At the gates of Konoha Village, Kakashi and Sasuke, having just returned from a mission, were registering with the gatekeepers when Izumo and Kotetsu spoke mysteriously,
"If you head to the marketplace, you'll find someone you've been missing has returned." Kakashi paused for a moment, while Sasuke, standing beside him, seemed to realize something.
A slight smile appeared on his lips, "Has that guy come back? I wonder how much he's improved over these three years." Sasuke was eager with anticipation. Hearing Sasuke's words, Kakashi instantly understood who Izumo and Kotetsu were referring to.
However, the two didn't immediately go looking for Naruto. Instead, they headed to the Hokage's office. At this point, Sasuke was different from how he was in the original story; he was more focused on the village's missions.
In fact, his strength was already sufficient to overpower Itachi Uchiha, but he hadn't rushed to seek revenge. Or rather, seeking revenge on Itachi was no longer his top priority.
Now, he was not only the last of the Uchiha clan but also Sakura's fiancé and the future head of his family, so he couldn't just leave the village to hunt down Itachi recklessly.
Meanwhile, the Sand Village was about to hold the Chunin Exams. Temari, acting as the Sand Village's envoy, delivered the invitation. Since Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, the Sand and Leaf Villages had formed an alliance.
Thus, for every Chunin Exam, the two villages would take turns sending ninja to participate. From Konoha, Shikamaru was sent to discuss the exam procedures with Temari.
After entering the Hokage's office and collecting the relevant documents from Tsunade, they were about to leave when Sasuke and Kakashi walked in.
Seeing Shikamaru, Sasuke smiled, "Shikamaru, are you in charge of this Chunin Exam?" Spotting Temari, Sasuke deduced that their visit was related to the exam. Shikamaru, with his usual lazy demeanor, replied, "Yeah, it's a bit troublesome. Sasuke, want to lend me a hand?"
Sasuke waved his hand dismissively, "I'd better not. I have plenty of missions to handle." As they joked, Kakashi handed over the mission report to Tsunade. This time, they had completed an A-rank mission.
Although they encountered some ninja during the mission, with Kakashi and Sasuke working together, there were only a handful in the ninja world who could defeat them.
Naturally, the mission was completed without any difficulty. While handing over the report, Kakashi asked, "Lady Hokage, I heard that Jiraiya has returned?"
Tsunade glanced at the mission report and nodded, "Yes, he's back." Standing next to Shikamaru, Temari looked at Sasuke, thinking to herself,
"This guy has grown incredibly fast. In just three short years, he's already made a name for himself in the ninja world. Among his peers, he's probably the strongest, even stronger than Gaara."
Indeed, Sasuke was currently stronger than Gaara. After all, he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and could maintain Sage Mode for about 10 minutes. Overpowering Gaara was not much of a challenge for him. During the Chunin Exams, when Gaara fully transformed into the tailed beast, Sasuke was overwhelmed.
But before Gaara fully transformed, he couldn't defeat the Sasuke from the Chunin Exams. And now, even if Gaara fully transformed, he wouldn't be a match for Sasuke.
Actually, even without relying on the Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke's current strength is enough to suppress Gaara. The reason Temari immediately noticed Sasuke was because, over the past three years, Sasuke's reputation in the ninja world has been nothing short of legendary.
The shock he brought to the ninja world is no less than what Minato did back in the day. Moreover, their titles are quite similar. Or rather, Sasuke's title was actually derived from Minato's "Yellow Flash."
Just as Tsunade finished speaking, Sakura entered the Hokage's office with Jiraiya and Naruto. Seeing Naruto after three years, Sasuke didn't show much excitement, but he was genuinely pleased inside. "Naruto, it's been three years, and you've changed quite a bit."
Naruto was initially happy to see Sasuke and approached him, but upon seeing Sasuke's appearance, he felt a bit resigned. "Why do you keep getting better looking?" Naruto grumbled. He had thought he looked pretty good now that he had grown up and filled out.
But compared to Sasuke, he felt ordinary again, and the gap in their appearances hadn't closed. Sasuke had grown up not only without losing his looks but had become more mature and handsome. Standing next to Naruto, Sakura heard Naruto's odd comment and smiled, "You, you've only grown taller in these three years, not much in the brain department."
At this moment, Sakura exuded a gentle and nurturing aura. Jiraiya was also a bit surprised to see Sakura; he hadn't expected her to grow into such a beauty, aside from still being flat-chested. He was a bit envious of Sasuke.
Naruto had indeed grown much taller, from less than 150 cm to now 166 cm, although he still wasn't as tall as Sasuke. But he was taller than Sakura now. Previously, he wasn't even as tall as Sakura.
Now, he stood at 166 cm, while Sakura was only 162 cm. Sasuke remained the tallest among the three, standing at 170 cm. Watching the trio, Temari was quite taken aback by their presence.
Even Sakura gave her a strong impression. Naruto walked up to Sasuke and patted his shoulder, "Sasuke, I've heard your title often during my travels." "But that's because I wasn't in the village. Once I start taking on missions, I'll definitely surpass you and earn a title even more renowned than yours."
Sasuke didn't argue. He didn't care much about his title, as it was something others had given him, not something he sought. However, Naruto was quite envious of Sasuke's "Blue Flash" title.
After chatting for a while, Naruto glanced around the office, noticing someone he wanted to see even more wasn't there. "Granny Tsunade, where's Yoruha?" Hearing Naruto's question, Temari, who had been silent, looked puzzled.
She hadn't heard of anyone named Yoruha. Over the past three years, Yoruha had stayed by Tsunade's side as a guard and hadn't gone on many missions, so he hadn't made a name for himself. The fact that Temari didn't know his name was proof of that.
Jiraiya was also curious and asked, "Right, where's that kid Yoruha? I haven't heard a peep about him these past three years. What's going on?" Sasuke looked up at the ceiling and chuckled, "He's probably on the rooftop now." "These past three years, he hasn't taken on many missions, always staying in the village to protect Lady Hokage."
Because Yoruha rarely took action over these three years, no one knew how strong he really was. Even though he often sparred with Sasuke and Sakura, he always kept his strength at the Kage level, never exceeding it.
Find more chapters on Patreon: patreon.com /ChakraMaster