The Gentle Beast  

(This person will die because of Chitose.)

In the underground of Kirigakure, a competition destined to be extraordinarily heroic was about to take place.

"I want to remind all of you not to forget that you have signed a death waiver." The young jonin proctor stood slightly ahead, staring intently at the genin whose faces had paled after witnessing the terror of the man-eating fish, his ordinary-looking eyes brimming with cruel laughter.

"By the way, in the first exam, a brat nearly had his arm chopped off by a large blade, and another had his stomach pierced through, with intestines spilling all over the ground..." He said indifferently, his gaze casually sweeping over the genin's now much grimmer expressions. His tone was filled with sympathy and pity, yet his completely expressionless face made him seem so hypocritical. "How pitiful, right? One nearly couldn't reattach his arm, while the other barely survived... So pitiful."

The genin squad was deathly silent.

Kakashi gazed at the two students from his team whose expressions had changed, his eye half-lidded.

This Chunin Exam held by Kirigakure had undergone a geometric increase in difficulty compared to previous ones, as agreed upon by the Five Great Nations. The purpose was to allow these shinobi nurtured in peacetime to become aware of their destiny as ninja - people fated to walk the line between life and death. With the slightest carelessness, forget losing a limb, their lives could be lost in an instant. The older generation hoped they would engrave this fact firmly in their minds.

Of course, they wouldn't really let the future pillars of their villages die. If not for the elite Kirigakure ninja monitoring, the boy who was slashed might have lost his entire arm, even had his body cut in half. As for the youth whose intestines spilled out, he could have had his spine pierced by the earthen spikes, possibly confining him to a bed for the rest of his life.

That's why each village sent their strongest genin to participate. As the one who originally proposed this plan, the Mizukage Chojuro had his own hidden thoughts. Although increasing the exam difficulty could help improve the quality of each village's genin, it could also easily breed resentment, especially from the injured ninja. And villages whose promising flowers were hurt might not look favorably upon Kirigakure for toughening their genin. Chojuro took on this thankless task with the aim of disciplining certain talented but unruly genin from his own village.

By raising the exam difficulty, he could more or less make them discard improper thoughts and focus wholeheartedly on training for a time. As for breeding resentment... as long as proper precautions were taken and the genin sent by other Kages weren't actually killed or crippled, who could really blame Kirigakure? If anything, they should blame their own lack of ability.

The other four Kages more or less saw through Chojuro's intentions. Otherwise, who would willingly arrange such an exam requiring close monitoring? However, since his ultimate goal was to resolve affairs in his own village rather than meddle in theirs, they turned a blind eye.

It was also an opportunity to temper their most promising youngsters, so why not?

With this in mind, they also secretly sent some capable youngsters, truly or falsely, while their accompanying jonin were repeatedly reminded not to let any accidents happen – or else they'd be the ones crying.

Of course, no one would tell these genin there was no actual risk of death. This proctor's intimidation had undoubtedly succeeded.

The three squads sent by Naruto were naturally selected from thousands. Their strength differed from ordinary genin. The other four villages, slightly weaker than the current Leaf, sent somewhat inferior ninja. Although only Chitose's team ultimately advanced, the two eliminated Leaf squads weren't too badly injured, faring far better than the other battered squads. Moreover, the Leaf's three squads were all newcomers, lacking the experience of the other villages' genin who had at least taken C-rank missions. However, this divergence from the other Kages was Naruto's way. Rather than playing it safe, he boldly seized this opportunity to temper the newcomers.

Befitting the Number One Unpredictable Ninja, he hadn't changed over the years.

Thinking this, Kakashi recalled Naruto's expression when he resolutely sent these kids despite believing in them. He chuckled lightly before refocusing on the examinees.

Of the four advancing squads besides Chitose's, the remaining three were also in quite disarray, their bodies bearing bloodstains.

In contrast, the pristine and exceptionally attractive trio stood out even more. The two yet immature kids naturally underwent some psychological changes.

In fact, that first exam challenging for ordinary genin would have been impossible for just the two of them to pass unscathed without Chitose's protection. This exam was far crueler and harder than they imagined.

Only now did the two realize this. Arrogance and complacency were absolute taboos for ninja. Fortunately, they woke up in time.

Seeing their considerably changed eyes, Kakashi felt slightly relieved. But when he glanced at Chitose's unchanged icy expression, he felt it was only natural and swelled with pride, unable to stop another light chuckle. That brat.

"Well then, we shouldn't delay any longer. Let's begin immediately..."

After savoring the genin's looks of terror for a while, the proctor finally spoke.

He watched happily as the Kirigakure and Sunagakure trios who drew the first round left their lines. He turned to confirm arrangements with the proctors secretly stationed around the field to ensure the examinees' safety.

As a born and raised citizen of the Land of Water, Kagura had already guessed what was in the water. His face tense, he cautiously stepped one meter away from the railing to peer at the black shadow drifting in the water.

If facing that voracious man-eating king fish, small kunai no longer than a palm would be completely useless against its huge maw when directly attacked.

His left hand unconsciously gripped his sword, but his eyes flickered with a hint of hesitation.

But he... he couldn't draw his sword...

Just as Kagura wavered, the proctor had finished confirming with the other proctors and turned back around. Smiling cunningly, he announced, "Alright then..."

"The genin of Kirigakure and Sunagakure, please stand on the lowest circular platform and obtain the Night Pearl. That is the requirement to pass this exam stage."

He suddenly bared his teeth in a naive smile, but his eyes were as cold as blades. "Any means are permitted, just ensure one thing... Stay alive."

Kagura's throat tightened as he unconsciously swallowed. Two years older than Chitose, his pronounced Adam's apple bobbed noticeably, clearly displaying his anxiety.

Chitose, who had been casually observing from nearby, heard the sound and turned to look at the purple-haired pretty boy, somewhat surprised to sense his unease.

Why? Because of that fish?

But he regarded Kagura's abilities highly. With that longsword no shorter than his own, he should be fully capable of fending off the man-eating fish's maw.

Combining his own observations and measures he had formulated, Chitose analyzed as if Kagura had already realized this, a matter of course.

He stared at Kagura, who had fallen half a step behind his teammates, and his gaze shifted as he found the answer, sparking some interest.

He kept wanting to grasp the sword hilt but always stopped before actually doing so. He was afraid of his own sword, no, he was afraid of drawing that sword.

Why?

Lost in these thoughts while watching Kagura intently, Chitose naturally overlooked when one of the Sunagakure genin with red face paint and a black cloak passed by them, how Ruri immediately tensed up with a stiff expression.

Until that youth glanced indifferently at Ruri, who was desperately concealing her nervousness, the corners of his mouth curling as he lightly spoke, "Living well now—Betrayer of Sand."

The white-haired girl's eyes immediately widened, her crimson pupils contracting as her irises trembled. She unconsciously wanted to retort.

Ruri wanted to refute that it wasn't like that! It was that man who betrayed her and her mother first! Her mother had originally married into the Hidden Sand from the Leaf, so the Leaf was partly her hometown too!!

However, her lips only trembled slightly, unable to make a sound. She could only widen her eyes, her limbs feeling icy cold, as she watched the youth's black figure disappear from view after uttering those words.

After the young man finished speaking, he immediately met a pair of black eyes. Of course he knew who that was. His own somewhat gloomy eyes met those powerful, coldly harsh black eyes brimming with killing intent, leaving him rooted to the spot.

For an instant, he envisioned his own neck being sliced by a longsword, his head rolling on the ground.

That person gave him one last look before shifting his gaze to the girl behind him. The young man blankly stood there for a while until his teammate urged him, finally snapping out of it with a jolt.

As he started walking again, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, an unprecedented thought suddenly flashed through his mind:

It's fortunate their opponent in the second exam isn't him.

He arrived on the pit's platform, glancing gloomily at the Kirigakure trio on the other side.

A muscle-head idiot, a pretty boy, a woman.

Nothing to be afraid of. He turned his gaze away, feeling slightly relieved, but immediately thought of those beautiful yet overflowing with killing intent black eyes, pursing his lips.

That Uchiha from the Leaf... he would become his greatest rival in the future. But... as the adopted son of the Kazekage, he absolutely could not lose to him!

Not far away on the water surface, an enormous fish fin emerged, circling around the circular platform non-stop.

Seeing the two ready genin squads, the proctor stated impassively, "Then I declare, the first round of the second stage of the Chunin Exams, Sand vs. Mist, begin!"

As if understanding human speech, the massive sea beast immediately lunged up the moment the proctor finished, its bloody maw charging straight at the surprised Sand genin.

Chitose stood by the railing, hands resting on it as if oblivious to the rising water level and increasingly leaping man-eating fish. He gazed coldly down at the fray below, contrasting sharply with those around him intently watching the genin fight with tense expressions.

Behind him, the white-haired girl kept her head lowered for a while before seeming to muster her courage, glancing up at him. After another moment, she hesitantly reached out and grasped the hem of his jacket.

Seeing Chitose give no reaction, still fixated on the scene below, she quietly inhaled and slowly exhaled.

"Thank you, Chitose," her sweet voice said softly.

The black-haired boy finally reacted, turning to look at the watery crimson eyes gazing at him with a hint of dependence, causing him to pause briefly before regaining his composure. He raised a hand to pat her head.

"You're my teammate," he said coolly, then turned back to observe the increasingly dangerous arena.

The girl curved her lips in a faint smile, giving an almost inaudible affirmative, "...Mn."

Yosuke watched her with an amused look. The white-haired girl glanced at him, and seeing the warmth in his ice-blue eyes, she couldn't help giving him a slight smile too.

After comforting his emotionally downtrodden teammate, Yosuke contemplatively looked at Chitose's inexpressive profile.

This wasn't the first time Chitose had shown an almost forceful protectiveness towards them, especially Ruri. Ruri might really enjoy it, but he always felt this degree of protection was somewhat abnormal.

Where Chitose couldn't see, his brow creased slightly in thought. He always felt Chitose's protectiveness had a somewhat abnormal domineering undertone. But this was the seemingly expressionless yet terrifyingly gentle Chitose in subtle ways. It must be his imagination. Giving up, he continued watching the arena.

If Naruto or Kakashi knew Yosuke's innermost thoughts at this moment, they would lament that he missed the best opportunity to understand the true gentle nature beneath Chitose's exterior.

It was precisely because of that ingrained gentleness that the boy had such an almost pathological sense of possession and control over what he valued. Although in some cases, it could be seen as extreme sheltering. If one had to describe it, it was like a beast protecting its cubs.

Kakashi, who understood Chitose the deepest, had lamented this way, and even now, his view remained unchanged.

The developments in the arena startled every genin.

The massive man-eating fish seemed quite displeased with the leading Sand genin youth, repeatedly attacking him.

Chitose watched him silently sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose before shaking his head at the inquisitive looks from Ruri and Yosuke to indicate he was fine. However, he seemed to avoid meeting Ruri's eyes, his downcast gaze unusually carrying a hint of bewilderment.

Though it was just a fleeting moment, the observant Yosuke still noticed. He covertly studied the unsuspecting Ruri before his gaze towards Chitose deepened slightly.

Chitose indeed hadn't noticed yet.

The intelligence-gathering boy withdrew his gaze, mentally packing away his discovery in a small compartment labeled "Chitose's Past" in his mindscape.

It already contained a few scattered similar packages, waiting for the day their owner could connect them to uncover the truth and fill his intelligence network.

And today, combining the many subtle phenomena he'd noticed, he deduced a critical fact.

Phenomena: Chitose's overprotectiveness and indulgence towards Ruri, his love for her hair, the deeply hidden guilt in his eyes.

Keywords: White hair, young age, demure girl, dependent on Chitose.

Recalling everything he'd noticed over the past half year, his soul for gathering intelligence burning fiercely as an information specialist, he carefully added one more line to the package after contemplation.

This person died because of Chitose (to be determined).