Uchiha Shisui lowered his head. "Thank you… Thank you so much, Lord Second."
Truthfully, he hadn't even dared to imagine whether, on his own, he could ever reignite Itachi's will to live.
He knew Itachi too well.
That was exactly why he understood—Itachi might never make it back to Konoha alive.
But as the one who had once sworn—
"I, Uchiha Itachi, will always fight side by side with Uchiha Shisui!"
"I, Uchiha Shisui, will always fight side by side with Uchiha Itachi!"
No matter what, Shisui would bring Itachi back!!
If Itachi's mother, Mikoto-sama, was revived…
Shisui desperately wanted to see her. To beg her forgiveness for Itachi. To ask her not to blame him.
Whatever sins Itachi bore toward the Uchiha clan—Shisui would shoulder them together with him.
The Second Hokage did not accept Shisui's gratitude. "You don't need to thank me. I didn't contribute anything to this matter."
Shisui froze. "Then…?"
Thinking of that blond brat—and then of the boy who changed the fate of the entire world during the Fourth Great Ninja War—
A warm smile tugged at Senju Tobirama's lips. "You should thank Uzumaki Naruto. If it were up to me, I might not have chosen Uchiha Mikoto." He let out a soft huff. "That foolish kid… always full of surprises."
Being around that boy felt like fighting alongside his elder brother again.
—Reliable beyond words.
"That's enough. You can go see the person you want to see. But I've arranged for Anbu to guard her in secret. Your revival and whereabouts must remain confidential. Use genjutsu first… I don't need to spell out the rest, do I?"
"I understand!"
Shisui of the Body Flicker vanished in the blink of an eye, disappearing before Tobirama and Itama.
…
Meanwhile, at Training Ground 44 in Konoha—
Naruto flailed his arms and legs in frustration. "Didn't you say we could go back after finishing the exam?!"
"Uh…" Iruka Umino scratched his cheek awkwardly. "That's a new order from above. All participants have to remain here for five days. Those who passed and those who failed will leave together."
This Chunin Exam wasn't just Konoha's. Shinobi from the Hidden Mist, Hidden Sand, Hidden Waterfall, Hidden Grass, Hidden Rain, and others had participated.
Even though everyone had signed a waiver acknowledging the risk of death, most genin who lost consciousness during the exam were rescued by jonin and Anbu dispatched afterward—including several foreign shinobi poisoned by Kankuro.
After witnessing the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Ninja War, it became clear that things weren't so different from when Konoha was first founded. The clans couldn't fully trust one another.
Breaking up established teams didn't maximize strength. Instead, suspicion weakened them and made missions harder to complete.
That was why the Second Hokage had established the Konoha Ninja Academy.
He let children who hadn't yet been consumed by hatred study together. They built understanding. They broke down the barriers between clans. They formed the Sign of Opposition and the Sign of Reconciliation in class. Through sparring and training, they forged friendships—then later, bonds within their own squads.
The future Allied Shinobi Forces worked the same way.
Shinobi who had personally witnessed the alliance fighting the Ten-Tails together—pulling against Uchiha Obito under Uzumaki Naruto's lead, freeing the other tailed beasts—
After watching footage of the Allied Shinobi Forces' Commander declaring, "At this moment, there are no enemies here!" the resurrected Second Hokage decided he might as well have the villages' shinobi get familiar with one another here at Konoha's training grounds.
Of course, Konoha jonin would still be watching from the shadows to prevent any serious clashes.
"So we're staying in the Central Tower for three more days?" Sakura Haruno asked.
Iruka nodded. "That's right."
Naruto groaned. "What about food? What about Ichiraku Ramen? Iruka-sensei, you tricked me! I was so excited to take Gaara and the others to try the best ramen in Konoha!"
"Is Ichiraku going to grow legs and run away in two or three days?!" Iruka snapped, pretending to be annoyed. But when he saw Naruto's pitiful drooping expression, he cracked. "Well… I'll add extra chashu for you when we go."
"Really?!"
Sakura puffed her cheeks. "Iruka-sensei, that's so unfair. You're playing favorites."
"Everyone gets extra," Iruka sighed. "Everyone."
Goodbye, this month's and next month's salary.
With Iruka leading them, their group totaled seven.
Temari and Kankuro still followed Gaara's lead.
Gaara would probably follow Naruto's.
Sakura occasionally scolded Naruto, but her eyes kept drifting toward Sasuke. She wanted to comfort him, yet knew it was better to give him space.
Sasuke had cried hard this time. By the time his emotions stabilized, the sun was already setting.
Even so, he remained quiet, shoulders slumped as he trailed behind Sakura and Naruto back toward the Central Tower.
One moment he thought about his brother, his clan, and the village.
The next, anger flared toward Danzo Shimura's despicable actions—and even toward the Third Hokage's constant tolerance of him.
Then, when his thoughts spiraled into chaos, he remembered what he'd said to Naruto earlier.
Since then, neither of them had spoken a word.
…
Inside the Central Tower, several teams were already staking out rooms under the guidance of chunin instructors.
It was dinnertime.
Naruto's group was starving.
Iruka was easygoing and familiar with the chunin guides from other teams. After choosing a room and marking it, he asked one of them to keep an eye on it while he sent the six of them to gather food.
"Hey, kid over there."
Naruto and the others looked over. It was a Konoha chunin they didn't know.
The man tossed something toward Gaara. The sand shield intercepted it midair.
The sand floated the object to Gaara's face. He looked at it blankly.
"It's chocolate," the chunin said, embarrassed. "Just one piece. I was going to give it to my little sister at the Academy, but I got called away on a mission."
"Why give it to me?" Gaara asked, expression unreadable.
The chunin scratched his cheek. "In that footage… the one where you became the Allied Forces commander—you were right."
Truthfully, after seeing Gaara's childhood in the recordings—how young he had been, even younger than chunin's own sister, yet treated like that—the chunin couldn't help but see his sister in him.
It was the first time Gaara had ever received a gift.
He didn't know what to do.
"Idiot. Just open it and eat it. And say thanks," Naruto muttered. Tch. That stupid footage made the Sand brat more popular than me, a real Konoha native.
"Thank you."
"Sweet."
"Good."
Gaara spoke in fragments.
As his sister, Temari suddenly felt that coming to Konoha for the Chunin Exams had been the right choice.
"Still, we need more food," Iruka said. "I already talked to another team's instructor—they'll lend us a pot later. Let's gather some ingredients we can cook. I'll show you what I can do!"
"Eh? Iruka-sensei's cooking? Is it even edible?"
"Na… ru… to…"
A fist knocked against Naruto's head. Iruka shooed the six of them back into the woods for more field practice.
Since Sasuke and Naruto were still at odds, the teams remained split—
Naruto, Gaara, and Temari.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kankuro.
Worried about Naruto, Iruka apologized to Sasuke's group and chose to follow Naruto's instead.
…
Still within Training Ground 44—
One Grass ninja team still hadn't found their scrolls.
They were berating the outsider who had been "benefiting from their generosity."
The red-haired girl was painfully thin.
Her body was covered in human bite marks—crisscrossing her arms, legs, waist, neck…
"Hey! You're so weak. Stop dragging us down!"
"Yeah! Useless!"
"We're going to find food. You hide with the scroll!"
"O-Okay."
The girl didn't resist.
She hugged the scroll and curled up inside a cramped tree hollow.
Hungry and freezing, she soon drifted off to sleep.
"Mom…"
A murmur in her dream.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
…