Hokage: Ryo's Path

Chapter 405

After sending off Hyuuga Hiashi, Ryo and Orochimaru discussed the Hyuga Clan’s situation.

“Uncle, what do you think about this?”

“It’s weird, very abnormal! You told me that Hyuuga, along with Senju and Uchiha, is the descendant of the Otsutsuki Clan. So their bloodline must be stronger than other Kekkei Genkai. How could Byakugan be oppressed by Kurama Clan’s Kekkei Genkai?”

“That’s what I think. So I speculate something was wrong with the Byakugan.” Ryo expressed his opinion.

“With Byakugan?” Orochimaru pondered and agreed. “It’s possible. Unfortunately, the Chunin Exam is about to start. My status isn’t very good. I can only see this child after the Chunin Exams.”

“Well, let’s set that aside. Uncle, I have something else for you.”

“Hm? Is it about the Chunin Exam?” Orochimaru guessed what Ryo was thinking.

Nodding, Ryo continued, “Uncle, I want you to protect Naruto during the exam.”

“Protect him? Are you worried that Iwagakure will attack them?”

“Because Danzo spilled Naruto’s identity as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Onoki won’t stay silent about this.”

After pondering, Orochimaru finally agreed to help him. But he also told him the condition of his agreement. “Of course. But I will only protect Naruto if a Jounin or higher ambushed them.”

“Of course. You don’t need to help Naruto when he fights against some Genin.”

“Oh? It seems you’re confident in their power?”

Ryo smiled, “Haha! Naruto and the others are also my disciples. I know their capability.”

“Really? It seems like I won’t get bored when babysitting them.” Orochimaru licked his lips, “But I have a question. While I protect Naruto, what are you going to do?”

Ryo’s expression greatly changed. “I want to guard the village against Onoki’s effort to detonate the Explosive Tags.

According to the information I have, he intended to detonate the Tags during the final Chunin Exam. But in case Onoki changes his mind and detonates them earlier, we will be able to respond in time.”

“Well, leave Naruto to me!”

.............

That night, Ryo went to Hokage’s office again and discussed with Sakumo and Kakashi about the village’s safety during the Exam to make sure Iwagakure won’t have the upper hand. After that, he left the office.

..............

The next day, the Chunin Exam almost started. The Genins from all villages assembled.

Kakashi’s appearance after he went to Kirigakure to deliver the invitation gave Naruto encouragement. Aside from Kakashi, the other Jounin also acted as supervisors to their students.

After the Exam was announced, all Genin ran to the written test examination room together. At the test room entrance, Lee from Team 3 fell in love with Sakura and confessed to her. Sakura was startled, so Naruto and Sasuke hid Sakura behind them.

Lee glanced at Naruto and Sasuke with a threatening pose.

“Lee! The Exam is about to start! Stop wasting time!”

Hearing this, Lee nodded. He glanced at Naruto and Sasuke before he slipped away.

“Hey Sasuke, that kid who was with the thick eyebrowed kid is from the Hyuuga Clan!” Naruto whispered.

Nodding, Sasuke said, “Un! He was the best graduate from the last term, Hyuuga Neji!”

Hearing this, Sakura asked carefully. “Sasuke... I heard the relationship between Uchiha and Hyuuga is not... so good.”

Sasuke coldly snorted, “Hmph! For the sake of Uchiha’s glory, I will defeat that guy with my own hands!”

Just as Team 7 entered the room, the Exam was about to begin.

(Ps: Yakushi Nono didn’t die along with Hanzo, so the situation will differ from the original manga. It will be explained later.)

Morino Ibiki stood on the podium with a stern look. After glancing at everyone, he spoke about the test rules. “All the team must pass this test together. There are a total of 9 questions. They’re very difficult. The rule is you’re not allowed to cheat or cheat with a lame method. You can cheat if I didn’t discover it. If you’ve been discovered for more than five times, you will be disqualified.” Morino Ibiki glanced at the Genin and distributed the exam paper.

Naruto took the test paper and looked at it, his expression darkened, and so was Sasuke. Actually, everyone’s expression was very gloomy, except for Hinata and Sakura.

“The exam begins!”

Hearing Ibiki’s cheerful tone, everyone picked their pens and concentrated on the test paper.

But it didn’t take long for them to start cheating. All exams are like this. There’s no difference whether they were Ninja or not. But because they were Ninja, their cheating methods were bizarre and strange.

Among them, the calmest ones were Orochimaru’s Ninjas from Otogakure. They can determine the content of the paper just by hearing other’s writing.

They easily copied the answers to their own papers and weren’t discovered.

Shino relied on his insect, while Kiba relied on Akamaru as Hinata tilted her paper so they could copy the answer.

The two Sunagakure Ninja also showed their skills. Gaara used Sand Eye to peek at Sakura’s answer.

Kankuro used his Puppet as an examiner, controlled it to go to the toilet, and took the answer written by Temari and copied it.

In Team 3, Tenten used a pen to control the mirror on the ceiling to reflect the papers so the two could copy the answer. Lee also used the same method. Neji used his Byakugan to look at the other’s papers.

...........

The test will end soon, and most of the Genin had already finished their paper. This time, Naruto handed his exam papers in time.

He had asked Kyuubi to help him cheat, he copied the answers using Kyuubi’s sense of ability.

From the podium, Ibiki was amused to see most of Genin’s cheating methods. Except for some people whose cheating method was too obvious, he enjoyed it.

Simply, the purpose of this test was to test the Genin’s adaptability and teamwork.