Chương 158: 158. Kabuto
Izumi and the others already left. However, Lee tried to remember Izumi's face. He felt confident that his Taijutsu was far superior despite being unable to use ninjutsu. Thus, Lee intended to teach Izumi a lesson when the Chūnin exam took place.
At that moment, a girl with Chinese-style clothes and appearance, along with a long-haired boy with pupil-less eyes, approached Lee.
"What are you doing, Lee?"
"Ah, Neji!"
The girl is Tenten, and the boy is Neji.
Neji glanced at Sasuke and his team. He already noticed his Sharingan as well.
"What's your name?" Neji asked.
"Before asking someone's name, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" Sasuke asked back with a sneer.
"Hyuuga Neji."
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"So you're the famous Uchiha Sasuke? The so-called genius? Isn't it too early for you to take the Chūnin exam? You should just back off and try again next year!"
Sasuke wanted to respond to Neji, but someone held back his laugh.
"Pffft."
Instantly, Sasuke's team and Neji's team turned their heads. The voice was from Izumi and his group. Izumi had already submitted the form and wanted to go back, but instead heard Neji making fun of Sasuke.
Neji frowned. From what he saw with his eyes, the Byakugan, Izumi, Luffy, and Yuki Onna's chakra flow was so different from the others. And strangely, Yuki Onna didn't have chakra flow even though she clearly used her skill in front of people earlier.
On the other hand, when Luffy saw Neji's eyes. He became curious and took a step forward. After a moment, he walked to the left and right without taking his eyes off Neji.
Luffy immediately turned back and said,
"Hey, he's amazing. I thought he was blind, but apparently he can see me."
"Hahaha!" Izumi, Kuroneko, and Kazuma laughed out loud. They never thought Luffy would ever say that in front of Neji. Even Hiiro, who had been silent all this time, held his laugh.
Neji clenched his fists while shaking with anger. Neji and his team had just returned from a mission. So he had no clue about the new alliance.
"Who the hell are you?" Neji questioned them with hostility. Then Izumi replied.
"You will know later. Also, I will tell you something. That geeky-haired boy over there seemed to be confident in his close combat skill. If he ever meets this straw hat in the exam later, especially in combat…" Izumi grabbed Luffy. Then carried on. "That means you're out of luck. Hahaha. Let's go, guys! Oh, Naruto and Sasuke. I expect you to make it to the last round. Do your best!"
"Heh, of course. I will make it to the final round, just wait!" Sasuke said confidently. In the last few days, apart from being tested by the Hokage in order to take the Chūnin exam, Kakashi had trained Sasuke in a spartan way in order to surpass Izumi. And that was also Sasuke's request to Kakashi in order to get stronger.
"Of course, I will beat the others and head to the final round." Naruto said so casually.
"Hihihi. Don't lose too soon, durian head!" Luffy said while waving his hand, then walked along with Izumi.
Because Naruto's hair looked spiky, Luffy decided to call him that since it was easy to remember.
"Who are you calling durian head, damned straw hat!!" Naruto pointed at Luffy annoyingly after getting called with a random nickname.
"A durian head, huh?" Sasuke said with a smirk. While Sakura nodded and said.
"It suits you, Naruto."
"No way, even Sakura-chan said that." Naruto said dejectedly.
Meanwhile.
"Hey, wait! What did you mean by that?" Neji tried to stop Izumi and the others, but he was completely ignored. Even Neji felt that Izumi was more supportive of Naruto and Sasuke and that they could go to the final round.
Looking at Izumi's group, he could see that four of the six were carrying swords. So Neji thought they were proficient in Kenjutsu or sword techniques.
"Humph, we'll see when we meet later!"
Neji didn't ask Sasuke about Izumi because he felt he was lowering his self-esteem. So, it would be best if he found out their origins without the help of the people he was going to be fighting against.
— — — —
The next day.
Izumi warned Luffy not to make noise in the written exam. If he couldn't answer, just sleep. If he threw a tantrum that knocked Izumi's team out, Izumi would tie Luffy up and dry him out in the sunlight like dried fish for days without giving him food. Luffy gulped while remembering Izumi's threat. If Izumi didn't mention food, there was no way that Luffy would comply with Izumi's words.
Kuroneko and Kazuma probably already knew, but Izumi still explained if they could answer in the written exam or not. If they couldn't, there was no need to answer and just keep quiet until the exam was over.
Of the six people, only Hiiro and Izumi could cheat secretly. But Izumi didn't say anything.
When they reached the front of the exam room, Izumi saw Kakashi who seemed to be watching Naruto and Sasuke.
Izumi whispered "Kakashi-san. Do you intend to catch Kabuto in this Chunin exam?"
"What do you think?"
"Leave it be. You don't have enough evidence to prove that Kabuto is Orochimaru's spy, do you?"
Kakashi nodded. Kabuto's behavior was really like a ninja who had served Konoha faithfully, so if there was not enough evidence, Kabuto would be declared innocent.
A moment later Izumi heard Naruto's shouts, declaring that he would defeat them all. This made Izumi smirk.
"Well, It's not easy, Naruto. But, do your best!"
After that, Izumi waved his hand, signaled the others to come in
The arrival of Izumi and his group was so conspicuous that made everyone turn their eyes to Izumi and his group. Seeing all eyes on him, Izumi said.
"Eh, don't look at me please! I'm embarrassed!" His tone was too flat as if his tone didn't express what he said.
Everyone's expressions darkened after hearing that. However, since Izumi did nothing, they didn't take action either.
"Izumi-san!" Naruto called out to Izumi while waving his hand.
"Oh, Naruto. What are you doing?"
"Here, Kabuto-san explained to us about the abilities of the participants." Naruto pointed to a gray-haired guy, with circular glasses, called Kabuto.
Izumi held his chin.
"Hooo, interesting. Then, are you asking about his ability as well?"
"This, no." Naruto shook his head.
Kabuto just smiled. He prepared to tell his abilities to Izumi. But, before he could say it, Izumi sneered.
"Too bad. I'm just quite surprised, why did he pretend to be a Genin? Did he want to be a hero and unleash his full strength when Konohagakure was in danger?"
"Eh?" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura turned to Kabuto shockingly.
According to Izumi's estimation, Kabuto's strength should be a special Jōnin-level ninja at worst.
When he heard Izumi mention "pretend", Kabuto narrowed his eyes for a moment, but turned back to normal again. And that slightest change of his expression couldn't escape from Izumi's eyes.
"Let's see if you can still play along, Kabuto." Izumi sneered inwardly.
Kabuto had no data on Izumi and his group because Kabuto heard that they were from a newly built village.
Kabuto revealed which abilities to watch out for in the Chūnin exams to Naruto and his team. But he didn't reveal the abilities of Gaara or Izumi's group, or he couldn't, due to lack of information.
"Izumi-san, what do you mean?" Naruto asked. Sasuke also felt that something wasn't right. But, for what reason would Kabuto hide his strength? That question always popped into his head.
Izumi had no reason to lie. Izumi is so strong, but this is his first time taking the Chūnin exam. Unlike Kabuto who said that he had participated many times but always failed. But Izumi said that Kabuto was hiding his strength. That was so suspicious considering there was no reason for Kabuto to hide his strength. But, there was also the possibility that what Izumi said was the other way around.
Whether what Izumi said was right or wrong didn't matter. But, Izumi seemed cautious against Kabuto. And Sasuke saw it clearly. There was no way someone as strong as Izumi would be wary of Kabuto who failed the Chūnin exam so many times. There must be something he didn't know about.
Izumi walked away while warning the others about Kabuto.
"Sakura, Naruto, come here!" Due to Izumi's behavior earlier, he became suspicious of Kabuto. So, it was better if his team distanced itself from Kabuto.
After seeing Sasuke push Naruto away forcefully from Kabuto, Kabuto's gaze turned to Izumi with malice. If Izumi wasn't there, the plan would have gone smoothly.
Izumi noticed Kabuto's gaze. But, he ignored him completely. Instead, Izumi looked at Gaara.
From Kabuto's perspective, he seemed to understand that Izumi was like a sensor-type ninja who could detect enemy strength. And from earlier, all he did was pointing others with his finger, who were the strong people according to him one by one. If it was someone Izumi thought was normal, he would shake his head.
Seeing that, Kabuto smirked.
On the other hand, Izumi laughed inwardly. As he expected, fooling a smart person who didn't know him was so easy.
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