Surprisingly though, Team Kurenai returns the next day to train with Zoro again even after getting "bullied" by him yesterday. Even if Zoro was harsh with his guidance, they realize that most of his advice was correct.
So they come again to ask for more advice from him because the Chuunin Exam is near. Now Zoro needs to play with 4 kids who make sure his training won't be boring.
Just like with Tenten, he fights them one by one while giving advice during the fights. He points out the problems of their attacks so they can improve those, though he doesn't know how because he isn't a shinobi and can't even use the most basic jutsu.
The kids are shocked when they know that Zoro can't use the most basic ninjutsu like Clone Jutsu. They forget that he isn't even a shinobi and never learn any ninjutsu.
Well, his Haki is considered as ninjutsu, a Kekkei Genkai unique to him like some Clans' Kekkei Genkai by everyone else even though it's not. But he never corrects them because he doesn't feel the need to.
Anyway, because he doesn't know what to teach them except for pointing out their skills' problems, Kurenai becomes the one who teach them what they need to do to solve the problems that Zoro finds. She even teaches Tenten who isn't her team member.
Hiyori starts coming to watch the training since Team Kurenai joins them because she likes being with more people. She also prepares more onigiri to bring because it's the only thing she can make now.
Luckily, she properly uses salt now, not sugar like when Team Guy was here. Though sometimes she uses too much salt or it's not mixed properly, so it's still hit or miss.
Zoro never complains though and always eats everything she makes. He doesn't even show any change of expression when the onigiri gets too salty while the others' faces are twitching to hold it because they don't want to discourage the little girl.
That's why all of them are amazed by Zoro and develop more respect for him. He's not just strong in battle, but also strong at controlling his body reaction that he doesn't even show anything when eating a very salty onigiri.
Team Kurenai and Tenten also start bringing lunch to share with others. But because they don't want to take Hiyori's joy of making onigiri, they only bring the side dishes to be paired with the onigiri rice.
Then 2 days before the Chuunin Exam, Neji and Lee also join the training. They have trained hard on their own and come to show the result of their training.
Neji still seems to have a cold attitude towards Hinata now. It's not surprising after Zoro heard from Kurenai that the Hyuga clan doesn't have a good opinion about Hinata.
They even consider her a failure because she couldn't follow her father's training regime and was too soft. That's why her status as the heir is taken and given to her sister. So most members of Hyuga don't have good impressions on her.
Zoro obviously thinks that it's ridiculous. If she can't follow her father's training regime, then that means his training style isn't suitable for her. Yet instead of evaluating and changing his way, he blames his kid.
That's why Zoro trains Hinata very seriously so she can show what she can do in front of those haughty Hyuga. Zoro had a good opinion of Hiashi before, but now he really wants to punch that guy's face.
When Neji shows the result of his training by fighting Zoro, Hinata looks at the battle very seriously. She even uses her byakugan to make sure she can see everything that Neji does and learn from him.
Neji doesn't care about it because he thinks that Hinata won't be able to learn anything from him even if she watches everything. So he just keeps attacking Zoro who still points out what he lacks and praises him for the improvements he made since their last match.
Honestly, Zoro is impressed by Neji's progress in this short amount of time. So he knows that this kid has been training seriously and also followed his advice. If it's not for his bad personality at this time, then Zoro will have a much better opinion of him.
Well, he is still a kid. When Hinata defeats him in the exam, his eyes will open along with the eyes of those haughty Hyuga people. Zoro is sure that the current Hinata will surprise everyone who knows her.
As expected, after he is done, Neji leaves the training ground. He wants to train again to improve the lacking parts that Zoro pointed out. He doesn't think that watching the others' matches will help him, so he leaves.
After Neji, Lee comes up to fight Zoro. He also shows some improvements, so Guy must have taught him very seriously. Thanks to Tenten being trained by Zoro, Lee had more time to be taught by Guy.
Lee stays in the training ground after he is done so he can watch the others. He is really surprised when he sees how Tenten fights. Her fighting style has changed even though it doesn't change completely, but it still looks different.
She doesn't just shoot her weapons out of their scrolls now. But she chooses a main weapon to attack her opponent and only uses the other weapons after finding a gap.
She also sometimes switches weapons to adapt with the situations. Her weapon change is very quick and she can do it while still attacking. She takes out the weapon she needs from the scroll with just 1 hand while still attacking her opponent and without glancing at the new weapon.
Though what surprises Lee is how Tenten can move around very agilely and respond to her opponent's attack very quickly. She wasn't this fast before training with Zoro, so Lee is very surprised.
In reality, Tenten isn't actually faster because there's no way she can be that much faster in less than 2 weeks. Even Zoro who focuses on training his body can't achieve something like that in a short time.
What improves is not her speed, but her reaction time and agility. Fighting Zoro who can attack from her blindspots and unexpected angles has made her senses improve greatly, so she can react to attacks that she couldn't even sense before.
But just being able to sense Zoro's attacks isn't enough. She needs to be able to react and move properly in response to his attacks. So she trains her agility and flexibility along with her reflexes that keep getting sharper bit by bit every time she fights Zoro.
Lee is also surprised by Team Kurenai's improvements. He doesn't really know how strong they were before, but they surely are very skillful and strong now, which he guesses as the result of their training with Zoro.
If they end up fighting each other, Lee knows that it will be a very difficult battle. Though it means Konoha's chance to win the Chuunin Exam will be higher. So they won't be too embarrassed as the host.
Right now, almost all participants from all villages that will join the exam have arrived in Konoha. The village is bustling with people now, so Hiyori isn't allowed to walk around the village for now because it's dangerous.
That's also why she keeps coming to the training ground to watch their training. Not only is it more fun with more people here, it's also for her safety because they never know what other villages will do as years ago Kumo was trying to kidnap Hinata so it will be more dangerous with more foreign villages here.
Zoro doesn't know whether the attack incident during this year's Chuunin Exam will still happen. But it's better to anticipate it rather than being unprepared. So he makes sure to keep a close eye on Hiyori because she is the only one that makes him worried.
Konoha can burn for all he cares, but Hiyori must not be harmed if that attack really happened. If something really happens to Hiyori, then maybe he will flatten this whole village in anger.
Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but he surely will be extremely mad if Hiyori really gets hurt. So he needs to make sure to keep her by his side all the time during this Chuunin Exam so she won't get hurt because those damn shinobi are ruthless enough to kill kids.
Even so, he is also excited to see how the exam will go. The public can't watch the early rounds, so he needs to wait for the final round. But it sure is fun to guess how the exam will go and without his realization, the exam day finally comes.
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Chapter: 156. Konoha Assault
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