Chapter 208: Beginning
"That guy... just who is he?"
After Naruto, Satsuki, and Konohamaru's three figures had completely disappeared at the street's end, Kankuro muttered to himself. He looked down at that subtle wound on his wrist that had already healed without even leaving a scar, his heart filled with confusion and suspicion.
That chakra... what was it? Medical ninjutsu?
"....."
Temari remained silent, her gaze still grave as it looked toward the direction Naruto had left. The impact that blonde youth brought her far exceeded imagination.
Was Naruto really a shinobi younger than herself? That composure on the spot, the swift decisive means of subduing enemies in an instant, and afterward the seasoned skillful handling of conflict... Temari had never seen such qualities in any peer.
"You two really aren't ashamed."
Suddenly, an emotionless voice, cold as scraping sand, abruptly rang out.
Hearing this voice, Kankuro and Temari's bodies instantly stiffened. The two raised their heads with difficulty toward the voice's source—on a nearby large tree's branch, a figure stood at some unknown point. Red hair, carrying a massive gourd, the dark character for "love" carved on his face. Most heart-stopping were those eyes, filled with numbness and cold killing intent completely incongruous with his age.
It was their brother, Gaara.
After those words fell, Gaara's figure transformed into scattering sand grains, rustling down from the tree, then rapidly gathering on the ground before them, recongealing into human form.
"Let... let me explain, Ga-Gaara..." Kankuro's face was written with terror and extreme caution, completely gone was his earlier arrogance. "They... they started it..."
"Shut up." Gaara's voice held no fluctuation whatsoever. "What do you think we came to Konoha for?"
He tilted his head slightly, those lusterless eyes sweeping across Kankuro, adding words that nearly froze the air.
"...Be careful I don't kill you."
Hearing this, Kankuro's complexion instantly turned deathly pale, more cold sweat seeping from his forehead. He almost immediately responded with abject humility. "I'm... I'm sorry! It's my fault! I was wrong! Please... please forgive me..."
However, Gaara completely ignored his brother's terrified pleading appearance. His gaze once again turned toward the direction Naruto had departed. In the depths of those cold eyes, a trace of extremely faint doubt rarely passed.
That person... is quite formidable. Not just strength... also, what was that strange feeling just now?
During the brief time Naruto appeared and displayed his methods, Gaara clearly felt that in his heart, constantly filled with darkness and murderous desire for years, something unfamiliar and indescribable had actually sprouted—a restlessness, and a kind of...fear he'd never experienced.
This unprecedented feeling left Gaara confused, even somewhat irritable. He couldn't understand it, couldn't define this emotion.
Ultimately, he forcibly suppressed all surging thoughts, restoring that eternally unchanged cold expression, speaking indifferently to the two still in terror:
"Enough. Let's go. We didn't come here to play around."
---
"What? The One-Tail's jinchuriki? Naruto, are you certain?"
On the other side, after hearing the intelligence Naruto provided, Kakashi's usually lazy dead-fish eye instantly sharpened, his tone becoming unprecedentedly serious.
"Mm, certain." Naruto nodded affirmatively. "The Nine-Tails personally told me—Sunagakure's team definitely contains the aura of something called the One-Tail Shukaku. Like me, he's a tailed beast jinchuriki. Kakashi-sensei, is this situation... common between allied nations?"
Though Naruto's heart had long known other tailed beasts' names and their jinchuriki, after the Nine-Tails "personally" gave him a thorough "education session"—
Though most of it was the Nine-Tails boasting about how easily it crushed the One-Tail—he finally had reasonable justification to reveal this crucial intelligence.
This situation is absolutely not common! Alarm bells rang in Kakashi's heart. Other villages' jinchuriki as strategic-level weapons—their whereabouts were always top secret, rarely appearing so easily in other nations' territories, especially at a time like this. What was Sunagakure plotting?
"I understand, Naruto." Kakashi made a swift decision, instructing gravely, "During the upcoming Chunin Exam, you must stay away from Sunagakure's teams, especially that jinchuriki called Gaara. This intelligence is critically important—I'll immediately report it to the Hokage."
Words barely finished, Kakashi's figure disappeared in a slight wisp of smoke, rushing toward the Hokage's office at maximum speed.
Hopefully this intelligence would let the Third Hokage prepare in advance.
Naruto thought privately. In the original "Konoha Crush Plan," victims weren't limited to just the Third Hokage—many Konoha shinobi and civilians had died in that attack. Hopefully this could reduce some needless sacrifices. Naturally, Naruto would also have all Ember organization members on standby at Konoha's perimeter during the Chunin Exam, just in case.
"Hey, Naruto!" Just then, a clearly displeased low voice rang in Naruto's mind. "Why didn't you go give that Shukaku guy's jinchuriki a lesson just now?"
Seems the Nine-Tails felt extremely regretful that Naruto hadn't immediately beaten up Gaara on the spot, thus unable to prove to Shukaku that "my jinchuriki is way stronger than yours"—missing a perfect mocking opportunity.
Naruto responded internally, "Kurama, be reasonable. He didn't provoke us first. We can't just attack without cause, right? That would trigger serious diplomatic disputes. Besides, you really just want to beat up the One-Tail, don't you? Isn't dragging an innocent jinchuriki into it somewhat inappropriate?"
Naruto's rebuttal was quite reasonable, but the Nine-Tails still seemed somewhat sulky, snorting without immediately responding.
Watching the sulking giant fox in the mental world, Naruto quickly used a tone like coaxing a child to placate him. "Don't worry, Kurama. The Chunin Exam's about to start—then we can 'legitimately' fight the One-Tail's jinchuriki. Maybe we won't even need to find him—that impatient Shukaku will jump out on its own! Then won't you have free rein?"
This depicted prospect clearly scratched the Nine-Tails' itch. Imagining crushing its old rival under the eyes of everyone, dissatisfaction quickly replaced by anticipation. Thus Naruto once again successfully appeased this rather temperamental partner.
Several days passed in a flash.
Konoha Year 63, July 1st. The large-scale joint Chunin Selection Exam hosted by Konoha Village, with Sunagakure, Amegakure, Kusagakure, Takigakure, and Otogakure participating, officially opened its curtain.
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