Ninja World Live Stream: My Pet Rabbit is Kaguya?!

Quite to Kitahara Kaede's taste.

However—

"Next—"

"Congratulations, Hinata Hyuga."

"During this Chūnin Exam, your composure, broad knowledge, and unwavering efforts have shaped you into the excellent and steady person you are today."

Asuma began the announcement of the certificate distribution.

On the side, the Third Hokage – Hiruzen Sarutobi – wore his kindly "Grandpa Third" smile as he handed out the Chūnin forehead protectors.

Looking over to the spectator stands, it was a sea of white eyes.

Both the Main and Branch families of the Hyuga Clan had come in great numbers.

After all, it was the promotion ceremony for the next clan head — it was only right to come and witness it.

The Hyuga Clan didn't lack Jōnin and had a good number of Chūnin as well.

Unlike the Uchiha, every Hyuga was born with their dōjutsu activated. So from birth, they had a massive advantage over ordinary civilian ninja.

And after the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, they immediately became the clan with the highest number of Chūnin and Jōnin in Konoha.

So Hiashi often said that the strongest clan in Konoha was the Hyuga Clan.

But that was only because they had never seen what a real Byakugan was like — they had no idea the Hyuga Clan was commonly known as the weakest among the big clans.

"Hanabi, look — that's your big sister," Hiashi sat in the third row of the stands, introducing his second daughter to the scene.

"She's very talented, and she's grown rapidly."

"She even shows signs of atavism — a reversion to ancestral power."

"In the future, your goal is to protect your sister," Hiashi said. "I hope you remember that."

"Big sister…" Hyuga Hanabi stared blankly at her.

To her, her sister had changed somewhat about three years ago — as if she had two personalities now.

One was strong and forceful; the other was timid and meek.

She was used to the timid one — though shy, that version of her sister was gentle.

But the stronger, bolder version, despite being more dominant, was also gentle.

Even though she often saw her sister walk past her room with photos of Kitahara Kaede plastered everywhere, and a pillow hand-sewn with his image…

…which she hugged tightly while giggling to herself like a fool. It made Hanabi a little concerned.

Still, no matter which personality surfaced — they were both her sister.

Both were sisters who loved and cherished her.

Hanabi looked on with pride at her sister's achievement.

When the dark Hinata removed her Genin protector and received the Chūnin one from the Third Hokage, Hanabi immediately clapped enthusiastically.

Even though she had been assigned to the Branch Family and was marked with the Caged Bird Seal…

…Hanabi held no resentment.

To her, being able to protect her sister was already more than satisfying.

If her sister ever wanted to run away from inheriting the Main Family, Hanabi would gladly stay behind to shoulder the burden.

Hinata received the forehead protector from the Third and tied it around her neck.

All ninja villages allow their ninja to wear their forehead protectors however they wish — there's no enforced standard.

In truth, the protector is the same across ranks; there's no visual difference between Genin, Chūnin, or Jōnin.

But ceremony and symbolism matter.

This system of having the Hokage personally award the forehead protectors was actually pioneered by Konoha — or rather, an adjustment made by Kitahara Kaede, following a commission from the Second Hokage.

Since appearances mattered, and it helped attract other villages to send candidates for future exams, it made sense to elevate the spectacle.

Public evaluations and the official granting of Chūnin rank — all of this was his idea.

Though listening to these speeches — which sounded more like elementary or middle school graduation praise — made Kitahara Kaede sigh. The quality of Konoha's Jōnin really was average.

After all, these were written by Jōnin.

And this… was the best they could come up with?

"Congratulations! You've passed the Chūnin exam!"

"I'm proud to welcome you into Konoha's big Chūnin family."

Asuma read aloud.

Dark Hinata gave a wave in response.

If it were the regular Hinata, she might've blushed from being the center of attention.

But this was Dark Hinata.

Decisive, direct, daring. No stage fright at all.

If anything, it might have been bad luck.

Dark Hinata had surfaced a little too quickly this time.

Kitahara Kaede suspected that regular Hinata, anticipating stage fright in front of such a crowd, had deliberately switched out earlier than usual.

That wasn't a good habit to develop.

If Hinata became too dependent on her alternate self, then her own existence might gradually fade.

As applause rang out from the stands, Dark Hinata calmly returned.

But the moment she stepped off the stage, she ran straight to Kitahara Kaede.

"I did great just now, didn't I?" Dark Hinata asked.

"Yeah," Kaede nodded.

Together, they walked out.

He had been the first name called and already received his Chūnin qualification, so they were free to leave.

They passed by the village belle from the neighboring village, who hadn't been called yet.

"..." Temari.

Temari said nothing, but the moment Kitahara Kaede and Dark Hinata vanished from sight, she couldn't help herself.

"I really feel like that Hinata girl sees me as a romantic rival."

"And I think I just got provoked."

"She totally glared at me twice when she walked by," Temari muttered.

"How annoying…"

"So I lost to her in the third round, big deal…"

"..." Gaara.

"..." Kankurō. "Temari, don't overthink it."

"First of all, we're from the Sand Village. We don't even know if our village will continue to exist."

"And Hinata Hyuga — she's the next head of the Hyuga Clan."

"Don't stir up trouble with her."

"If you make an enemy of her now, it'll be bad for the village. You need to hold back for the greater good."

"%..."

"..." Temari. "Fine, I'll remember this humiliation."

"I hate being targeted."

"I didn't even care that much about Kitahara Kaede, but now I really want to see the look on Hinata's face if her man got stolen."

"Just imagining it is thrilling."

"After all, I am the village belle," Temari said proudly.

"..." Kankurō thought Temari really shouldn't go around planting flags like that.

From all the QrHeaven content he had seen, anyone who said stuff like that usually got themselves destroyed.

And in the most pitiful, desperate, self-sacrificing way.

Too tragic.

Although their sibling relationships were kind of messy, Kankurō still didn't want to see Temari turn into a total simp.

"By the way, Kankurō, you didn't even take the exam. What are you doing here?" Gaara suddenly asked from the corner.

"%..." Kankurō froze. "Is that any way to talk to your older brother?"

"What are you talking about?" Gaara looked at him.

Although his tone wasn't cold, Kankurō immediately stiffened.

"N-nothing," he quickly replied.

His aura deflated completely.

Kankurō was still terrified of Gaara.

Even though the three of them were the children of the Fourth Kazekage – Rasa – Gaara had become bloodthirsty after the death of their uncle Yashamaru.

And Kankurō had nearly been killed by Gaara three times.

Now that the Chūnin Exams were over, Gaara seemed even worse — like he'd gotten more twisted.

Because… Gaara had apologized to him.

That alone made Kankurō feel like some punishment game was coming, or that Gaara would kill him if he didn't cooperate.

When their father — the Kazekage — was still alive, Gaara at least listened to him.

But now that the Kazekage was gone… who did Gaara listen to?

Kankurō didn't dare ask.

All he knew was: the Sand's invasion of Konoha had failed.

He had been released, but their Jōnin, Baki-sensei, was still being held.

He was only released because Konoha wanted the three of them to return to the Sand Village and deliver a message:

Konoha was going to annex the Sand.

This wasn't some glorious mission.

It was practically betraying their ancestors.

"Next up… Temari."

Asuma was now calling Temari's name.

And the list of Chūnin exam passers this round was:

Kitahara Kaede, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto.

Hyuga Hinata.

Hyuga Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee.

Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, Aburame Shino.

Temari, Kankurō.

Ayanokōji Haruki, Oreki Houtarou, Yukinoshita Yukino.

Fifteen background characters…

····

[Descendant Chat Group (^_-)]

[Big Dumb - Hashirama]:Mm-hmm, this Chūnin Exam is finally over.

[Big Dumb - Hashirama]:I never saw a proper Chūnin Exam before, but Tobirama, the exam system you created is actually pretty good.

[Tobirama]:…I told you long ago. Setting the rules and structure of the Chūnin Exams properly can actually make a village stronger.

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Chapter 220+ on my patreon.com/dzeref887