Chapter 125: Did Brother Pot Die?

Chapter 125: Did Brother Pot Die?

After dealing with the flying bamboo dragonfly, Ino's thoughts finally returned to herself.

Why on earth had she suddenly thought of Indra? Who in this classroom had any connection to Indra? She glanced slightly over her shoulder, her peripheral vision catching sight of Sasuke.

This was, after all, an exam hall. Ino couldn't openly converse with the person behind her.

Passing notes or similar actions were even more inappropriate, so she had no choice but to suppress her doubts and focus on the exam paper in front of her.

Some matters were more urgent than others, and Indra's affairs weren't a priority right now!

After finishing her own exam, Ino used her Mind Transfer Technique to help Choji, who was sitting in front of her, complete his paper. Then, she began waiting for the tenth question.

Shikamaru? She didn't need to worry about him at all. That guy usually didn't care about scoring high, mainly because he found it troublesome. But if he took things seriously, he could easily handle these questions. If he dared to hand in a blank paper, his mom would kill him.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes vigorously. Earlier, he had felt an intense pain in his eyes. The special ocular power that had been sealed by the Third Hokage suddenly went berserk, almost breaking through the seal.

The pain had been fleeting, but it still lingered, though the sensation was rapidly fading.

After a while, his eyes finally returned to normal. This time, he didn't dare to imitate Ino again. Instead, he focused his Sharingan on Sakura, mimicking her movements to answer the questions.

The following process was similar to the original timeline. The final question tested the team's cohesion. Ibiki announced the rules before the tenth question, the so-called "Rule of Despair."

The rule was that the candidates had to choose whether to answer the tenth question.

If they chose not to answer, they would be immediately disqualified, and their two teammates would also be eliminated. If they chose to answer but got it wrong, they would be permanently barred from taking the Chunin Exams again. In other words, they would remain Genin for life.

This was a truly despair-inducing question. A wrong choice would have lifelong consequences, and most Genin without significant backgrounds thought this way.

One by one, candidates began to withdraw, giving up on the exam.

The Chunin Exams were held twice a year, and each time the questions were different, set by the examiners themselves. There was no standard, so sometimes the exams were incredibly easy, and other times they were extremely difficult.

If they weren't confident, they could always wait for the next exam in six months. There was no need to gamble their ninja careers.

Many candidates felt they were unlucky this time, having encountered an examiner who liked to make things difficult. They cursed under their breaths as they left the exam hall.

As more and more people left, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji remained seated.

After about ten minutes, Naruto raised his left hand and delivered an impassioned speech, vowing that even if he had to remain a Genin for life, he would continue with the exam!

Then, the loud and busty Anko Mitarashi made her entrance, announcing that the second exam would take place the next day.

After leaving the ninja school, Ino bid farewell to Shikamaru and Choji and took a small path. At the corner of a wall, she saw Sasuke Uchiha waiting for her.

The area was quiet. Ino looked around and, seeing no one else, said, "Use your Sharingan on me again."

Sasuke didn't like the commanding tone, but to clear up his doubts, he activated his Sharingan and stared at Ino.

The tomoe spun rapidly, and a genjutsu was cast. Ino was pulled into the illusion Sasuke had created. However, her strong mental energy and high-level Yin Release allowed her to easily break free from his mediocre genjutsu.

There was no illusion, no old man, no Indra.

Ino was afraid it might be another case of memory loss. She racked her brain, trying to recall, but found nothing unusual.

Had Indra's Sharingan gone on cooldown?

Ino listed various possibilities in her mind, then eliminated them one by one.

After studying the situation for a while, it seemed that today's incident hadn't affected either of them. Sasuke's Sharingan hadn't evolved into the three-tomoe form, and Ino hadn't gained any new attributes or jutsu. Immunity to genjutsu was out of the question.

It was as if it had all been a strange, inexplicable hallucination that had come and gone without a trace.

If Ino hadn't firmly remembered Indra's name, even she would have doubted her own memory.

"What exactly did you see?" Sasuke had no memory of the illusion. From Ino's expression and tone, he felt that she seemed to know something he didn't.

This annoyed him. It was his Sharingan, so why was an outsider privy to information while he, the owner, was left in the dark?

Ino pondered for a long time but ultimately chose not to explain.

The name Indra was best not discussed openly. For all she knew, the Sage of Six Paths might be monitoring the ninja world with some ability. While he might not be able to watch over millions or billions of people, keeping an eye on his son's reincarnation should be within his capabilities.

Ino frowned in disgust. "Weird eyes. Don't look at me like that again!"

She turned and walked away quickly.

Sasuke wanted to stop her but was a step too slow. He could only watch as she hurried off.

On her way home, Ino passed by the Hyuga household and used the excuse of "no one being home tonight" to invite Hinata to the back mountain for some taijutsu sparring.

Hinata had grown more comfortable with her, and her confidence had improved. Ino, on the other hand, needed a less skilled opponent to help her refine her taijutsu. The two hit it off and often practiced together whenever they had the chance.

She had originally invited Tenten as well, but Tenten, who prioritized her crush over her friends, had gone off to train with Neji after the exam.

On her way home, Ino saw Kabuto Yakushi leaning against an alleyway, waiting for her.

Was this guy about to defect from the village? Ino didn't want to get involved with him, but she couldn't just pretend not to see him.

Before she could figure out what to say, Kabuto suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Kabuto-senpai? Boss? Are you okay?"

Having worked at the hospital for so long, she could tell that the blood he was coughing up was fresh and deep red.

Was he seriously injured?

Ino had no idea what kind of act Kabuto was putting on today, but she decided to play along, putting on a panicked expression.

Kabuto raised a hand. "I'm sorry... I'm done for. That Sound ninja was just too strong... cough cough cough"

He continued to cough up blood as he spoke.

Kabuto's acting skills were top-notch. If Ino hadn't known his true capabilities, she would have been completely fooled.

"...I'm leaving this world. This wasn't my intention. I wanted to develop a universal medicine to save everyone from suffering... but my injuries are too severe... I don't want to die! Really, I want to live! Please bury me by the sea..."

With that, Kabuto's head tilted to the side, and he stopped breathing.

Was he really dead?

Ino didn't believe it for a second. There was no way Dosu's attacks could have killed Kabuto!

But no matter how much she used her medical skills and sensory abilities, she couldn't detect any trace of life in Kabuto's body. It seemed like he was truly dead.

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