I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

A striking red hair suddenly squeezed into Naruto's group of three, and instantly a voice filled with admiration rang out:

"Sasuke! I'm so happy to see you advance! You know, I was worried that you would be affected by Sakura, who was dragging us down."

"Uzumaki! Karin!" Before Sasuke could reply, Sakura's furious voice rang out from behind, "I didn't even mind that you suddenly came and interrupted our team's pre-match preparations, but now you're openly cursing me. You loser! Get out of here right now!"

"Wide forehead! Who are you calling a loser?" Upon hearing this, Karin immediately adjusted her glasses with one hand, turned around, and faced Sakura with full fighting spirit.

Sakura retorted without mincing words: "I'm talking about you! You're just jealous because you saw me teamed up with Sasuke, aren't you? Even the teachers in charge of grouping people approved me instead of you, which means I'm more useful to Sasuke. Karin, what can you do if you're not happy? You're just a loser whining!"

"Hmph! I'm a loser? Sakura, if you run into me in the next assessment, I'll show you who the real loser is! And I'll let those blind teachers in charge of grouping you see who is truly qualified to be on a team with Sasuke."

Karin gets angry whenever the topic of group assignments comes up.

Originally, she thought that she, born into the Uzumaki clan and possessing powerful abilities such as Kagura's Mind's Eye and physical healing, should be the best candidate to team up with Sasuke.

Unexpectedly, Sakura, who only surpassed her in academic subjects, managed to break through and take the position that should have been hers.

This further fueled the already tense relationship between the two, who had been arguing fiercely over Sasuke since childhood.

"...It seems that even in the same team, you, Broad Forehead, haven't made any progress. Face reality, you have absolutely no chance."

After a fierce and practiced argument, Karin, who had rubbed salt into Sakura's wounds and then ignored her, turned her attention back to Sasuke.

No matter how indifferent Ren Zuozhu was, the adoration in her eyes remained undiminished.

Seeing Karin's persistent and clingy behavior, Sakura, feeling a strong sense of crisis, couldn't bear to be angry anymore. Since she couldn't get rid of Karin with words, she simply stepped forward and tried to drag Karin away by force.

However, in terms of sheer strength alone, she is no match for the Uzumaki clan.

Left with no other choice, Sakura quickly called out to Karin's teammates, "Sai, Shin, the test is about to start, aren't you going to pull your teammates back?"

Shin, carrying a ninja sword and wearing the same crop top as Sai, shrugged, indicating that he was powerless to help.

Sai, just like he did in school, enthusiastically picked up his pen and paper and, inspired, began to draw another picture of Karin, Sakura, and Sasuke, all the while mentally rehearsing:

"What should we call this painting? Hmm! Let's call it 'Two Women Fighting for One Man'!"

Seeing that she had entrusted the task to the wrong person, Sakura turned her gaze to Naruto and said, "Naruto, you come here!"

Naruto, finally no longer just a background character, beamed with joy, but after hearing Sakura's words, he was in a dilemma.

On one side was his teammate, and on the other side was his mother's clan, and by relation, his cousin's.

It's not easy to offend either of them.

In the end, it was only through Sasuke's personal intervention that Karin, who was reluctant to leave, was finally able to depart.

Sasuke withdrew his gaze from Sakura, who seemed quite pleased with herself after a great victory, and remained completely unmoved.

He didn't care about either Sakura or Karin.

At this moment, he is more focused on his own abilities than on love.

However, even if he were to actually date, he wouldn't be too interested in overly proactive girls like Sakura or Karin.

In comparison, her brother's gentle and considerate girlfriend was her ideal.

I heard that Itachi has visited the girl's house many times.

It seems that the two will get married soon.

In that case, I should start calling my brother's girlfriend, Uchiha Izumi, my sister-in-law.

time flies!

At this moment, before the upcoming Death Forest trial, Sasuke was unusually distracted.

"This is the next generation of Konoha?"

Not far away, Kankuro, who had just seen everything, stretched and said in a tone that said, "He can be replaced."

Temari, who didn't like Sasuke's pretty-boy type, nodded and said, "That's unexpected. What do you think, Gaara?"

Gaara did not reply.

At that moment, he was looking at the black soil not far away.

While Temari and her brother were sizing up the people from Konoha, little did they know that they themselves had become the objects of sizing up.

"The children of the Fourth Kazekage? One of them was even the original Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast. I just don't know how strong you are?"

Kurotsuchi, who was staring at Gaara, laughed freely without any intention of avoiding his gaze.

Chapter 352 Capture the Flag

Before the Forest of Death, the group of lower-ranking ninja examinees did not have to wait long.

Soon, the examiner for this assessment, wearing a green Jonin vest that was in line with the style of Konoha, suddenly appeared in front of everyone using the Body Flicker Technique.

"Everyone, I am Haku, the chief examiner for the second round of the Chunin Exams."

Standing before about six hundred people, Haku, who was not much older than the genin opposite him, raised his right hand and greeted them gently.

"Ah~~~"

"It's Senior Bai!"

"So handsome!"

"."

In an instant, screams from the girls among the candidates resounded continuously.

Among them, Ino was the most hardworking.

Nowadays, she prefers gentle and handsome guys like Bai to Zuo Zhu.

Sakura glanced at Haku with a sparkle in her eyes, but quickly composed herself and turned to look at Sasuke instead.

Even if the temptation is too great, she will not fall in love with someone else.

Unaware and unconcerned about Sakura's little actions, Sasuke was staring straight at Haku.

The other person wasn't much older than him, but had already surpassed Chunin and Special Jonin, directly reaching the Jonin level.

Seeing that he was still a low-ranking genin, Sasuke's desire to be promoted to chunin as soon as possible grew stronger.

He glanced at the eerie Death Forest ahead, his eyes filled with determination.

Haku's appearance not only attracted the attention of many female ninjas at the scene, but also drew a large number of female fans in front of their televisions.

He couldn't influence the audience who were thousands of miles away, but he could still calm them down.

Soon, after the scene quieted down, Hakumi, who had been promoted to Jonin for his merits in the Fourth Shinobi World War, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly began to explain the content of the second assessment:

"Operation Flag Capture—that's the name of the second round of the Chunin Exams that you'll be facing in the Forest of Death. In the center of the Forest of Death, a high platform has been erected, upon which fifty large flags are planted. Each team that returns to the designated location with one flag will advance to the final round of the exam."

Unlike the Chunin Exams in the original story, although the second round of exams was also held in the Forest of Death, the method was completely different.

Fifty large flags represent that only fifty teams can successfully advance to the final round.

This means that more than half of the current team of about 600 people will be eliminated, leaving only 150 people in the end.

"Remember, you must not deliberately destroy the flags; violators will be eliminated immediately. Also, even if you capture multiple flags, it will only count as one. The assessment will last for three days. If anyone gives up halfway through, you can activate the signal flare that the examiners will give you before you set off. Rescue personnel will then come to your aid."

After reminding all the candidates of the important points, Bai nodded to the staff around him.

The latter transmits messages via radio headset.

A few breaths later, under the watchful eyes of more than 600 examinees on site and thousands of viewers in front of television, a huge, pyramid-like wooden platform that pierced the sky was revealed in the center of the Death Forest after the concealing barrier was removed.

The wooden high-rise has five floors in total, and each floor is about fifty stories high.

Each floor was covered with large flags.

...

However, the higher the level, the fewer large flags there are.

Obviously, the first to arrive, the easier it is to capture the flag.

Having realized this, the candidates present solemnly scanned their opponents, who, apart from their teammates, could all be regarded as enemies.

The atmosphere quickly became tense. Seeing this, Bai calmly said, "You have fifteen minutes to prepare. All candidates, please make your final preparations. Of course, if anyone wants to give up early, they can do so during this time."

Those who managed to stand out from more than two thousand candidates were the best among the genin.

Even though Shikamaru kept complaining, "It's too hard! Not only do we have to face so many opponents, but also the poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts in the Forest of Death," and Omoi kept repeating in frustration, "I'm probably going to die now," neither of them actually thought of giving up.

Not to mention others.

A quarter of an hour later, not a single one of the more than 600 candidates stood ready in front of the iron fence surrounding the Forest of Death.

Haku, the chief examiner, glanced at his watch, gestured for his men to open the gates of the Forest of Death, and then gave the order: "The second round of the Chunin Exams begins now!"

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

As soon as the words were spoken, countless whooshing sounds rang out, and all the examinees turned into black streaks, rushing swiftly into the Death Forest.

Not long after.

The fiercest exchange of blows erupted not far from the starting point.

Clearly, some impatient candidates chose to eliminate some of their competitors first.

Outside the Forest of Death.

Seeing this scene, Yu Shu, who hadn't grown much taller but had already developed a more feminine figure compared to three years ago, shrugged and said, "Looks like I, the medical team leader for the second round of assessments, will soon be getting to work."

As Haku's teammate, although she did not contribute as much as Haku in the Fourth Shinobi World War, she was still promoted to Special Jonin. This time, she was also recruited by Haku to serve as a medical ninja.

"Thank you for your help, Yu Shu," Bai said.

"It's my duty. After all, I get a good allowance for this position," Yu Shu said nonchalantly, waving her hand as she listened to the commotion inside the Death Forest.

Once the commotion at the front had subsided, Yu Shu, having received the message through her earpiece, said to Bai, "Then I'll go."

After saying that, she led a group of medical ninjas into the Forest of Death.

"Tsk tsk, these kids are really ruthless. I didn't expect so many to fall down at once."

The battle took place nearby, and Yu Shu quickly arrived at the scene. Looking at the nearly one hundred people lying on the ground, screaming in agony, she sighed for a moment before leading her men to treat those who were no longer able to continue and to take them away from the Death Forest.

The Death Forest and the sky are equipped with a wide array of cameras thanks to the flying ninja tools.

It not only allows examiners to have a thorough understanding of everything within the Death Forest.