If he were truly capable, the girl he liked wouldn't be ignoring him with such disdain.
"There's always a gap between theory and practice, isn't there?" Daigan laughed awkwardly. "Right now, Temari likes pretty boys like Uchiha Sasuke. She'll only appreciate my mature, masculine charm in a couple of years! Probably..."
"So you're not that confident either..." Sakura covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "You look like a reckless idiot with a personality worse than Naruto's, but I never thought you had such a sensitive side..."
***
"The 'idiot' part was unnecessary. For now, you just keep a close eye on Uchiha Sasuke. Don't let him wander around in front of Temari, or don't blame me for beating him up..."
"Are you sure you can actually beat Sasuke? You'd better not embarrass yourself in front of Temari!"
"You'll see when the time comes. My title, 'Red Sand Dust,' is not just for show..."
The two walked side by side for a while as the crowd grew denser. "Alright, little girl, that's enough chit-chat! If nothing unexpected happens, your romance has almost no future! Work hard, and maybe you can struggle your way to a sliver of hope..."
Team 7 had been together for so long, yet Sakura had apparently never actively asked Hatake Kakashi to train her, unlike Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, who seized every opportunity to improve. As for the future, it was only when her sense of crisis exploded that she, who never asked for help, would brazenly seek out Tsunade's guidance. And Tsunade would actually agree. One could only say that fate was prepared for such lucky individuals.
"Not much skill, but a big mouth. Just try not to get beaten black and blue by your crush and make a fool of yourself..." Sakura took a few quick steps forward, then turned back and waved. "At least last until Sasuke thrashes you... I have a meeting with someone, so goodbye, Mr. Pervert..."
With that, she jogged off in the direction of the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
"Uchiha Sasuke..." Daigan chuckled and shook his head. "I probably won't get another chance to fight him!"
Their connection was limited to that pre-exam scuffle. Barring any surprises, it was unlikely their paths would cross much in the future. Daigan was already satisfied with having had the chance to beat up Team 7 before they matured.
After the Konoha Crush, powerful figures hidden in the shadows would emerge one after another. Orochimaru and Jiraiya were just raising the curtain on a new era. The appearance of Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki would gradually reveal the conflicts brewing in the ninja world's underbelly. The current Daigan lacked even the right to know about such things, let alone intervene. After all, he was a Sand Ninja, his home base in Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. The place he was born had destined him to never form a close relationship with the ninja of Konoha.
For the rest of the day, Daigan used his stroll as an opportunity to observe the changes in Konoha over the past few days. While everything seemed calm on the surface, there was a noticeable increase in guards vigilantly watching their surroundings. There were surely Anbu monitoring from the shadows as well. The village's alert level had clearly been raised significantly.
*That's a few less escape routes. This is going to be trouble!*
Without Yome, Daigan's reconnaissance abilities were greatly diminished. He could no longer perceive all nearby movements without being detected.
*I need to put the Sand Manipulation Technique version of the "Third Eye" on my agenda as soon as possible, or I'll be flying blind.*
Escaping required the right time, the right place, and the right people. One wrong move into an encirclement and it would be over. And he absolutely couldn't blunder onto the front lines of a battle between the two villages, or his small frame wouldn't survive long enough to see Sunagakure surrender.
When the crowd grew too dense, making it difficult to navigate in his wheelchair and obscuring his vision, Daigan discreetly slipped back to the Konoha Hospital, just in time for lunch. Though he had already eaten plenty of treats, he patiently consumed the special nutritional meal prepared by the hospital to speed up his recovery.
To his surprise, as he was returning to his room after lunch, he ran into Karin and her two Kusagakure companions, whom he had met several times before.
"Yo, you worthless ninja from a worthless village, we meet again!" Daigan greeted them casually. "Weren't you eliminated from the Chunin Exam? Why haven't you left yet?"
"Well..." Karin wanted to speak but hesitated to step in front of her two teammates. The short, average-looking one answered resentfully. "It's these Konoha guys, they're such bullies! We're not even injured, but they're keeping us here. They say it's for treatment, but it's really just house arrest and surveillance..."
"I see. It seems you lot, who look like villains, must have done something bad!"
"How could we? We don't know anything, yet they keep questioning us like we're prisoners. It's outrageous! We were invited here as candidates for the Chunin Exam. Why are we being treated like this?"
The tall, skinny ninja with a sword clearly had a shorter temper. If they weren't in the Konoha Hospital, he probably would have started cursing.
"Perhaps your fellow villagers did something and you're getting caught in the fallout..." Daigan said with a smile.
Although Orochimaru had used the Face-Erasing Jutsu to steal the identity of a Kusagakure candidate and sneak into the Forest of Death to attack Team 7, the other Grass-nin still needed to be investigated. These three were just unlucky souls caught in the crossfire.
"Whatever the case, it's finally over. We're never coming to Konoha again. They're too damn arrogant!"
"So... are you leaving right now?" Daigan asked, eyeing the three Grass-nin carrying their luggage. "Cowards should hurry up and leave. You can go back to lording it over people in the Land of Grass. The Chunin Exam is not for people like you."
"Hey, you! Even injured like that, you still have a foul mouth. You think we're afraid of you?" the sword-wielding Grass-nin snapped. They weren't Konoha ninja. What right did a Sand Ninja, a guest in Konoha, have to be so arrogant?
"You want a fight? Don't think you have a chance just because I look like this."
The short ninja, who seemed to be the leader, calmly stopped him. "Don't cause trouble. Let's go!"
The Grass Ninja were not very popular in Konoha right now. Regardless of who started it, if they attacked a Sand Ninja candidate who had made it to the third round of the exams, it was doubtful they'd be allowed to leave.
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