The Konoha Chūnin Exam venue had plunged into utter chaos.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was currently trapped within a powerful barrier conjured by Orochimaru. As if facing Orochimaru alone wasn't bad enough, he was also forced to fight against the resurrected First and Second Hokage, both summoned via the forbidden Edo Tensei technique!
At the same time, Konoha was being attacked from every direction. Explosions echoed through the village. Flames licked the skies, and ninjas fought desperately to protect their home.
---
Senju Tobirama: "Where's Danzō? Where is he in this critical hour?"
Ōnoki: "Second Hokage, you already know the answer. Do you really need to ask out loud?"
Tobirama let out a cold snort. Of course, he was aware of Shimura Danzō's underhanded dealings. He'd always kept a close eye on the shadowy Root leader.
But even with that in mind, he hadn't expected that during a full-scale invasion of Konoha, Danzō would simply sit back and do nothing.
Shimura Danzō remained silent, his expression grim. For once, he had no excuse.
He had originally claimed that Root would participate in defending the village. In theory, no one would have questioned him too much. All he had to do was loudly proclaim, "Of course, I'm courageously fighting the enemy!"
Once the dust settled—and especially if the Third Hokage died—no one would bother to dig too deeply into the truth.
But this time… everything was being broadcast live. There was no way to lie his way out.
---
Meanwhile, on another battlefield—
Uzumaki Naruto had just delivered a devastating Wind Style: Rasenshuriken directly into Gaara, injuring the half-transformed Jinchūriki.
> "Even if you become a monster, your strength still amounts to this much."
Naruto stood tall in front of Gaara, who was on the verge of collapse. If Naruto hadn't held back at the last second, Gaara likely would've been killed outright by the Rasenshuriken.
Gaara lay on the ground, staring at Naruto with disbelief in his eyes.
> How is there such a huge gap between us? Aren't we both Jinchūriki?
Why… why does he keep mocking me?!
Fueled by humiliation and fury, Gaara's expression twisted into madness. The sand around him whipped into a frenzy. A terrifying evil chakra surged out of his body like a flood.
Nine Tails (Kurama): "Naruto, the One Tail is coming out!"
The Nine Tails instantly sensed what Gaara was about to do—release his inner demon, Shukaku of the Sand. Kurama himself couldn't transform at the moment, but he could still issue a warning.
Naruto: "I'll be careful, big fox."
Gaara: "Sleeping Technique!!!"
With a final roar, Gaara forcibly knocked himself unconscious, relinquishing control of his body to the tailed beast within.
---
> "ROARRR!!!"
With a deafening rumble, Shukaku the One-Tailed Beast broke free.
A sandstorm exploded outward as Shukaku manifested his full form at the center of the arena. His massive, tanuki-like body towered over the walls of the exam grounds.
The air trembled under the pressure of his enormous chakra—a storm of malevolent energy that pressed on every soul nearby.
"It's a tailed beast!"
Panic spread through the Konoha forces as they recognized the nightmare now standing before them. The memories of previous tailed beast rampages came flooding back. Even the bravest shinobi felt the weight of despair pressing on their shoulders.
"No… Has that monster really awakened?!"
From a distance, Jiraiya watched grimly. He knew he had to act—no matter what.
---
But in contrast to everyone else's panic, Naruto simply smiled.
> Finally… my plan worked.
> "Now, it's your turn to perform!"
Without hesitation, Naruto launched himself at Shukaku, striking with a powerful Rasengan.
The sphere of energy slammed into the tailed beast's enormous frame, causing it to howl in pain.
Shukaku roared as he turned toward Naruto.
> This brat… he reeks of the Nine Tails! He's the Nine Tails' Jinchūriki!
Furious, the One Tail unleashed a massive gust of wind chakra.
Shukaku: "Wind Style: Practice Blank Shot!"
A chakra-packed wind bullet hurtled toward Naruto with frightening speed.
But it never reached him.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Naruto vanished in a golden flash, easily dodging the attack.
Unfortunately, the blast struck Konoha's inner district, flattening an entire street in seconds.
The destructive power of a tailed beast was terrifying beyond words.
---
Naruto landed on a nearby rooftop and smirked to himself.
> "Shukaku destroyed Konoha, not me. So technically, I didn't break my promise to Jiraiya."
Jiraiya: "…?"
---
Fourth Raikage: "That Naruto… he's clever. He deliberately baited the One Tail into attacking the village as a form of revenge!"
Ōnoki: "Konoha's about to suffer a fate even worse than what happened in our world…"
Tobirama: "Brother, this is why I was against distributing the tailed beasts to different villages! These creatures are too dangerous to be used as weapons."
Hashirama: "But couldn't the Uchiha clan control the tailed beasts effectively?"
Tobirama paused.
He looked at his older brother and was struck by a chilling realization.
Hashirama had always seemed naive, even foolish—but had he… actually planned it all?
Distribute the tailed beasts among the villages.
Keep the Uchiha clan—who had the Sharingan and could control these beasts—within Konoha.
Was it a strategy? A way to maintain power balance among the five great nations?
> Did I misinterpret everything?
A cold shiver ran down Tobirama's spine.
> Was my brother not an idiot at all… but a genius manipulator?
If that were true, then his own actions—his distrust of the Uchiha, his harsh treatment of them, his cooperation with Sarutobi Hiruzen to suppress them—may have been misguided.
> Damn it…
But deep down, he still believed he wasn't entirely at fault.
Uchiha Madara was just too powerful, too dangerous. It was because of Madara that he had developed such intense suspicion and hatred.
---
Back on the battlefield—
Naruto: "Hey, stupid raccoon cat, I'm over here!"
He stood on the branch of a giant tree, waving mockingly at Shukaku.
The One Tail roared and launched another Blank Shot in fury.
This time, however, the trajectory was dangerously close to the grandstands, where many daimyō were still unconscious and had not yet been evacuated.
"Damn it!"
The defending shinobi, tasked with protecting the VIPs, found themselves utterly powerless in the face of a tailed beast's onslaught.
Just as all hope seemed lost, Kakashi appeared and took command.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
The ninjas worked together to erect a massive barrier, carved with canine motifs, from the ground.
Although it couldn't completely block the wind blast, it deflected the trajectory just enough.
The attack veered off course—and headed straight toward Temari, who was still evacuating civilians!
Temari: "Aah!"
At the last possible moment, a golden flash cut through the air.
Naruto appeared beside her, scooping her up in a bridal carry.
Flash!
The Flying Thunder God instantly transported them a hundred meters away.
Naruto gently patted her plump backside and smirked.
> "No need to thank me. We've got a long road ahead of us."
---
Temari blushed furiously, too stunned to respond.
Behind them, the chaos continued—but for a moment, Naruto had already turned the tide.
Whether through brute force or cunning trickery, he was forcing the tailed beast into action, manipulating the battlefield in ways no one had expected.
And the greatest irony?
He was doing it all with a smile.