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!
At least now, Shikaku was very clear that this girl was determined to get the Chunin title in this year's Chunin Exams. There was no point in him saying anything more. On the contrary, he would be disgusted by the latter.
"Yeah, right."
Saki looked at Shikaku, who had already left. In her opinion, everything Shikaku had done was just acting in front of her.
It was too fake!
She felt that Shikaku didn't even know that she had seen through everything!
"Saki, what is going on?" Rin came over and asked in a low voice. Just now, she wanted to know what was happening, but everything had happened too quickly. Moreover, she had no time to react. Even now, she still did not know what had happened.
"Aoba cheated!" Saki said straightforwardly.
"Really?" Rin was dumbfounded. She vaguely felt that things were not like this. Even she did not know why. She just felt that Aoba did not do this, but she could not find any evidence and just intuition.
"I don't think there is any surprise. Aoba cheated, and the people who gave him the answer are our three big brothers!" Saki had already convicted herself that Aoba cheated.
"Three big brothers?" Rin asked doubtfully. She vaguely guessed who the three big brothers Saki was talking about were. However, it was still not so easy to say such words. She still asked in a questioning tone. After all, she was used to asking Saki instead of thinking about it herself.
"Big Brother Shikaku, Big Brother Inoichi, and Big Brother Choza!" Saki patiently explained to Rin. She was not only explaining to Rin, but she also had the will to tell it. She liked to say what she guessed.
"What's going on?" Rin was confused. She had no idea what was going on. Her head was full of big question marks. She was not very clear about what was going on.
"I think I probably know!"
Saki pinched the hem of her clothes with her right hand and assumed a posture that had seen through everything. After that, she pointed to the corner of the field.
"Let's go over there and talk."
Saki said in a low voice. She wanted to tell Rin what she had guessed, but she was afraid that the others would hear it after she said it.
Where the two were currently was the entrance to the first floor of the tall tower.
This place could be said to be a blind spot.
Standing in their position, they could only see the people who had completely entered and could not see people who were standing in the corridor.
Of course.
The people standing in the corridor could not see the two of them.
However, they could hear the conversation between the two of them. These conversations were what Saki did not want others to hear.
After saying that.
Saki walked to the side.
This position she chose was quite away from the corridor.
Moreover, they could observe if someone had entered while they were talking. This kind of position could occupy more initiative and not cause problems when discussing something important.
When Saki walked, Rin followed behind her. She was already used to following Saki from a very young age.
Soon.
Saki and Rin had already arrived at the innermost area of the hall on the first floor of the tower.
"Saki, what's going on? Why are you so secretive?" Rin asked Saki. The more she thought about it, the more confused her mind became. She was like this in the scene of many people talking together just now. She directly chooses to ignore it and wait for Saki to review it for her.
"It's like this..."
Saki also liked to talk to Rin about these things. Not only could she reorganize what she knew, but it could also give her a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from Rin.
"Let's change the premise first."
"If..."
"Big Brother Shikaku and the others are not stopping us from participating in Chunin Exams."
"But they want to help us!"
"Have you thought about this question?"
Saki looked at Rin and said something that surprised Rin. This could already be said to be an attack on Rin's knowledge during this period of time.
"Saki, what did you say?!"
Rin was stunned for a moment, her eyes wide open. She could not believe her ears and felt that she had heard something very strange.
"You said Big Brother Shikaku and the others are helping us?"
"How is this possible?"
"If not for Big Brother Shikaku..."
"We might have already found a teammate to take Chunin Exams!"
"That's impossible!"
Rin did not really believe that. Not only did she not see such a thing in the matter that she witnessed with her own eyes, but it also made her feel that it was unreasonable. Most importantly, her intuition told him things did not seem like this.
"That's right!"
A smile appeared on Saki's face. She repeatedly nodded at Rin and said, "Your current reaction is the effect that Big Brother Shikaku and the others want to get. Now it seems that it is very successful. However, even they might not have expected that all of this has been discovered by me!"
"What exactly is going on? Tell me; I'm going to faint from your words!" Rin's eyes were wide open, but her puzzled look was quite cute.
"You should accept this setting first."
Saki stared at Rin, her eyes flashing with determination. This was a very important setting. As long as this setting was confirmed, everything else could be solved.
"If Big Brother Shikaku, Big Brother Inoichi, and Big Brother Choza's goal was to let the two of us pass Chunin Exam from the beginning and then do a series of things, then everything that happened in us can be explained," Saki said.
"Yes... If they want us to pass Chunin Exams, why do they want us to feel that they oppose us? I was about to give up at that time!" Rin said doubtfully. She was extremely puzzled about these things.
"This is the effect they want to show us!" Saki immediately nodded and said with a smile, "Think about it. They want to help us, but they don't want us to know they will help us. Isn't this the best way?"
"But... why do this? Can't they just help us directly?" Rin asked doubtfully.
"I think this has something to do with me!" Saki had been searching for the reason in her mind just now. Because she always felt that this was because of her. After that, she said, "Because I don't want to be helped and want to pass Chunin Exams with my own strength, Brother Shikaku and the others used this method to send us to the third round."
"Is that so?" Rin still felt that something was not quite right. This was completely different from what she had imagined.
"I think so!" Saki nodded again. Her gaze looked in the direction of the corridor intersection, always paying attention to whether someone was coming over. After that, she whispered, "Just now, when Big Brother Shikaku left, he also told me to prepare for the third round. He also emphasized that Aoba's forfeit would not affect our exam. Doesn't this mean Big Brother Shikaku wants me to pass the Chunin Exams?"
"This..." After hearing Saki's explanation, Rin immediately felt that it was very reasonable, and she did not know how to refute it.
"Rin, it is now the third round. This is a one-on-one battle. Big Brother Shikaku has no way to help us. That's why he said this. In fact, from another perspective, we passed the Chunin Exams so smoothly in two consecutive rounds and even broke the record. This is too unrealistic!" Saki said. When she first suspected Aoba, it was also because the passing speed was too fast. Even the record of the Chunin Exams was broken. No matter how she thought about it, it was outrageous.
"There is indeed something wrong with this point." Rin also had no way to explain the matter of breaking the record. After that, she said, "But, the matter of the scroll at the entrance of the second round, wasn't it analyzed by you and Aoba together, and I found it..."
"Although Aoba and I analyzed it together, Aoba was obviously in the lead at the time. He led me to think about it. At that time, I did think that it was reasonable and accepted it directly. If it was luck, then Aoba's luck was really too good!" Saki did not believe that a person's luck could allow him to break the record for two consecutive rounds.
"Can't it be because Aoba is very strong?" Rin raised another possibility. In her heart, she felt that the possibility of Aoba being strong was even greater than Aoba having the answer in advance.
"I don't think so!"
Saki firmly shook her head. She never believed in Aoba's strength. In her opinion, if there was a direct battle, Aoba's strength would be inferior to the two of them.
"I think this is also an important reason why Aoba forfeited!"
"Aoba knows what his own strength is!"
"He knows that with his own strength, he can't pass the third round..."
"So he quit early!"
"So he won't lose face!"
Saki's prejudice against Aoba has slowly become deep-rooted. Now, no matter who explained it to her, whether it was Shikaku or Aoba herself, she would not believe such a thing. In her opinion, Aoba cheated and knew the answer in advance. Otherwise, it was impossible to achieve such a result.
"Well... okay..."
Rin thought for a while and found that she could not refute Saki at all. She simply did not think about these things and just waited for Saki to say them.
"Now we have two premises."
Saki knew that Rin was no longer entangled in such things. She knew that the latter had believed her words, so she raised two fingers in front of Rin.
"The first is that Big Brother Shikaku and the others want us to pass the Chunin Exams, but they don't want to hurt our self-esteem. So they pretend they don't want us to pass and secretly help us!"
"The second is that Aoba is an actor invited by Big Brother Shikaku and the others. He is responsible for acting in front of us. From the beginning, he already knew all the plans. The exam questions and answers have already been given in advance."
"Based on these two premises..."
"Everything on the back is clear and accurate!"
Saki said slowly. Her brain was spinning rapidly. She had never been so good at adapting to the situation. Her reaction speed was not that fast, but she was better at thinking about these things after calming down. She had the most basic ability to categorize these things and had a strong divergence of thinking. She could think of many things that others could not think of and find some clues.
With the two premises she said, Rin nodded and agreed with such a thing.
After all.
She had always been the person who trusted Saki the most.
"Now we can start to think about what is going on!"
The corners of Saki's mouth slightly curled up. She liked this feeling of solving cases the most. It could let her obtain happiness in solving mysteries.
"Big Brother Shikaku and the others are the chief examiners of this year's Chunin Exams. When they obtained the position of the chief examiner, they might have already thought of helping us pass the Chunin Exams!"
"Not only that..."
"We have a natural advantage!"
"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.
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