The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

From the angle of the heavy blow.

Zi Tie still looked relaxed.

That defensive stance taken at the critical moment.

Just at that moment.

"Whoosh!"

A green shadow flashed by.

"Peng!"

He stood directly between Sasuke and Kotetsu, his outstretched hands easily blocking their attacks.

"what?"

"Um!?"

This figure was none other than Rock Lee, who had just been pretending to be knocked to the ground.

This speed is incredibly fast.

Not to mention Sasuke, even Zitie on the other side showed a look of surprise.

'This kid? He can actually be this fast?'

Moreover, it's clear from this that they haven't even gone all out yet.

Who are you?

Sasuke coldly stared at Lee, who had blocked his attack, and asked in an unfriendly tone.

"I'm a Konoha genin just like you, Sasuke-kun, only I graduated a year earlier. My name is Rock Lee!"

Lee, who had previously appeared timid, stared intently at Sasuke, his eyes blazing with a fierce fighting spirit that any normal person could see.

This stark contrast between the two periods is striking.

This also made Sasuke frown.

"Xiao Li, didn't we agree to keep a low profile? Why did you just rush out like that?"

In a position on one side.

After seeing Xiao Li rush out.

Neji Hyuga and Tenten, who were teammates, also walked out at the same time.

While speaking to Lee, his eyes darted back and forth between Menma, Sasuke, and Naruto.

Unlike in the original work, he only cared about Sasuke.

In this life, Neji is someone who pays close attention to all three of them, including Masahiro.

"Ah, sorry Neji, I couldn't control myself for a moment. After all, these are Sasuke-kun, Menma-kun, and Naruto-sama."

Lee first spoke apologetically to Neji, then turned to look at Menma, Sasuke, and Naruto.

That expression was practically screaming battle lust.

Sasuke's surname is Uchiha.

Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage.

Mianma was the top student among this year's graduates.

Regardless of which one it is, Xiao Li feels that it is both challenging and meaningful.

"Lee, I'm really sorry. Sasuke, Menma, and Naruto, my companion was a bit impulsive. But as he said, we are graduates from the previous year, and we care about the three of you very much. Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am from the Hyuga clan, and my name is Neji. Nice to meet you."

Neji looked at Menma and Sasuke with a calm expression, his gaze only showing a slight hint of respect when it shifted to Naruto.

This is probably something ingrained in Neji's very being.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 77 Before the Assessment

P.S.: Thank you to Night Whispering Cold Mountain for the 100-coin reward.

"My name is Tenten, and I want to tell you that Neji is the number one in our year."

Tenten, the 'Chinese style' girl standing next to Neji, also smiled and said.

His gaze kept shifting between Menma, Naruto, and Sasuke, after all, when it comes to looks...

Menma and the other two are in no way inferior to Neji. For girls, a handsome man is a very pleasing sight, isn't he?

Tenten was also a little jealous of Sakura, who was standing next to the three of them.

As for the two 'Konoha Gatekeepers' who were just in everyone's sight, they took this opportunity to leave quietly. Apart from the pockmarked man, no one present noticed them.

"Oh!? The champion from last year? Does this mean we're going to have a friendly competition? Well, I'd love to! And don't call me 'Young Master' or anything like that, just call me by my name."

Naruto, who might be a little slow at other times, is incredibly quick in this kind of situation.

Almost immediately after Neji finished speaking.

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he spoke with the same eager expression.

Erzhuzi felt that the other side was provoking him, and his expression became very gloomy.

This is almost like she's about to explode.

"Alright, Naruto, now is not the time for you to waste time. The Chunin Exams are about to begin, let's go."

Mianma also stepped forward in time, uttering these words softly.

"Oh."

It's not just Naruto.

Even Sasuke's momentum faltered.

Although there were no explicit words, over the past few months, Menma has always been in a near-commanding position, regardless of the mission. While Kakashi often left things to his own devices, Menma was the one giving instructions for Team 7's missions. Over time, the other three members of Team 7 have also developed the habit of following Menma's orders.

Even so, given Sasuke's personality, he would still feel somewhat uncomfortable.

However, firstly, Menma's command was never wrong, and secondly, Menma always wanted to be better than himself.

Sasuke simply accepted it.

"Although we graduated a year earlier, we can still be considered seniors. Neji-san and Lee-san seem to know us quite well, so we won't introduce ourselves. If you two seniors want to have a showdown, this isn't the right time or place. The Chunin Exams are coming up next, and I think there will be plenty of opportunities, won't there? Well then, we'll excuse ourselves for now, my three 'seniors'."

Menma smiled lightly, then turned and led the way towards the stairs.

Erzhuzi also snorted lightly, coldly glanced at Neji and Lee, and then stepped forward to follow.

"Menma is right. If we're going to have a showdown, this exam is definitely the most suitable stage. Let's see who's the best in the exam, Neji-san, Lee-san."

Naruto smiled and waved, then followed Sakura upstairs.

"Uzumaki Menma, Namikaze Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke? It looks like this Chunin Exams is going to be really interesting."

As Neji watched Menma and the others leave, a unique and bright light shone in his eyes.

Menma, who had already left, was naturally unaware that Neji's fighting spirit had also been fully ignited. Even if he did know, he wouldn't care. As he said before, Menma now treats everyone and everything in Konoha with the utmost indifference.

As long as they are not one of the specific few, or those who will stop him in the future, the rest of the people are insignificant in Menma's eyes.

The floors you climb.

We arrived at the doorway of the actual classroom 301.

The four men with pockmarked faces entered through the door.

What came into view was a large group of people. Most of them glanced at Menma and the others the moment they pushed open the door, but the vast majority turned their gazes back the next moment. Only a few people's eyes narrowed when they saw Naruto and Sasuke standing on either side of Menma.

A special identity is often the easiest way to attract attention.

Although Menma's identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was already common knowledge throughout the ninja world thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi's ridiculous gag order, it was only known to those of a certain status. Genin were unlikely to know what a Jinchuriki was.

Therefore, these people are unlikely to focus too much on betting on mahjong.

Only one bespectacled man, wearing a Konoha ninja headband and exuding an air of refined gentleness, had a faint, strange light flash in the deepest part of his pupils the moment he saw Menma appear.

This refined and easy-going man was none other than Orochimaru's most trusted and most capable subordinate—Kabuto Yakushi.

'Team 7 is also here for the Chunin Exams. Looks like I need to inform Orochimaru-sama beforehand.'

Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping over Menma before landing on Sasuke to his right, silently thinking to himself.

He himself was also secretly planning to find an opportunity to make contact with Class 7, since intelligence gathering was his forte.

On the other side.

What Kabuto didn't know was that Menma had been watching him all along. The moment he entered the classroom, his gaze, which seemed to be scanning everyone, only paid slight attention to Gaara; he simply glanced at everyone else.

The real target of the search is Kabuto Yakushi.

Upon seeing Kabuto Yakushi in the crowd, with his harmless and easygoing demeanor, he realized that he was a perfect gentleman.

Menma couldn't help but sigh inwardly that he truly deserved to be one of the strongest spies in the original work. With just this level of acting skills, he was definitely a top figure in the entire ninja world.

To put it bluntly, if Kabuto were to live in Menma's previous life's world, purely in terms of acting skills, winning an Oscar for Best Actor would be a sure thing.

This is also the most important advantage that allows Kabuto Yakushi to act as a multi-faceted spy.

Most importantly, this person is not only good at espionage, but as a ninja, his personal strength is already at the level of an elite Jonin. Therefore, Menma can't afford to look at Kabuto Yakushi too much.

Such ninjas are extremely sensitive to any attention.

"Now that we've identified the characters, the next step is to find the right opportunity..."

Mianma gently exhaled a breath of stale air, silently pondering in his heart.

"Oh, you guys actually came to participate in such a troublesome event? I thought it was just our class that got recommended..."

Others wouldn't care if they saw Mianma and the others.

However, there were still a few figures in the crowd who would approach Menma and his group after seeing them.

Those were the six genin from Team 8 and Team 10 who graduated together as classmates.

Menma looked up and the first thing she saw was Nara Shikamaru approaching with a 'troublesome' expression on his face.