"Welcome to the third round of the Chunin Exams!"
"The first match features Konoha's own Uchiha·Xiao Yan·Thin Ice Bro·Sasuke..."
"Versus Sunagakure's Gaara!"
"Dear audience members! Let me hear your screams!"
Uzumaki Naruko cosplayed as the Nine-Tailed Ahri at this time, holding a microphone, standing on a floating door panel, and broadcasting the event loudly.
This was tough for Uzumaki Qiao Feng, who was holding up the camera on the ground to track Uzumaki Naruko.
Not only did he carry the camera, he also had to carry his own speakers.
Of course, this behavior is spontaneous.
Konoha, as the host of the Chunin Exam, does not officially approve of this behavior.
When Hiruzen and the Yondaime Kazekage saw this guy floating in the air, they both had a speechless look on their faces.
With that signature yellow hair and utterly unreliable antics, Hiruzen didn't even need to guess that it was Naruto's doing.
Especially Naruto's clone...
With just a few words, she was able to whip the entire audience into a frenzy.
"Naruko! Naruko!!"
"Naruko!!"
The villagers in the stands waved their arms and cheered for Naruko.
At first sight, they had all been utterly charmed by this dazzling girl.
Little did they know, this popular idol was just a certain yellow-haired delinquent in disguise.
"Naruto-kun, that's..."
Hinata turned her head and looked at Naruto beside her with great confusion.
"It's... a long story..."
When Naruto saw this scene, his head hurt as much as Hiruzen's. Faced with his wife's questioning, Naruto immediately took out some snacks to block her mouth.
"Nee-chan!"
The little loli, Hyuga Hanabi, nearly ground her teeth to dust when she saw her sister snuggling in the yellow-haired delinquent's arms while eating and laughing together.
In her opinion, it was this guy, Uzumaki Naruto, who had stolen her sister away.
"Naruto... Where's Sasuke? Why hasn't he shown up yet?"
Sakura, who was sitting next to them, was already stuffed full by the couple's public display of affection. Right now, all she wanted was to see Sasuke.
Ever since Kakashi took Sasuke away for training, Sakura hadn't seen him for almost a month.
"Well, he's coming."
After feeding Hinata, Naruto pointed toward the distant high wall.
Sakura followed his finger and saw Sasuke, clad in a black robe, hanging motionlessly on the outer wall of the arena.
That cool, aloof posture instantly made Sakura's face flush red.
Hayate coughed twice and stepped into the arena to announce, "Cough…"
"Contestants, please enter the arena."
Seeing Hayate again, Naruto was in a decent mood, though he couldn't help but notice the man now has sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones...
'Hmm…'
'I wonder what he has been through these days.'
On the Sunagakure's side, Gaara stepped into the arena step by step with his gourd on his back. Although there was no expression on his face, one could see the burning desire to fight in his eyes.
Whoosh…
Sasuke, who had been hanging on the wall, flipped through the air and landed with a soft 'thud'.
"I've been waiting for you..."
"Thin…"
"Shut up!"
Sasuke was afraid that Gaara would blurt out that nickname, so he immediately cut him off, his cool demeanor cracking for a second.
"Begin!"
The moment Hayate gave the signal, Sasuke vanished from his spot and immediately launched the first attack.
Instantly, multiple afterimages of Sasuke appeared across the arena, each flickering with lightning.
Naruto, who was sitting in the audience, was a little dazed when he saw Sasuke below.
'Damn…'
'This kid's Lightning Release is looking more and more like the real Three Thousand Lightning Movement.'
It is not difficult to see from the figures surrounding Gaara are not Sasuke's Lightning Clones, but simply afterimages caused by Sasuke's insane speed.
Rustle, rustle…
Gaara remained expressionless, as he firmly believed that no one could breach his Absolute Defense.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Sasuke's figure suddenly appeared above Gaara, and the speed of his hand seals was so fast that others could not see clearly.
As soon as Gaara looked up, he saw a barrage of flame petals rained down on him.
He raised his hand slightly, and the sand in the gourd surged to life, forming a shield to block Sasuke's attack.
Seeing that his attack failed, Sasuke disappeared again and kept appearing at different angles around Gaara.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
…
Ever since Orochimaru's Cursed Seal was placed on him, Sasuke's Chakra Reserves had skyrocketed, and now, he could spam Ninjutsu without needing to meticulously calculate his Chakra beforehand.
He planned to use Ninjutsu to attack the opponent first, and then go in for close combat.
Facing Sasuke's relentless Fire Release assault, Gaara's body was quickly covered with sand, forming a spherical shield to block everything.
"Hahahahaha!"
After unleashing his barrage of Ninjutsu, Sasuke suddenly laughed. He realized that these Ninjutsu of his alone wouldn't break through Gaara's defenses.
So, Sasuke slowly took off the Heavy Xuan Ruler from behind him and said in a low, dramatic tone.
"To force me to draw my weapon..."
"I acknowledge your strength!"
Just as Sasuke took out the Heavy Xuan Ruler and finished his cool one-liner, the sand beneath him erupted, swallowing him whole in an instant.
Two sand spheres, one large and one small, now formed on the arena.
"Prison Sand Burial!"
Gaara, who is hiding in the sand sphere, clenched his fist, and controlled the sand to kill Sasuke on the spot.
"SASUKE!!"
The most frantic person was Sakura. When she saw Sasuke covered in sand, she stood up and shouted in panic.
Naruto just glanced at Sakura, and did not stop feeding Hinata.
"Sakura, calm down."
"Sasuke didn't even activate his Sharingan yet."
"But…"
Even though Sakura heard what Naruto said, she was still worried because she couldn't see Sasuke.
Hinata, who was eating, suddenly spoke up.
"He's fine."
Naruto nodded in agreement, but noticed that Hinata didn't activate her Byakugan at all.
"Hinata..."
"You can see him... without the Byakugan?"
"Mm."
"Oh? Let me see your eyes!"
"N-Naruto-kun... don't... get so close…"
Sakura and Hanabi felt so sick when they saw the two of them being so affectionate with each other that they wanted to vomit.
Bang…
With a loud bang, the sand sphere exploded and, Sasuke, carrying the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his shoulder, emerged. His scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan stared coldly at Gaara.
"Redhead."
"Next time, remember to let your opponent finish talking."
When Gaara saw this guy break free from his technique, his drowsy eyes turned wide with shock.
He has killed many people and encountered many powerful enemies over the years...
But he has never met anyone who can brute-force their way out of Sand Burial before!
Before Gaara could process it, Sasuke raised the Heavy Xuan Ruler horizontally.
Forming a hand seal with one hand, the Fire Attribute Chakra surged down his arm, coating the massive blade in flames with a single swipe.
The temperature at the arena continued to rise under the influence of Sasuke's technique, and the spectators at the front rows could already feel the scorching heat rolling off in waves.
"Try this."
Sasuke smirked and swung the burning Heavy Xuan Ruler in his hand casually.
The sheer menace radiating from him was palpable even from a distance.
When Naruto he saw this scene, he really wanted to complain...
'You idiot, where is your Chidori!?'
Seeing him take out the burning Heavy Xuan Ruler, Naruto could roughly guess what move Sasuke was going to use.
"HRRAAAGH—"
"Flame Splitting Tsunami."
Activating the Three Thousand Lightning Movement, Sasuke, dragging a trail of fire behind him, appeared in front of Gaara in the blink of an eye.
Gaara didn't even have time to react, and he could already smell his own hair burning.
Sasuke grinned savagely, then twisted his body and unleashed a five-meter-wide arc of fire straight at Gaara.