Chapter 57: Chapter 57 Only Once?
Hinata was skeptical, but didn't ask further.
However, Naruto's words indeed gave Hinata a glimmer of hope. Consoling a young girl doesn't necessarily require practical methods. It's enough to put forward constructive suggestions from a high-level perspective. As for how her father might abolish the Caged Bird and the obstacles he might face, those were unimportant.
At least, for now, the little girl's worries dissipated, and a smile reappeared on her face.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun."
"You're welcome. As long as you're happy, Hinata."
Hearing this, Hinata's face inexplicably blushed again.
[Progress with Hinata, Kyubi's approval 14.2%.]
Naruto really wanted to pinch Hinata's face, but in the end, he kept his composure and scratched his head, saying, "Hinata, you should go back inside. I need to leave now."
"Naruto-kun, aren't you going to go in and watch the matches?" Hinata was a little confused, "Sakura and Ino's match is about to start, right?"
"No." Naruto said awkwardly, "Since I forfeited, I can't go back in anymore."
He thought to himself that even if he could go, it would be awkward. Who would he cheer for? Cheering for Sakura made sense, but completely ignoring Ino seemed too much. But cheering for both would make him seem indecisive.
"Naruto-kun" Hinata hesitated for a moment, then shyly lowered her head and said softly, "You can use my body again."
"Just like what happened just now, although it makes me feel a little uncomfortable and I feel like my brain is going to break down. But if it wasn't fighting and was just watching, it shouldn't be like that."
"I can't take over your body again, I can only use it once." Naruto was a little amused, "This isn't some body-swapping game."
"Is there such a Ninjutsu? One that can only be used once?" Hinata asked, and there's a hint of regret in her tone.
Naruto was speechless and thought to himself, 'What are you regretting? If we were caught, both of us would be finished.'
"Yes, only once." Naruto said.
"Alright."
Naruto: "…"
'Damn, what hidden trait did I unlock?'
By the time Naruto came to his senses, Hinata had already run off.
He could only shake his head and head towards the exit of Training Ground 44. To do that, he had to cross the Forest of Death alone.
It's doable, but no one usually does it. Most candidates leave together, and individuals generally stay quietly in the central tower somewhere, waiting for the exam to end and for the Jonin to escort them out.
But Naruto was too lazy to wait. Since he wasn't going to watch the matches, there was no point in staying here anymore. Besides, it was still early for all the matches to end, so waiting would only waste time.
He didn't encounter any danger along the way and left the Forest of Death smoothly.
After a quick meal at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto returned home to wash up, and lay down directly after he was done.
He gained a lot in this Chunin Exam, including the Lightning Release: Lightning Strike and the Wind Release: Blade of Wind Technique. Although the two Ninjutsu were not at the max level, and he still needed practice them to unleash their max power, they are still significant gains.
Getting two A-Rank Ninjutsu from one exam and advancing in his progress with Hinata, overall, Naruto felt he had profited from this exam.
'There are fewer things to do now, and it's unexpectedly quiet.'
With these thoughts, Naruto drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, inside the central tower of the Forest of Death.
Facing Gaara's strong offensive, Lee decided to go all out and opened the fifth gate. The two fought hard. The two fought intensely, with Guy recognizing that Lee's body was overtaxed and stepping in to end the match as Lee's Jonin Instructor, preventing Lee from being further harmed.
Lee, who was exhausted from opening the gates, escaped the severe consequences of being banned for more than 70 episodes.
The victory went to a battered Gaara, who, despite his dissatisfaction, didn't dare provoke Guy. After all, the strange man with watermelon-shaped hair in front of him was definitely Lee's teacher, and Lee had nearly bested him. Gaara knew better than to challenge Guy and could only leave with a gloomy look.
Sakura and Ino ended their match in a draw, both collapsing from exhaustion.
The lineup for the Chunin Exams' finals was thus determined: Uchiha Sasuke versus Gaara, Hyuga Neji versus Kankuro, Shikamaru versus Temari, and Inuzuka Kiba versus Aburame Shino.
And before the finals, all participants have one month to prepare.
"Ring! Ring! Ring!"
The urgent sound of the alarm clock rang out as Naruto groggily reached out to shut it off and rolled over to continue sleeping.
After the room fell silent for a few seconds, there was a loud knock on his door.
"Naruto!"
"How long are you going to sleep? You promised to go camping by the river with everyone, and you forgot again!"
Sakura's voice came from outside, accompanied by the impatient knocking.
Naruto groggily opened his eyes, vaguely recalling that he had agreed to a joint camping with Team 10 and Team 7.
All of this was because of the sudden improvement in the relationship between Ino and Sakura, forcing Shikamaru and Choji to agree to the camping trip with these two strong women, dragging Naruto along as well.
"Sakura, is this where Naruto lives?" Ino's voice came from the other side of the door. "You seem very familiar with this place?"
"That's because..." Sakura was about to respond when the door opened from the inside, and Naruto, who was in his pajamas and still half-asleep, glanced at the two girls and yawned, asking suspiciously, "When did you two become so close?"
"None of your business!" Ino made a face at him.
"Naruto, you wouldn't know because you forfeited at the preliminary." Sakura said and hugged Ino beside her. The two energetic girls stood close together, showing their newfound camaraderie.
"We've made up!"
"Yes, we've made up." Ino nodded.
"Oh." Naruto responded ambiguously. After a while, he got himself ready, and the three of them headed out together.
The river was a bit of a distance from the village, situated below a large waterfall. Shikamaru and Choji were already waiting there, wearing large sunhats. Under the scorching sun, the only ones with high spirits were the two girls.
"Hey, Naruto, isn't Sasuke coming?" Shikamaru yawned and asked with sleepy eyes.
Naruto was also very sleepy, so the two lazy Genins gathered together to set up the barbecue grill.
"Sasuke can't come. The Cursed Seal on his body seems to be a bit troublesome, so Kakashi-sensei took him for special training."
"Special training, huh… Asuma-sensei mentioned such thing to me as well."
"Congratulations, Shikamaru," Naruto said without much enthusiasm.
"Yeah, right, what a drag." Shikamaru complained, looking completely exhausted. "Just when I finally had some time off, Ino forced us to go camping."
"Then why didn't you just refuse her?" Naruto asked while working, "And you dragged me into this too."
"I can't help it. Ino usually takes good care of us, so there's no way to refuse her on this." Shikamaru sighed, picked up the fishing rod that he had prepared long ago, and said to Naruto, "I'll go catch some fish."
Naruto turned his head to look at him, then stared at the obviously expensive fishing rod in his hand, "Where did you get your rod?"
"My dad's. He said he used to be great at fishing."
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