Everyone present here is absolute trash.

Naruto and his companions faced no further obstructions until they reached Kakashi, who was standing right outside room 301.

"Kakashi-sensei..."

"You've all arrived together."

Kakashi looked like a proud parent sending his children off to an important examination. He gazed at his three students with satisfaction. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, you are the students I am most proud of."

Though all three were exceptionally talented, he felt as though he hadn't even had to exert himself much before their abilities began soaring upward by leaps and bounds.

Still, one had to acknowledge that these three were, without a doubt, Kakashi's students.

Weren't they?

"Alright, go on in."

Acting as though he were personally escorting them to the threshold, Kakashi stepped aside, revealing the grand double doors directly behind him.

Glancing at the doors, Naruto was overcome with a torrent of emotions. The time had finally come—the Chunin Exams.

At eighteen... well, twelve years old, full of vigor and ambition.

He, Uzumaki Naruto, was here to report for duty!

Looking back at Sasuke, Naruto broke into a mischievous grin. "Sasuke, let's go in and say hello to everyone."

"Hmm?"

Hearing this, Sasuke looked somewhat puzzled. Why would Naruto suddenly come out with a remark like that?

Could it be...

He had a bad feeling about this!

The doors swung open.

What met their eyes was a sea of people—crowds upon crowds, countless individuals.

Elites from all the major shinobi villages—Leaf, Sand, Grass, Rain, Sound, and Waterfall—were gathered together in one place, a veritable assembly of brilliant talents.

Surveying the diverse array of figures filling the examination hall, Naruto felt a surge of grand ambition.

Today, he had only one goal: to dominate the Chunin Exam venue!

From this day forward, call him the Uzumaki Maniac!

That being the case, he should start by saying hello.

Clap, clap, clap~~~

Naruto raised his hands high and delivered three sharp claps, the resounding sound instantly drawing everyone's attention.

Such an arrogant gesture caused the entire classroom to fall utterly silent, every single gaze shifting toward the three newcomers.

Sakura, who was already lacking in self-confidence, was scared nearly half to death by the sudden influx of stares.

Sasuke, however, curved the corner of his lips into a smile. He finally understood what Naruto was driving at.

Naruto's true strength ought to be displayed like this. Back when Shikamaru had misunderstood the situation, Naruto hadn't bothered to explain, leading Sasuke to think he intended to keep hiding his power indefinitely.

Now it appeared Naruto had simply been waiting for the right opportunity.

And the Chunin Exams were that very opportunity.

Yet... to be so high-profile...

He had never been one for ostentation, but since they were already here, what was there to fear?

Sasuke was certainly not a man who shied away from trouble!

"All eyes on me!"

A brilliant smile bloomed on Naruto's face, his gaze radiating supreme confidence. "Alright, alright, alright. Next, I'd like to make an announcement: Everyone sitting right here is absolute trash!"

Everyone sitting right here is absolute trash~~~

Trash~~

Trash~

The tremendous voice echoed through the classroom... echoing~~~

As soon as those words left his mouth, the entire hall was stunned!

Everyone thought they must have misheard. Wasn't this kid an examinee too? How utterly arrogant! He completely disregarded everyone present.

Outside the door, Kakashi's eyes curved into crescents: Truly, you never disappoint, Naruto!

In addition, Naruto's two acquaintances, Shikamaru and Choji, were utterly flabbergasted. Were those really words that came out of the mouth of Naruto, the eternal dropout?

For a moment, even Choji's habit of eating potato chips came to a complete halt.

It was over. Naruto had gone and provoked serious trouble for himself; in the upcoming exams, he would undoubtedly become the primary target of everyone's animosity.

"Idiot, he's instantly made an enemy of everyone in the room!"

Shikamarus mind refused to even process the immense complications bound up in Naruto's declaration—it was simply too troublesome.

To sum it up in a single sentence: Naruto was doomed.

"Naruto-kun."

Glancing up at the confident Naruto, Hinata instantly blushed crimson and began nervously twisting her fingers together, though a split second later, a wave of profound worry for him washed over her.

"Hmph." A wicked smirk played at the corners of Gaara's mouth.

Naturally, he wouldn't be swayed by such a low-level provocation tactic, but recalling the blond boy's performance on that previous day, he felt his blood beginning to boil once more.

Shinobi from the Leaf, the Sand, the Grass... and so on, all reacted in vastly different ways.

As the person standing closest to Naruto, Sakura felt like crying tears with no tears to shed: *I don't know him. Really, we are not together.*

She raised her head, only for her eyes to dart toward a ninja with a vicious and terrifying appearance. Scared out of her wits, Sakura shrank back, lowered her head abruptly, and never dared to look up again.

*I am totally finished!*

Naruto was so powerful he would undoubtedly be fine, but she was done for.

Having arrogantly cursed everyone present as trash, Naruto waited left and right, but aside from furious glares from all directions, nothing else seemed to happen.

Wait a minute, my friend.

The next step in the script was supposed to be killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, but where was the chicken?

He had intended to make an example of someone, but since nobody was stepping up, oh well.

Glancing sideways, Naruto spotted Shikamaru and Kiba's squads standing not far away.

It seemed all the fresh genin from their graduating class had turned up.

"Hello."

Faced with Naruto's enthusiastic wave, Shikamaru averted his gaze and directly pretended not to know him.

Kiba did the exact same thing.

Hinata, however, cast a shy glance in his direction, though she seemed too timid to walk over on her own.

Whether out of shyness or apprehension, it was hard to tell.

Meanwhile, amongst the crowd of examinees:

"Did you hear that?"

Within the Sound ninja squad, Zaku Abumi asked the other two, "He called us trash."

"How regrettable."

"We'll just have to play with them a little bit," said the remaining female ninja.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~

Sensing movement nearby, Naruto knew: the chicken had finally arrived.

"Ha!"

Zaku Abumi leaped high into the air, drawing two shuriken to hurl downward, only to be frozen in his tracks by a single piercing look from Naruto.

Their eyes met, and instantly Zaku's eyes rolled back into his head, plummeting straight down out of the air.

Thud~

He crashed heavily onto the floor.

When they looked again, the fellow was already completely knocked out.

As for the other assailant, who had rushed forward intending to throw a punch at Naruto, he was pinned in place by a glare from Sasuke. His movements abruptly seized up, plunging him instantly into a genjutsu, fixed in position and unable to budge an inch.

"Get back into the trash can where you belong!"

Naruto raised his foot and delivered a swift kick, sending the ninja flying into the crowd ahead.

Those words provoked yet another wave of furious glares from the surrounding crowd.

Yet, not a single person dared to recklessly step forward anymore.

Killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys had achieved a remarkably clear effect.

The vanguard bird had already failed, proving one undeniable fact: this arrogant blond kid possessed truly formidable strength.

Being shinobi, they possessed enough caution not to be easily goaded into rash actions. Therefore, until they figured out Naruto's exact capabilities, every single one of them chose to bide their time.

"Naruto? Is that really you?"

At this point, Team 8 and Team 10 all gathered around in curious astonishment.

Everyone, particularly Shikamaru and Choji, inspected Naruto up and down, reaching out to tug at his arms and pull at his clothes as if trying to ascertain whether this Naruto was actually someone else using a Transformation Jutsu.

"I told you a long time ago, I'm very strong, you know."

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a warm, amiable smile, looking as though the arrogant blond youth from a moment ago had been an entirely different person.

"Y-You're doing well."

Hinata greeted Naruto in a barely audible whisper, and as their eyes met, she lowered her head once more to nervously twist her fingers.

*Naruto-kun really is strong, after all.*

Naruto had no idea how to respond to that.

Was that supposed to be a greeting, or not?

"Damn it, how am I supposed to compete with a guy like you for the top spot now!" Kiba seemed to still be dwelling on their rivalry for leadership back at the academy.

"I'll let you have it, then." Naruto replied indifferently.

"Silence, all of you! You bunch of good-for-nothings!"

A voice boomed from the direction of the podium.

Bang~ With a puff of smoke dispersing, the panel of proctors made a solemn and imposing entrance.

"I am the proctor for the first stage of the Chunin Exam, Morino Ibiki!"

No sooner had he finished his self-introduction than a voice rang out from the hall.

"Sensei, there's a guy over here fast asleep! He's showing zero respect for you!"