A total of 153 Genin participated in the first round of the Chūnin Exams. This meant that the number of examinees currently in this classroom was highest from Konoha village, followed by Hidden Sand, and then the remaining smaller ninja villages. Orochimaru's newly established Hidden Sound Village only had three participants, which were the three minor characters from the original story.
"That's right, the Chūnin Exams is not just a general examination, but also a good opportunity to inspect the strength of each ninja village. The village with more successful participants will naturally be known by the Daimyō and the outside world to be stronger. That being said..."
Kabuto, crouching slightly on the ground, tilted his head, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness: "This year, Waterfall Village might be losing a team of examinees right now..."
"Heh~! I already gave them a chance. Failing to see the difference in strength between themselves and their enemy, that counts as a disqualification for them in this exam."
Hinata chuckled slightly as she sat on the desk. Besides the Waterfall Village ninja initially knocked down at her feet, the other two Waterfall Village ninja had also fallen into the aisles on either side. Undoubtedly, upon seeing their comrade attacked, the remaining two Waterfall Village ninja didn't recognize the disparity in strength and charged forward in anger. The result, of course, goes without saying.
"Well... That's not wrong to say..."
Kabuto subconsciously reached out and pushed up the glasses on his nose, but then he was slightly startled. Such a statement was clearly unsuitable for his current role as a kind senior, but the answer just now undoubtedly aligned most with his current state of mind, just like... the answer he would instinctively give when facing that person....
"Tsk~~ They're really arrogant... Are they really this year's nine rookies?"
Among the many ninja, Team 3 was undoubtedly present. Looking at the Byakugan girl sitting on the desk, completely unconcerned by the surrounding hostility, Tenten couldn't help but feel a touch of envy: "But... it's really inspiring, that cool way of doing things~"
"Indeed, very powerful charisma and aura. And judging from that punch earlier, her strength is quite formidable."
Sitting next to Tenten was a... watermelon-like boy. Although this description wasn't entirely accurate, it was true. He wore a green jumpsuit, had a round, shiny kappa haircut, and his eyes were also round, like marbles. The keywords were 'green' and 'round,' so putting them together... 'watermelon' was undoubtedly the most fitting substitute. Undoubtedly, he was Guy's direct disciple, Rock Lee.
"Hmph~!"
Neji merely responded with a cold snort to Tenten and Lee's comments, but from the depth of his frown, it was clear that he also felt an undeniable sense of pressure from Hinata's actions.
The ninja world indeed valued patience and disguise. However, people or things that captivated others were never the conventional types, but rather those who were unique in every way and never conformed.
Moreover, abnormal actions often indicated something sinister. Arrogant people weren't necessarily all show; it was more likely that they indeed possessed the strength to be arrogant.
The three Waterfall Village ninja lying beside Hinata had already powerfully proven this point. Therefore, even though Hinata's actions had aroused hostility throughout the entire classroom, no one was willing to step forward at this moment to continue experiencing her fist.
"What are you doing?! You imbeciles!!"
Just then, accompanied by a gloomy low growl, a large cloud of smoke burst open on the podium. A dozen or so Konoha ninja wearing Chūnin vests appeared, and standing at the very front was a grim-faced man in a black trench coat with several scars on his face.
Undoubtedly, it was the examiner for this exam, who also served as the head of Konoha's Anbu Torture and Interrogation Unit—Ibiki Morino.
"What's going on?!"
Ibiki glanced at the three unconscious Waterfall Village ninja beside Hinata, slightly raising an eyebrow. Although he had long known this exam wouldn't be peaceful, having a team incapacitated so quietly still surprised him slightly.
"Nothing, these three suddenly fainted, so I was about to call someone to carry them out for rescue. Since you're here, Sensei, I'll leave it to you."
Hinata, smiling slightly, made no attempt to conceal her tone, which made Ibiki's lips curl slightly upwards. The grim Anbu Torture and Interrogation Unit head also revealed a rather terrifying smile.
"For someone who just became a Genin, you're adorably arrogant. I hope your arrogance continues. Since these three fainted so easily in a place like this, they'd probably just die later anyway. Carry them out. The rest of you! Sit properly! The first exam is about to begin!"
As a Konoha ninja, Ibiki Morino clearly wasn't going to exert more effort for those three Waterfall Village ninja. After all, he wasn't wrong; since they were so easily knocked down by Hinata here, these guys would probably just be a scoring team even if they made it to the later stages. Being carried out now would at least allow them to avoid the dangers of the exam.
Upon seeing the thick stacks of test papers in the examiners' hands, the examinees' expressions undoubtedly became quite colorful. Although the oddity and strictness of the Chūnin Exams were well-known, the first exam actually being a written test was still a bit surprising.
"Now for the rules: answer the questions within the allotted time. Each person has a perfect score of ten. Those who use crude cheating methods will have two points deducted each time they are caught. If all points are deducted, they will be disqualified along with their other two teammates! Begin now!"
Indeed, the important point was 'crude cheating methods.'
Hinata merely sneered at this. The Chūnin Exams arc happened quite early in the series, so anyone who had watched Naruto would basically not forget it. And...
"Ah... why is it a written test, of all things... (;´Д`)..."
Naruto, face down on the desk, looked utterly defeated. As a dead-last student who only passed exams by relying on his Shadow Clone Jutsu, he clearly couldn't be proficient in theoretical knowledge; in fact, he was probably utterly clueless.
Hmm... A subtle sense of understanding, like how she felt seeing a middle schooler's end-of-term math exam...
Although she knew the plot, Hinata didn't plan to hand in a blank paper like Naruto. After all, she wouldn't stake the outcome on others' success patterns; there might be some changes when it came to her. So, it was better to simply cheat directly with her Byakugan.
With this in mind, Hinata briefly scanned the classroom with her Byakugan. She quickly found the informants specifically placed among the examinees to provide test answers. Targeting a random informant in front, she easily x-rayed their body, then simply copied the answers directly onto her paper.
After finishing the test paper, Hinata did hesitate for a moment. Logically speaking, even if she ignored Naruto here, he would still stumble through this stage by relying on his Talk no Jutsu and death-wish spirit.
But...
Naruto's current appearance was undoubtedly quite pathetic. The golden-haired boy was teary-eyed, holding his head and slumped on the desk. It wasn't hard to imagine the pressure he was under from his utterly defeated posture. After all, he couldn't answer a single question, meaning he would inevitably hand in a blank paper. But if he scored zero, his two other teammates would also be disqualified. This felt like he was dragging them down, and both Hinata and Sasuke would suffer.
Forget it... I'll help this idiot... It won't affect the plot anyway...
Shaking her head, Hinata still carefully took out a spare piece of paper from her ninja pouch. After transcribing the answers and crumpling it into a ball, she threw it to Naruto. While the exam indeed disallowed crude cheating methods, there was clearly a hidden rule: mutual assistance among teammates was permitted. After all, even if it was a test of reconnaissance ability, not all ninja were good at reconnaissance. As long as one teammate's cheating method was legitimate, then the teammates they assisted would not be considered in violation.
Thus, in the original story, Chōji and Shikamaru's test papers were completed with Ino's help, and Temari even received a small note from Kankurō.
There's no doubt that after receiving the little note from Hinata, a tearful Naruto was on the verge of crying out loud; it felt as if he had been pulled back from the guillotine. Hinata couldn't help but shake her head at this idiot's demeanor.
The only son of the Fourth Hokage, the Jinchuriki of the strongest Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails—and yet he's such an idiot. This setting is truly fair; since his identity and background are already so impressive, did heaven perhaps take away a portion of his intelligence to balance things out?
While contemplating, Hinata didn't forget her previous goal. She remembered that in the original story, Karin was saved by Sasuke in the Forest of Death, meaning she should have also passed this written exam.
Under the Byakugan's vision, nothing could be hidden, and Hinata quickly found Karin's location. What made Hinata raise an eyebrow was that Karin clearly wasn't cheating; she was meticulously working on her test paper, stroke by stroke. Without a doubt, she was one of the academic overachievers who crushed this written exam purely with her own knowledge.
This is truly... well, it makes sense. Karin's primary role is that of a sensory ninja and medical ninja, and both of these, like genjutsu ninja, require extremely high chakra control. And anyone with naturally good chakra control basically possesses extremely delicate thought processes and emotions, because it means their mental conditions are stronger than their physical abilities.
For example, Sasuke's incredible older brother, Uchiha Itachi, was famous for his superb genjutsu, and his academic performance goes without saying; year after year of first-place finishes at the Ninja Academy speak for themselves. So, it's not surprising that Karin possesses this level of academic theoretical knowledge, just like Sakura.
However, Hinata soon noticed something unusual about Karin. In her line of sight, this red-haired girl completely lacked the feistiness and boldness she displayed when she appeared in Shippuden in the original story.
Instead, she was like a startled small animal, nervously looking up around her from time to time, as if worried about being abused and beaten at any moment.
Could it be...?
This discovery immediately caught Hinata's attention, and after a moment of thought and recollection, she did recall bits and pieces about Karin.
As a surviving descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Karin and her mother previously lived in the Land of Grass. However, as Uzumaki clan members who could share their life force with others to provide rapid healing, Karin and her mother's situation was undoubtedly extremely tragic.
Her mother was literally bitten to death by injured Grass Village ninja, serving as healing material, and Karin herself was already being used as a healing tool before she was even six years old.
Although Karin later escaped the Grass Village after being discovered by Orochimaru and came to live under him, her designation as a tool didn't change. Because of her convenient and excellent healing abilities, her usual work basically consisted of constantly having her life force drained to heal those injured people Orochimaru used as experimental subjects.
After her introduction, Karin's body showed some details: scars, almost all over her body, covered in bite marks, illustrating how terrible the pain and torment she endured truly were.
Having one's life force drained is clearly not a comfortable experience; it's like having blood drawn, an absolutely painful sensation. This implies that Karin, up until now, has probably been in a state of constant abuse and coercion by those around her, and her mother passed away long ago. In other words...
What a pitiful little princess, so desperate for a hero to rescue her from endless suffering...
Confirming the thoughts in her mind, Hinata's lips almost immediately curved into an uncontrollable smile.
While Karin's personal thoughts didn't make a difference to her, after the incident with Haku last time, Hinata did feel a sense of unresolvable resentment and anger. Even if she could have ordered Haku to live on like a zombie by her side at that time, that would have merely been a bound, pitiful person.
Therefore, it was precisely out of her affection for Haku that she gave Haku permission to die.
Consequently, if Karin was truly unwilling, Hinata wasn't confident she could keep her by her side. But given the current situation, Karin absolutely couldn't have any ties left in the Land of Grass. If she could acquire her now, this precious last female individual of the Uzumaki clan would undoubtedly stay willingly.
As for her Grass Village sensei and teammates... if they didn't mind, Hinata felt she could give Karin an opportunity for revenge.
And if she could acquire Karin, her usefulness goes without saying. From the original story, even Sasuke, who suffered fatal injuries with a portion of his body blown off by Killer B, could be healed by draining Karin's life force. Even depleted chakra could be restored this way. In other words, having Karin by her side was essentially equivalent to an infinite human-shaped recovery potion, and definitely the most effective kind, even surpassing Tsunade's and Sakura's medical ninjutsu.
And in terms of bloodline, as the last female individual of the Uzumaki clan, any offspring with her as the mother would undoubtedly inherit the powerful Sage Body. This is definitely the world's only limited SSR-grade bloodline fusion vessel.
Then this makes it even simpler...
"Hey, Naruto?"
Slightly raising her head, Hinata looked at the blond idiot beside her, and her words carried a hint of wicked ambiguity.
"If you wanted a wife, what kind of girl would you hope for?"