It's better to be a rebel ninja than to be a Hokage

"That forehead protector, they are not Konoha's ninja."

Shikamaru also noticed Karin who was caught in the center of the dispute. He noticed Karin's identity as a ninja: "She is a ninja from the Kusagakure Village."

"The Hidden Grass Village? As I recall, it's a ninja village in the Land of Grass. It's a small country adjacent to the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth... Why does it appear in Konoha?"

Reminded by Shikamaru, Sakura was confused about the appearance of ninjas from the Land of Grass in Konoha.

"Maybe it's because of the Chunin Exams."

Naruto answered Sakura's question in a speculative tone.

"There have been a lot of new faces pouring into Konoha recently. Sakura, you should have noticed it more or less... I seem to have seen a Daimyo-like figure before. The only thing that could make a Daimyo suddenly come to Konoha, as far as I can remember, should be the Chunin Exam."

At this point, Naruto looked towards Shikamaru.

Shikamaru nodded: "Well, Asuma mentioned this before. I heard that this Chunin Exam is a joint exam between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind - Konoha and Sunagakure, as well as other friendly small countries around. "

"That means they came to Konoha to take part in the Chunin Exam..."

Ino also turned her attention to the direction of the Kusagakure ninjas, "But aren't they companions? Why are they arguing?"

If you listen carefully to the content of the argument in the barbecue restaurant, you can understand the whole story.

The red-haired female Kusanagi was being verbally abused by her two male companions.

The reason why the female Kusanagi was insulted was also quite ridiculous. To put it simply, the three of them had a disagreement on the allocation of funds within the team.

"Hey, Karin! What do you mean we shouldn't eat lunch here?"

The two male Kusanagi sounded very angry.

As for the female Kusanagi whom they called Karin, she was very timid in the face of her companions' angry questioning, but she still argued: "This restaurant is too expensive. If we eat here, we won't have enough money to buy ninja tools and supplies later."

In other words, the three Kusa ninjas who showed up at the barbecue restaurant were having a serious argument over such trivial matters.

The dispute soon came to an end.

"Then why not just deduct the money from your share of ninja tools and supplies? You're just a useless hindrance anyway!"

The two male Kusanagi made a decision immediately, pushed Karin away, and still selfishly chose to satisfy their own appetites.

The age of these two Kusanagi ninjas is about the same as Naruto and the others, around twelve or thirteen years old. If they were ordinary people, they would still be considered children.

But they are ninjas, so such behavior is too childish and makes the onlookers look down on them.

"Do they have the strength of a Chunin?"

Ino was obviously unhappy with the two male Kusanagi ninjas.

"Just taking the Chunin exam doesn't mean you'll eventually become a Chunin. And small countries are already short of talent, so all they do is throw all the Genin who meet the reference requirements into the exam. If one out of dozens of people can become a Chunin, it's a sure win for them."

Naruto was in a rare good mood and was doing some popular science for Ino about the small countries in the ninja world.

Meeting Karin here and confirming that she participated in this Chunin Exam was enough for Naruto.

As for stepping in to solve Karin's current predicament, Naruto had no such idea.

And it’s not appropriate now.

This is Konoha, and the Konoha ninjas who are responsible for monitoring ninjas from other countries must have arrived nearby.

Even if we put aside such factors, the people who witnessed the conflict within the Kusanagi team were not just Naruto, but also Sakura and the three members of Team 10.

Acting rashly will only cause unnecessary trouble.

When it comes to the Chunin Exam, Naruto will have plenty of opportunities to get in touch with Karin.

"Ino, don't even think about helping us. We don't know the details of those Kusanagi..."

Shikamaru suddenly spoke at this time. He and Ino were both members of Team 10, so he naturally understood what Ino was thinking.

Shikamaru reminded Ino in a troublesome tone: "Cheap kindness usually does not bring benefits to oneself, but easily leads to a lot of thorny problems. We are also ninjas now, you should understand this, right?"

Ino glared at Shikamaru, but Shikamaru didn't back down.

"I see!"

Ino answered in a very bad manner, but she still took Shikamaru's words to heart.

But Ino really didn't want to let the two annoying grass ninjas in her sight anymore, so she stood up and left the barbecue table: "I'm full!"

After she finished speaking, she left the barbecue restaurant alone without waiting for Shikamaru and Choji.

"so troublesome……"

Shikamaru sighed helplessly, he pushed Choji and signaled that the dinner was over.

Then Shikamaru looked at Naruto and said, "Naruto, Ino is just like that. I'm really sorry this time... I'll treat you next time."

Naruto smiled and said he didn't care. Shikamaru said no more and chased after Ino with Choji.

This barbecue party started in a not-so-pleasant atmosphere and ended in a not-so-pleasant atmosphere.

But Naruto thought this dinner was perfect.

His goal was achieved. Ino would no longer talk about the sensitive topic of him being a traitor.

There was even the unexpected surprise of confirming that Karin would indeed take part in this Chunin Exam.

The only slight flaw was the price when paying, which surprised Naruto.

As expected of the Akimichi clan!

The dinner party ended halfway through and Shikamaru didn’t even enjoy his meal to its fullest!

If Choji were to eat to his heart's content, Naruto couldn't even think about it...

After paying, Naruto and Sakura also came out of the barbecue restaurant.

Naruto looked up at the sky, thinking about letting Sakura and himself dismiss each other.

Kakashi, who originally had an "urgent matter", appeared in front of the two.

Next to Kakashi was Sasuke, who was supposed to be training.

"You two already had lunch, and Sasuke also said he just ate something beforehand."

Kakashi glanced at the barbecue restaurant, "I was planning on treating you guys to a meal."

"Teacher Kakashi, if you say something like this at this time, no matter what you think in your heart, it will seem hypocritical to others."

Sakura, who was already resentful of Kakashi for "breaking the appointment", spoke up.

"Well, that...I really want to treat you to a meal!"

Kakashi hastily defended himself.

But the three of them looked like they didn't believe it at all, which made Kakashi very discouraged.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have something urgent to do? Have you finished handling it?"

Naruto spoke to guide the discouraged Kakashi to the main matter. He could probably guess why Kakashi appeared again.

"Of course, this matter is also related to you three."

Kakashi suppressed his depression at being distrusted by the students and took out three application forms and handed them to the three people.

There was a big "中" written on the application form, which, combined with the subsequent content in the form, indicated that the application form Kakashi handed to the three members of Team 7 was an application for the Chunin Exam.

"Although I haven't discussed this with you, it's not too late to tell you now... I recommend the three of you to participate in this Chunin Exam."

Naruto just lowered his head and looked at the Chunin Exam application in his hand...

Kakashi brought the good news that Naruto was most looking forward to.

So far, everything is going as expected.