Chapter 133 Glass Ball

But apparently, this had caused some tension, because just then, Shikamaru turned around and stared at them with his eyes as sharp as obsidian.

They were like lurking at the edge of the room and making subtle gestures to their red armored teammates.

The large man looked at them and then deliberately stepped to the side, seeming to grow a few inches taller, blocking most of the alcove with his massive frame, cleverly cutting off Kankuro's view.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "I missed some good intelligence."

"Never mind that." Temari said sternly. "Look."

She pointed with her shoulder toward the door.

The chuunin who had been responsible for collecting and testing their scrolls was talking quickly and professionally to the chuunin who had been taking care of them.

The former had no fewer than ten scrolls in his arms, enough for five teams, but only three teams had entered the examination room at that moment.

"What went wrong with this exam?" Kankuro asked confusedly.

Temari hummed in agreement and began to sharpen her kunai with deliberate effort.

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"Can't you little brats just behave yourself, huh?"

Naruto sighed.

"We didn't mean it."

"Uh-huh," Ryouta muttered in disbelief as he nonchalantly pulled two sealing tags from his pocket, adding them to the pile in his pocket and setting up a sound barrier around the small booth filled with nine newcomers.

"Report the injury."

"We're fine," the Uchiha insisted.

"I didn't ask you, kid." Ryouta retorted, turning to Sakura. "Report on the injury."

"We can take care of most of the injuries, though it could be worse," she admitted. "The biggest problem is that our attacker was looking for Sasuke and hit him with some strange jutsu that caused him a lot of pain."

Ryouta glared at the Uchiha.

"'It's alright' bullshit."

He muttered as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the alcove and pulled out his medical bag. "Now, start from the beginning. What exactly happened?"

He checked Sasuke first. As they explained, they listened as Hinata reported to him her observations of the depth, charge, and nature of that strange chakra - things that only the Hyuga clan could understand - while Naruto narrated the events from beginning to end, occasionally letting Sakura or Shikamaru add their perspectives.

He bandaged Sakura's injured forearm and added a chakra cleanser - just to calm himself down - since Naruto's back had healed well enough that he didn't need to intervene.

He took a deep breath, gathered the few medical supplies he had to use, and placed the medical bag back on his vest.

"Hey, Uchiha, give me a favor, will you?"

Sasuke blinked curiously, tilting his head slightly.

"Sure. What is it?"

Ryouta fumbled in his hip pocket, searching for the small glass ball he needed.

"I know you were little and you probably don't remember," he said, holding up the glass ball between two fingers, "but do you know what this is?"

To the untrained eye it looked like a normal glass eyeball, with a simple grey ring of the iris and a black dot for the pupil, but Sasuke obviously recognised it on some level, reaching out to take it from Ryouta's fingers.

"I think... I remember something like this on a shelf in my father's office. But they are different, the irises are red, like the eyes of an Uchiha, without the three magatama." Sasuke said softly, his brows furrowed slightly as he tried to remember. He wouldn't be the first Uchiha to be frustrated by memories recalled before the Sharingan was activated.

"That's because this one is hollow." Ryouta explained. "The Uchiha clan used it to present eyewitness reports to the Hokage and the major clans. It can retain visual information and allow it to be projected for others to see."

Sasuke nodded in understanding.

“How do I fill it up?”

Ryouta shows Sasuke how to charge the Memory Ball and how to use eye contact to link the chakra-based memories with Sasuke's image memory.

This process, or memory linking, can only be done with a fully activated Sharingan, and involves projecting memories outward in the form of complex chakra marks, similar to performing an advanced genjutsu.

Sasuke was learning quickly, just as Ryouta had expected, his only problem was where to start remembering.

When Sasuke was done, Ryouta retracted his now crimson eyes and stood up.

"I have to report to the Hokage now. Don't get involved in any more S-rank fights while my back is turned, okay? And do me a favor."

He found it a little creepy that the trio actually sat back and listened to him obediently.

He pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

"After this part of the test is over, go see your damn teacher, okay?"

******

"I'm dying."

"You can't die, Qingye."

"Liar."

"I won't let you die." Ji Feng told him with a straight face, opening the medicine bottle and pouring out two bright orange capsules into his palm. "At most you will be disabled."

Aoba smiled wryly and handed him the canteen. "Thanks, I feel much better now," he mumbled, the worry on his face dulling his sarcasm. "Are you going to be okay?"

"This isn't the first time I've been attacked, Aoba." Hayate said softly, swallowing the pill and drinking a sip of water. "I'll be fine."

"Do you want me to call Xi Yan?" Qingye asked as he took the kettle. His friend shook his head.

"No, I don't want to worry her. She has enough on her plate right now."

"She's your partner, she has a right to worry about you," Aoba chided, but didn't pursue the issue further, instead leaning over to look at the papers Hayate was sorting through. The small office was quiet, the only sound coming from the occasional soft footsteps in the corridor outside.

Hayate pointed out a few key points on the document and began to explain Aoba's new duties as an invigilator.

"According to the rosters, seven teams made it through Part II and we need to eliminate half of them before Part III. We are doing a single elimination round as a pre-qualifier."

"Which teams passed? Except the novice nine, obviously." Aoba waved his hand nonchalantly, and Hayate smiled.

"Gai's team passed, as did a team from the Sand Village and a team from the Kumogakure Village. There was also a team of our own, but one of their members dropped out, so there are only two left."

Qingye did some mental calculations and his face turned pale.

"Uh, does this mean that at least two members of the Novice Nine will fight each other?"

"You can't die." Hayate emphasized again, then returned to the document and continued. "Due to the large number of applicants, each match has a time limit of one hour. You have the right to make a judgment on a tie, and if both candidates show continued potential, you can rule that they are both eliminated or both win."

"Why change the rules?" He flipped through the roster, glancing at the Kumogakure team that passed through. That probably means the Raikage will be nearby. That's awesome. "Before there was no time limit, it should have been a fierce free-for-all."

"The Sandaime might be showing off. He wants to create as much excitement as possible, and the nine-member novice group is synonymous with excitement. This way, more of them will have a chance to pass, the battle will be more intense, and he will have more things to show off to the Fourth Raikage and the Fourth Kazekage."

"Okay." Aoba expressed his understanding, stood up from the table and packed up the necessary documents.

But as he started to sort out the documents, he suddenly heard Hongdou scream in the corridor, followed by a strong gust of air that slammed the door of the room shut.

"Something crawled into her clothes?" Aoba complained.

Hayate blinked and looked at the door which was still vibrating.

"how could I know."

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