, a position no one could shake." This piece of information caused a stir among the onlookers. Not everyone participating in the Chunin Exams was a Konoha ninja. Five consecutive years as the top student—this level of strength truly shocked them, but that was all. It seemed... not particularly monstrous, right?
As if to answer everyone's doubts, Kabuto held the card with Kusuo's name between his fingers and gave a mysterious smile. "According to rumors, during his time at the school, he began using a shadow clone to attend classes from his second year onwards, and continued to do so until graduation. During this time, whether it was small tests or the annual final exams, without exception, it was always the shadow clone that won first place with overwhelming victory."
Hiss. The moment this news came out, the entire room was in an uproar. To be able to sweep through all the ninja of the same year and take the top spot with just a shadow clone? Just how terrifying is his strength?
For a moment, everyone's gaze towards Kusuo began to carry a degree of reverence and fear.
"Kusuo, they're all talking about you over there," Hinata whispered, moving closer to him.
Kusuo, with his eyes still closed, gave a slight nod and said faintly, "It doesn't matter. If they want to talk, let them talk. We don't need to concern ourselves with such things."
"Mm!" Hinata hummed in agreement, looking up at his face with happiness. To have the person she loved be praised and respected by everyone, as his tacit little girlfriend, her heart was filled with pride.
Just as the noise reached a crescendo, the Sand Village team stepped in. Ever since the incident last time, they had been under a unilateral house arrest by Konoha and had only just been released. As a result, Gaara's expression was very ugly. The moment they entered, the entire classroom seemed to turn several degrees colder.
Kabuto, however, seemed completely unafraid and even continued to give the Konoha 12 information on Gaara and his team. In addition, Neji, Sasuke, and others also became the focus of the room.
"How long are you bunch of losers going to keep making all this noise?"
Just then, a deep, magnetic male voice was heard, accompanied by a puff of smoke. Ibiki Morino and a group of proctors appeared on the podium. His stern voice, combined with the scar that ran across half of his face, instantly silenced the entire room. No one dared to make a sound.
Having given them a sufficient show of force, Ibiki secretly nodded to himself. They, the proctors, had actually been silently observing the participating genin all along. After all this time, only a few of the brats were particularly interesting. But now...
"The exam... begins!"
"Everyone, get to your seats, quickly!" Ibiki roared, and everyone immediately scrambled to their places.
Once everyone was seated, test papers were handed out one by one. Kusuo touched the freshly distributed paper, the faint scent of ink still lingering on it. This familiar feeling even reminded him of the college entrance exams in his previous life on Earth. Ah, the fear of being dominated by exams!
Unfortunately, he had no intention of writing anything. The questions on the paper were mostly simple physics calculations and various common knowledge essential for a ninja. For the students who had studied diligently at the academy, it was naturally no problem. Kusuo glanced at it; he could figure out the answers to many of the questions at a glance, but he had no desire to endure the pain of taking an exam again.
In any case, he knew the ultimate goal of this test like the back of his hand, so he wasn't worried at all. He just quietly waited for the test to end.
As expected, Hinata would have no trouble with these questions. Naruto, on the other hand, was scratching his head, not having written a single word. As for why he wasn't writing, it was because, as a bad student, he truly didn't know the answer to a single question.
The entire exam hall gradually fell into a rhythm, the rustling sound of pen on paper rising and falling. Everyone was showing off their own unique skills, using every trick up their sleeves to complete the test papers.
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