On the day of the competition, Konoha Village was packed with nobles and politicians from the Land of Fire and other countries. Even several daimyō had come to watch.
How should one put it?
The main selling point of this event was that the last remaining orphan of the Uchiha clan was participating in the exam.
As a thousand-year-old noble clan, even if it had been wiped out, it still captured the attention of many high-ranking figures. Thanks to Sasuke's name, Konoha had entered its tenth tourism boom.
Even Yami's foot bath shop was fully booked every day, raking in a lot of money.
So when he saw Sasuke in the competitors' rest area, Yami looked at him with a notably gentler expression.
Lucky brat…
"Yami-nii, look at me!" Naruto saw Yami walk in and head straight for Sasuke, completely ignoring him. He immediately started jumping up and down anxiously.
"Can you make me any money?" Yami glanced at him in disdain. "Just finding you a teacher cost me a 50% off membership card."
Naruto immediately looked guilty and stammered, "I-I'll work hard and pay you back in the future."
Yami waved his hand dismissively. "No need to work hard. You'll earn what's yours soon enough."
Naruto was momentarily stunned but quickly understood what Yami meant. His eyes dimmed slightly, then he looked up at the highest seat in the stadium.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen was greeting the Fourth Kazekage.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've met Lord Kazekage."
"Heh…"
The Fourth Kazekage, who was tightly wrapped in a veil, chuckled. "During the Third Shinobi World War, I was one of the main forces on the front lines. Unfortunately, Lord Third Hokage doesn't seem to have stepped onto the battlefield much after becoming Kage. Naturally, we've never met."
"Still, I've done my homework on you."
Hiruzen frowned slightly, feeling the sarcasm behind the man's words.
Mocking him for being afraid of death and avoiding battle?
"Hahaha, well, I'm old now. I can't compare to you younger ones," Hiruzen replied with a hearty laugh, deflecting the verbal jab.
The Fourth Kazekage smiled and nodded. "That's true. In terms of time served as Kage, even Ōnoki can't match you. But who knows, he might just outlast you."
You little brat… Are you cursing me to death?
Hiruzen cursed inwardly but shot back, "It wouldn't be hard for Lord Ōnoki to outlast me. Konoha's outstanding young shinobi have already begun to rise. It's about time I retire."
"Oh?" The Fourth Kazekage feigned surprise. "Then Lord Hokage must invite me to the abdication ceremony."
"Of course, of course. But let's enjoy the performances of the younger generation first. There are quite a few promising ones this year. That Gaara, for instance, has an incredible power sealed inside him."
Hiruzen directly called out Gaara's Jinchūriki identity.
The Fourth Kazekage remained unfazed. "Isn't it the same with Uzumaki Naruto? But I'm more optimistic about Uchiha Sasuke."
"Then let's wait and see," Hiruzen replied with a small nod and said no more.
The host of the third round was Shiranui Genma, who always had a senbon in his mouth and carried himself like a seasoned veteran.
The first match was between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Neji.
"Naruto, go for it."
Yami patted Naruto on the shoulder, and Sasuke added, "If you lose in the first round, it just proves you're not worthy of being my opponent."
As expected, Sasuke's words had more weight than anyone else's, and Naruto instantly got fired up.
On Neji's side, Hyūga Hiashi and Hizashi were also giving him encouragement.
Soon, urged on by Genma, the two stepped onto the field and the match officially began.
If one were to describe Naruto and Neji's battle in one sentence: winning was frustrating, and losing would have been unfair.
Even though Jiraiya had trained Naruto for a month and Naruto had developed his own fighting style, against Neji's Byakugan, he still came up short in strength.
Shadow Clones were like free targets—each one that popped out was immediately dispelled.
But the difference between them lay in stamina and chakra. Naruto could afford countless mistakes. Neji, on the other hand, could only make one.
In the end, Naruto used a large number of clones as cover to form a Rasengan. With Neji having consumed too much chakra earlier on sealing Naruto's chakra points, the Revolving Heaven he executed couldn't fully block the Rasengan's force. He lost.
"Rasengan…"
Sasuke remembered that Yami had said he'd teach Naruto a jutsu on par with Chidori. This must be it.
Through the Sharingan, he could see the massive chakra condensed within the Rasengan. It was indeed powerful.
But Sasuke remained confident.
If this was Naruto's full strength, then he had the advantage.
Still, something else had been bothering him.
Yesterday, he asked Shisui whether he was an Uchiha. Although the answer was negative, Shisui had paused for two seconds before replying. That brief silence made Sasuke feel something wasn't quite right.
He had considered asking Yami, but since Shisui refused to answer, Yami probably wouldn't either.
He was stuck on both ends.
"Sasuke! It's your turn!" Genma shouted. Sasuke came back to his senses, realizing another match had ended. Gaara had already stepped onto the field and was glaring at him with killing intent.
The final match had been between Kurotsuchi and Temari.
Wind Release was countered by Earth Release. Despite her efforts, Temari failed to significantly threaten Kurotsuchi and eventually conceded.
In fact, Temari could have held on longer, but winning here wasn't her main objective. She opted to conserve her strength.
Sasuke jumped down and landed opposite Gaara.
Gaara was in a foul mood. He had wanted to kill Uchiha Sasuke directly this past month but had been stopped by Baki.
Now, the enemy he'd been fixated on didn't even take him seriously and had kept him waiting.
Feeling Gaara's murderous aura, Sasuke finally got into the zone.
He scoffed and stepped back without saying a word, carrying himself like royalty.
"They're all a bunch of troublesome kids…"
Genma muttered in frustration and raised his hand. "Match, begin!"
Sasuke and Gaara moved at the same time.
A large amount of yellow sand burst from the gourd on Gaara's back and surged toward Sasuke, trying to bind him.
Sasuke dodged with incredible speed and closed in on Gaara.
"Even faster than before…"
In the stands, Lee, who had mostly recovered from his injuries, watched the fight.
Sasuke's speed had increased by at least 50% compared to their fight. He was now comparable to someone who had opened the Third Gate.
Is this what it means to be a genius?
A month of hard training had surpassed years of his own effort.
Still, Lee only sulked for a few seconds before pulling himself together.
With such a genius as motivation, his own progress would only accelerate.
Back in the arena.
Sasuke's speed had surpassed the automatic defense speed of Gaara's sand. Gaara looked like a helpless target, unable to react in time.
Bang!
Sasuke landed a hit. Cracks appeared on Gaara's sand armor. Gaara clenched his fists but couldn't even catch Sasuke's shadow. When he tried to strike back, Sasuke exploited the opening and landed a knee strike.
Temari and Kankurō were stunned. They had never seen Gaara so humiliated.
That Uchiha… was too strong!
Even Naruto went silent. He had just gained confidence through Rasengan and the Summoning Technique, but now Sasuke had shattered it.
At this speed, his Rasengan wouldn't even land.
Cheers erupted from the Konoha crowd in the stands.
After all, this was their home ground.
Seeing Sasuke's brilliant performance, both tourists and locals grew ecstatic.
"Nice hit! That's it!"
"Crush that bumpkin! Land of Fire is the strongest!"
"As expected of the Uchiha. The opponent can't even fight back!"
"How could a clan this strong only have one person left?"
Hiding in the shadows, Yushi sneered as he listened to the crowd.
Why was the clan exterminated?
Wasn't it all because of what Tobirama started, and the betrayal of that white-eyed wolf?
He glanced up at the Fourth Kazekage and Hiruzen on the platform and cursed inwardly.
Enough talking. Just get started already.
"AHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Treated like a sandbag, Gaara finally lost it. The gourd on his back exploded into a flood of sand, attacking wildly in all directions.
The two tomoe in Sasuke's Sharingan spun rapidly, and the world slowed down.
Sasuke easily dodged all of Gaara's attacks.
He moved back a bit and sneered.
"Getting impatient now?"
"Still far from enough, little raccoon. Blame your misfortune for not having a Sharingan."
His teacher was a pervert. The teacher his teacher found was also a pervert. And there was a freak named Orochimaru lurking in the Forest of Death.
Since graduating, Sasuke had met nothing but monsters. It had nearly made him question his life.
Today's battle had finally restored some of his confidence and brought out his pride.
The crowd roared in delight at Sasuke's words, but Yami twitched his lips.
You idiot… Do you know what happened to the last guy who said that?
"AHHHHHHH!!"
Several sand hands lunged at Sasuke. Gaara had completely lost control. He forgot about the plan, and all he wanted now was to tear Sasuke to pieces!
Sasuke moved again, kicked through the sand, and charged Gaara with a punch.
Gaara formed a sand clone to block it, but Sasuke locked eyes with him.
Buzz!
A strange wave pulsed from his eyes.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
After training with Shisui for a month, Sasuke's biggest gain wasn't ninjutsu or taijutsu but mastery of the Sharingan, especially in genjutsu.
Shisui understood genjutsu too well—not just how to use it, but how to train it. That was also why Sasuke began doubting his true identity.
Affected by the illusion, Gaara was dazed for a second before breaking free.
Sasuke was slightly surprised by how quickly he recovered, but one second was enough.
Sizzle!
The lightning-infused kunai pierced through Gaara's sand armor and body. Blood splattered, and Sasuke followed up with a powerful kick that sent him flying.
Gaara hit the ground hard. He looked at the blood on his hands, his whole body trembling.
"Blood… Blood… I'm bleeding!"
"This is bad!"
Temari's face changed dramatically.
On the battlefield, Gaara's transformation began. Half of his body turned into a monstrous form.
Bang!!
A massive plume of smoke erupted on the platform. The Fourth Kazekage suddenly took the Third Hokage hostage and appeared on the roof.
It was the signal.
Countless Suna and Iwa shinobi leapt from the stands and charged toward the platform.
"Genjutsu: Temple of Nirvana!"
An Anbu activated a large-scale illusion. Feathers fell from the sky as many people's eyelids grew heavy and they fell asleep.
The sudden ambush left many Konoha shinobi frozen in confusion.
Only the Anbu guarding Hiruzen reacted in time and charged at the Fourth Kazekage. But several Anbu suddenly turned traitor and quickly killed them all.
"Lord Kazekage, what is the meaning of this?"
Hiruzen tensed but didn't act rashly. He tried to reason calmly. "Konoha and Suna are allies. I suggest you consider the consequences of your actions."
"I've thought it through."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, said slowly, "It's too much trouble attending your abdication ceremony. I'd rather send you off now—with both your retirement and your funeral."
"Lord Hokage, what do you think?"
(To be continued.)
***
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