Chapter 77: Heading to the Central Tower
When Ino saw Sakura pleading, although she didn't know what was going on, Ino still wanted to help Sakura out of their long-standing friendship.
"Naruto! How about we just let it go! Didn't they say before that even if they don't complete the mission, they'll still be killed when they go back? Why not let them go now and let them escape for their lives!"
Naruto glanced at Ino and said, "Since you've spoken, I'll let them off this once."
After Naruto finished speaking, he looked at Dosuand the other two and said, "Get out! Don't let me see you again, otherwise... you know the consequences."
"Thank you, sir!"
Zaku said, then bowed to Naruto again before leaving with Kin Tsuchi and Dosu.
Shikamaru watched the three of them leave and said, "Weren't they eliminated in the first exam?"
Naruto looked at Shikamaru and said, "I openly snatched their exam papers. With Hokage-sama's personality, if the Jonin in charge of the Otogakureteam makes a bit of a fuss, is it hard for them to participate in this exam?"
The others understood what was going on, but didn't say much, after all, those were matters for Konoha Village's higher-ups, not for them to consider.
Neji snorted coldly and looked at Naruto, saying, "I thought you would kill them!"
"Is killing them that important?"
"It's not that important to us, but to you, they were going to kill you. You let them go so easily, I don't know whether to call you naive or innocent."
Ino and Sakura both frowned when they heard Neji's words. It was they who had pleaded with Naruto to let the three of them go.
Neji's current words, weren't they implying that the two of them were naive and innocent!
Just as Ino was about to retort to Neji, Narutolooked at Neji and said, "In your eyes, it's innocent and naive, but in my eyes, those two are just young girls. It's understandable for young girls to have some kindness; there's no need to disregard their feelings."
"What a joke! Ninja cannot have kindness, and there's no such thing as 'young girls.' Once you become a Ninja, when you encounter an enemy, it's either you die or I live. You've protected them too well; they'll suffer greatly sooner or later."
Naruto smiled and said, "I don't know if they'll suffer in the future, but I do know! I should respect their choices, after all, Ninja are also human."
After Naruto finished speaking, he flashed a sunny smile at Ino and Sakura.
Sakura just felt that Naruto was very considerate, without any other thoughts.
But Ino thought more deeply, her face flushed as she turned her head to the side, muttering softly, "You already have Hinata, why are you trying to flirt with me! You make my heart flutter, and then you don't take responsibility."
Shikamaru tapped his head and said, "Women are really troublesome!"
Choji, however, happily rubbed his belly, eating potato chips and watching the love-hate drama unfold among them.
Tenten also blushed a little when she heard Naruto's words, but she just thought Naruto was so considerate. She wished her future partner would be as considerate as Naruto.
Rock Lee was a bit thick-skinned, waving his fists and saying, "Naruto-kun is indeed the person Guy-sensei values! He can say such caring things to girls. Wuwu~ Why can't I think of anything like that!"
Naruto looked at Rock Lee and laughed heartily, saying, "Hearing your praise, why am I not happy at all! Alright, stop fooling around! Does anyone here need the Earth Scroll on the ground? Take it!"
Shikamaru looked at Naruto in surprise and said, "Have you already collected your scrolls?"
"Yes! We've already collected our scrolls."
Shikamaru sighed helplessly and said, "Unfortunately, we also have an Earth Scroll, so we don't need it."
After speaking, he looked at Neji and the others.
"Can you use it?"
Neji said nothing, just turned his head away.
Tenten shrugged helplessly and said, "We also have an Earth scroll! It seems we can't use it!"
Naruto's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Tenten and the others, saying, "That's quite a coincidence!"
Shikamaru sighed and threw the Earth scroll to Naruto, saying, "You'd better keep this one!"
Naruto caught the scroll, thought for a moment, and placed it beside Sasuke.
"I wonder when he'll wake up. If he wakes up today, he'll still have three days of training time. If he wakes up tomorrow, he'll only be able to rush to the Central Tower."
Shikamaru frowned upon hearing this, looking at Naruto and saying, "Are you going to let him train alone in the Forest of Death?"
"That's his own choice."
Shikamaru looked at Uchiha Sasuke, and after shaking his head, he said, "Since that's the case, then we'll go look for our scrolls."
Naruto nodded and said, "Okay! Thank you all for today. After this exam, I'll treat you all to grilled meat."
Shikamaru and Ino both smiled and nodded.
Choji shyly chuckled, saying, "grilled meat! grilled meat!"
Naruto turned to Neji and Tenten and said, "You two should come along too!"
Just as Neji was about to refuse, Tenten quickly interjected, "Okay, okay!"
Neji snorted in exasperation, then turned and said, "Let's go! We still need to collect our scrolls!"
Seeing Neji eager to leave, Tenten could only smile at Naruto and say, "Neji isn't usually like this, please don't mind him."
"It's alright!"
"Hehehe! That's good, see you later!"
After Tenten finished speaking, she pulled Rock Lee's hand and went to catch up with Neji.
Ino also smiled at Naruto and Sakura, saying, "Then we'll be going too! See you at the Central Tower."
"Okay! See you at the Central Tower."
After Ino and the others left, Naruto looked at Sasuke on the ground and said, "What should we do! Should we wait here for him to wake up, or take him directly to the Central Tower?"
Sakura also looked at Sasuke lying on the ground, unsure how to decide.
If they took Sasuke directly to the Central Tower, Sasuke might blame them.
Naruto thought for a moment and said, "How about we wait near the Central Tower first? If he wants to train, that should be possible there too."
Sakura thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's a good idea! After he finishes his training, we'll enter the Central Tower together."
Seeing that Sakura also agreed, Naruto carried Sasuke on his back and headed towards the Central Tower.
After four hours, Sakura and Naruto, who was carrying Sasuke, could finally see the Central Tower.
When Naruto carried Sasuke to the entrance of the Central Tower, he looked at Sakura and said, "Did you prepare a tent?"
Sakura looked at Naruto speechlessly and said, "I don't have your strength to treat this exam like a vacation."
Naruto pouted and said, "If you didn't bring one, you didn't bring one! Why are you insulting me?"
"So you do know I'm insulting you!"
Naruto looked around helplessly and said, "I haven't learned Earth Release to build a house either! Where are we going to stay tonight? We can't just sleep on the ground, can we? I don't mind, but I'm afraid it might be inconvenient for you."
"Hmph! What's inconvenient for me?"
"Uh! You've been in the Forest of Death for two days, haven't you noticed you're starting to smell?"