Sakura glanced at Ino's feeble figure. "It was your turn just now, and now it's mine."
She concentrated fully, held her breath, and gathered all the little remaining chakra in her body onto one point of her fist.
Ino sensed something was amiss at Sakura's determined stance. As Sakura moved slightly, she tried to flee but unexpectedly slipped on her long golden hair and lost her balance, falling to the ground.
Helplessly seated on the ground, Ino saw the powerful fist charging at her, instantly recalling the scene where Zaku was sent flying, and closed her eyes in despair.
"Thud!"
"Ouch! It hurts!"
Ino opened her eyes and rubbed her aching forehead. Sakura's attack didn't land but stopped just inches away from her.
The pain on her forehead was from Sakura's flick (a light flick on the forehead as a kind of playfully punitive gesture).
"Ino..."
Ino looked at Sakura, totally confused. Why did she hold back?
"Idiot, this is just a match. We're not mortal enemies. How could I really try to kill you?"
"I'm really done with you!"
Sakura smiled and pulled Ino up from the ground.
"The winner is Sakura Haruno."
"Let me tell you. Although you were lucky enough to beat me this time, next time, I'll definitely be the winner!"
Ino patted the dust off her body resentfully. If it weren't for slipping on her own hair, the outcome of this match would still be hard to tell.
"Okay, okay! Whatever you say."
She smartly chose not to argue with Ino at this time. After all, she had already won the match, so she might as well give Ino some leeway verbally.
................
"I won, Teacher Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke!"
"Wow, Sakura, you're so amazing!"
"Really? Thank you."
Sakura shyly scratched her head. It was the first time in her life that someone had praised her for being amazing. Although Sasuke didn't say any words of praise, his eyes were full of approval.
"Naruto, Sasuke and I have passed the preliminary round. It's up to you now. Come on!"
"Don't worry. I'll definitely take the third exam with you!"
"Look, the next rivals are out!"
[Temari] vs [Tenten]
"The next one is Tenten. I must cheer her on!"
"Her opponent's name is... What was it?"
"Temari!"
"Oh! She's the kunoichi from Sunagakure who's in the same group as Gaara and that man with the strange symbol on his face."
"What's wrong? Is there any problem?"
Sakura looked at Naruto, who was deep in thought. It was really rare to see him thinking.
"The three ninjas from Sunagakure seem pretty tough. But most importantly, they all have this strange smell on them!"
"What kind of smell? Why can't I smell it?"
Sakura leaned out over the railing and sniffed gently. There was only the smell of sweat mixed with blood in the arena, and no strange smell.
"I don't mean that kind of smell!"
Hey, look. Sunagakure is one of the five great ninja villages in the ninja world, just like Konoha, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire have just signed a peace - treaty. That's why their ninjas can come to Konoha to take part in the Chunin Exams."
"What's the problem with that?"
"Isn't the number of ninjas they sent too small? Didn't Teacher Kakashi say that the Chunin Exams aren't just for selecting excellent ninjas? More importantly, it's a way to show other countries the reserve combat power of one's own country. It's a means of showing force in peacetime!"
"As one of the five great countries, the Land of Wind only sent three people. That's fewer than what other great countries sent, only about the same as the number of ninjas sent by some small countries. Isn't that weird?"
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
ヾ(???)?
!!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ
Naruto turned to Sasuke, Sakura, and Teacher Kakashi and told them his analysis, but he got shocked looks from the three of them. Naruto said he was really unhappy. What did their looks mean?
"Hey, why are you making such faces? Is there something wrong with my analysis?"
"No... actually, your analysis is really insightful. It really took us by surprise. Naruto, turns out your head isn't empty. Have I misjudged you all this time?"
Sasuke knew from his past life that sending these three people was a pre - arranged scheme by Sunagakure to break the peace treaty and declare war on Konoha. But Naruto had actually sensed something was wrong at this time!
It was really unbelievable. Sasuke wouldn't be this shocked if someone else had figured it out, but it was Naruto, who wasn't very bright.
It seemed that his years of patient teaching hadn't been in vain. For some reason, his eyes got a bit watery for a moment. He felt a bit bitter - sweet in his heart.
(′- へ -,)
"Humph! I was being nice sharing my thoughts with you. Who would've thought you'd make such faces. I won't tell you anything anymore!"
"No, Naruto. I think what you said makes a lot of sense. This matter is really strange. Although I also thought they might have only sent a few elites to participate, three people are still too few!"
"Right, Teacher Kakashi! And I also noticed that these three don't seem to be fully into passing this exam. Isn't that weird? The ninjas sent by Sunagakure aren't focused on passing the exam. So what are they after?"
Just as the four of them were having a heated discussion, several exclamations suddenly came from the side.
"Tenten!"
They looked towards the field and saw Tenten being blown into the air by Temari's [Tessen] and losing consciousness as she fell down.
Temari closed the huge [Tessen] in her hand. The hard fan blade instantly turned into a wall. It looked like Tenten's waist was about to hit the [Tessen].
If she really hit it, she'd probably have to stay in the hospital for a long time.
But Rock Lee and Neji moved.
The two of them rushed into the exam room. Neji leaped high into the air and caught the unconscious Tenten who was in mid - air, then landed steadily on the ground. Then, Rock Lee kicked the tessen that Temari was about to use for an attack.
"Hey, what are you guys doing? Are you trying to start a fight?"
Temari didn't care. She didn't believe they'd dare to gang up on her in front of so many people.
"Come on! You're going too far! Tenten's already out cold, and you still wanna go after her?"
"Oh, seriously? I didn't think she was that weak. Oops, maybe I went a bit too hard. You guys don't have to gang up on me, do you? It's still the exam, ain't it, Examiner?"
Temari mocked, showing no sign of guilt on her face, and turned her gaze to the referee of the exam.
"Sunagakure ninjas, this is a warning. If there's a second time, you'll all be disqualified!"
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