Chapter 232: The First Stage of the Exam

As soon as the Uchiha left, Kushina sighed sadly and slowly walked towards Shikamaru. Stopping nearby, she immediately asked:

When can I see my son?

The man slowly opened his eyelids and his eyes flashed brightly with a golden glow. Kushina furrowed her brows slightly.

- What is it? Your chakra, it...

"Soon I'll finish my exam and deal with Orochimaru." I need to get something from him. Once I get that, you can go anywhere.

“I see,” Kushina was silent for a bit, and under Shikamaru’s questioning gaze, she nevertheless asked:

"So... I thought you'd need something." But you never came, why? Haku told me everything about the Uchiha and what happened after Minato and I died. About Naruto and how he was addressed...

As soon as Kushina clenched her fists, her hair reacted again and began to squirm dangerously in the air like snakes. Shikamaru stood up and touched the girl's waist.

- Calm down. Take out your anger when you get out of here. I didn't kill the old man, but I'm not going to defend him against you.

Feeling his unexpected touch, Kushina quickly calmed down and abruptly stepped aside. She slowly panicked. That first time when they met, she could attribute everything to the consequences of the resurrection, but not now ...

- What happened with me? W-why am I so... Did you do something to me? - although she said this, she did not feel a drop of anger, rather, she was afraid to even think that the man in front of her could influence her so much. Kushina was very worried about this, from his mere presence she wanted to smile and come closer, she seemed to be drawn to him, and it was definitely not his aura and attractiveness! She wasn't stupid, it was just that he brought her back...

Shikamaru did not press, but calmly replied:

“I used my own blood to restore your body. You could already notice that your chakra is not the same as before, even your Uzumaki bloodline is at the highest level, and chakra control and its volume have increased significantly. Even if I didn't come to you, I watched and investigated. Although this is your body, it was created with the help of my blood and part of the genes. Hence the reaction...

Kushina already understood this, Haku told her, but to hear it directly from him... Biting her lip, the girl responded with a look:

"And there's nothing to be done about it?"

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed.

- I understand what you mean, you had a husband and a son - a happy family life. Unfortunately, I couldn't risk it and I had to create your body. Although this is an advantage for you, it is also a problem. The instincts of the body may affect your soul, but this does not mean that this should continue. I'll only say this once..." After seriously looking into Kushina's beautiful eyes, Shikamaru said clearly:

“Although your body is happy to be near me, your soul is still the same, I did not influence it in any way. So you can resist and not let your instincts take over. If you let it affect your feelings, you will no longer be able to get away from them, because you don’t want to. So it's up to you to decide: start this life with a clean slate and stay with me or try to resist instincts and overcome it. I do not insist on anything, yet I am not one of those who force others against their will. What happened to your body didn't go into my plans. Even though I'm happy about this development, I'm not going to act until you make a decision. Of course, you should not deceive yourself, it's not just about instincts, if you don't have feelings for me, you can easily resist attraction.

Having spoken up to this point, Shikamaru smiled once more and gently touched the girl's beautiful face. She involuntarily bent her head to his fingers and blushed a little, and then broke off abruptly and grunted in displeasure. Following this, she resolutely left the training area.

He watched her for a while longer, and after a slight chuckle, he focused again and closed his eyes.

It'll start soon...

*

The next day. Finally, the Chūnin Exams began.

Over a hundred genin gathered in one place. Hidden Sand, Hidden Rain, Hidden Grass, Hidden Waterfall, Hidden Leaf, Hidden Sound. All these villages sent their shinobi to the exam.

Everyone has already gathered on the spot and started to go to the auditorium for the first stage of the exam. Team Seven, Team Eight, and Ten were also slowly advancing. After a bit of a fight on the third floor and a little skirmish with Rock Lee, everyone started to take their seats. In a fight between this pair, Lee won. Even though Sasuke was disappointed, he still wasn't that good in pure taijutsu.

Meanwhile, while everyone was taking their seats, Shikamaru slowly walked down the corridor. For him, this exam seemed like child's play, but he simply could not not attend it. He wanted to intervene directly with the One-Tail, and then with Orochimaru. The main goal here is first of all a collision with one of the Sannin - Shikamaru simply could not miss this. In addition, he was interested in Rock Lee's fight against Gaara, he wanted to watch this clash from the first places. For him, this battle was truly legendary, he was not going to miss this!

The exam was about to begin, when suddenly the door to the classroom flung open and Shikamaru entered, looking around:

Oh, am I late?

No sooner had the examiner appeared with the team, than he appeared - the surprised looks of the crowd immediately turned to him. Ibiki, in turn, narrowed his eyes.

"So it's him..."

— Shikamaru! A loud voice was heard from the crowd. The guy turned and met with Ino, smiling at her, he headed towards her. Sakura and Hinata stood nearby, Sasuke also smiled and nodded to the teacher.

"So many familiar faces..." Shikamaru chuckled as he recalled the days of the academy - the most talented of those youngsters were present here.

The gazes of many focused on the arriving shinobi. For a moment everyone forgot even about the arrival of the Examiner. Shikamaru's aura and appearance made people unwittingly pay attention to him, there's nothing to be done about it. Gaara frowned, Temari smiled shyly, and Kankurō grimaced, supporting his bandaged arm. Kabuto's eyes flashed, and Lee laughed and said hello too. He remembered Shikamaru well after their meeting. At that time, the guy showed amazing endurance abilities. In addition, Li knew exactly who, besides him, still owns the Eight Gates. Neji frowned, he too had heard about Shikamaru and even better than most of those present. Although they did not face each other, he knew for sure that this guy was dangerous.

Some marveled at his strong presence, some wondered at his appearance and age. But, all this was quickly interrupted by Ibiki. He already knew that Shikamaru was strong - Hiruzen had long ago informed the examiners about the special conditions for this year.

After observing the strange newcomer for a bit, Morino finally announced the start of the first stage of the Chūnin Exams!