"…The Nine-Tails' brat, is it?"
Once they had a clear view of the yellow-haired boy's face on the monitor, Mitarashi Anko and the two ANBU operatives exchanged glances. Much of the information that was carefully concealed from the lower ranks was, for them, like a poorly kept secret hidden behind a mere paper screen—easily pierced. The existence of jinchuriki was an open secret among ninjas who had reached a certain level of strength.
"I'll take responsibility for this matter for now," Mitarashi Anko said. Truthfully, her past master-disciple relationship with Orochimaru already made her position in Konoha somewhat awkward. Regarding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, she would ideally avoid involvement as much as possible. This was a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" situation for her and for the Konoha higher-ups.
But some things couldn't be avoided just because you wished them to be. Her current role was head proctor; by both sentiment and reason, she had to take charge of this, to conceal the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's information as much as possible and prevent ninjas from other villages from learning of his existence.
"It's not just them. Please watch patiently to the end," the proctor who brought the tape said, shaking his head. He adjusted the machine, and the footage on the screen began to play at an accelerated speed. The numbers in the top-right corner of the screen jumped rapidly.
After a few seconds, the rapidly changing numbers abruptly slowed. Then, three figures appeared on the monitor—it was the Sand Siblings' team.
The three jonin exchanged another glance. "This is getting interesting…"
"Look, it's those three Sand ninjas from the other day," Izuno Akigiku said, tilting her head slightly.
Naruto followed her gaze. Slowly approaching were indeed the Sand Siblings' team that had clashed with Team Seven not long ago.
Below, in the spectator stands, the three Sand siblings also noticed them.
"Did those Konoha bastards cheat their way through by pulling some strings?" Kankuro snorted. He couldn't help but think so. His and Temari's skills had long surpassed the genin level, and that monster Gaara was someone even ordinary jonin wouldn't dare to provoke. For any team to complete the exam before a squad of their caliber…
"Kankuro, shut up!" Gaara, walking at the head of their group, suddenly barked.
Like a mouse seeing a cat, Kankuro shivered and immediately fell silent.
Temari followed Gaara's gaze and saw a boy with short yellow hair, wearing black pants and a grey shirt. [He's pretty good-looking…] she thought to herself. Due to Sunagakure's perennially sandy weather, fair-skinned, handsome boys weren't entirely non-existent, but they were practically an endangered species. [But to make Gaara show that kind of expression, what's the deal with that guy opposite us?]
Naruto quietly observed the gourd-carrying child below. Once he learned of the boy's identity from the Nine-Tails, he understood why this child, at such a young age, exuded such a Shura-like ferocity. They were both jinchuriki, of roughly the same age, suffering the same kind of treatment. No one understood each other better than they did: indifference, revulsion, being utterly ignored… Such a life wasn't a matter of a day or two, but day after day, year after year.
Yet, there were slight differences between them. He possessed the experiences of three lifetimes, especially the hardships of his second life; he had his own ways of dealing with these things. The gourd-child was different. He was merely a blank sheet of paper, unstained by ink. He was no different from other children. But his parents, his relatives, his fellow villagers—they had helped dye him with the red of a Shura.
"Ngh!" Gaara suddenly clutched his forehead, gasping for breath in great, ragged gulps. Faint roars were even mixed in with his panting.
"What's going on? Did it wake up?" Temari and Kankuro's faces changed, and they quickly helped him to the side.
[Damn it! Why now of all times!] Temari bit her lip, her silver teeth flashing, looking at her brother trapped in agony, feeling a deep sense of self-reproach. She truly was a failure as an older sister, watching her brother sink deeper into the mire, yet powerless to help.
"What's wrong with that guy?" Such a commotion was too large for Naruto's team not to notice.
Naruto's mind sank into his spiritual space. Looking at the Nine-Tails, which had sat up from its usual crouch, he asked, "What's the situation?"
"Tch! That tanuki is as irritable as ever," the Nine-Tails sneered.
"The One-Tail?" Naruto's eyebrow arched. "What does it look like?" Truthfully, he was quite curious about the appearances of the other Tailed Beasts. The designation "One-Tail" always made him involuntarily picture the Nine-Tails with eight of its tails chopped off.
"Looks like a tanuki," the Nine-Tails said, slowly settling back down. From the slight curl at the corner of its mouth, it seemed to be in a good mood.
"Hm?" Naruto mentally scaled up the image of a tanuki to match the Nine-Tails' size. After a moment, he couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. That jumbled, chaotic feeling…
"Can you let me exchange a few words with it?" Naruto asked. From the earlier situation, it seemed the Tailed Beasts had some unknown method of communication.
"He's disconnected," the Nine-Tails stated, its tone matter-of-fact, as if it would be abnormal for the One-Tail not to be 'disconnected.'
"???" Naruto stared at the Nine-Tails before him in surprise. I never would have guessed! You look all honest and proper with those thick brows and big eyes, but you're actually so rotten on the inside!
[Could it be that 'bullying' exists even among Tailed Beasts…][Hiss… to think the one living inside my body is actually a 'Big Bro' type…]
Suddenly, Naruto felt like he understood. Gazing at the great fox before him, the sense of mystery it once held was gone. From this perspective, Tailed Beasts didn't seem all that different from humans.
"He won't withdraw from the exams because of this, will he? Heh heh…" Etsureki speculated with a hint of malice. This was the individual Naruto had warned them about, the one who had caused them so much stress these past few days.
"Not likely. He'll be fine after some rest," Naruto said, shaking his head slightly, puncturing Etsureki's unrealistic fantasy. The gourd-child was most likely just suffering from the One-Tail's rampage.
"Is that so…" Etsureki clicked his tongue, somewhat disappointed.
"Instead of thinking about such pointless things, you should rest well and prepare for tomorrow's third exam," Naruto said. He walked to an empty space nearby, slowly sat down, and closed his eyes to meditate. The second exam was supposed to last for two days, and yet, less than two hours had passed since it had begun for them.
Forest of Death.
BOOM!
"Sai!" Sakura screamed, her face paling as she watched her teammate disappear into the mouth of a giant snake.
"Run!" On a nearby tree branch, Sasuke's expression was grim as he looked at the man who had shed his skin.
"But…" Sakura looked at Sasuke's retreating back, hesitating to speak.
"You'll only be a burden if you stay here!" Sasuke's roar sounded somewhat savage.
*[Damn it, if that guy were here, would this situation be any better…?] *For some reason, in this desperate plight, Naruto's image involuntarily surfaced in Sasuke's mind.
"Heh heh, only you are left, Sasuke-kun." The "Amegakure ninja" slowly peeled the skin from his face, revealing an incredibly androgynous and beautiful countenance. He flicked a long, snake-like tongue and spoke with amusement. As for Sakura nearby, neither of them evidently considered her a viable combatant.
"Are you ready?"
The moment his words fell, an almost tangible killing intent erupted from the man's body. Killing intent was formless, but people had form. Engulfed by the killing intent, Sasuke felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by an icy hand. His body, frozen stiff, remained rooted to the spot no matter how hard he tried to move.
"Ah!" Sakura, wanting to go help Sasuke, saw the giant snake that had just swallowed Sai suddenly turn its head. Its gaping maw, filled with terrifying power, lunged towards her.
"AHHH!!!" Sakura only had time to let out a piercing scream before she vanished into the snake's mouth.