Chapter 41: Shocking the Audience, Konoha's Four Flowers

Upon reaching the registration area on the third floor, Team 8 handed over their application forms to the officials and received the location and seat numbers for their exam room.

After leaving the administration building, Yagyu and his team headed to the academy building.

Throughout the journey, Yagyu noticed that neither Team 7 nor Team 10, and not even Team Guy, were anywhere to be seen. He wasn't sure if they had arrived early or were running late.

At the entrance of the exam room, Yagyu, Hinata, and Shino spotted a familiar figure—Kurenai. Standing beside her were Asuma Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake.

"Sensei," Yagyu and his teammates greeted Kurenai as they approached her.

Seeing the three of them arrive together, Kurenai stood up with a smile of satisfaction. "I'm so happy to see the three of you here together."

She then added, "There's actually a rule in the Chunin Exams: unless there's been a casualty, all team members must register together in order to participate."

"Seeing all of you sign up shows that you're unwilling to abandon your comrades. I can already see the bond you've formed."

"No matter how you do in this exam, I'll be assigning you to more advanced missions afterward."

Kurenai then patted Yagyu's shoulder and introduced the two other jonin standing beside her: "These two are my classmates and elite jonin of Konoha. You've already met the one with the beard, Asuma Sarutobi, but you can also call him Asuma-sensei."

"And this masked man here is Kakashi Hatake, Konoha's 'Copy Ninja' and the leader of Team 7. You can call him Kakashi-sensei."

"Asuma-sensei, Kakashi-sensei," Yagyu and his teammates politely greeted the two jonin.

"Nice to meet you," Asuma said with a smile. "Ino's mentioned you all a lot. She seems to really miss you guys. Maybe our teams can meet up more often."

He glanced at Kurenai as he said the last part, his interest in her still very obvious.

Upon hearing Ino's name, both Yagyu and Hinata smiled slightly, already imagining what Ino's expression would have been while talking about them.

Kakashi put down his copy of Icha Icha Paradise and curiously eyed Yagyu, who stood a head taller than both Hinata and Shino, and nearly as tall as Kurenai herself. "So this is the top student? His presence is certainly something our second-best can't compare to," Kakashi said with interest.

"But be careful, our number two has made a lot of progress recently."

In response, Kurenai confidently remarked, "Even if your Uchiha has awakened his Sharingan, he's no match for Yagyu."

"Just wait, Kakashi, Asuma—my students are going to blow you away!"

"Oh?" Kakashi and Asuma exchanged surprised glances.

Is she that confident? Does this top student have some hidden trump card?

"Sensei, we'll head inside now," Yagyu said as he noticed Kurenai's proud smile.

"Alright, go on and good luck in the exam," Kurenai replied with a smile and a nod.

After nodding politely to Kakashi and Asuma, Yagyu led Hinata and Shino into the exam room.

The moment they entered, the atmosphere changed dramatically.

First, the noisy chatter hit their ears like a marketplace, and then countless hostile or murderous glares surged toward them like a wave. Hinata and Shino instinctively tensed up, their bodies reacting to the danger.

"Such rude people," Yagyu muttered with a slight frown. He scanned the room, his Sharingan—hidden behind cosmetic contact lenses—beginning to spin subtly.

The next moment, those glaring at Yagyu froze, their expressions turning from hostile to terrified.

Thud, thud, thud—

One after another, the genin in the room paled as if they had just seen something terrifying. Some of the tougher-looking ones, who were actually weak-willed, collapsed to the floor in fear. Others even screamed out in terror, "No! Don't kill me!"

Chaos erupted in the exam room.

But soon, the commotion began to settle.

"I'm… I'm not dead? I'm alive!" shouted one of the genin who had broken free from the genjutsu, elated by his survival.

Some were so overwhelmed with joy that they even started to cry, oblivious to how embarrassing their reactions looked to those around them.

Once they realized how foolish they appeared in front of everyone, the embarrassed genin fell silent, wishing they could dig a hole to hide in.

Yet, no one laughed at them.

Instead, everyone around them stared at Yagyu with caution. Those lucky enough to have avoided falling under his genjutsu swallowed nervously, their faces filled with fear.

"A group genjutsu? Who is that guy?"

"I saw my own death… My teacher once showed me a similar technique, a B-rank genjutsu called 'Hell Viewing Technique.' But this guy didn't even need to use hand signs to cast it—and on so many of us at once!"

"I know him. He's the top student from Konoha this year. Even the last Uchiha in his class couldn't beat him."

"If we run into him in the next stage, we should retreat immediately!"

Under the weight of Yagyu's presence, the exam room fell eerily quiet, with only faint whispers breaking the silence.

Squeak—

At that moment, the door to the exam room opened again.

A familiar voice called out to Yagyu and Hinata: "Yagyu, Hinata, long time no see!"

Before Yagyu could even turn around, something heavy hit his back, causing him to lean forward slightly. Two arms wrapped around his neck from behind as someone clung to him.

There was only one person bold enough to act like this.

"Long time no see, Ino," Yagyu said with practiced ease as he gently pried her arms off and set her down.

Looking her over—her long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail with bangs covering one eye—Yagyu raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Have you gotten taller, Ino?"

"Hehe, you noticed?" Ino smiled mischievously, doing a playful pose. "I've grown three centimeters over the past few months."

She then tried to compare her height with Hinata, the tallest of the three girls.

But the next moment, Ino's mouth dropped open, and she froze in place, her face turning pale as if she had turned to stone.

Her eyes were locked on Hinata's chest.

"Yagyu, long time no see!" a cheerful voice called out from behind him once again.

Yagyu turned to see a girl with pink hair, wearing a red qipao, running over to him—it was Sakura. Behind her were Naruto and Sasuke.

"Long time no see, Sakura," Yagyu greeted, raising his hand.

Unlike Ino, Sakura was more reserved and didn't act so boldly. Seeing Yagyu wave back at her, her smile brightened even more, and she turned to greet her friends: "Ino, Hinata, long ti—"

Her words cut off abruptly, her eyes widening in shock as she stared at Hinata's chest.

What in the world?

Just three months ago, it hadn't been nearly this exaggerated!

Sakura glanced down at her own flat chest, where she could still clearly see her feet, and not feeling the slightest bit of weight. She, too, turned to stone, cracks forming as her heart shattered.

That sound… was my heart breaking!

"Ino, Hinata, can I have a word with you…?" Ino, snapping out of her daze, quickly dragged the now flustered Hinata aside for a private conversation.

Sakura hurriedly joined in as well.

As the three girls exchanged whispers, Yagyu glanced around the exam room and quickly spotted another familiar face—a girl with her hair tied up in two buns, who was quietly observing them from a distance.

Finally, the four flowers of Konoha were gathered in one place.

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