Konohamaru and his two friends were shouting and clamoring, constantly asking about the contents of the exam. They didn't yet understand the relationship between a ninja's strength and their rank, simply believing that Chunin were stronger than Genin, and Jonin were stronger than Chunin.
"I believe in your abilities. The Chunin Exams won't be too much for you, but…" Asuma still gave them a few words of caution. "Ino, don't get arrogant just because you've defeated a few opponents your age. This world is vast, and there are many strong people out there. Shikamaru, don't find it troublesome—take every opponent seriously and give it your all in battle. Choji, muster your courage. Your teammates need your protection; you are their strongest shield."
Team 10 and the three kids were eating barbecue.
Meanwhile, deep underground in the Hidden Leaf Village, in an area known as Root, Danzo received a reply scroll from Orochimaru, delivered by one of his Root ninja.
He unrolled the scroll and carefully read through it.
Danzo lightly tapped his cane, and his right-hand men, Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune, appeared before him. Behind them knelt several black-clad ninja, all eerily silent, like machines.
"We're leaving the village to carry out a mission."
"Yes, sir." Root ninja didn't ask questions; they simply followed orders.
Danzo didn't inform his old comrade, the Third Hokage. He led his subordinates and left the Hidden Leaf Village ahead of the storm.
The application was submitted, and the Chunin Exams would begin in three days.
Ino and her team gathered at the school gate. The three of them exchanged glances, nodded in unison, and then stepped into the school grounds.
Shikamaru, with his hands behind his head, asked, "Did you guys run into Teacher Iruka on the way here too?"
Ino nodded. "Yeah, we did. Teacher Iruka is probably worried about us newly graduated Genin, so he came to test us. What a responsible teacher."
Iruka seemed to have noticed her weakness in Body techniques. On the way, he disguised himself as a ninja from the Hidden Rain Village and launched a sneak attack. However, Ino used the Water Instantaneous Body to create distance, then trapped him with the Mist Technique and the Water Prison Technique.
Choji, realizing it belatedly, exclaimed, "So that person who turned into Ino and tried to convince me to give up on the exam was actually Teacher Iruka?"
His chubby face showed a thoughtful expression. "I was wondering why Ino would act so weak. No matter who gives up, Ino would never give up."
Ino chuckled awkwardly.
According to the rules, the village organizes the Chunin Exams every six months. That's how Kabuto ended up taking the exam seven times in four years. The difficulty of the exams varies—sometimes they're easy, and other times they're particularly challenging.
If the Chunin Exams were always as intense as this one, someone like Mizuki would never have become a Chunin.
Normally, there's no rush, but after this Chunin Exam, the Third Hokage passed away. Tsunade returned to the village to take over as the Fifth Hokage, but she was so busy that she didn't even have time to drink. It took a full three years before the second Chunin Exam was organized.
A ninja's strength is important, but their rank isn't insignificant either—it's a matter of pride.
For the sake of the Yamanaka Clan, for the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation, for the permission to leave the village at will, and for all sorts of complicated reasons, Ino had to participate in this Chunin Exam and had to achieve good results.
As she walked, a sudden thought struck her: the Third Hokage had died before the Chunin Exams had even concluded! How was she supposed to obtain that travel permit now? Should she throw herself on his corpse, weeping and begging, "Third Hokage, don't die yet! Give me the permit first, then you can die!" Or perhaps she could use the Edo Tensei to bring the deceased Third Hokage back to life? But that would involve the mask of the Uzumaki clan, and things were getting more complicated by the minute.
She rubbed her temples, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
If Tsunade returned to become the Hokage, she wouldn't need that unrestricted village travel permit anymore. But she really didn't want to be confined to the village every single day.
Naruto had stopped his graffiti antics, and Ino's glass-breaking escapades in the village earned her too few Pot Points. She needed a lot of time to cause trouble outside, needed alibis, and required both manpower and resources. Torn between her options, she entered the school building without having figured out what to do.
The three of them had arrived early, and on the way, they had seen Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu, who had been demoted to Genin. The two old-timers had used Genjutsu to fake the room numbers, tricking the Genin into going to the wrong classroom.
Since they were all familiar with each other, there was no real test involved. They simply exchanged greetings and moved on. The three of them arrived at Classroom 301, where quite a few Genin had already gathered.
The trio from Sunagakure, whom they had faced before, were also present. Gaara had been experiencing auditory hallucinations for the past three days, constantly hearing those "click! click! click!" sounds. Afraid that he might end up fighting Ino, he avoided looking at her altogether.
Temari and Kankuro were on edge, carefully guarding Gaara, fearing that he might lose control at any moment.
Ino gave Shikamaru a scrutinizing look, then glanced at Temari.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me so strangely?" Shikamaru asked, puzzled.
"Did you see that woman from Sunagakure?"
"Yeah, I saw her."
"Does she meet your standard for a plain-looking wife?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and didn't respond.
Choji, completely uninterested in such a trivial conversation, sat in his seat munching on snacks.
Before long, the rest of the group began to arrive.
Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and even the "eternal Genin" Yakushi Kabuto showed up.
Noticing the small circle of nine newcomers around Ino, Kabuto whispered something to his companion and then walked over.
None of them knew Kabuto, so Ino, as the "vice president," took it upon herself to introduce him.
Pretending not to know each other would have been too awkward, so her introduction was a bit more detailed than Kabuto's usual self-introduction in the original timeline.
The group wasn't familiar with Kabuto but knew Ino well. With her as the intermediary, some odd questions started to arise.
Naruto, with his hands behind his head and squinting, asked, "Kabuto? What's that?"
To anyone else, his words would have sounded like a direct provocation.
Sakura thought his words were too blunt and rude. She bowed apologetically to Kabuto while delivering two solid punches to Naruto's head.
"Idiot! Show some respect to your seniors!"
Two large bumps appeared on Naruto's head. He felt wronged—he had only asked because he didn't know.
Shikamaru, afraid that Naruto might say something else offensive, quietly explained, "Kabuto usually refers to a helmet. You've seen a helmet before, right?"
Naruto had never seen a helmet before, and with his limited knowledge, he couldn't even imagine what one might look like.
Somehow, after pondering for a while, he suddenly had an epiphany: "Is it like the pot we use to cook at home?"
Shikamaru covered his face with his hand, utterly unwilling to engage with this idiot.
Kabuto's expression also turned awkward, especially when Naruto started shouting things like "Pot Doctor," "Pot Senior," and "Pot Brother." His forced smile was on the verge of collapsing.