On the other side, Menma and Hinata walked along the lively streets of Konoha.
Today was the start of the Chunin Exams. Shops on both sides of the street had opened early, selling various snacks and souvenirs to the visitors.
Soon, the two arrived at the entrance of the Ninja Academy.
From a distance, they spotted a familiar figure.
Naruto, wearing his orange tracksuit, was squatting idly by the flower bed at the school gate.
He was holding a handful of small stones, arranging something on the ground.
Menma looked closer and couldn't help but laugh.
Naruto had used the stones to spell out two letters on the ground: an 'S' and a 'B'.
He had arranged them very carefully, even decorating them with stones of different colors.
"This guy..." Menma put a hand to his forehead.
"Gets so bored he finds ways to entertain himself."
Hinata also smiled softly, her white eyes full of tenderness.
Just then, a tan-colored large dog ambled over.
It looked like a stray, its fur messy, but its physique was sturdy.
It sniffed around at the school gate, then naturally walked over to Naruto's 'artwork', lifted its hind leg.
Splash—
A stream of steaming hot dog urine poured onto Naruto's painstakingly arranged stone formation.
"Hey! You damn dog!!!" Naruto instantly exploded, jumping up and shouting at the dog.
Not only was the dog unafraid, it turned its head, barked 'Woof woof' twice at Naruto, its eyes even carrying a hint of provocation.
"You're barking at me?!" Naruto was so angry his hair nearly stood on end.
"I'll teach you a lesson today!"
Saying that, he actually started chasing the dog, trying to fight it.
The dog was very agile, dodging left and right as Naruto ran circles around it, raising dust and creating a quite comical scene.
Menma slapped a hand to his face, unable to bear watching: "I knew it..."
Hinata covered her mouth, giggling softly beside him.
After quite a commotion, the dog ran into an alley, and Naruto gave up the chase. He walked back panting, muttering under his breath: "Stupid dog, don't let me see you again..."
Then he noticed Menma and Hinata.
Naruto's eyes instantly lit up, all his displeasure forgotten.
He ran over excitedly, gesturing wildly: "Menma-nii! Hinata! You're here! Come on, come on, let's go in together! Registration deadline is almost here!"
At the entrance of the alley in the distance, the dog poked its head out, let out an 'Arf', then turned and trotted away with its tail wagging, as if saying: "Idiot, I'm not playing with you anymore."
The three of them walked into the Ninja Academy together.
Quite a few people had already gathered on the Academy's grounds.
Besides the Genin taking the exam, there were many villagers who had come to watch, families and friends of the Genin, as well as some Ninja maintaining order.
The atmosphere was filled with excitement and nervousness.
Menma deliberately asked: "Hey Naruto, which floor is registration on again?"
Naruto immediately pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket… that was the application form for the Chunin Exams, with the exam information printed on the back.
He looked it over carefully, then confirmed: "It's in room 301!"
"Then let's go." Menma nodded.
The three of them followed the crowd into the school building.
The stairwell was already crowded, all with Konoha's Genin, wearing various colors of clothing, their faces excited or nervous.
Menma looked around but didn't see any Ninja from other villages.
It seemed this floor was a special 'screening area' prepared for the Konoha's Genin.
Naruto was also looking around curiously when his eyes suddenly lit up. He waved towards the crowd and shouted: "Hey! Sasuke! You're here too!"
In the crowd, Sasuke, wearing a dark blue high-collared short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, turned his head.
Hearing Naruto's loud voice, he instinctively frowned, wanting to look away and pretend he hadn't heard, but Naruto had already pushed through the crowd and ran over.
"Sasuke! Are you here to take the exam too?" Naruto was excited, completely oblivious to the 'I don't know this idiot' expression on Sasuke's face.
The two people beside Sasuke also turned their heads.
One was Sai, always wearing a fake smile... the other was a slender young man with somewhat pale skin, messy grey hair, gloomy eyes, and an overall air that said 'don't come near me'.
Menma searched his memory... he had no impression of this person, but being able to form a team with Sasuke and Sai to take the exam meant he was either an Anbu's member or a Root's member.
"Keep your voice down." Sasuke said irritably to Naruto, then looked past him towards Menma behind him.
However, he found that Menma's attention didn't seem to be on him, but elsewhere.
Sasuke followed Menma's gaze.
At the end of the corridor, a young man wearing a full green jumpsuit and a bowl-cut hairstyle was talking to two young Ninja blocking the door to room 301.
The young man in the green jumpsuit had an anxious look on his face, his hands clasped together as he constantly pleaded.
"Please! Let me in! The registration deadline is only half an hour away. I really must take this exam!"
The two young Ninja blocking the door didn't look very old either, about fifteen or sixteen.
One had a hedgehog hairstyle, the other a middle parting. Both had an arrogant air about them.
Sasuke withdrew his gaze, moved closer to Menma, and lowered his voice: "Did you notice?"
Menma shrugged, his tone casual: "It would be pretty bad if I didn't notice that."
The floor they were currently on was the second floor, but the floor sign on the wall clearly said '3F'.
However, the door sign behind the two blocking Genin also said '301'. Clearly, they had cast a Genjutsu to screen out those ordinary Genin who weren't qualified.
This level of Genjutsu wasn't particularly sophisticated, but it was enough to deal with some Genin.
But Menma's attention wasn't entirely on the Genjutsu.
He was more interested in the two girls behind Rock Lee.
One was wearing a pink sleeveless training outfit, her long black hair tied up in two round buns on top of her head, with a Konoha's forehead protector tied around her forehead.
She was helplessly playing along with Lee's act, her eyes showing both sympathy and some embarrassment. That was Tenten.
Menma still remembered how he had stolen over ten million ryo worth of ninja tools from her family's shop, though he had later paid the money back.
But the other girl was even more noticeable.
She had smooth, long brown hair that fell over her shoulders, the ends slightly curled.
She was wearing a lavender kimono-style top and a dark long skirt, holding a sketchbook in her hand. She had a quiet, gentle, somewhat frail demeanor, her complexion somewhat pale, looking not very healthy.
Kurama Yakumo.
Menma remembered that name. A genius of the Kurama Clan, possessing the rare Kekkei Genkai, [Illusionary Reality], capable of turning things drawn in pictures into reality.
But because her power was too strong and her 'inner demon' difficult to control, her body was very weak.
He didn't expect her to be taking the Chunin Exams either.
'It seemed Konoha was really bringing out its elite this time.'
'If that was the case, not only were the Konoha Twelve all present, but there were even a few extras...'
"Hey! You guys!"
Just as Menma was observing, the hedgehog-haired boy noticed them.
He walked over, his gaze sweeping across Menma, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others, finally stopping on Menma's face.
"What are you looking at?" The hedgehog-haired boy said arrogantly. "If you know what's good for you, get lost. Kids like you taking the exam? That's a real laugh."
Naruto immediately got annoyed: "We are—"
"Naruto." Menma raised his hand to stop him, then stepped forward and smiled at the hedgehog-haired boy: "Excuse us, we're here to register. Is room 301 this way?"
The hedgehog-haired boy was startled for a moment, then sneered: "Hah, another blind one. Can't you see the sign on the wall? Room 301 is right ahead, but you guys—"
He pointed to his own eyes, "Need to prove you have the qualifications to enter first."
The middle-part boy also walked over: "I think you'd better just go home!"
Some of the Genin around were intimidated by their attitude and backed away a few steps. Some even gasped in surprise.
But Menma, Sasuke, Hinata, Naruto, and the others didn't move.
Menma even yawned.
"Are you done performing?" He asked lazily. "Can we go through now?"
The faces of the hedgehog and middle-part boys changed.
"Y-You guys..." The hedgehog-haired boy gritted his teeth, wanting to say more, but Sasuke had already impatiently walked forward.
Crimson Sharingan flashed in his eyes for an instant.
Just for a moment,
The hedgehog and middle-part boys froze simultaneously.
Their eyes became vacant, their bodies trembled slightly, cold sweat beaded on their foreheads. Faced with the Sharingan's Genjutsu, their little tricks were utterly pathetic.
"Move aside," Sasuke's voice was cold.
The standoff in the corridor lasted only a brief second.
Sasuke's crimson Two-Tomoe Sharingan gave a single cold glance, and the two disguised Chunin, Kotetsu and Izumo, felt their minds shaken.
Those were eyes that had truly experienced life-and-death combat, mixed with the unique intimidation of the Sharingan's Ocular Power.
Although it was only Two-Tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke's training in the Anbu had honed his use of these eyes far beyond his peers.
That single sweeping glance caused the two veteran Chunin to falter for a moment, as if they had been dragged into some kind of Genjutsu World.
Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke stepped forward, using his shoulder to push aside the two blocking his way. Then, he reached out and tried to push open the classroom door labeled '301'.
The door didn't budge... the Genjutsu hadn't been dispelled.
Sasuke frowned, the atmosphere momentarily awkward.
Just then, Menma slowly walked forward and formed a simple hand seal with one hand.
"Genjutsu: Release!"
As his voice fell, the surrounding scenery rippled like water waves.
The '3F' sign on the wall changed to '2F', and the classroom door plate reading '301' peeled away like fading paint, revealing the true '201' beneath.
And the tightly shut wooden door now regained its original lightness, easily pushed open.
Behind the door was not a classroom, but a staircase leading to the third floor.
Menma turned around and beckoned to Naruto and Hinata, who were still stunned behind him: "Let's go, time is running out."
Naruto finally caught on, his eyes lighting up as he excitedly yelped: "Menma-nii is amazing! He broke it so easily!"
Hinata quickly followed, her fair little face showing admiration.
Sasuke stood still, watching Menma's back as he easily dispelled the Genjutsu. He pressed his lips together but ultimately said nothing.
"Let's go," He grunted lightly, signaling to Sai and his other teammate with a glance, and the three followed.
After the two teams disappeared around the stairwell corner, Tenten blinked, her eyes sparkling as she said: "Is that Menma, the top student of the 63rd graduating class? Kakashi-san's Team 7… they don't seem simple!"
Lee, however, looked gravely towards the stairs, his thick eyebrows furrowed: "Uchiha Sasuke… and that Menma… neither of them are ordinary Genin."
Although the brief exchange just now was fleeting, Lee's keen senses had glimpsed a fraction of their true strength.
Sasuke's Sharingan Genjutsu had instantly affected two individuals who were clearly not Genin, and Menma had casually broken the Genjutsu they had set up.
In fact, Lee and his team had also long seen through this simple Genjutsu disguise.
Their earlier act of being fooled was a planned strategy to avoid exposing their strength and becoming a target before the real exam began.
Tenten turned to look at Yakumo beside her and noticed the quiet girl clutching her sketchbook, her eyes fixed on the direction Menma had left, her expression complex.
"Yakumo, what's wrong?" Tenten asked curiously.
Yakumo was silent for a few seconds before speaking softly, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "That person... the feeling he gives me... is very strange..."
She didn't continue.
From the first moment she saw Menma, an indescribable feeling of familiarity and fear had welled up in Yakumo's heart.
That feeling was very similar to the inner demon named 'Ido' inside her, the one that had killed her parents and plagued her for years.
But Menma seemed gentle and sunny, completely different from Ido's violent and twisted nature.
'Why this illusion?'
Yakumo couldn't understand and could only clutch her sketchbook tighter, as if it could give her some sense of security.