"Impossible!"
"There is no 'Heavenly Flame' in the Shinobi World, so how can I make a real Flame Mantra for you?"
"What? The Dou Emperor?"
"The Sage of Six Paths isn't even worthy to lick his boots!"
Their conversation had abruptly shifted from 'contact lenses' to dissecting the lore of Battle Through the Heavens, with Sasuke speculating about the feasibility of replicating the Flame Mantra and asking just how strong a Dou Emperor would be in the Shinobi World.
Naruto expressed great disdain at the idea.
'The power scaling in that series is on a whole other level compared to Naruto World.'
'How can glass cannons like the Shinobi be compared with the cultivators in that universe?'
As Naruto explained his thoughts, he warned Sasuke not to get too carried away.
Even his own fox was already a lost cause.
Kurama had recently taken up meditation, claiming he was now in 'secluded cultivation'.
Naruto was at a loss for words.
'Clearly, when I was meditating to refine Chakra before, that big fox had mocked me.'
'But then again…'
Naruto couldn't help but be dazed when he looked into Sasuke's eyes.
'The Mangekyo Sharingan is also known as the wish-granting machine in the Shinobi world…'
'What if Sasuke actually manages to create something insane with it?'
Just as Naruto was passionately elaborating, he suddenly felt the temperature around him drop sharply.
Both he and Sasuke shivered involuntarily.
"Weird…"
"There's no AC here..."
"Why did it suddenly become so cold?"
Naruto muttered under his breath and exchanged glances with Sasuke, then they both caught a glimpse of Sakura and Hinata standing right behind them.
Hinata's head was lowered, her face half-shadowed under the dim light, and her expression could not be seen for a moment.
Sakura's brow was furrowed and her teeth were clenched. Naruto didn't know if it was his imagination, but he seemed to see burning flames in her eyes.
"Naruto-kun... what were you two talking about?"
Hinata gently pulled Naruto aside, tilted her head and asked with a smile. Her voice was gentler than usual, but Naruto felt the temperature around him drop by a few degrees.
When Sasuke saw Hinata's expression, he subconsciously swallowed his saliva. Somehow, he felt guilty and instinctively took a step back.
He saw a hint of murderous intent in Hinata's eyes.
"I...I was just chatting with Sasuke."
Naruto scratched his head and smiled, not noticing the flash of murderous intent in his future wife's eyes.
"Is that so…"
"Naruto-kun, you were standing awfully close to Sasuke just now."
Hinata's white pupils once again lit up with a faint blue light.
Just now, Sakura had enlightened her about certain... rumors involving Kirigakure's male bonding. The revelation had shaken Hinata to her core.
What follows is vigilance.
Hinata thought back to these years… Naruto and Sasuke had been unusually close all these years.
So she had every reason to doubt that Sasuke...
'You want to steal my man?!'
'I would never allow it!'
When Naruto heard Hinata's words, his smile froze, and then he glared at Sakura.
'So that's how it is...'
'Sakura-Bro must have said some nonsense to Hinata just now!'
'Otherwise, Hinata's reaction wouldn't be so intense.'
'Good, good, good!'
'Sakura-Bro, I will remember this grudge!'
Wrapping an arm around Hinata's shoulders, Naruto pulled her away.
Hinata, who was about to get angry, was interrupted by Naruto's action. Her face instantly turned red with shame, her head was dizzy, and it was difficult for her to think.
"Hinata, let me tell you..."
"Sasuke is just a big...."
Naruto pulled his girlfriend aside and began to explain patiently.
Sasuke looked at Naruto and Hinata in the corner, then turned to look at Sakura and asked in confusion, "Is Hinata… mad?"
"Uh... maybe?"
Sakura avoided looking at Sasuke, still constantly persuading herself in her heart.
'Haruno Sakura!'
'You are right for doing this!'
'We can't let them continue this relationship. A forbidden love will lead to no results!'
Sasuke, oblivious to the real reason behind Hinata's anger, was still preoccupied with Naruto's earlier theories.
Feeling that it was still a little difficult to figure it out alone, Sasuke glanced at the match below and thought that there was nothing interesting to watch.
Anyway, he had already watched Gaara's battle, so he didn't plan to watch any more.
So, he walked over to Kakashi, who was reading a book, took out his own book, and began to read quietly.
"Hiss…"
The moment Sasuke pulled out his book, a sharp pain shot through his neck. He raised his hand in reflex, and this action happened to catch Kakashi's attention.
"Sasuke, your neck..."
"It's okay, I was just bitten by a snake."
Sasuke put down the mark he was covering and spoke in a very calm tone, as if it really were that simple.
He also did not tell Kakashi about the previous battle.
In his opinion, it wasn't a big deal.
But Kakashi was on high alert.
'Halfway through the Chunin Exams, Anko had reported spotting the S-Rank Missing-nin, Orochimaru, putting the entire village on edge.'
'And that mark on Sasuke's neck...'
'It was obviously Orochimaru's doing.'
"Is that so?"
Kakashi lifted his forehead protector and used his Sharingan to examine Sasuke more closely.
The moment Kakashi used his Sharingan and took a look, he was shocked.
He discovered that there was a cold Chakra on Sasuke's body.
This Chakra could cause the Chakra in Sasuke's body to run wild at any time.
If an ordinary person encounters this situation, it would've left them writhing in agony, unable to move.
'But Sasuke acted like nothing happened...'
'He's still sitting next to me reading a book!?'
'How mentally resilient do you have to be?!'
"Sasuke, come with me."
Too concerned to let it slide, Kakashi stood up and called out to Sasuke, then led him to a deserted place.
…
With the final match concluded, the second phase of the Chunin Exams came to an end.
"Now, let me announce the matchups for the final round of Chunin Exams."
"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Hinata."
"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Gaara."
"Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru."
…
"The third exam will begin in a month. Examinees whose names have been called, please do not be absent."
The young couple, who were being affectionate with each other in the corner, were both shocked when they heard the match list.
"How are we supposed to fight this?!"
"I protest, old man Sandaime!"
Naruto immediately directed his dissatisfaction towards Hiruzen, accusing that there was a shady deal about the match list.
He wanted to deal with his brother-in-law at first...
Little did he know that he would end up fighting against Hinata.
"N-Naruto-kun..."
Hinata also had a conflicted look on her face.
"Protest denied."
"Dismissed."
Hiruzen turned around and left Naruto with his back, then quickly left the scene with surprising agility.
As for the Naruto vs. Hinata matchup...
This was the suggestion made by Hiashi.
The Hyuga Clan felt that Naruto was really too much. He would go to the Hyuga Clan to provoke everyone whenever he had nothing to do, and he also flirted with Hinata in front of Hiashi...
However, since no one in the village could actually discipline the brat, Hiashi decided to let Hinata handle it.
It can not only test Hinata's strength, but also make the yellow-haired delinquent timid, and by the way, it can also dampen his arrogance.
Seeing Hiruzen running away directly, Naruto became even more convinced of foul play.
'Damn it!'
'There's no way I can fight Hinata seriously!'
'Who the hell came up with this sick idea?'
Naruto thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he simply put the blame on Danzo.
Thinking of how Danzo reacted when he saw him, Naruto planned to go to the hospital to see the old geezer.
'Well…'
'Let's go to Hinata's house for a visit.'