After saying so, he turned around and left. He walked up to Karin and said.
"Let's go!"
Karin nodded and two of them finally left.
At this moment, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were left alone on the ground. They were still confused about everything that Menma said.
"Ahhh! I can't think of anything. Sasuke, I will leave all the thinking to you." Naruto screamed and finally stood up. He found his head getting lighter as well.
Hearing his words, Sasuke was in a daze for a moment. Slowly, a cold smirk appeared on his face as he said.
"Humph! It's not like you can think of anything. Besides, this is a question for me, not you."
"Sasuke, wait! Let me heal you completely first." Sakura found him trying to get up so she hurriedly hastened her Healing Jutsu.
Sasuke wanted to act tough but suddenly realized that he was too weak to do so. His Chakra was almost empty. He was physically injured and his Sharingan was also heavily used.
After they spent some time taking some rest, they eventually came out of the forest with a scroll that Naruto got from his enemies. Unlike in the original, they finished it in less than a day.
Menma didn't dawdle here. He quickly left the building and went home with Karin. That day, he spent most of his time with his family.
Specifically, he introduced Karin to his family. Because of her identity issues, he asked her to use Transformation Jutsu.
As long as she doesn't gather too much attention, she won't be discovered that easily.
After five days, Menma returned to the building where the third exam was being held.
"Menma! Here, here!"
Okinawa raised his hands and shouted. Because Menma left too quickly, they didn't encounter him in these five days.
Murasaki and Jeme were also standing next to him. Behind them, Genma was standing.
"So, how was your rest?" Genma asked with a smile on his face.
"Tsk! Tsk! Menma, you really found a girl without telling us. If it wasn't for Naruto, we would be in dark." Murasaki clicked his tongue with a jealous expression.
"By the way, why didn't you bring me here today?" Jeme curiously asked. She knew that a person like Menma wouldn't settle for normal.
That's why she was curious about just what kind of girl would attract his attention.
If Menma could hear her thoughts, he would simply reply.
A girl who can do medical ninjutsu has a powerful talent for something, can punch really hard, and is not useless.
"Ahh! Identity problem." Menma didn't explain it much just winked at them.
His wink made them understand the situation so they didn't ask more about it.
"Hey, Menma!" Suddenly, an idiotic sound came from afar.
Menma turned around and saw Naruto waving his hands, shouting his name from afar like an idiot.
"This guy." Menma slapped his forehead. If he was to do such a thing, he would bury himself in a hole in embarrassment.
He signaled Naruto to come here. But, Naruto was tangled. Because Sasuke seemed a bit hesitant to meet Menma, he didn't know whether to do it or not.
"You should go." Sasuke spoke while looking at the arena in front of him.
Naruto stared at him for a moment and quickly rushed toward him.
"You know, he won't care about what you did much. So, there is no need to hesitate." Kakashi looked at him and spoke with a slow voice.
"No, I want to find the answer to that question before talking to him." Sasuke shook his head and declined without any hesitation.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura just stared at him in a daze with a sad expression.
"Yo! Menma, how are you doing?" Naruto greeted him with a big grin on his face.
Menma nodded his head and said.
"I am doing alright but is your team having any kind of problem?" Menma was truly curious about Team Seven's situation.
Because they came out of the forest way early, it seemed like Sasuke wasn't branded by Orochimaru. But, he didn't know if Orochimaru would let go of Sasuke that easily.
Naruto suddenly fell silent.
"Menma, you don't know?" Okinawa looked at Menma with surprise on his face.
"Know what?" Menma looked at him and frowned.
"That Sasuke was attacked by Orochimaru a few days ago and branded with Curse Mark just like me." Murasaki spoke while touching the spot where Orochimaru bit him.
That spot still had the Curse Mark even though it was in a sealed state.
"What?" Although Menma predicted this, he still showed a surprised expression.
"So, is he okay?" Menma turned to Naruto and asked.
Naruto nodded his head.
"Yes, Kakashi-Sensei sealed the Curse Mark and Sasuke is slowly getting used to it."
"That's good. Since this is going to be preliminaries, he will be knocked out if he can't even fight properly." Menma nodded his head and turned to the arena.
At this moment, Hayate Gekko asked who passed the second round to gather at the arena.
"Let's go!" Menma said as he took everyone to the ground.
After that, Hayate started explaining the rules and just like in the original, Kabuto decided to quit.
But, there was one major difference. Unlike in the original, Naruto didn't jump and say anything to him.
Because they had already finished the second exam in one day, they didn't meet Kabuto or made a bond.
"Since everyone here is ready for the preliminaries, let's start!"
With that, he turned around and saw the match-up on the screen. Surprisingly, this wasn't that different from the original while just being quite different.
[Sasuke Uchiha Vs Yoroi Akado
Zaku Abumi Vs Shino Aburame
Misumi Tsurugi Vs Kankuro
Sakura Haruno Vs Ino Yamanaka
Tenten Vs Tamari
Shikamaru Nara Vs Kin Tsuchi
Naruto Uzumaki Vs Kiba Inuzuka
Hinata Hyuga Vs Jeme Nara
Okinawa Vs Murasaki Kuruma
Neji Hyuga Vs Menma Izuno
Gaara Vs Rock Lee
Dosu Kinuta Vs Choji Akimichi]
This was the final match-up. Except for the new additions, there were only two differences. First, Hinata didn't face Neji while Menma faced Neji.
It was surprising. But, Menma was also relaxed about it.
Not because he could easily win against Neji but rather because Neji no longer had the hatred for Main Clan like in the original.
He still had some hatred but he wouldn't release that hatred on Hinata.
So, he wouldn't be surprised to finish off Neji in this round.
At the same time, Neji was also surprised by his match-up against Menma. But, he was also confident in his strength.
After all, not only he was a genius but also had a higher amount of Chakra than Menma.
Even if Menma had gone out to train for two years, he still had a lot of confidence.
And, with that, the battle of the preliminaries started.
In the first battle, Sasuke won with ease. Even though he could only use Ninjutsu with the help of the Seal, he only used Taijutsu. Hee was a lot stronger than in the original.
Here, he trained his Taijutsu a lot. And, not to mention, his opponent was quite difficult when it comes to using Ninjutsu.
In the second battle, Shino won just like in the original. The third battle was at the same time but the fourth battle was different.
Unlike in the original, Sakura trained her Chakra Control and Medical Ninjutsu quite well. Although she wasn't as good as Kabuto, she was still strong enough to defeat Ino.
Although Ino also trained quite a lot, her training was nowhere enough.
Sakura had a strong resolve to stand beside her teammates who were literally moving at the speed of light.
Their strength was growing so fast that she had no choice but to triple her training. She trained so hard that she was able to learn Chakra Enhanced Strength to a level higher than Menma without the guidance of Tsunade.
Of course, this also showed the talent that she had for Chakra Control. But, it was still amazing.
But, the fifth battle was quite the same. Even though Tenten managed to put off a good fight unlike in the original, she still lost.
Shikamaru won with ease. His battle was just a breeze.
Naruto also won with ease. He didn't even need one-tenth of his strength to defeat Kiba. It's not because Kiba was weak but rather because Naruto was insanely stronger.
Even Sasuke didn't know Naruto's true strength. And, that's because Naruto had been saving this kind of strength to fight against Menma.
After that, it was Hinata Vs Jeme Nara.
Surprisingly, Naruto cheered for Hinata. And, his cheers were even bigger than when he cheered Sakura or Sasuke.
This surprised Menma. As he didn't know how well Naruto had progressed in his love life.
After all, now he no longer cared about Sakura's love.
He struck Okinawa with his elbow and asked.
"Hey, did something happen between Naruto and Hinata?"
His question surprised Okinawa and soon, he revealed a big grin on his face.
"Although there is no confirmation, Jeme, Murasaki, and I found them moving around the village together as if they were on a date quite often."
"It's just that Hinata's Byakugan easily traces us so we couldn't go near them without being discovered."
Hearing his words, Menma was shocked at first. But, soon, a big smile and relief appeared on his face as he stared at Naruto who had returned next to Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi.
"That idiot finally understood."
Seeing his friend's expression, Okinawa said nothing. After all, he knew that Naruto had a special relationship with Menma. This relationship was quite strong or even stronger than theirs.
At the same time, the battle between Jeme Nara and Hinata Hyuga started.