## Two Days Later - Chunin Exams Finals Day ##
Gaara and Tsunade, dressed in full Kage robes, sat in a private box overlooking the battlefield—an open-air arena located on the outskirts of Sunagakure.
Naruto and Shizune stood at Tsunade's sides, while Gaara was accompanied by Kankuro and Temari.
Sakura Haruno, Ino, Choji, and Kiba Inuzuka were the Konoha ninja participating in this exam.
When Naruto spotted Sakura there, he frowned slightly.
"Man, she hasn't had a team since Sasuke left. I wonder how much she's trained."
Meanwhile, the referee Baki called the competitors forward to greet the audience watching today's match.
At that moment, one of Gaara's Sunagakure ninja approached the VIP box and bowed respectfully before him:
"Lord Gaara, Lord Tsuchikage and his entourage have arrived."
Naruto tilted his head slightly to glance sideways.
"Let's get started. End all of this."
Shizune turned to Naruto:
"Naruto, pull up your hoodie!"
Naruto shook his head:
"Forget it, I don't need to hide anymore. He should be wise enough not to cause trouble here as Tsuchikage."
Right then, the Tsuchikage and his entourage walked in.
A short man wearing his village's Kage robes, with a "Tsuchi" character on his hat, made his way to the seat to Gaara's left, directly opposite Tsunade's.
With him came a tall figure whose hair was sticking straight up, visible beneath a red bandana-style forehead protector, and another—a girl with short hair whose eyes were pink-colored and without pupils.
After taking his seat, Gaara began speaking:
"Lord Tsuchikage, it's an honor to have you attend this event."
The Tsuchikage gave Gaara a faintly arrogant smile:
"It's been a long time since I last left the village. I needed a vacation." He turned to Tsunade, "Hmm, Tsunade, how have things gone for you since taking over? Never thought I'd see you doing Kage work."
Tsunade chuckled:
"Konoha offered me a deal I couldn't refuse. It's a gamble I was willing to take."
Down on the field, Sakura Haruno was the first competitor, facing off against a Genin from Sunagakure.
After Baki shouted "Begin," Sakura rushed her opponent, but he jumped back.
Sakura created six Shadow Clones to confuse him.
Gaara turned toward Tsunade:
"Your student doesn't seem to have improved much, Lady Hokage. How does she expect to win this?"
Tsunade grinned widely:
"It's simple, Lord Kazekage. She's a girl—a combat medic, specifically—while he's the type who favors direct combat. He'll underestimate her and try to close the distance."
Gaara looked slightly puzzled:
"What do you mean?"
The Tsuchikage laughed:
"You'll see what she means soon enough, kid."
******
The boy managed to identify the fake clone and pinpointed the real Sakura.
But his weapon couldn't even touch her—she dodged every attack effortlessly.
Frustrated, the boy quickly formed hand seals:
[Wind Release: Wind Blade Slash!]
He unleashed a powerful gust of slicing wind toward Sakura, who dodged behind a large boulder on the battlefield.
Three Sakuras sprang from behind the rock and lunged at him.
"Not this trick again."
He reached into his kunai pouch and hurled one, hitting them and dispelling the clones.
But when he couldn't see Sakura, he lowered his guard.
At that moment, Sakura heaved the same boulder from before and hurled it at him.
He barely dodged in time.
As he leaped aside, he didn't realize Sakura had already anticipated his move and cut off his escape route.
When he turned around, all he saw was Sakura's fist flying toward him... That was the last thing he saw. Her fist slammed into his jaw, sending him flying into a wall and leaving a deep crater.
Baki walked over and saw the boy completely unresponsive.
He pointed in Sakura's direction:
"Haruno Sakura, you're advancing."
******
The crowd applauded Sakura's victory while Naruto watched Tsunade laugh joyfully.
"Geez," Naruto said to Tsunade, "you really trained her well in combat."
Tsunade clapped too as she turned toward Naruto:
"Hey, if Jiraiya could teach you that [Blue Spinning Death Ball], then I can give Sakura just a little strength boost too."
Naruto broke into a sweat:
"A 'little strength boost?' I'm not sure that poor kid is even alive right now."
The Tsuchikage interrupted:
"So that girl is your apprentice, Tsunade, and this kid learned the Rasengan from Jiraiya—so he's Jiraiya's student too? That's interesting."
He stared at Naruto, someone he hadn't paid much attention to before, merely seeing him as a careless bodyguard, but now he seemed to have noticed something.
"He looks familiar. I'll never forget that face—especially one that left such an impact on our village."
Shizune and Tsunade both felt uneasy.
Naruto looked at Tsunade:
"Hey, Granny, can I come clean? He obviously knows—it's just confirmation he wants."
Tsunade nodded with a frown.
Naruto shrugged and met the Tsuchikage's gaze:
"As for why I look so familiar, I'm Minato Namikaze's son. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Pleased to meet you."
Gaara, Kankuro, and both of the Tsuchikage's guards showed shocked expressions.
As Naruto looked him in the eyes, he found no hatred there.
"I thought they'd resurrected that man. You're the jinchuriki of your village, right?"
Naruto nodded:
"Yeah. Are you gonna yell at me or try to kill me?"
The Tsuchikage glanced back at the arena:
"Pfft, I'm too old to hold a grudge against the dead. By the time all that happened, you weren't even born yet. So how could I possibly attack you? Our village isn't planning to go to war with Konoha either."
"Grandpa, I think only a senile idiot would dare start a war with Konoha."
The girl guarding the Tsuchikage was shocked:
"How dare you speak so casually? No one's ever spoken to Grandpa like that."
******
"Are you sure about this, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked. "Taking on Naruto in Sunagakure seems out of your league."
Challenging Sasuke's abilities was the best way to push him into action.
"Hn," Sasuke muttered. "I'll kill him, and then we're leaving."
"I'll finish this quickly. No one will know we were ever here."
******
A silver-haired man with a neatly combed-back ponytail complained, "I can't believe Leader made us come to this damned desert just for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki," as he and his masked partner walked through the desert.
The masked man sighed:
"Stop complaining, Hidan. Let's just wrap this mission up quickly and get back to chasing bigger bounties. Besides, that brat killed Sasori. Maybe he can do me a favor and finally get rid of you for good."
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