Sato was talking with Ino when suddenly, someone approached him.
"Sato sama, are you alone? Do you want to sit with us? I am sure my team would love to have your company."
Kurenai said with a bow; she sounded like a kind teacher looking out for Sato. She also had a static Shino and an angry-faced Kiba behind her.
Kurenai had approached Sato and Ino just now, and apparently she wanted Sato to stay with her.
But Sato didn't think so; he paused for a second before smiling and looking at hidden leaf's most beautiful kunoichi, Kurenai.
"Oh? I was wondering why Ino's group didn't show up, and neither did her teacher, Asuma. Your presence answers that."
"The Hokage called Asuma for his protection, right? And you were sent here to keep an eye on me and protect Ino. See if I am a threat."
Kurenai's gentle smile froze; she had sweat running down her forehead as she faced Sato's cold stare.
She had one job, which was to keep an eye on Sato secretly, and she messed that up almost immediately.
This was to be expected from Kurenai; she might be called a jonin, but that was entirely due to nepotism. Her battle IQ and strength were barely at the special jonin level.
Anyway, Sato would never expect anything from Kurenai; she was someone who wanted to use genjutsu on Itachi..
"Hey! You can't talk to sensei like that; she approached you because you were sitting all alone."
Kiba suddenly growled at Sato; he didn't like Sato slandering his teacher. He also remembered this guy from years ago.
This guy had beaten him and his clan members, and he was a filthy cat lover. Nothing made Kiba as upset as Sato did.
"It's okay Kiba. Sato sama might have some misunderstanding about me."
Kurenai quickly explained, she almost died when Kiba started confronting Sato.
Hello, she herself was about to faint from that cold stare. Was it necessary to make Sato angry?!
"Humph, I don't like that guy."
Kiba snorted and looked the other way. Sato narrowed his eyes and slowly gazed at Kiba. Just when Kiba felt a chill go up his spine, Sato suddenly smiled.
"Oh, it was a misunderstanding. That's okay. You must forgive me; I have a headache. I must be thinking weird things."
Sato smiled gently at Kurenai and her team. Kiba's face improved with Sato's apology, but Kurenai understood the meaning of Sato's words much better.
Sato could ignore her blunder and let her continue her mission, but she needs to do something for him in the meantime.
She was relieved after hearing this, being a product of nepotism, she knew all too well how to please people. She might not have battle IQ but she was not a stupid person.
"Headache isn't good before exams. I know an acupuncture technique that can help you."
Kurenai said with a gentle smile, then went ahead and started pressing Sato's head. Sato felt her choice of action was werid, but he leaned back and decided to drop the issue.
Only Ino, Kiba, and Shino were dumbfounded; no way, where did this come from? They had never seen Kurenai sensei take care of them this much.
The trio didn't know what to do in this situation; thankfully, an announcement saved them from embarrassment.
"Our next match is Ino Yamanaka vs. Kiba Inuzuka."
Sato opened his relaxed eyes and cheerfully looked at the two participants.
Ino and Kiba glared at each other, and sparks flew into the air. Kiba snorted and jumped down from the waiting area.
Ino didn't take such a rough way; she smiled at Sato and jumped down the stairs instead. Making sure her steps were as graceful as possible.
"Who do you think is going to win?"
Sato asked Kurenai; she hummed while pressing Sato's head, subconsciously using a little more force.
"Kiba should win; he's been training very hard."
Kurenai quickly fixed her hands and continued, but half her attention was on the battlefield.
"I think Ino has a chance. While Kiba is stronger than she is, he is very wild."
"You can't fight a Yamanaka with wildness alone. Although I am not sure if Ino's a good Yamanaka just yet."
Sato was excited to see this fight; these were completely new matchups never seen in canon. There were so many possibilities.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield the referee of the exam raised his hand.
"Are both contestants ready? Begin."
Swish
He flickered away, leaving Ino and Kiba standing before each other.
"You should give up; fighting me will mess with your hairstyle. I saw how you were fixing your hair all the time."
"Fighting is a dirty job; it's not as delicate as you think it is."
Kiba grinned and stood on all fours. Ino almost exploded when she heard this.
"Why do you care if I fix my hair or not?! And you are a dity dog; you don't know anything about fashion."
Ino flicked her well-maintained ponytail, but Kiba just twitched his eyes.
"Akamaru."
Kiba called for his ninja dog, Akamaru, who jumped out of his sweatshirt and stood beside his master.
Kiba growled, and his body changed; his teeth grew sharper, and his nails grew longer. He was looking semi-wolf right now.
"This is the Inuzuka clan's special technique; prepare to lose."
Kiba shouted with courage and ran towards Ino on all fours. Akamaru flanked around them, trying to approach Ino from behind.
Gulp
Ino gulped. Okay, she might have underestimated Kiba. This is not something she can fight with Taijutsu.
She needed to use her clan's mind jutsu, but to do that, her opponent needed to stop moving.
The problem is that Kiba was moving; he was moving a lot.
"Take this!"
Clang
Ino somehow stopped Kiba's attack with a kunai, but her hand felt pain after blocking his strike.
Clang
Clang
Riiiip
Ino blocked two more attacks before the third attack ripped open her shoulder.
Splattering blood all over her purple clothes, Ino screamed in pain, but that didn't stop Akamaru from reaching behind her.
Bite
And biting down hard, his teeth bit through her leg muscles, tearing her flesh and reaching her bone.
Ino almost fainted from the pain, but then the last attack came: Kiba finished off his combo with a slash to her stomach.
"This is the end."
Kiba said with a confident smile, but Ino panted and also smiled a little. She finally had it; Kiba was within her reach!
"This is indeed the end, heart-turning technique."
Ino brought her hands together and opened her eyes wide.
Kiba had messed up; he had trapped her with Akamaru. But this trap didn't just immobilize her; it also fixed Kiba's position.
Making it impossible for him to dodge her technique.
"What?!"
Kiba widened his eyes; he wanted to move out of the way, but his eyes went blank and were soon replaced with a different emotion.
When this happened, Ino fainted directly, but 'Kiba' caught Ino's body.
This wasn't because Kiba took pity on her, but because Kiba was now Ino. Her soul had taken over his body.
"Stop biting!"
'Kiba' glared at Akamaru, who was confused why his master suddenly got angry at him. He quickly stopped biting Ino's leg.
"I give up; Ino is amazing and beautiful; I can never win against her."
Ino made Kiba raise his hand and give up, then she took out a kunai and stabbed it into Kiba's leg and shoulders.
"Ouch, there, revenge is complete."
Ino muttered, then released her technique, giving Kiba control over his body again.
"Aaagh dammit."
Kiba screamed from the pain, and so did Ino. Both were hurt a lot in this battle.
"Ino wins; she goes to the next round. Medical ninja, they need assistance."
The referee quickly announced the winner, and the medical staff brought in stretchers.
"Good job Ino."
Sato gave Ino a thumbs up, and she smiled back tiredly. At least she looked good before Sato.
Ino and Kiba were taken to the hospital; the audience didn't have to wait much longer either, the next match was announced pretty quickly.
"Our next battle is Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sato Nii."
Sato smirked. He stood up and stretched his neck muscles. He was going to fight the main character of this story.
This was the first time he would face off against Naruto; this Naruto had already met Jiraya, which means gigantic toad summons were coming up.
How powerful were the sage toads? Sato was curious about this.
Advanced chapters ahead on patréon
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