With the thunderous boom of ceremonial cannons echoing through the sky, the final round of the Chunin Exams commenced exactly as scheduled.
Inside the massive arena, which was capable of holding tens of thousands of people, the air hummed with the roar of a capacity crowd. Every seat was filled.
At the highest vantage point, three stone chairs—carved with the symbols for Wind, Fire, and Thunder—held the Three Kage. Dressed in their formal Kage robes, the Kazekage, Hokage, and Raikage sat in a row.
Shizune stood before the three leaders, acting as the announcer to explain the rules of the final battles to both the Kage and the spectators. Her clear, elegant voice was broadcast throughout the entire venue via the wireless microphone clipped to her collar.
"And so, those are the rules for the final round. Winning a match does not guarantee a promotion to Chunin, nor does losing automatically disqualify a candidate. Ultimately, the decision to promote a shinobi depends entirely on their performance during combat."
As she finished her final sentence, Shizune glanced at Kakashi, who was seated between the Kazekage and the Raikage, before officially announcing the start of the final tournament.
First Match: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga.
"I have heard that this boy was taken in and raised by the Hokage himself, treated like his own son. I wonder, what is the extent of his strength?"
Seated to the side, Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, spoke in a calm voice as he watched Naruto enter the arena.
"He has some skill, but against Neji, I'd say it's a sixty-forty split," Kakashi replied from the Hokage's seat, his tone neither arrogant nor overly humble.
Kakashi wasn't just being modest. If Naruto didn't tap into the Nine-Tails' power, even with the Rasengan mastered, a match between this stage's Naruto and Neji would indeed be sixty-forty in Naruto's favor.
Before, they might have been evenly matched. However, having mastered the Hurricane Tornado Technique, Naruto now possessed large-scale offensive capabilities. He could use the sheer volume of the Uzumaki Clan's chakra to simply wear Neji down.
"Looking at him... he seems somewhat familiar."
The Fourth Raikage narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but looking at Naruto, he felt as if he were seeing the shadow of another man.
"Heh, is that so?" Kakashi smiled thinly, offering nothing more.
By now, Naruto and Neji had already engaged. Naruto opened with the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, using his numerical advantage to swarm Neji from all directions.
However, Neji demonstrated the absolute prowess of the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist in that moment. Clone after clone burst into clouds of smoke; to Neji, Naruto's wild, wide-swinging attacks were riddled with openings.
To Neji, such a reckless assault was meaningless. No matter how many clones there were, they couldn't overcome the precision of his defense.
As Kakashi had predicted, once Naruto realized that numbers alone wouldn't work, he decisively abandoned the swarm tactic. Instead, leveraging his massive chakra reserves, he unleashed the Hurricane Tornado Technique, launching a wide-area assault on Neji.
Even without the assistance of Fire Style, the sheer force of the wind forced Neji to deploy Rotation (Kaiten) for defense. Once the battle turned into a stalemate of attrition, it became a contest of who had more chakra.
The outcome was already decided.
"It's a bit of a blunt method, but it's over," Shikamaru Nara muttered lazily from the waiting room as he watched the scene unfold.
"Match over! The winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"
Serving as the proctor, Genma Shiranui looked at the fallen Neji and announced the result without hesitation.
"As expected of a student personally taught by the Hokage," Rasa remarked neutrally.
Kakashi remained silent, watching the arena with a calm expression. Truthfully, in a normal Chunin Exam, winning through such a brute-force method might not have earned a promotion. But it didn't matter—after all, by the end of the Shippuden era, Naruto was still technically a Genin even after defeating Kaguya.
Shikamaru Nara vs. Temari — Winner: Shikamaru Nara.
Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame — Kankuro forfeits; Winner: Shino Aburame.
As time passed, the subsequent matches proceeded quickly until they reached the final bout of the first round.
Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara of the Desert.
"It seems the Hokage's disciple is about to face the Kazekage's own son," the Fourth Raikage said in a deep voice, using the observation to mask the rising tension in his heart.
Gaara's identity wasn't just that of Rasa's son; he was the signal for the coming storm. The seal inside Gaara was unstable, making it incredibly easy for the One-Tail to go on a rampage.
Gaara was bloodthirsty and battle-crazed. Having watched two consecutive matches, his suppressed battle intent was on the verge of erupting. Once the One-Tail broke loose, that would be the moment for the Raikage and Rasa to strike!
With the Raikage and Kazekage flanking the Hokage, Orochimaru—currently hiding as a small white snake in Rasa's sleeve—would make his entrance. Together with the Reanimation Jutsu (Edo Tensei), they would take down Kakashi with maximum speed!
Once Kakashi was dead, no matter how strong the Hidden Leaf was, a leaderless village was destined to become a scattered mess of sand. The Raikage could already see the "Konoha Crush" unfolding before his eyes!
Kakashi, seemingly oblivious to the plotting, smiled and said, "It appears so."
He didn't care about the schemes in the Raikage's heart. He was only curious to see what trump cards Orochimaru had prepared to deal with the current Hidden Leaf.
Down in the arena, sand surged as fire and lightning erupted.
Though the current Sasuke lacked the desolation and obsession of his original timeline counterpart, his strength was leagues ahead of where it should have been. Beyond the massive increase in physical speed gained from using Lightning Style to stimulate his cellular activity, his years of training under Itachi Uchiha had caused his Fire Style, swordsmanship, and the Uchiha's signature shurikenjutsu to improve by leaps and bounds.
Lightning mingled with flames. Moving at absolute speed, the Lightning Blade (Raikiri) in Sasuke's hand pierced through layers of sand armor in an instant, striking Gaara squarely in the shoulder!
At the sight of the splashing blood, Gaara's pupils suddenly contracted. That long-lost sensation of pain sent his already unstable mind into a state of total frenzy!
An ominous, heavy chakra instantly flooded the entire stadium!
Every shinobi present felt their expression shift. There was no mistaking that chakra—it was a Tailed Beast!
The Hidden Leaf ninja who had lived through the Night of the Nine-Tails twelve years ago looked on with grim faces. To think that the Sand Village would bring the One-Tail into the heart of their village for such an occasion!
As the One-Tail's chakra permeated the air, the Hidden Sand ninja lurking in the shadows grew tense, ready to move. Only the three leaders at the top remained composed, seemingly unfazed by the Bijuu's presence.
"It seems the Kazekage's son has quite some hidden talent," the Hokage's voice drifted over, causing Rasa to lower his eyes.
"A small measure of power. It is nothing compared to the Hokage's star pupil."
"Is that so?" Kakashi chuckled softly.
But at that moment, an anomaly occurred in the arena...
The twelve-year-old Uchiha boy stood his ground. The scarlet tomoe in his eyes began to spin rapidly, and the Tailed Beast chakra that had been sweeping through the stadium suddenly stagnated!
The Sharingan—the eternal natural enemy of the Tailed Beasts!
Furthermore, this was Sasuke Uchiha, who had been trained from childhood by Itachi Uchiha himself. Even with only two tomoe, Sasuke was able to use the advantage of his bloodline to briefly suppress Gaara before the transformation could fully erupt!
This scene sent a shock through the crowd.
While the Sharingan was indeed the nemesis of the Tailed Beasts, for a twelve-year-old to achieve this with only a two-tomoe Sharingan was not something a "common" Uchiha could do.
In other words... was he a Genius?
Sasuke's expression remained ice-cold. He didn't care about his opponent's identity, nor did he care about the hidden political implications of this Chunin Exam. He only knew one thing: he had to win!
The radiance of lightning blossomed once more as he charged ruthlessly toward the paralyzed Gaara!
But just then...
"Gaara!"
A figure burst out of the waiting room, rushing toward Gaara with reckless abandon!
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