Chapter 25

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Title: Chunin Exams Begins

...

"As the first rays of the sun pierced through the horizon, the sky painted itself in brilliant shades of orange and pink, reminiscent of a stunning anime opening sequence."

"The world stirred from its slumber, and our hero, with unrivaled determination in their eyes, rose from their futon."

"The room, adorned with traditional shoji screens and softly glowing paper lanterns, whispered of ancient secrets waiting to be uncovered."

"Little did they know, today's adventure was about to unfold in this vivid realm where reality and fantasy intertwined."

Multiple white haired men sat quite comfortably on the windowsill as they repeated the same words to the occupants of the room.

"Sensei! Way to wake us up!" Haruta threw the nearest object that came in contact with her hand at Shun.

"Hey! That's domestic violence!" Shun cried out.

"We're not a family!"

"Well this is my hotel, and as my students, you're family!"

"Sensei, good morning..." Hagane greeted with a lazy voice.

"Good morning Sensei." Shirogane too.

"Now that's what I call being well mannered."

"Humph!" Haruta snorted and got out of her bed to the amusement of Shun.

Despite owning the hotel, Shun made the three of the sleep in the same room, which served to annoy Haruta a great deal, but Shun said it was part of the team building exercise before the exams.

After all, they had to know eachother inside out.

"Alright. Quickly get ready. We don't want to be late for the exams."

"It starts by 9:00 we're like...2 hours away." Haruta complained

"So? Have you forgotten the saying: The early bird gets the fattest worm." Shun asked.

"Plus, you can use the free time to analyse your opponents and know which to look out for." Shun continued before standing up. "Anyways, I'll see you guys a few days from now."

Saying that, he disappeared leaving the three Genin lost at the antics of their Sensei.

...

Location: Uchiha Compound.

"Shun-Nii... Good morning." An sleepy and annoyed Sasuke stirred up from his sleep as he greeted Shun who just finished his recital.

"Yo. Sleep well?"

"Would have. If not for a certain someone." Sasuke replied and got off his bed.

"Huh. I wonder who that is." Shun said with a curious expression while rubbing his jaw.

"Yeah. Me too." Replied Sasuke as he went down on the floor and began pushing up.

"Oh ho? I see you're as dedicated as ever?" Shun asked. "Won't you skip the day? Today's a big day y'know."

"Nope. One day missed is one day weaker. Plus, I'm sure Naruto wouldn't" Sasuke answered with a grunt.

"I see. Well, I can't wait to see how strong you've become... see you then." Shun said and made to leave only for Sasuke to stop him.

"Hmm? What's the problem?"

"Remember your promise?" Sasuke asked.

"Which promise?"

"The one about my brother, you said if I impressed you enough in the Chunin exams, you'll tell me all about him."

"Hmm, I certainly remember. But you should know I'm hard to impress. I'll have you know that at your age, your brother was already Jounin material. Can you beat that?" Shun asked with a smirk,

"Yes." Sasuke answered resolutely as he stood back up, his Sharingan flared. One Tomoe after another appeared till it was a complete set of three in each eye. "I'm Jounin material."

Shun smirked at the surprise. At this point in time, Sasuke wasn't supposed to have gotten the three Tomoe Sharingan, it was supposed to Awaken during their scuffle with Orochimaru.

"Interesting. I'm already impressed. All that's left is how you use it. Impress me enough during the exams and I'll let you in on the secret." Shun said, and without waiting for Sasuke's reply, he disappeared.

Sasuke clenched his fist as his eyes blazed with determination. He had put in his all into his training. He had completed every mission the red floating box in front of him had issued.

All this, just to get the answers he needed.

However, he still felt a little pressure.

Despite all his improvements, he still remember vividly, the feeling of being so close to death the day he met with those Sand Trio.

As Kakashi had once said: There were so many geniuses out there.

Shun had also told him that despite being a genius, there were so many out there that could still beat his brother.

"I just have to be the best then." He said with a sharp glint in his eyes.

...

"Shun-Nii!" Naruto sprang up from his bed as Shun was in the middle of his recital, and despite just waking up from his slumber, Naruto was uncharacteristically excited.

"Someone's excited." Shun commented.

"Shun-Nii. You're here."

"Of course I'm here. I had a feeling you'd sleep in and miss the exams." Shun replied.

"Eh? That's not possible! This is my first step to being the Hokage! How can I miss it?"

'Well, you almost did in the final phase of the exams but fate did it's work I guess.' Shun thought while chuckling at Naruto's gutso so early in the morning.

"Haha, I'm excited to here that." Shun said.

"You bet!" Naruto gave a toothy smile at Shun who also smiled due to the inability to resist.

Naruto's smile had that effect. 'I doubt there's anyone who could resist such pure hearted smile.' Shun thought to himself.

"Alright. You still have to be careful though. This exams is going to be dangerous. Never forget what we've thought you. We'll all be watching." Shun said.

"All?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Yeah. Your Izumi-nee, Kakashi-sensei, Hana-nee and me. We'll be watching you and Sasuke. So you two better kick ass out there."

"You bet we will!" Naruto said with his usual gutso which dimmed the next instant.

"What's wrong?" Shun asked.

"It's just... Kaa-san...she can't watch me...she won't be able to see me become Chunin."

"Eh? Is that what you think? Haven't I told you before? Your mother is closer to you than you thi k. Just live your life to its fullest and I'm sure when she wakes up, she'd be proud of you." Shun walked up to him and ruffled his head. "Your dad too."

Naruto brightened up and looked up at Shun. "You remember your promise right?"

"Of course. If you impress me enough, I'll tell you who your father is and also teach you one of his signature moves." Shun chuckled and repeated the same thing he had said to Sasuke. "But you should know, I'm hard to impress."

Naruto just scoffed, pointed at Shun and declared. "Just watch. I'll show you how amazing I am! Believe it!"

"Haha, I believe it. I just haven't seen it yet." Shun said and turned. "Well then, I've already prepared your breakfast, finish up and eat.."

Saying that, he disappeared leaving Naruto excited at having to taste Shun's Amazon cooking.

At that moment, he had already forgotten the conversation he Just had with Shun, after all, to him, it was already a forgone conclusion.

He must win. He had to.

...

Location: Konoha Academy.

The atmosphere around the academy was tense as various Ninjas from all over the World had come to participate in the Chunin Exams hosted by Konaha.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked inside with a slow, confident and steady gait.

They had done all they could. They had trained to the best of their abilities and now was the time for them to deliver.

Out of the three, only Sakura held an air of indecisiveness. Despite making up her mind to be better, whenever she looked at her teammates, she'd get demotivated.

To make matters worse, the glares they were getting served only to further unnerve her.

"Hey.." a hand tapped her on the shoulder. Looking up, she saw Sasuke giving her a somewhat indifferent look. "Don't worry, you've tried your best, just leave your back to us."

"Un." She nodded as her nerves calmed down a bit. It was probably due to the rush of oxytocin than actual reassurance. Love blinded people that way.

As they walked, they came upon a small gathering blocking the staircase to the upper floor.

Thump!

The sound of body hitting ground rang out as they sighted a Bob haired boy making yo get up

"Is someone as talentless as you really planning on taking the Chunin exams? Why bother?" A mocking voice rang out.

"Bunch of wet-behind-the-ears snotnoses. Heh." Another voice snorted after the first.

"You said it."

"Hey. Please, we're begging you, let us in." A female voice asked as she defended the Bob haired boy.

"Hmm?"

Bam!

No one saw how it happened, but the girl who had just asked was on the floor with bloodstained mouth.

However, both Naruto and Sasuke had seen the boy blocking the door backhand the girl.

"How cruel." Naruto said and made to go confront the boys, however, Sasuke held him back.

"What's your problem?"

Sasuke merely shook his head and pointed at the class sign. "That's an illusion. He's right to insult these guys who can't even see through something this common."

Naruto frowned and said. "I know but still, they're just being mean."

"Isn't it better that way? This way, none of these guys get to die." Saying that, Sasuke continued walking up the stairs to the original Third floor accompanied by Sakura.

"Eh? Someone saw through it?" The Chunin blocking the door asked as he looked up the stairs causing everyone's attention to be focused on team Seven.

"It was quite easy. Even the weakest in our team noticed it, right Sakura?" Sasuke said without turning around.

"Huh?"

Sakura who was just asked didn't know whether to feel ashamed, angry or proud.

She was just called the weakest of the trio in front of the entire crowd, yet she was also praised by Sasuke.

"You're the most intelligent and analytical mind in our team. Your control over chakra a d understanding over illsuion should have let you see through it right?"

Seeing Sasuke smiling at her, she knew he was trying to make her less reproachful of her weakness. "Heh." She smirked as her gaze turned serious.

"If course I noticed it. Obviously, we're still on the second floor.." She said to which Naruto nodded.

As soon as she said that, the space around them twisted as the previous 301 returned to its original 201.

This was a simple cognitive illsuion. This was a Genjutsu that can make the victim believe in false information, experiences, or emotions. It doesn't necessarily manipulate what they see but can distort their understanding of the situation.

So as soon as this illsuion was pointed out, whether the caster wishes or not, everything would return to the way it was.

However, if you're already aware of the situation, everything will remain the same.

This type of illusion can be highly effective in battles, as it can control an opponent's mind and force them to react in ways that benefit the Genjutsu user.

"Heh. Not bad, but just dispelling it isn't enough..." as the Chunin said that, his figure blurred as he made to strike Sasuke who was up on the stairs.

Sasuke however looked on impassively as the Chunin reached him. In the last moment, he determined the Chunin wasn't going all out considering the force behind the kick.

Taking a simple Taijutsu stance, he made to retaliate only to catch something else moving at the corner of his eyes.

Raising an eyebrow at that, he decided to increase the force behind his own kick with a smirk on his face.

WHAP!

WHAP!

Crack!

The two raised legs were smoothly caught by the same Bob haired boy that was being beaten earlier, only, the Crack sound also came from the Slightly twisted wrist that had caught Sasuke's leg.

Rock Lee had a profound look of horror and amazement as he appraised Sasuke who was wearing a smirk.

Taking back his leg, Sasuke also marvelled at the Bob haired boy. 'He blocked my kick...But there's something weird about this guy."

Everyone that witnessed the scene were struck dumb as they didn't really know what was going on anymore.

One moment, the boy who was being beaten was in front of them, the next moment, he was up the stairs blocking two kicks that kicked up air waves.

Seeing as the two had calmed down, Rock Lee walked back to his teammates.

"That's not what we agreed." A young Hyūga said. "You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention."

"Bu-but!" Rock Lee stuttered as he looked at Sakura with a blushing face while clenching his fists.

Sasuke looked at the boy, the fist he had used to catch his kick actually and couldn't hide his shock. "his hands already healed? Don't tell me he's like Naruto..? No. Even Naruto doesn't heal from the bones.'

"A~re? Neji. Is that you?" Naruto waved enthusiastically at Neji who scowled and looked away.

"C'mon. Don't be like that, we've known eachother for how long now?" Naruto said as he walked up to Neji and patted him on the shoulder.

"Leave me be Naruto. You've already tainted Hinata-sama, I wouldn't want to be near you to avoid her wrath." Neji's scowled deepened.

"Sigh. This again. Neji, look, Hinata wouldn't hurt a fly even if she was threatened. How can she bear to hurt you, her brother." Naruto's smiling face turned serious as he addressed Neji.

Neji only looked at him before sighing and walking away, but not before dragging Lee who had just had his heart broken by Sakura.

"Hey Naruto..." Neji pasued and called out

"Hmm?"

"If we meet in this Exams, I'll give it my all. I'll prove to Hinata that you don't deserve her." Saying that, he strode away with his teammates.

"Deserve her? What the hell is he talking about?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he's Hinata-chan's cousin or brother. I dunno, I get confused by that clan sometimes."

"You mean Hinata from our class? The one after me in best graduating female?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, that one." Naruto nodded.

"What's your beef with him then?" Sasuke asked. He had met Hinata on a couple occasions. After all, she was Naruto's friend and that made her his friend.

It was just that he couldn't stand her submissive and quiet attitude. It was unnerving because she gave him a feeling that she saw through him in almost everything he does.

Especially when they fought.

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me. Everyone in that clan looks at me the same way the village does but whenever I'm with Hinata-chan, it's worse." Naruto shivered at the memory of that.

Of course he didn't take them serious. He felt it was a normalcy. But as far as he still had a friend in Hinata, that was enough.

"However Sasuke." Naruto called out.

"Hmm?"

"He's Strong. That much I'm aware. In the Hyūga clan, he's a genius."

"Oh?" Sasuke smirked as he looked towards the steps Neji has just walked on. "This is turning into one freak show. With this amount of opponents, there's no way we wouldn't impress."

"Hehe. You bet."