Chapter 71: Shocking! A Chūnin Exam Scandal!

Two hours after the first stage of the Chūnin Exam ended...

As soon as Morino Ibiki, the proctor of the exam, stepped out of the hall, he was met with a swarm of angry jōnin from other villages, all 'greeting' him with rather... aggressive questions.

"Scandal! That blonde kid is clearly someone Konoha brought in to cheat!"

"Damn it, you big village ninjas are pulling such dirty tricks!"

"I won't accept this! My subordinates didn't even start answering before they were falsely accused of cheating!"

"Konoha is just bullying the honest! We from Grass Village won't stand for it!"

"Right! The Hidden Waterfall Village protests this injustice too!"

Outside the exam hall, several jōnin from smaller villages crowded around Ibiki, demanding an explanation.

Some even dragged their crying subordinates forward. Ibiki sighed inwardly, already feeling the headache brewing.

"Sensei... you have no idea, that blonde kid... he even threw rocks at me and knocked me out..."

"Look at this wound on my head..."

A genin from the Hidden Waterfall Village lifted his bangs to reveal a nasty-looking gash. From the amount of blood, it was clear the injury wasn't minor.

Seeing the first one step up, the other aggrieved genin began showing off their own wounds, and before long, the sobs became louder, echoing through the area. The scene was pitiful.

The Konoha proctors listening to their pained cries began to doubt themselves.

Maybe... that blonde did go a bit overboard...

Ibiki's eye twitched as he finally spoke to calm the crowd.

"Everyone, please settle down. That blonde kid... he's just one of Konoha's examinees, not someone we deliberately planted..."

But the foreign ninjas were already like powder kegs, and Ibiki's words were the spark that set them off.

"Damn it! Konoha's bullying the small villages, huh?"

"What the hell kind of Chūnin Exam is this?!"

"So now you're trying to pass the blame, huh?!"

"Let's go! We're taking this to the Third Hokage!"

"Yeah, let's demand answers from him! If we don't, there's no point in continuing with this exam!"

To be honest, it had been a long time since the various foreign ninjas had banded together like this. The last time it happened, the First Hokage was still around.

And so, all the Konoha proctors, along with the jōnin from other villages, headed straight to the Hokage Tower...

Just as the group of outraged foreign jōnin left their genin behind to confront the Hokage—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Naruto, dressed in his Iron Man armor, pulled a sack over the head of a Hidden Waterfall genin, and before the poor guy could cry out, Naruto kicked him to the ground.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Konohamaru rushed forward, surrounding the bagged genin, and began a flurry of punches and kicks.

They were careful though—nobody used chakra, knowing better than to go too far.

After about a minute of beating him up, Naruto opened his Light Gate, and the team vanished, fleeing the scene like seasoned criminals.

"Uh, Naruto... maybe we should stop now..."

"We've already beaten up thirteen of them," Sakura said nervously, her face a mixture of guilt and numbness.

At first, when Naruto had suggested they go after everyone whose names were on the list, Sakura had refused. But after being roped in by Naruto and Sasuke, she'd thrown a couple of kicks herself, and now... it seemed there was no stopping.

"C'mon, Sakura! You were the one who hit the hardest just now!" Naruto teased, scratching another name off his list.

Konohamaru stood beside him, brimming with excitement.

"Big bro Naruto! Who's next? I can't wait!"

"Beating up these foreign ninjas is so satisfying!"

His only regret was that Naruto wouldn't let them use weapons; otherwise, he'd have gotten to show off his newly learned Door Style.

"Strange... why haven't we run into any of their jōnin yet?" Sasuke mused. Typically, the jōnin would be watching over their genin closely, yet they had already ambushed over a dozen genin without encountering a single jōnin.

"Who cares," Naruto shrugged. "As long as they're alone, we're good."

"Alright... let's see... next up is... Kankurō from the Hidden Sand?"

"Let's move!"

The Light Gate opened once again, and the Konoha sack gang went off on another mission.

Half an hour later...

Naruto's four-person crew was finally caught and dragged into the Hokage's office by no less than twenty Konoha jōnin.

And leading the capture squad... was none other than Kakashi Hatake.

One could only wonder what thoughts were running through Kakashi's mind during the whole ordeal.

Inside the Hokage's office—

Naruto stood there, picking his nose and staring out the window, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the Third Hokage.

Konohamaru mimicked his big brother, also ignoring his grandfather.

Sasuke had his head down, his face hidden beneath his hood, so no one could read his expression or guess what was going through his mind.

Sakura, on the other hand, was a mess of nerves, bowing repeatedly as she apologized to the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage rubbed his temples before taking out two bottles of medicine and downing them. A few hours ago, a group of jōnin from other villages had stormed into his office, accusing Konoha's "blonde menace" of falsely accusing other candidates of cheating, and even physically attacking them during the exam.

To make matters worse, a few Konoha jōnin had backed up the complaints.

Hearing this, the Hokage's blood pressure had hit an all-time high.

Then, not long after, he received word from the ANBU that Naruto's team, along with his own grandson Konohamaru, had been caught beating up foreign genin. He had nearly fainted from rage.

These kids had gone too far!

The foreign jōnin had barely left his office when Naruto turned around and went after their genin...

Even the ANBU had been left helpless.

One was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and the other was the Hokage's grandson—there was no way they could use force to stop them. They had even tried reasoning with Naruto, but he'd simply ignored them, disappearing with his gang through that damn Light Gate.

The Third Hokage sighed deeply before addressing the group.

"Naruto... you went too far this time."

"All the jōnin from other villages came to file complaints..."

"What?!"

"They have the nerve to complain?!" Naruto gasped, his expression full of disbelief.

Damn it!

These outsiders can't even take a hit? And now they're tattling?!

"Grandpa... you don't get it. I was just demonstrating Konoha's strength," Naruto said, switching to a more innocent tone. "Besides, we were super careful. There's no way they could trace it back to Konoha."

Both Konohamaru and Sasuke nodded in agreement, fully supporting Naruto's explanation.

The Third Hokage let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"You..."

"Fine... this time, I'll let it go. But from now on, unless it's during the exam, you are not to lay a hand on any other ninja."

"If you do... I'll cancel your entire team's participation in the Chūnin Exams."

Seeing the Hokage on the verge of passing out from frustration, Naruto put on his best "obedient" expression and replied, "Got it."

"And... Konohamaru, you're grounded for a month!"

The Hokage's voice hardened as he delivered his next order, turning his gaze to Naruto.

"And Naruto, you're not allowed to see him during that time either!"

Naruto's eyes gleamed mischievously as he suddenly rushed forward and poured the Hokage a cup of tea.

"Sure thing, Grandpa Hokage! No problem at all..."

"But..."

"Could I... maybe take a peek at the Sealing Scroll?"

You have the nerve to ask me that?!

The Third Hokage stared at Naruto in disbelief, but after a moment, he sighed, thinking it over. If this meant Naruto wouldn't corrupt Konohamaru further, maybe a little trade wouldn't be the worst idea.

"What jutsu do you want to learn?"

"I'll tell you right now—forget about the Multiple Explosive Tag technique."

"I want to learn the Impure World Reincarnation."

Cough! Cough!

The Third Hokage choked on his tea, coughing violently.

After a long moment, he finally regained his composure.

"How about... we talk about how you plan to train Konohamaru instead?"

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