On the streets of Konoha.
The Hidden Sand team, here for the Chunin Examination, stopped.
Maki's face was full of disbelief, his eyes wide as he stared at Uehara Naraku standing by the street, his gaze filled with incredulity.
Uehara's appearance had changed somewhat, but Maki could still recognize him from the contours of his face, the image of that arrogant young man etched into his mind because he killed the Fourth Kazekage, nearly bringing the Hidden Sand Village to collapse.
"It's been a long time, Mr. Maki."
Uehara Naraku slowly walked toward Maki, leaned close to him, and whispered, "Remember, be discreet about what to say and what not to say, understand? Otherwise, I can't guarantee that I'll spare you and the One-tailed Jinchuriki this time."
Maki's body trembled slightly as he asked in a deep voice, "What... are you planning to do in Konoha?"
"Of course, to participate in the Chunin Examination."
Uehara Naraku walked past Maki and stood in front of Gaara, looking at the fierce red-haired boy, and reached out to stroke Gaara's hair.
Kankuro's expression changed suddenly, fearing that Gaara would go berserk here. His sister more frantically tried to stop it, saying, "Don't!"
Over the past four years, Gaara's temper had become increasingly violent.
Even though Kankuro and Temari were Gaara's relatives, they couldn't help but fear their brother, afraid that he might start a massacre.
However, Gaara stayed still.
Sand slowly leaked out from the gourd on Gaara's back, lazily forming a barrier to block Uehara Naraku's hand.
Bang!
The sand was scattered by Uehara, falling on Gaara's body.
Uehara Naraku gently dusted the sand off Gaara and said in a low voice, "Little guy, if you're here for the Chunin Examination, then we're opponents. I hope you won't run away too quickly this time..."
Gaara looked up grimly, staring into Uehara Naraku's eyes, coldly saying, "Take your filthy hand off me!"
"Then why don't you kill me now?"
Uehara Naraku held his head, smiling lightly, "Because you know your weakness and that you can't match me, right?"
"I will kill you eventually!"
Gaara gritted his teeth.
"Then you need to be careful."
Uehara Naraku patted Gaara's head, smiling as he continued, "The Chunin Examination allows for death. Do your best, Gaara!"
"..."
Gaara watched Uehara Naraku leave with a grim expression.
Although Gaara had become more bloodthirsty and cruel, he still had a bit of self-awareness.
Even the full-force One-tailed Shukaku had been easily beaten by Uehara Naraku, let alone Gaara, who wasn't particularly strong now.
The Chunin Examination hadn't even started yet, and a shadow had already been cast over it.
"Is that guy from The Hidden Rain Village?"
Kankuro looked displeased as he watched Uehara's departing back, preparing to remove the Crow puppet from his back, but Maki waved to stop him.
Temari's expression was also solemn as she said, "That guy is so arrogant. Is his strength really that great?"
"That bastard..."
Gaara's body began to tremble slightly, veins gradually appearing on his face, and madness slowly emerged in his eyes: "Very... very strong!"
Maki showed a hint of worry on his face, shaking his head as he said, "You all go to the inn first; I'll go discuss with others and report to Lady Chiyo."
Nobody expected that the Chunin Examination would attract a ninja like Uehara Naraku. Were the people of The Konoha Village out of their minds?
A person who could kill the Fourth Kazekage was allowed to participate in the Chunin Examination?
It couldn't be more ridiculous!
However, when Maki reported to Chiyo and Ebizo of the Hidden Sand Village, Ebizo felt there wasn't much of a problem, and everything should still prioritize the Chunin Examination plan.
As for the concerns about Uehara Naraku potentially slaughtering during the Chunin Examination, Ebizo was very aware that Konoha would never allow such a thing to happen, and if it did, it could cause a rift between The Hidden Rain Village and Konoha.
Besides Maki, there were others in Konoha who noticed Uehara Naraku.
In fact, nobody else cared about the Genin list from The Hidden Rain Village for the Chunin Examination, which included someone named Uehara Naraku.
It was none other than the instructor Jonin of the Seventh Class, Hatake Kakashi.
Ichiraku Ramen.
Uehara Naraku was drinking happily.
Right now, Uehara was in a great mood, as doing tasks in Konoha was always so easy, and these tasks were so simple to complete that he even got rewards for eating a bowl of ramen.
If it weren't for the presence of Hatake Kakashi next to him, he might have been even happier.
Hatake Kakashi sat beside Uehara Naraku, holding a cup of water, and asked, "So you're a ninja from The Hidden Rain Village... Seems like that guy Obito has been hiding in the Hidden Rain Village ever since the end of the Ninja World War, right?"
They had met before in The Hidden Mist Village.
At that time, Kakashi learned from Uehara Naraku that Uchiha Obito was hiding in a Small Ninja Village, competing with Uehara Naraku for the position of leader successor.
It's just that Kakashi never expected that Uchiha Obito was hiding in The Hidden Rain Village, and under the banner of the Ninja Demigod Hanzo.
"He defected after his identity was exposed."
Uehara Naraku set down the bowl and slowly picked at the ramen with his chopsticks, speaking softly, "I don't know what happened after that, Kakashi, so don't bother asking me. Right now, I just wish I could tear that S-Class Traitor of yours from Konoha into pieces."
"Uh... let's not bring that up."
Kakashi frowned, clenching his cup, and shifted the topic, "I met two people during the mission in the Land of Waves..."
As he spoke, Kakashi's eyes fixed tightly on Uehara Naraku's movements, and his voice became somewhat grave: "Just before that, I also encountered them, and saw with my own eyes that they were following your orders..."
Kakashi was referring to Hozuki Mangetsu and Momochi Zabuza.
Clearly, during the mission in the Land of Waves, these two had caused significant trouble for him and the Seventh Class. If it weren't for the fact that the Lightning Release Ninjutsu happened to counter Hozuki Mangetsu's Water Transformation Jutsu, the entire Seventh Class might have been wiped out in the Land of Waves.
"They are not our Hidden Rain Ninja!"
Uehara Naraku shook his head, his expression slightly angry, "Perhaps you should ask your S-Class Traitor Uchiha Obito what he has done!"
"Did they pledge allegiance to Obito?"
Kakashi nearly crushed his cup, roughly guessing from Uehara Naraku's words why Uehara Naraku was so furious.
"Yes, your Uchiha Obito from Konoha is really impressive."
Uehara Naraku turned to look at Kakashi, smirking, "Thanks to Uchiha Obito, our losses were significant, years of The Hidden Rain Village's efforts were stolen and wasted."
"..."
Kakashi's expression grew slightly awkward, quite certain of his suspicions, but he forcibly tried to explain, "Weren't the two children you kidnapped from The Hidden Mist Village already joined with your Hidden Rain Village?"
"Kimimaro and Haku are not Hidden Mist Ninja; they are orphans from the Land of Water."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, earnestly explaining before looking at Kakashi with a bit of mockery, "Uchiha Obito must be your spy from Konoha. After all, if our Hidden Rain Village becomes strong, Konoha's situation won't be good, right? Now that he caused us significant losses, the Konoha leadership must be very pleased, right?"
"How could that be? There is a peace treaty between Konoha and The Hidden Rain Village."
Kakashi's gaze was subtle, but he suddenly thought of something, closely watching Naraku's expression as he spoke, "Your purpose for participating in this Chunin Examination... is it to showcase the strength of The Hidden Rain Village?"
Kakashi had personally witnessed Uehara Naraku's strength. At twelve years old, he was slaughtering Jonin and Chunin in the Land of Water like chickens and dogs.
With Uehara Naraku's power, why would he need to join the Chunin Examination?
"Yes."
Uehara Naraku took this opportunity to directly explain his reason for joining the Chunin Examination, "Because the losses that guy Uchiha Obito brought by defecting were too great, our village's situation isn't ideal, Hanzo-sama is worried about the covetousness of neighboring countries."
Since my graduation, I've always been a secret weapon prepared for the Chunin Examination as a kind of military competition, and now I can only come and join these kids' games."
Listening to Uehara Naraku's words, there was a slight sense of lost eloquence.
A feeling of a hero's disenchantment arose spontaneously, and Kakashi couldn't help but sigh at the survival difficulties of small ninja villages.
If Uehara Naraku were a ninja from Konoha, he wouldn't need to prepare for the Chunin Exam, he could undoubtedly sit in the position of Anbu Captain.
It's just that if Uehara Naraku participates in the Chunin Exam, this Chunin Examination might be a bit dangerous, and Kakashi somewhat considered withdrawing the Seventh Class from participation.
Kakashi sighed and said, "If you're participating, then there's no need for those kids from my class to join, lest they suffer too much of a blow... I initially wanted them to gain experience in the Chunin Examination."
"Don't!"
Uehara Naraku almost spat out his water; if the Seventh Class didn't participate in the Chunin Examination because of him, what would happen to his side quests?
Uehara Naraku's strength had been stagnant for a while, just waiting to harvest the likes of the Seventh Class and Konoha's Twelve Little Stalwarts!
"This is Konoha, I can't possibly do anything too dangerous."
Uehara Naraku placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, revealing a cheerful smile, "How about this, Kakashi-san, let's spar with each other to test my current strength. Regardless of winning or losing, I'll give special attention to your class's kids, accompany them to perform quite a show, what do you say?"
"Isn't that necessary?"
Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle wryly.
"I did come all the way."
Uehara Naraku was very insistent, even actively suggesting, "Kakashi-san could also invite your friends, let's all have a sparring match together. Whether it's Hanzo-sama or the Hokage from Konoha, their ages are quite advanced. In the future, the tasks or exchanges between our two ninja villages would be handled by people like us, right?"
"I think that's a good suggestion."
An aged voice suddenly entered their ears.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, smoking a pipe and wearing the Hokage Kasa, walked into Ichiraku Ramen Shop, looking at Uehara Naraku with a benevolent old man's smile slowly forming on his face, "Kakashi, aren't you going to introduce your friend to me?"