#62 - Chapter 62: Sakura gets beaten up in the preliminaries

"Then why declare friendship?" Ten Ten asked.

"I said from the beginning, don't misunderstand! This exam isn't about maintaining balance between countries through slaughter, but is created for the dreams of ninjas and the prestige of the nation!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said sternly.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi said it wasn't like that, Naruto felt that it actually was!

If it wasn't, there would be no need to say all these messy things.

How many of the people who came to take the exam were for the so-called dream?

And how many are fighting for their own village?

Of the eighteen people who passed the second exam, the three from Sunagakure were to destroy Konoha, the three from Otogakure were for Orochimaru's mission, the three from Konoha were also for Orochimaru's mission, and then the other nine from Konoha all had their own thoughts.

Naruto was just there to complete the system's mission.

Sasuke was there to train himself, whether he became a Chunin or not was not important.

Sakura was there to follow in Naruto and Sasuke's footsteps, not to be a burden.

Neji was accepting the arrangement of fate, and Ten Ten was following Neji.

I'm afraid only Rock Lee, this passionate youth, is truly fighting for his dream!

"Cough cough! Hayate!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice, and a Jonin wearing a headband appeared in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi, kneeling on one knee, "Leave the rest to me, Hokage-sama."

"Mm." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, signaling Hayate Gekko to handle everything.

Hayate Gekko turned around and looked at the examinees. He was just about to say something when he coughed violently due to his physical discomfort.

"......"

Is this proctor really okay?

"Cough cough... I am Hayate Gekko, the supervising Jonin for the third exam."

Hayate Gekko said in a deep voice, "Before the official start of the third exam, we need to add a preliminary round for the Chunin Exam's third exam!"

"Preliminary round?"

"That's right, because there are too many examinees who have reached this point, a preliminary round needs to be added according to the Chunin Exam rules to reduce the number of people participating in the third exam."

"The reason for this preliminary round is also to consider the guests for the third exam, because there are many important people coming to watch, so the exam can't be dragged out and must have a time limit."

"And if there are people who are feeling unwell... cough cough cough cough! You can leave the exam in advance."

"......"

The examinees rolled their eyes.

Isn't the person feeling unwell you?

After waiting for a while, no one withdrew due to physical discomfort, and Hayate Gekko began to announce the rules.

Naruto glanced at Kabuto Yakushi with slight concern.

He didn't choose to withdraw, was it because he didn't have a suitable reason, or did he have other plans?

"The next exam is a one-on-one battle. Those who win can enter the third exam. There are no other rules, until one side dies, falls, or surrenders!"

"So if you don't want to die, surrender quickly, but if I think the outcome is already decided, cough... in order to avoid unnecessary increase in deaths, I will intervene and stop you!"

"Then the electronic bulletin board will draw your match list!"

As Hayate Gekko's voice fell, more than a dozen names on the electronic bulletin board kept spinning, and finally stopped on two names.

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado!

The first match list didn't change, it was still these two fighting.

But in the original story, the injured Sasuke could defeat Yoroi Akado, now facing Sasuke who has rested for a few days, Yoroi Akado will not be his opponent!

After Naruto and the others went up to the second-floor stands, Sasuke and Yoroi Akado began to fight.

Yoroi Akado is good at using an ability that can absorb the opponent's chakra.

Judging from his body type, he should also be good at taijutsu.

But when he faced Sasuke, he was completely not his opponent!

His speed and strength were very weak. Sasuke just pulled out the Kubikiribocho and slapped him horizontally, knocking him down for a long time.

And when he finally managed to get up, Sasuke's sword was already on his neck.

"The first exam is over, Sasuke Uchiha wins and passes the preliminary round!"

"Boring!"

Sasuke was very dissatisfied with having such a trash opponent assigned to him.

His eyes looked at the examinees above, Rock Lee, Neji, Gaara, and finally fell on Naruto!

"Damn it!"

He dared to challenge everyone above, but for Naruto, he still couldn't see any chance of winning!

He even thought that if his opponent just now was Naruto, would he have surrendered directly!

"Congratulations, Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura saw Sasuke return victorious, rushed over to hug him, but was directly dodged by Sasuke.

"Congratulations, Sasuke." Kakashi smiled with squinted eyes.

"Mm." Sasuke responded expressionlessly, without the joy of victory.

At this time, a new opponent list appeared on the electronic bulletin board.

Zaku Abumi vs. Shino Aburame!

The battle between the two didn't change much. Although Zaku Abumi wasn't injured in advance, Shino Aburame's bugs were still very powerful. After drilling into his arm, he was easily defeated without any resistance!

Third match, Misumi Tsurugi vs. Kankuro, Kankuro wins.

Fourth match, Sakura Haruno vs. Dosu!

Seeing Sakura's opponent, Naruto hesitated for a moment and pulled Sakura, who was about to go down to compete, "Sakura, just give up, you are not his opponent!"

"I......"

Sakura hesitated a little.

She didn't want to give up easily in her heart, but facing a battle that even Naruto didn't approve of, was there really a need to persist?

Just when Sakura couldn't make up her mind, Kakashi said with a smile: "Sakura, if you don't want to give up, try it, if it really doesn't work, I will take action to save you!"

With Kakashi's words, Sakura finally mustered the courage to fight Dosu seriously.

However, Naruto still didn't look favorably on this battle.

Sasuke has the talent and ability to become stronger when he encounters a strong opponent, but Sakura doesn't have that.

But since Sakura insisted, he wouldn't say anything more.

Anyway, he wasn't the one who would get beaten up later.

"Naruto." Kakashi suddenly said to Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I know that in your heart Sakura doesn't have much strength, but protecting her too well is not a good thing. She will eventually become a ninja who can stand alone." Kakashi said.

"I just said some truths." Naruto said indifferently, "And with you, the supervising Jonin, urging her, I don't think Sakura will always need someone to protect her!"

Kakashi was silent for a second, and said: "But I will not always be your supervising Jonin!"

Neither of them continued to speak, and the battle below started quickly.

Dosu's strength has already reached the level of a Chunin, while Sakura can only be regarded as standing firm as a Genin at most.

Facing an opponent who was one level higher than herself, Sakura was beaten miserably, spitting blood, her hair disheveled, and even two of her teeth fell out!

In the end, Kakashi took action to stop the tragedy from continuing.

"I told you to just give up? Why bother getting beaten up like this?"

Naruto looked at Sakura, who was already disfigured, and couldn't help shaking his head.

I wonder if Ino, who has already withdrawn from the Chunin Exam, will be glad that she didn't pass the second exam after seeing Sakura's tragic situation.

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