That night, in the Hokage's office.
The dim room was filled with swirling smoke. After listening to Ibiki Morino's report, Hiruzen Sarutobi, usually known for his composure, showed a barely suppressed shock on his face. As the Professor of Shinobi, he naturally understood the terrifying difficulty of that genjutsu.
So, Naruto is a genjutsu prodigy? And even Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha, awakened a three-tomoe Sharingan? He's only twelve, isn't he?
He took two deep drags from his pipe, intending to calm the tremor in his heart, but the pungent taste made him cough violently. Cough~ cough~ cough~
Sarutobi Hiruzen proved worthy of being the Third Hokage, seasoned and with shrewd acting skills. After just two violent coughs, he immediately recovered, then asked with an unchanged expression, "Is that all?"
"Hokage-sama, that is all."
Nodding slightly, Sarutobi Hiruzen instructed, "Very well, you may go now."
"Yes."
After Ibiki left, Sarutobi Hiruzen fell into deep thought. Naruto, Sasuke... To give Konoha such a surprise at a time like this.
Right, other great nations have already begun training troops and preparing for war. It's about time Konoha produced new talent.
At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly recalled something. It was ten years ago, when Naruto was a child. Three days after he taught Naruto how to mold chakra, Naruto taught himself the Transformation Jutsu, even tricking the ANBU protecting him. At the time, he had seen that Naruto was a genius, but later Naruto's performance didn't live up to the expectations of a genius. Naruto loved pranks when he was little, and he had thought Naruto was just playful. Looking back now, there must be another story. Otherwise, why would Naruto hide his talent in the academy, only to display his power after graduating?
What could be the reason?
After much thought, only Danzō came to mind. He needed to find a way to warn his old friend to stay away from Naruto.
The next day, location: Training Ground 44.
Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death. Its name alone indicated its terrifying nature. The area was surrounded by barbed wire fences to prevent unauthorized entry. Inside, towering trees that reached out of sight were everywhere; just standing outside, one could feel its eerie and terrifying atmosphere. Logs would surely make a fortune here.
The second stage of the exam was set here. All examinees gathered in front of the gate. Anko Mitarashi, whom they had met yesterday, came to announce the exam rules:
The examination grounds are within Training Ground 44, a 10-kilometer radius area. In the center of Training Ground 44, there is a tower.There are a total of 26 teams. Half the teams have a Heaven Scroll, and the other half have a Earth Scroll.The winning condition: A team must gather both a 'Heaven' and an 'Earth' scroll, and all three members must reach the central tower together.Time limit: 120 hours / 5 days.No quitting midway. The scrolls must never be opened or viewed midway.
Naruto's eyes immediately lit up with excitement upon hearing this. Rivers of blood are coming. Theoretically, at least half of these people would be eliminated. If there were any other unexpected incidents, even more would be eliminated.
However, looking back at the examinees again, Naruto felt that this second exam also held hidden talents. In his chakra perception, there were a few individuals he needed to pay attention to.
A red-haired tattooed youth—Gaara, had some strength.
A Hyuga clan member, Neji—this was a genius from the previous generation, shouldn't be bad.
A mini Might Guy—the same jumpsuit, bowl cut, thick eyebrows. If he remembered correctly, this person had challenged him when he was younger. His name seemed to be Rock Lee, a taijutsu ninja.
And another, whose chakra didn't look like a genin's at all, even surpassing a chūnin's. This was a glasses-wearing guy with gray-white hair similar to Kakashi-sensei, not spiky, but tied into a small ponytail. He wore a Konoha headband, so he should be from Konoha. My Konoha truly has an abundance of talent.
Furthermore, there was a very peculiar individual from Kusagakure. This chakra... compared to yesterday, he was a completely different person. Although his appearance was the same, his chakra was completely different. Chakra is the combination of spirit and body; everyone's is unique. Naruto was very sure that this person was not the same person from yesterday.
Coach, I want to report. Someone's logging in from a different location.
He had thought about exposing this person on the spot, but Naruto didn't act immediately. He was very curious about this person's objective. Was he here for revenge? Possible. He had just made a show of his power yesterday, and today an enemy was already knocking on his door. The reaction was a bit too quick.
How strange. How do my cheap parents have so many enemies? Not only are they all quite strong, but their intelligence is also particularly well-informed.
For example, this guy with cold chakra, and then there's Uchiha Obito. That guy, he sure runs fast. Rokutō (Sixth Path, possibly referring to a specific entity or power) had been chasing him for days and couldn't catch him. Now that he was assigned to Konoha, it would be even harder to catch him. Naruto was willing to call him Uchiha: The Escape King!Do they really need to gather the entire Uchiha Mahjong Team to apprehend Uchiha Obito?
After signing the consent form and receiving their scroll, Team Seven was led to Entrance 12.
"Sakura, here." Naruto tossed the scroll to Sakura and said, "You hold the scroll. If you truly can't fight them off, just throw the scroll to them. They probably won't make things difficult for you."
"Huh?" Sakura was surprised; she hadn't expected Naruto to say that. Does he not believe in her?
Naruto glanced at Sakura, then averted his gaze. I've used such a provocative tactic, you should at least be forced to gain some confidence and protect this scroll well.You're already someone who can shatter other genin with one punch, yet you're still so unconfident! When it comes to fighting enemies, with your strength, you should assert yourself, right? I'm truly breaking my heart over this team!
Click~
Time was up, and the gate opened. The two wanted to rush in immediately, but Naruto stopped them.
"Let's agree on a code first, to prevent being deceived by Transformation Jutsu."
"I'll go first. Between us, we'll address each other like this: I'm First Senior Brother," Naruto pointed at Sasuke, "You, Second Senior Brother, and you, Sakura, Third Senior Brother. It's settled happily!"
"Naruto, why am I Third Senior Brother?" Sakura's face darkened, showing signs of anger.
"Because you're a girl. If we use the title Third Senior Brother, absolutely no one will be able to guess."
"Okay." Sakura was still very confused. Is that really true?
"Let's go!"
The three traveled for a while, found a safe spot, and Naruto opened his perception, a smile spreading across his lips. That person had arrived. He looked at Sasuke, "Sasuke, wanna bet on who gets the other scroll first?"
"Alright," Sasuke glanced at Sakura. He probably understood what Naruto meant; he had also noticed yesterday that Sakura seemed a bit unconfident.
"Starting now?"
"Start!"
"I'll go south, you go north," Naruto said directly, then leaped south.
Whoosh~
Sasuke also began heading north. Only Sakura was left trembling in place.
"You guys..." Looking at the two who had already gone far, Sakura mumbled, "Why did you abandon me?"
Huh? He's not coming for me?
After jumping about a kilometer, Naruto noticed that the person had turned and was heading straight for Sasuke. Is this person Sasuke's enemy? No, the Uchiha clan has been annihilated for so many years, where would enemies come from?
Thinking carefully, Naruto suddenly had a suspicion. Could this guy be the one who spirited Sasuke away? In terms of strength, compared to ordinary jonin, this person's chakra is indeed very strong. Even stronger than Kakashi-sensei.
Estimating, while he might not be able to instantly defeat Kakashi, he should be able to. So, it's you? The one who abducted Sasuke and led him down the path of a rogue ninja.
Naruto suddenly became interested. There's a good show about to start. He didn't know how Sasuke was in his past life, but this life's Sasuke wasn't so easily manipulated. It was possible this guy might even fall here.
Thinking this, Naruto concealed his chakra and immediately turned to find Sasuke.
The show begins!
Sasuke, give him a piece of your mind!