Morning.
Three days had passed.
Uehara Naraku and Uzumaki Naruto had chatted quite a few times.
But every time the conversation would end abruptly, Uehara Naraku found himself in the same predicament with Uzumaki Naruto as with Haruno Sakura.
Because Uzumaki Naruto is the purest hot-blooded idiot, trying to make him turn dark is not your average challenge, especially since Uehara can't easily reveal too much information.
Currently, Uzumaki Naruto only cares about two things.
He absolutely wants to become Hokage and surpass Uchiha Sasuke.
For this, Uzumaki Naruto even gave an impromptu speech to Uehara.
Sometimes Uehara Naraku even felt like he was almost convinced by Uzumaki Naruto. Since he already possesses great power, why is he even participating in the Chunin Exams?
Screw the Academy Award for Best Actor, screw the side quests, just transform into the great demon king of destruction in the Ninja World and charge toward a goal!
To hell with Uchiha Madara or Otsutsuki Kaguya, if you can't beat them, then just go all out! Even if you lose by going all out, you have to keep fighting!
Fortunately, he still remembered Konan and Nagato in the Hidden Rain Village.
So Uehara Naraku secretly ordered Yakushi Kabuto to search for a female ninja named Karin in the Forest of Death and bring her along when he returned to the Hidden Rain Village.
If he met Karin, Nagato might be quite happy, right?
After all, Karin is also a Uzumaki descendant, which makes her akin to Nagato's kin.
As for what gift to bring Konan, Uehara Naraku hadn't decided yet. If worse comes to worst, he could just capture Shimura Danzo, or kill Danzo and bring his corpse back to the Hidden Rain Village.
Both Konan and Nagato would surely like that gift.
But there was no rush for that matter.
There was still some time before the Chunin Exam ended.
This period was the time for Uehara Naraku to tempt Naruto into turning dark or becoming a rogue ninja.
Uehara Naraku couldn't help but glance at Uzumaki Naruto, who was nearby, with an increasingly puzzled expression: "Damn it, why does making a protagonist turn dark feel as tough as winning a bet against Tsunade?"
This task seemed very easy, after all, Uzumaki Naruto's life had been at a low point until he defeated Pain. Yet, in practice, it's much more difficult than expected.
To be honest, Uchiha Sasuke is pretty easy to deceive.
Uchiha Sasuke is currently very interested in Uehara Naraku and often tries to glean some information from him about Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito.
If Uehara Naraku wanted to, he could easily disparage Kakashi's weakness a bit and entice Sasuke to defect.
Damn, what a mess!
The entire Forest of Death is under the surveillance of the Konoha Anbu, and Uehara Naraku did not want to ruin his own character setup.
If he wanted to tempt Naruto to turn dark, he'd have to look for another opportunity.
Uehara Naraku glanced at Uzumaki Naruto, who was laughing in the distance, seemingly needing to wait until after the second exam to see if he could use Shimura Danzo's identity to reveal the truth to Uzumaki Naruto.
Using Uchiha Obito's identity could work too.
Or perhaps trying with Sarutobi Hiruzen's identity, or even Umino Iruka's identity, although that might leave some loopholes.
"This is so troublesome!"
Uehara Naraku sighed deeply: "If all else fails, it looks like I need to find a chance to become a minor villain."
Being a minor villain, he likely wouldn't be noticed.
And a minor villain can be easily redeemed, like saying he was following orders from Hanzo of the Salamander or something.
As a performance artist, Uehara Naraku thought that redeeming himself was actually quite simple.
On the path to the depths of the forest.
Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto teamed up to defeat an enemy ninja squad, and surprisingly, they found a complete set of scrolls on that team.
Uchiha Sasuke asked with slight bewilderment: "You had complete scrolls, so why didn't you head towards the tower?"
"Hmph, you'll understand when you get there."
The Genin team didn't care, they just sneered at the Seventh Class and said: "Good luck! Hope you can break through those two's defenses!"
After saying that, they left.
Uchiha Sasuke frowned, his face still filled with confusion, while Uzumaki Naruto happily stored away the Heaven and Earth Scroll.
Naruto's every step was heading in the direction of Hokage.
Naruto's joy is just that simple.
Uzumaki Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder, laughingly said: "Alright, don't worry, Sasuke! We'll just rush over to the tower now and find out, won't we? No matter what enemies are ahead, they absolutely can't stop us from completing the exam!"
"Mm."
Uchiha Sasuke's brows suddenly relaxed, but he didn't mention rushing to the tower. Instead, he turned to Uehara Naraku: "Hey, the agreement between us, isn't it time to complete it now?"
"Hmm?"
Uehara Naraku narrowed his eyes, squeezing his wrist: "So Sasuke thinks he has become stronger, strong enough to challenge me?"
Why does Uchiha Sasuke always like to challenge an enemy he cannot possibly defeat whenever he gets stronger? It's truly one of the great mysteries of the Ninja World.
"If I can't even defeat you..."
Uchiha Sasuke slowly pulled out a kunai from his ninja pouch and charged at Uehara: "How am I supposed to have the power to kill that man!"
A hand easily grabbed Sasuke's wrist!
Uehara Naraku followed up with a knee strike to Sasuke's chin, instantly knocking him away. Looking up at the sky, he slowly said: "Oh? What should I say now? The sky is clear, the rain has stopped, and Sasuke feels he can do it again?"
"Bastard!"
Uchiha Sasuke's entire body erupted in anger upon hearing this.
Uehara Naraku's attack was not too heavy; Sasuke quickly climbed up, his eyes turned scarlet, with two black tomoe reflecting in his pupils!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A fiery fireball came rushing forward!
Uehara Naraku looked at the flames, reaching out towards the air, and murmuring: "Secret Technique! Dusk Blade!"
A purple Chakra Broadsword appeared in Uehara's hand.
In the next moment, this Chakra Broadsword sharply extended forward, splitting the flames of the Great Fireball into two, with Uehara Naraku standing amidst the fire unscathed!
"Just alone with Fire Release Ninjutsu, you are far behind Uchiha Itachi."
Uehara Naraku nonchalantly leaned on the purple broadsword, continuing as he spoke to Sasuke: "For Uchiha Itachi's Great Fireball Jutsu, I need to use defensive ninjutsu to counter it."
Uchiha Sasuke was undeterred.
Obviously, he had long been aware of the gap between himself and Uchiha Itachi; how could four years of effort easily catch up to Uchiha Itachi?
Even though Uchiha Sasuke gritted his teeth in hatred every midnight, he had to admit that he had always been chasing Uchiha Itachi's footsteps since childhood, and even his father Uchiha Fugaku never believed he could surpass Uchiha Itachi.
"I will prove that I won't just catch up to him, but I will definitely surpass him!"
Uchiha Sasuke's forehead veins popped out, a hint of youthful fierceness flashing across his face, and he placed two fingers on his lips: "No, I will definitely kill him! Fire Release: Impatiens Fire Jutsu!"
Flaming embers spouted from Sasuke's mouth, swiftly shooting towards Uehara Naraku. The temperature of the Impatiens Fire was clearly lower than that of the Great Fireball, relying solely on quantity for ferocity!
Uchiha Sasuke anticipated the shortcomings of this jutsu; it was originally just an feint!
While Uehara Naraku raised his purple broadsword to cut down the fireballs, Sasuke flung several kunai.
Each kunai was entwined with thin threads.
These threads were impossible to detect, and one might unknowingly fall into Sasuke's trap!
Uehara Naraku's eyebrow twitched, glancing at Uchiha Sasuke: "Oh? Trying to use the technique you used against Orochimaru on me?"
During the battles a few days ago, Orochimaru was attracted by the combat wisdom of Sasuke, which is why he targeted Sasuke's body.
Uehara Naraku's figure suddenly vanished from the spot, using Shunpo to appear behind Sasuke, kicking him on the calf and instantly knocking him to the ground!
Uehara Naraku placed the purple broadsword on Sasuke's body: "Are you looking down on me by using the strategy against Orochimaru on me?"
"Then you couldn't be more wrong!"
Uchiha Sasuke spun backwards on the ground, kicking Uehara Naraku, attempting to use the force to send Uehara Naraku into the air!
It was precisely the Taijutsu copied from Rock Lee, Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.
They had fought before the Chunin Examination, and although Sasuke was defeated embarrassingly, he still learned something.
Uehara Naraku's body remained as immovable as Mount Tai, with a slight look of confusion on his face: "What are you trying to do?"
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke's expression changed, subconsciously trying to leap away.
Just the next second, Uehara Naraku disappeared before him, again reappearing behind him, and swung his hand to heavily strike Sasuke down!
"You lost."
Uehara Naraku unemotionally announced the result.
Side Quest: Defeat Uchiha Sasuke (1/1), quest completed, reward skill: Shattering Flame.
Shattering Flame: Releases a directional fireball, consuming 40 Chakra points, with a skill cooldown time of 1.6 seconds.
Side Quest: Make a quip about Uchiha Sasuke (1/1), quest completed, rewarding a hidden legacy quest.
Hidden Legacy Quest: Rebirth in Pain! Speak a correct name (0/1).