Chapter 29 (Patreon)

The moment Team 8 entered the examination room, they felt dozens of eyes turn toward them.

Some of the candidates looked openly hostile. Others appeared friendly, while a few had hidden their faces behind masks and gave nothing away.

A nervous genin might have been shaken by the attention.

Mihawk, Hinata, and Shino did not react. They calmly walked toward their assigned seats.

The members of Team 8 had been placed in different rows.

Hinata’s seat was in the first row, Mihawk’s was in the third, and Shino’s was in the fifth.

Several candidates standing near the back of the room watched them with clear hostility.

Those who had gathered information before the exam already knew who they were.

Even candidates who had done little preparation could recognize Hinata and Shino. Their pale eyes and clothing made their connections to the Hyūga and Aburame Clans obvious.

Mihawk, however, drew far more interest.

One of the people watching him was Yakushi Kabuto.

When it came to gathering information, very few shinobi could compare to Kabuto. He had spent years working as a spy and had collected information on nearly every genin taking part in the exam.

Mihawk was one of the candidates who interested him most.

According to Kabuto’s information, Nerona Mihawk was a rare talent.

Despite being born into an ordinary civilian family, he had remained ahead of Uchiha Sasuke from the moment they entered the Academy. He graduated as the top student of their class and had already completed ten D-rank missions and one B-rank mission.

He was also the clear center of Team 8.

Among the genin taking part in this year’s Chūnin Exams, only two had completed B-rank missions.

One was Mihawk.

The other was Gaara of the Sand.

Kabuto knew exactly what Gaara was—a jinchūriki with frightening power.

That made Mihawk’s record even more unusual.

A civilian-born genin had reached a level that allowed others to compare him with someone like Gaara. That alone was enough to prove how talented he was.

Unfortunately, Mihawk did not appear to possess a kekkei genkai.

Otherwise, Kabuto might have considered reporting him to Orochimaru.

Mihawk knew nothing about the exact thoughts running through Kabuto’s mind, but his Observation Haki immediately noticed the man’s gaze.

He did not care.

Neither Kabuto nor Orochimaru was enough to frighten him.

As time passed, more candidates entered the room.

Team 8 had been the first members of Konoha’s younger generation to arrive.

Soon afterward, the genin from Team 7 and Team 10 entered, followed by Team Guy.

Just as Mihawk remembered, the familiar Konoha genin gathered near the entrance and greeted one another after four months apart.

Hinata and Shino did not join them.

Mihawk had remained in his seat, so neither of them moved either.

Even before graduation, the three members of Team 8 had rarely spoken with the others.

Hinata and Shino were naturally quiet and tended to keep to themselves.

Mihawk had been popular because of his appearance and grades, but he had also been the most distant student in the class.

Because of that, none of them had developed a close relationship with Naruto or the others.

The reunion did not remain peaceful for long.

Naruto loudly declared that he would defeat everyone in the room, drawing the attention of the other candidates.

Kabuto approached the group and advised him not to make himself a target before the exam had even begun.

He then brought out his Ninja Info Cards and showed them how much information he had gathered.

Sasuke soon asked Kabuto about two candidates.

One was Gaara of the Sand.

The other was not Rock Lee.

It was Nerona Mihawk.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and smiled.

“You have a good eye. You happened to ask about two of the most dangerous candidates here.”

“The most dangerous?” Naruto repeated, confused.

Kabuto did not explain immediately.

He ran two fingers across the stack of blank cards and pulled out the ones he wanted.

After sending chakra into them, information appeared across their surfaces.

“First, Nerona Mihawk.”

Kabuto held up the first card.

“He’s a genin from Konohagakure who graduated from the Academy this year. His specialty is kenjutsu, and his jōnin instructor is Kurenai Yūhi, who was promoted to jōnin not long ago.”

He looked over the rest of the information.

“Mission record: ten D-rank missions, no C-rank missions, and one B-rank mission.”

He then revealed the second card.

“Next is Gaara of the Sand. His D-rank record is unknown, but he has completed eight C-rank missions and one B-rank mission.”

“No way…”

Sakura and Ino both raised their hands to their mouths in surprise.

“A B-rank mission?”

They instinctively looked toward Mihawk.

Sasuke’s expression darkened.

He stared at Mihawk, who was sitting ahead of him with his eyes closed, and slowly clenched his fists.

The difference between them had grown again.

Mission experience doesn’t decide everything.

Sasuke forced himself to calm down.

I’ve awakened the Sharingan now. I won’t lose to him again.

Shortly afterward, Kabuto spoke dismissively about the Hidden Sound Village, provoking the three Sound genin.

Dosu, Zaku, and Kin attacked him.

Kabuto allowed the attack to appear more effective than it truly was. His glasses cracked, and he fell to his knees before vomiting.

By pretending to be weaker than he was, he kept the others from realizing his true strength.

Even so, the amount of information he possessed made many candidates wary of him.

The tension in the room continued to rise.

Then a cloud of white smoke suddenly filled the front of the classroom.

“Settle down, you worthless brats.”

When the smoke cleared, Morino Ibiki and the other examiners were standing before them.

Ibiki’s large frame and severe expression immediately drew everyone’s attention.

The scars covering his face showed that he had endured years of brutal interrogation and torture.

The room fell silent.

After putting an end to the argument between Kabuto and the Sound genin, Ibiki explained the rules of the first exam.

The written test then began.

When the examination papers reached him, Mihawk quickly scanned the questions.

They involved advanced theory, codes, and logical analysis.

They were not difficult for him.

He glanced toward Hinata.

She had already lowered her head and begun writing.

Mihawk picked up his pen and started answering as well.

Neither he nor Hinata needed to cheat.

Shino was intelligent enough to recognize the true purpose of the exam, so Mihawk had no reason to worry about him either.

As Mihawk’s pen moved across the page, the candidates who understood Ibiki’s real test began using their own methods to gather answers.

Some used dōjutsu.

Others relied on insects, mirrors, puppets, or carefully placed threads.

A few attempted such obvious methods that the examiners caught them almost immediately.

Each time a candidate was caught cheating, two points were taken away.

After being caught five times, the entire team would be removed from the examination room.

As the minutes passed, more teams were disqualified.

The number of candidates in the room slowly decreased.

During the exam, Mihawk noticed several people trying to read his answers through different methods.

He made no effort to stop them.

If they wanted to copy his paper, they could.

The written test was only the beginning.

Even if they passed this stage, how many of them would survive until the end of the Chūnin Exams?