Ch.228 Sasuke, are you alright?

Under the pretense of scouting, Uchiha Shinji once again switched places with his Shadow Clone and returned to Haku and Karin.

Haku stepped forward to ask, "Uchiha Shinji, how are things looking now?"

"The situation seems to be under control." After a pause, Uchiha Shinji added, "And even if there's more trouble, it won't involve us. Let's carry on with the exam!"

Karin hesitated slightly. "We're still going on?"

"We can't just give up halfway."

With a smile, Uchiha Shinji kept on heading toward the central tower.

Haku and Karin exchanged glances.

Although they weren't fully sure what had happened, it was certain that someone had snuck into the Forest of Death trying to kidnap Sasuke.

But since Uchiha Shinji had decided to continue with the exam, they had no choice but to follow him.

The rest of the journey was surprisingly smooth. They were almost at the central tower, and they hadn't even run into an interception team—nor any other student squads.

Haku wondered aloud, "Could everyone have already passed the exam?"

Karin offered, "Maybe it's because we're just so slow."

Uchiha Shinji raised his hand. "No matter our ranking, it's fine. As long as we pass, that's good enough."

"Mm!"

Haku and Karin nodded in unison.

Both of them had their own special circumstances, so neither wished to stand out at the shinobi academy.

Finally, after pushing through a dense area of forest, the central tower came into view.

Along with the tower, they also saw two student squads confronting each other: Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji on one side, and Shino, Kiba, and Hinata on the other.

After Shikamaru deduced the underlying logic of the exam, he led his team on a lengthy detour and managed to reach the base of the central tower without any major incidents.

Meanwhile, Shino, Kiba, and Hinata utilized their maximum scouting capacity—via kikaichū, ninja hounds, and Byakugan—so after much hiding and evasion, they arrived here by luck as well.

Both squads had spent a considerable amount of time, so they happened to run into each other at almost the same moment. Also, both sides wanted to be the first into the central tower, which resulted in their current standoff.

"Uchiha Shinji?!"

Seeing Uchiha Shinji emerge from the forest, all six students from the two squads were taken aback.

They'd assumed that with Uchiha Shinji's strength, he should have been one of the earliest to arrive at the central tower. None expected him to actually be behind them.

"Huh, fancy seeing you here!"

Uchiha Shinji walked forward, greeting them with a wave.

Shikamaru looked resigned. He turned to Ino and Choji with a shrug, then stepped aside to make way for Uchiha Shinji.

Ino and Choji didn't say anything, quietly following Shikamaru and moving aside as well.

When faced with Shino's team, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji still had confidence to fight if necessary; but against Uchiha Shinji, they could only yield without a contest.

Similarly,

Kiba grumbled but backed up a few steps. Meanwhile, Shino and Hinata didn't utter a peep—both simply retreated.

Uchiha Shinji didn't stand on ceremony. Leading his group, he bypassed Shikamaru, Shino, and the rest, heading straight toward the central tower.

Iruka, Mizuki, and some other academy instructors had been waiting at the tower's entrance for quite a while. Upon seeing Uchiha Shinji's squad arrive, they breathed long sighs of relief.

Entering the tower, Uchiha Shinji glanced around. He saw that the main hall was already crowded with people, so he turned to the oncoming Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, I'm really sorry!"

Iruka shook his head. "No need to apologize. Your squad took first place in this exam."

"Huh?!"

Uchiha Shinji froze for a moment.

Not only him—Haku and Karin were also obviously astonished. Their gazes fell on those students already assembled in the tower's lobby.

Mizuki elaborated, "They've all fired their distress flares, so they lost their eligibility in the exam. You're the first team to truly reach the tower."

Haku asked, "What happened?"

At this moment, the students gathered in the tower crowded around as well, voicing complaints all at once.

"It's all Kimimaro's fault for knocking us out!"

"We were knocked out by Neji! He was way too ruthless—so unfair."

"You think that's bad? Look at me—Kiba got one of my teeth knocked out by that Sasuke jerk! This is just an exam; did he really have to go that far?!"

Listening to the barrage of protests, Haku and Karin exchanged glances, speechless.

There was no doubt:

All these students in the tower had been eliminated by Sasuke, Kimimaro, or Neji. As for the reason, one need only think a moment to figure it out.

Karin timidly raised a hand. "S-So, what about Kimimaro-kun and Neji-kun?"

She didn't ask about Sasuke because she'd already seen him all bruised and bloody earlier.

Hearing Karin's question, the students in the lobby paused, then began echoing one another, "Yeah, where are those monsters: Kimimaro, Sasuke, and Neji? Why aren't they here yet?"

Iruka wore a grave expression as he explained, "Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Neji's squads have all been disqualified!"

"What?!"

"That's impossible!"

"Wait… Did Uchiha Shinji…"

Everyone turned in unison to look at Uchiha Shinji, including Shikamaru, Shino, and the others who'd just arrived in the tower themselves.

In their minds, if anyone could defeat monsters like Kimimaro, Sasuke, and Neji, it would be the similarly monstrous Uchiha Shinji.

Uchiha Shinji spread his hands helplessly, indicating he had no clue.

Iruka swiftly clarified, omitting any mention of Night Owl's group. He simply said Naruto had triggered a distress flare, eliminating Sasuke's squad. Meanwhile, Shion and Tenten had each done the same, leading to Kimimaro's and Neji's squads getting disqualified as well.

Lastly, Iruka glanced at Uchiha Shinji, Shikamaru, and Shino's teams. "Congratulations on passing this exam!"

Shikamaru's team and Shino's team were all dumbfounded.

They never expected that only three squads would end up clearing the exam. That meant aside from Uchiha Shinji's squad, who took first place, they themselves had unexpectedly won second and third place!

"We can finally go home without getting in trouble!"

For a moment, Shikamaru and the others each had that same thought, feeling a wave of relief and delight.

"First place goes to Uchiha Shinji again, huh?"

"He's taken first place two times now, right?"

"Uchiha Shinji, can I join your squad?"

"Uchiha Shinji, consider me!"

Before long, a bunch of classmates crowded around Uchiha Shinji.

He looked helpless.

He'd deliberately hung back this time, not wanting to stand out. Who knew that events would twist around, netting him both two pairs of Hogan and, inexplicably, yet another first place?

Thus, both Haku and Karin, who found themselves once more in the spotlight, looked as if they could cry but had no tears.

It was at this point that the jonin arrived at the tower with Sasuke, Kimimaro, Neji, and their squads.

All eyes in the tower turned toward them. In an instant, everyone's focus was on Sasuke, who was wrapped up in bandages like a mummy, his face bruised and swollen.

Those students who had been eliminated by Sasuke smirked gloatingly and asked, "Sasuke, are you alright?"