A few days later, the Chunin Selection Exam began.
After meeting up with Kiba and Sakura, Shishou headed towards the exam building together.
As they walked into the building, both Sakura and Kiba suddenly froze.
"Genjutsu?"
Then, they immediately formed hand seals to dispel the genjutsu affecting them.
After dispelling the genjutsu, they saw that Shishou had already walked quite a distance ahead.
"Shishou is amazing," Sakura thought to herself and quickly caught up with him.
Much like in the original story, Shishou soon encountered the last two of the Konoha 12, Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee.
Shishou had always felt sorry for Neji's fate in the original story and hoped that in this life, Neji could live more freely.
As for Rock Lee, Shishou thought that he resembled Guy Sensei so much that they seemed more like father and son than just teacher and student.
As Shishou's group arrived, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata also reached the exam location.
Originally, Sasuke wanted to show off by breaking the genjutsu, but seeing Shishou made him abandon that idea.
"Shishou," Tenten greeted him excitedly upon seeing him, and if it weren't for the crowd, she might have run over to him.
Hinata, who also wanted to greet Shishou, became shy upon seeing Tenten and just stared at him instead.
Rock Lee, seeing Shishou's group, froze in place.
"Lee?" Neji and Tenten called out curiously as they saw him approach Shishou's group.
"Please wait a moment," Rock Lee said before walking straight towards Shishou's group.
Seeing him approach, Shishou glanced at Sakura beside him.
Rock Lee came directly in front of Sakura and bowed solemnly.
"Please go out with me!"
Sakura: "???"
Rock Lee's action left everyone around them stunned, even Sakura was bewildered.
Shishou just smiled and continued towards the exam location.
Seeing Rock Lee confess to Sakura, Naruto couldn't stay calm and shouted, pointing at Lee:
"You watermelon head! How dare you try to steal Sakura from me? I'll show you!"
Rock Lee glanced at Naruto but ignored him, which only made Naruto angrier.
Seeing the two about to fight, Sakura glanced at Shishou, who was already walking away, and said to Rock Lee:
"Sorry, I don't like you."
After speaking, she quickly chased after Shishou, sticking close to his side.
"Let's go, Lee," Neji called out to Rock Lee as Shishou's group left.
"Flirting again," Tenten mumbled gloomily as she saw Sakura following Shishou closely.
When they reached the exam classroom, Shishou noticed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio already seated along with several others wearing Kirigakure masks.
Due to the presence of the exam proctor, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio only briefly greeted Shishou before waiting quietly for the exam to begin.
Not long after, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro from Sunagakure entered the classroom.
Seeing the now beautifully matured Temari, Shishou smiled.
He realized it had been a long time since he last visited Sunagakure to discipline Shukaku. He would need to find time to do so again soon.
However, this time he didn't see Kabuto Yakushi or the Sound Village ninjas, which disappointed him slightly.
He had hoped to use Kabuto to find Orochimaru.
As Hinata, Tenten, and others entered the classroom one after another, the first exam of the Chunin Selection Exam soon began.
After the test papers were handed out, Ibiki Morino began explaining the exam rules.
Seeing the simple cultural and ninjutsu questions on the test paper, Shishou immediately started writing.
Of course, these questions were very easy for him, but for others, they were quite difficult.
At least Naruto couldn't answer any of them.
As the exam progressed, other examinees began to show off their skills, using various ninjutsu and tools to copy answers from those around them.
Some examinees were disqualified for obvious cheating as they accumulated five penalty points.
Naruto, unable to answer any questions, sat anxiously, looking around.
Shishou knew that the main focus of this exam was the final question, testing their will, making the previous questions irrelevant.
Sure enough, Ibiki eventually introduced the final question's rule.
If they failed to answer the tenth question, they would lose the qualification to take the Chunin Selection Exam for life, but if they chose to give up now, they could try again next year.
Faced with this rule and the pressure exerted by Ibiki, many examinees couldn't handle it and chose to give up.
"I won't give up," Naruto shouted, using his budding talent for persuasion, ending the exam early.
The first exam was over.
The proctor for the second exam then entered the room and announced the location for the next test.
Since Anko Mitarashi had already been taken by Shishou, the proctor for this exam was now Genma Shiranui.
The second exam was naturally held at Konoha's Forest of Death, scheduled for noon the next day.
After the exam, Kurenai Yuhi arrived at the classroom door to take Shishou, Kiba, and Sakura out for a celebratory dinner to relax and prepare for the next day's test.
Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and others were also picked up by Kakashi, Guy, and Asuma.
At a barbecue restaurant, Kurenai took the three to a table by the window on the second floor.
Handing the menu to Shishou, Kiba, and Sakura, Kurenai smiled and said:
"Order whatever you like, today it's on me."
Seeing this, Shishou immediately ordered some expensive dishes before handing the menu to Sakura.
Noticing Shishou's choices, Kurenai frowned, not because she was unwilling to pay but simply because she found this student, who shared a name with her beloved, a bit annoying.
She felt that everything he did was irritating.
Once the four had ordered, the waiter quickly brought their dishes.
Seeing Kurenai starting to grill the meat, Shishou frowned.
If they started eating grilled meat, wouldn't he have to remove his mask, revealing his face to Kurenai?
Given Kurenai's strong intuition, if she saw his true face, she would definitely be suspicious, making it harder for him to pursue his goals.
Thinking of this, Shishou glanced at Sakura and said:
"Sakura, I need to go to the supermarket to buy some drinks. Will you come with me?"
Hearing Shishou's invitation, Sakura was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.
"Sure, yes."
Although Sakura didn't need any drinks, she didn't want to miss the opportunity to go out with Shishou alone.
Kurenai glanced at the two and said:
"Hurry back."
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This fanfiction is complete on my P@treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at p@treon.com/Betek. change @ to a