Chapter 228: The Preliminary Test
“Hey! Why won’t you let us through?”
“Yeah! If we can’t enter the examination room, how are we supposed to take the exam?”
A large number of candidates stood at the foot of the stairs, shouting angrily at the two people blocking the way.
“Shut up. We’re doing this for your own good…”
The two genin guarding the entrance had transformed themselves from examiners. From head to toe, they looked like a pair of stereotypical delinquents.
It was hard not to wonder whether they had acted exactly like this back when they were students.
“Do you know that people can die during the Chūnin Exams? We’re not letting you participate to protect you.”
“Of course, anyone with enough ability can go straight through. We won’t be able to stop them.”
“But whether you have what it takes or not, we’ll personally verify it.”
The candidates exchanged bewildered looks.
They couldn’t understand what these two Konoha genin were getting at.
It was one thing if they weren’t participating in the exam themselves, but why were they stopping everyone else from taking it?
Soon, a genin from the Grass Village who looked like he had some actual skill stepped forward.
“How are you going to verify it?”
“Oh, that’s simple…”
Steel Ball—disguised as a Konoha genin—flashed him a grin.
Then, without the slightest warning, he drove a fist straight into the man’s stomach.
Bam!
He hadn’t seemed to hold back much at all.
The Grass Village genin was sent flying and crashed to the ground, crying out in pain.
“You just have to withstand one of our attacks.”
Steel Ball withdrew his fist with a smile.
In his hand was the Grass Village genin’s forehead protector.
“Ugh… cough, cough… my… forehead protector…”
The genin had clearly been hurt badly, but with the help of his teammates, he forced himself back onto his feet.
His eyes remained fixed on the forehead protector in Steel Ball’s hand.
“Oh, dear. If you can’t even protect your forehead protector, what makes you think you’re qualified to take the exam?”
Steel Ball casually tossed the forehead protector in his hand.
Beside him, Moonlight Izumo—who was likewise disguised as a genin—joined in the act.
“This is for your own good, too. With this level of ability, you’d better forget about participating in the Chūnin Exams.”
“If you want your forehead protector back, either defeat us or pay to redeem it.”
“P-Pay?”
“Isn’t that going too far? We only came here to take the exam!”
“But those two really are incredibly strong.”
“They just said that even people at their level wouldn’t be able to meet the minimum standard for this year’s Chūnin Exams. What are people like us supposed to do?”
“Are they saying we can only give up?”
Steel Ball looked at the Grass Village shinobi, who had gotten back on his feet and was still sizing him up.
“What? Don’t have the guts to attack again?”
The crowd seemed intimidated by his presence and gradually fell silent.
Only Sasuke and Hinata immediately sensed that something was wrong.
They were all genin who had come to participate in the Chūnin Exams.
How could a few words and a single attack scare them into giving up so easily?
Even if they genuinely believed they couldn’t beat these two head-on, couldn’t they simply team up and fight three against two to reclaim the forehead protector?
“Is it a genjutsu barrier?”
“Is it amplifying the negative emotions of most of the people here, gradually weakening their fighting spirit?”
The two exchanged a glance.
They had both identified the function of the genjutsu barrier.
This seems to be Naruto’s handiwork.
“Uh… what’s wrong?”
Karin blinked in confusion.
She looked at the two of them, completely baffled.
As far as she could tell, the two guys blocking the entrance were terrifying.
“Looks like this is probably the entrance test.”
Sasuke walked directly out of the crowd.
Ignoring everyone’s gazes, he approached the two men.
Steel Ball, who had been wearing a smug expression moments earlier, suddenly froze when he saw Sasuke’s face.
“He hasn’t gone in yet?”
He immediately lowered his voice and asked his companion:
“Isn’t that Uchiha Sasuke from Kakashi’s team? Why is he only arriving now?”
“How would I know? We weren’t here earlier.”
“We figured most of the stronger candidates had already gone inside, so we came out to block everyone else and eliminate a batch first…”
Moonlight Izumo’s expression also collapsed.
Then he suddenly realized something and hurriedly called out to Sasuke.
“Hey! You can just go inside. Don’t expose—”
Sasuke completely ignored whatever he was trying to say.
He raised one hand and formed a seal.
“Release.”
In an instant, it was as though an invisible membrane surrounding the area had been pierced.
The barrier vanished.
The candidates who had been affected by the genjutsu barrier suddenly came to their senses.
One after another, they looked around in confusion.
The Grass Village genin who had just been on the verge of giving up also froze.
Once the genjutsu’s influence disappeared, he immediately sprang out of his teammate’s support and angrily shouted at Steel Ball:
“Give me back my forehead protector, damn it! Otherwise, I’m taking you down!”
“Uh…”
Moonlight Izumo covered his face.
He hadn’t expected Sasuke to act so quickly.
“Let’s go.”
Sasuke turned toward Karin and Hinata.
Ignoring the gazes of everyone around them, he led the way up to the third floor.
Apart from the genin who had belatedly realized they had fallen victim to a genjutsu and were now angrily trying to regain their dignity, another team in the crowd also watched Sasuke’s departing figure with interest.
“Hey, that guy’s pretty impressive!”
A pink-eyed boy stroked his chin, looking quite intrigued.
“…He’s from the Uchiha clan. A fairly capable brat.”
The team’s second member was completely wrapped in a black bodysuit.
Even most of his face was concealed by a mask, leaving only his eyes exposed.
His voice was hoarse as he spoke.
“Uchiha?”
The pink-eyed boy looked puzzled.
“Aren’t they all dead? And judging by what you said, you know him?”
“…”
The heavily wrapped teammate gave no answer.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, fine.”
The pink-eyed boy shrugged.
“Anyway, let’s go too. If we wait any longer, there probably won’t be anyone impressive left.”
He sighed.
“There are only a few people worth paying attention to, and most of them are from Konoha.”
“Looks like Konoha really is the strongest.”
“How boring.”
“That’s only because Konoha has the home-field advantage!”
The third teammate behind them immediately began flattering him.
“With Young Master leading our team, our Kirigakure squad will definitely be the strongest in this three-village joint exam!”
Yet after he finished speaking, neither the pink-eyed boy nor the heavily wrapped man paid him any attention.
The poor guy was left standing there awkwardly.
All three wore Kirigakure forehead protectors.
They were one of the teams sent by the Hidden Mist Village to participate in this year’s examination.
However, the three seemed to have absolutely no team spirit whatsoever.
It was as though none of them could properly communicate with either of the other two.
It was rather strange.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and the others had already reached the main entrance of the examination hall.
“Even the preliminary test is being guarded at the level of a Chūnin.”
“And Naruto has apparently had a hand in this as well…”
Before opening the door, Sasuke suddenly turned toward Karin.
“No matter what happens later, stay close to either me or Hinata.”
“Got it?”
“Ah! Yes!”
Karin immediately agreed.
A knowing smile appeared on her face.
She knew her own limits.
She was basically here to make up the numbers.
The most important thing was not to cause trouble for Sasuke and Hinata and to protect herself.
Still, Karin couldn’t help sighing inwardly.
She really wished she could be of some help to them.
As though sensing the change in her mood, Hinata reached out and took Karin’s hand.
“Let’s both do our best.”
“…Waaah! Hinata, you’re so nice!”