Chapter 372: The Players in the Game

    Once such a thought appeared, it took root in Saki''s heart. This was not the first time she suspected Shikaku. When she suspected Aoba just now, she had already suspected Shikaku.

    In a moment.

    Saki began to recall this matter in her mind.

    She changed the premise.

    If...

    What Shikaku wanted to do was not to prevent them from passing the Chunin Exams but to help them pass Chunin Exams and not let them know.

    If it was based on this premise.

    Then many things made sense!

    After all.

    Saki believed that with Shikaku''s brain, there was no difficulty in planning such a plot.

    As a result.

    This piece became more complicated.

    Saki looked at the three people and felt that Shikaku and Inoichi, who were arguing, and Choza, who stood behind, looked at the two of them.

    These three people...

    They were simply in the same group.

    There was no need for them to discuss anything about cheating in front of them, and there was no need to pretend to doubt who had given the answer to Aoba.

    In her opinion...

    It was the three of them who had done it together.

    It was not the idea of any of them.

    As for the three of them, although they seemed to be questioning each other, they were actually acting in order to make her feel that there was no such thing.

    ''If I''m not wrong, in the end, they will say that it was not them who gave the answer to Aoba, but Aoba who really passed the exam with his ability.''

    Saki thought silently in her mind. She already had her own answer in her heart. After all, since the Forest of Death, she had been thinking about this matter. Now, she could almost confirm this matter through the reactions of these people.

    Just like this.

    She stared at Shikaku and Inoichi as they discussed this matter.

    Only to see.

    The two of them glared at each other. At least from their expressions, they regarded each other as the one who told Aoba the answer.

    "Inoichi, I don''t want to repeat myself anymore. This matter has nothing to do with me. I didn''t give Aoba the answer. I can swear on our friendship for so many years." Shikaku''s expression turned helpless. He realized that no matter how he asked Inoichi, the other party would not admit to such a thing. Most importantly, he was slowly about to believe that Inoichi did not do this matter.

    "Do you think you are the only one who dares?" Inoichi sneered. He could be said to be an outsider here. After all, Shikaku was the chief examiner of the first round, Choza was the chief examiner of the second round, and he was no longer the chief examiner of the third round. Moreover, the people participating in this Chunin Exams this time were the Nara clan''s Nara Saki and Akimichi clan''s Akimichi Rin. It had nothing to do with his clan. Although Aoba was a Yamanaka clan member, he was not interested in giving Aoba an answer. He immediately said, "I also dare to swear on our friendship. I did not give any answers."

    "Are you serious?" Shikaku narrowed his eyes slightly. His eyes flickered with great doubt. After all, in his first judgment, the only person who could do such a thing was Inoichi.

    "I am as serious as you." Inoichi nodded. At this time, he also felt that there was no problem with Shikaku. This matter became a little strange.

    "Could it be..."

    Almost at the same time.

    Shikaku and Inoichi looked at Choza behind them. The two of them looked at Choza at almost the same time.

    As the two looked over, the other proctors also all looked at Choza.

    For a moment.

    Everyone''s attention was focused on Choza.

    "Ah?"

    Choza was stunned by the sudden gaze. He immediately raised his hands and waved them frantically, then shook his head again and again and took a few steps back one after another.

    "No... It wasn''t me..."

    Looking at the eyes of these people, Choza knew that they suspected him and that he was the one who leaked the answer.

    This kind of sudden suspicion.

    He wanted to defend himself.

    But he didn''t know where to start.

    He could not even speak properly.

    "It''s not Choza."

    After seeing Choza''s instinctive reaction, Shikaku immediately gave his answer. He had seen the changes in Choza''s expression just now. It could be said that he was very clear about such a thing. He knew that Choza was not a person who was skilled at lying. He had been suspected by them just now and begun to panic. He could be sure that it was not Choza who leaked the answer.

    "Only the three of us know the answer."

    Shikaku said slowly. He thought he had caught some clues, but he did not expect things to become more complicated.

    "Let''s not argue here!"

    "Let''s go to the second floor and find a place to think about it!"

    "Let''s see if there are some clues!"

    "Maybe there is something that we have overlooked!"

    "It''s just that we haven''t discovered it yet..."

    Shikaku said one sentence at a time. Right now, he already believed in Inoichi and Choza. Obviously, they overlooked something here; it was just that he still didn''t know what exactly it was.

    "I think so too."

    Inoichi nodded. His gaze shifted from Choza to Shikaku. He also understood what Shikaku was thinking. There should be some other problem here, and there was no way to confirm those problems immediately.

    "Yes."

    Shikaku nodded. After that, he looked at Saki and Rin. He seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, he walked toward Saki.

    "Saki."

    "Brother Shikaku has something to ask you."

    "Do you know where Aoba got the answer from?"

    Shikaku asked Saki seriously. He felt that there was something strange about this matter. After all, Aoba did not seem to want to pass the Chunin Exams. Otherwise, he would not have given up at this time. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like he wanted to help Saki and Rin pass the exam. Then these two sisters should know some information.

    Only...

    This question of his.

    When it was placed in front of Saki.

    It had turned into asking an obvious question.

    The corners of Saki''s mouth curled up slightly. She discovered that the script of the story was developing according to the route she had guessed. It was from the suspicion between Shikaku and Inoichi. Now, they were clearing the suspicion of each other, so they were asking her what was going on. If it advanced a step further, they would probably say that Aoba had relied on his own ability to lead them here.

    Routine!

    These were all routine!

    But...

    Saki felt that she was smart enough to see through these routines and could totally stand in another perspective to see these things. She was not so confused.

    "I don''t know."

    Saki said indifferently. She was obviously a person who was kept in the dark, but she still did not say anything. She wanted to cooperate with Shikaku and the others to act. She also wanted to see what kind of things would be discovered in the end.

    "Sigh..."

    After hearing Saki''s words, Shikaku could not help but sigh. He had already guessed this matter, but after hearing what Saki said, he still felt very helpless.

    "I understand!"

    "Saki."

    "No matter what Aoba did, it has nothing to do with you. You don''t have to worry about anything!"

    "As long as we find evidence of Aoba cheating, we will immediately cancel his exam qualification. You can prepare for the next round in peace."

    "Since we have already come here..."

    "Then don''t embarrass our Nara clan in the third round!"

    Shikaku warned. After he said these words, he directly turned around and left. As he left, the proctors also followed him and left.

    His idea was very simple...

    Saki had already reached this step, so all the methods he had thought of dragging her down were useless.

    Then...

    Instead of saying anything sarcastic...

    He might as well cheer Saki directly!

    "That is, we are lacking a teammate!"

    "This is equivalent to saying..."

    "They can plant a person in our team who can help us pass the Chunin Exams!"

    Saki quickly analyzed. Her brain was working at a very high speed. These things had been analyzed countless times in her mind.

    "This..."

    After hearing Saki''s words, Rin''s face suddenly changed, as if she had heard something magical.

    "You mean..."

    "Aoba is the person arranged by Brother Shikaku and the others?"

    "How could that be?!"

    Rin suddenly felt that the truth of everything was very different from what she knew. This made her feel like her worldview was collapsing as if everything had become strange.

    Saki looked at Rin''s appearance.

    She couldn''t help but sigh in her heart.

    This good friend of hers was really too easy to fool.

    There were obviously so many abnormal places.

    But she did not feel anything.

    Even when she was talking to Rin about these things...

    Rin was still in a daze.

    "Rin, if Big Brother Shikaku and the others want this effect, they wanted us to think they were standing on the opposite side of us. That way, we wouldn''t have any burdens in our hearts when we do anything!" Saki immediately explained. In truth, she did not think that Shikaku was a bad person in her subconscious mind.

    "I understand. Go on..." Rin took a deep breath. She was trying to calm herself down. After hearing this, she no longer knew what exciting content awaited her.

    "If I''m not wrong, at that time, Big Brother Shikaku had already set up a big picture and planned everything. He was waiting for us to enter this game without suspense." Saki said slowly.

    After saying that.

    Saki looked at Rin beside her.

    She found that the latter was already stunned.

    She didn''t seem to want to express her opinion, so she began to continue her analysis.

    "The first step!"

    "Big Brother Shikaku must make us feel that he is standing on the opposite side of us. So on the surface, he began to find people one by one on the grounds of finding teammates for us. The purpose is to make us unable to pass the Chunin Exams."

    "What''s his purpose for doing this..."

    "He wants to find someone willing to drag us down!"

    "But..."

    "He actually didn''t find such a person!"

    "But Konohagakure actually doesn''t have such a person who is willing to listen to Big Brother Shikaku''s arrangements!"

    "Isn''t this very strange?"

    "In the end, Aoba came to our team..."

    "Isn''t this designed?"

    "If we look back now..."

    "There is only one reason why Big Brother Shikaku did this, and that is to use this method to make us unable to find teammates and temporarily put us in a situation where we can accept any person as long as he was not a cheater."

    Saki analyzed them one by one. It had to be said that her imagination was very rich. Perhaps even Shikaku had not considered these things, but she had already considered them and analyzed all kinds of reasons logically.

    "Saki, I suddenly doubt in my heart..." Rin frowned when she heard this.

    "Go ahead," Saki said indifferently.

    "Why are Big Brother Shikaku and the others doing such troublesome things?" Rin asked doubtfully, "Could it be that, in their opinion, the two of us can''t pass these Chunin Exams?"

    "Facts have proven that it is like this!" Saki nodded helplessly.

    "Ah, this..." Rin did not expect Saki to agree so directly. She was stunned at this moment and did not know what to say.

    "If we did not have the direction given by Aoba in the second round, we should still be in the Forest of Death. As for whether we have the chance to find the Scroll of Heaven, even I am not sure about this, but... Just look at the first round, and you will know. If Aoba did not pass us the answer, we might not have been able to come to the Forest of Death to find the scroll. We would not have even passed the first round." Saki''s face was full of helplessness. She did not want to belittle her own strength, but when she recalled what happened in the exam, she felt that this was the situation. If they only relied on themselves, they would not be able to pass this year''s Chunin Exams.

    "I understand..." The expression on Rin''s face instantly changed subtly. She had already accepted this matter. That was not to say that they were strong. Shikaku wanted to pull them down, not because their strength was too weak. Shikaku wanted to give them a hand. This reality once again subverted her understanding of herself so that she had a belly full of words to say, but she could not say anything.

    "The second step!"

    Saki raised her second finger again. Now, she was completely in the rhythm. Even though Rin''s words just now had interrupted her rhythm of speaking, she was still at her own pace.

    "That is to find a person!"

    "That person can complete the task given by Big Brother Shikaku, and it will not arouse our suspicion. Then the best way is..."

    "In front of us."

    "Go find this person!"

    "Let us see this person reject Big Brother Shikaku''s request!"

    "Then, in our hearts, we will see this person in a new light. Even if we don''t treat him as one of our own, we will never think he is an enemy!"

    "This person is Aoba!"

    Saki had already connected everything that happened when she saw Aoba reject Shikaku. After completing this deduction, she unexpectedly found this was a very logical explanation.

    This matter became even more interesting.

    Even when she analyzed this herself.

    She felt that Shikaku was thinking too thoroughly!

    This kind of arrangement was worthy of being called a perfect plan!

    For him...

    It was just child''s play!

    "I see!"

    Rin was suddenly enlightened. At this time, she had successfully been led astray by Saki. She already thought that what Saki said was the right thing and accepted this setting in her mind.

    "No wonder we saw Big Brother Shikaku find Aoba, but we didn''t see Big Brother Shikaku find others..."

    "The Aoba we saw just happened to join our team..."

    "This is too much of a coincidence!"

    "As expected, it was a planned plot!"

    Rin could not help but sigh. She did not know how to describe her feelings. This kind of thing constantly subverted her cognition, but there was also strong logical reasoning to make her believe this.

    "That''s right!"

    Saki immediately nodded.

    At this time.

    The smile on her face had already disappeared.

    It was a very serious and solemn look.

    "When we saw Big Brother Shikaku talking to Aoba about this, Aoba should have already accepted this task and was cooperating with Big Brother Shikaku to act against us!"

    Saki increasingly felt that the matter was what she had imagined because everything she had imagined was right.

    It was just as Rin had exclaimed earlier.

    It was too much of a coincidence!

    How could there be so many coincidences in the world?

    But...

    They did not realize it at the beginning.

    They were completely trapped in the game.

    They couldn''t see the essence of the matter at all.

    Everything they saw was what their Big Brother Shikaku wanted them to see. She might never have discovered these things if not for too much of a coincidence.

    This kind of arrangement ability was too powerful!

    Saki had already praised Shikaku in her heart. However, in her mind, Aoba''s name became increasingly insignificant. After all, too many chess pieces could do such a thing, and Aoba was just one of them. Shikaku, who controlled the chessboard, was the real king!

    "The purpose of acting in front of us is very simple..."

    "It is to let us get rid of our guard against Aoba."

    "To pave the way for Aoba to be our teammate!"

    Saki pursed her lips and said. She found that she had seen things too thoroughly. She was getting closer and closer to the truth. This also made her feel that the truth was extremely shocking.