The day of the Hidden Leaf shinobi school's confrontation exam had finally arrived.
The villagers of the Hidden Leaf had been just as eagerly anticipating this day as the academy students themselves. Even before the test began, many villagers had already gotten word and rushed early to gather outside the Forest of Death.
Also arriving at the Forest of Death were shinobi from the other four villages.
To the surprise of many Hidden Leaf villagers, the academy students' formation unexpectedly included four additional three-man teams.
There was no doubt.
These extra squads were teams dispatched from the other villages.
Iwagakure had sent Kurotsuchi along with two Iwa shinobi of similar age.
Kirigakure had sent Chōjūrō, Suigetsu, and another Mist shinobi wrapped entirely in bandages.
Sunagakure, naturally, was represented by Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari.
And Kumogakure sent Darui, Omoi, and another Cloud shinobi.
Although these individuals appeared to be roughly the same age as the Hidden Leaf academy students, many of them were already full-fledged shinobi — some had even completed numerous missions as chunin.
Having them participate in a mere academy confrontation test was clearly an act of overwhelming the weak with the strong, a blatant show of strength.
The other four villages were well aware of this. However, to ascertain the true strength of Kurama Yakumo, who had supposedly mastered the Wood Release, there was no simpler or more direct method than actual combat.
Thus, all four villages tacitly agreed to this tactic and shamelessly pressured the Hidden Leaf into allowing it.
This led to the current spectacle: the young geniuses from the four great villages had joined the ranks of the academy students for the confrontation exam.
Glancing at the throng of villagers gathered to watch the event, the Cloud's jonin team leader curled his lips and said, "All this fuss for a simple test between academy brats?"
The Iwa jonin, arms crossed, laughed and replied, "Haven't you heard? Today, the new and old geniuses of the Hidden Leaf academy are going head-to-head!"
"Geniuses? Tch!" scoffed the Cloud jonin. "They might be disappointed today. Now that our people are participating, who the real protagonists are will be hard to say! And hey, I heard you even sent the Third Tsuchikage's granddaughter. Shameless, aren't you?"
The Iwa jonin grinned slyly. "Isn't Darui the genius personally favored by your Fourth Raikage? And Omoi is the Eight-Tails jinchuriki's disciple, right? When it comes to being shameless, our Iwa can't compete with your Cloud! Aren't you afraid of offending the Hidden Leaf?"
The Cloud jonin replied confidently, "Even if our geniuses outshine theirs, it just proves the Hidden Leaf's skills are lacking. What could they possibly say?"
The Iwa jonin advised, "Just don't make it too ugly. After all, this is the Hidden Leaf, and we're supposed to be guests here. Plus, we'll still need their help with the surgeries coming up."
Clearly, the Iwa jonin was also very confident in his team, thinking it would be a piece of cake to deal with the so-called Hidden Leaf geniuses.
"Relax. Our people know the limits — they won't kill anyone," said the Cloud jonin with a smirk. "But if the Hidden Leaf's geniuses are too weak, well... that's another matter."
While the Cloud and Iwa jonin bickered as usual, Sunagakure's elder Chiyo was staring worriedly at Gaara, standing among the students.
No one understood Gaara's situation better than her. She was genuinely concerned that Gaara might lose control and rampage in the Hidden Leaf.
If Gaara were to slaughter all those so-called academy geniuses, the rift between Sand and Leaf would deepen irreparably.
Thinking of this, Chiyo turned to Sunagakure's jonin Maki and ordered, "Warn Gaara: no killing today!"
"Understood!"
Maki nodded solemnly.
Meanwhile, Kirigakure's Terumi Mei was observing the student formation, soon locking onto her main target: Kurama Yakumo.
"So that's the Kurama clan girl who awakened the new dojutsu Bloodline Limit, the Koryugan, and successfully survived the Hidden Leaf's first-generation cell transplant surgery?"
Her gaze then shifted to the boy standing beside Yakumo — Kimimaro.
A hint of sadness flashed in her eyes. Kaguya Kimimaro!
This genius, now so renowned at the Hidden Leaf shinobi school, should have been Kirigakure's.
She sighed softly and continued scanning the group, her eyes passing over Neji, then Sasuke, and finally resting briefly on Shinji Uchiha.
So these are the so-called geniuses of the Hidden Leaf Academy...
As she observed, her gaze was inevitably drawn to Haku, standing beside Shinji. She quickly and discreetly withdrew her gaze.
She already knew that Haku had been Kirigakure's spy, thanks to previous operations.
But that wasn't why she paid attention to him.
The real reason was Haku's astonishing strength.
The last battle on the island had left a deep impression on her.
In her eyes, Haku's mastery of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and Bloodline Limit abilities was flawless — though still young, he already possessed the strength of a jonin.
Given time, it would be only natural for him to become an elite jonin, perhaps even a kage-level powerhouse.
Letting such a prodigy act merely as a spy was a waste!
In fact, she believed that among all the students gathered, Haku might well be the strongest — even stronger than Kurama Yakumo, who had mastered Wood Release.
As for the so-called geniuses like Shinji Uchiha standing beside Haku? They didn't even deserve a mention.
Within the formation of students—
Feeling countless eyes on them, many of the academy students were itching to show off their abilities.
The atmosphere was especially tense due to the sudden participation of the four villages' prodigies.
The Hidden Leaf students instinctively rejected these unexpected guests, while the foreign prodigies were already choosing their targets among the crowd.
Darui from the Cloud had set his sights on Yakumo; Suigetsu from the Mist targeted Neji; Kurotsuchi from the Stone picked out Kimimaro.
And Gaara—
He coldly locked eyes on Sasuke, his gaze filled with murderous intent.
Feeling Gaara's killing intent, Sasuke couldn't help but frown slightly, looking confused.
At that moment, Iruka stepped in front of the students as the academy's representative and loudly announced the rules for the confrontation test.
Then he shouted:
"The test — begins!"
Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
As soon as Iruka's words fell, the students all dashed into the Forest of Death!