In the stands, Ren Kazuki lowered his gaze to the items that had just appeared inside his storage space, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
Ten Foundation Pills.
So that was how it worked.
He received rewards at ten times the amount granted to the person on the ranking.
"Interesting…"
Without wasting another second, Ren Kazuki swallowed one of the pills.
The moment it melted in his mouth, warmth spread through his body. The chakra inside him instantly became far more active, surging with strength and vitality.
For a brief moment, it felt as if an endless supply of chakra had awakened within him.
And this—
was only the reward for tenth place.
That meant the rewards for the higher ranks would only become more absurd.
After all, there were still nine names left to reveal.
Not far away, the crowd was already buzzing.
"Who do you think is next?"
"No clue. But whoever it is has to be another scumbag."
"Hurry up already—I want to know!"
Excitement had spread through the entire arena, and not just there.
By now, the mysterious ranking had completely seized the attention of the shinobi world. From civilians to Kage, everyone was waiting for the next name to appear.
In the Chūnin Exams arena, Ren Kazuki looked up at the golden ranking and smiled faintly.
With a single thought, he pushed it forward.
The floating list trembled once again. Then, in a burst of dazzling white light, a new name slowly emerged.
[Sinister Ranking — Rank 9: Kinkaku and Ginkaku]
The instant the name appeared, the scene changed before everyone's eyes.
A battlefield came into view.
It was the aftermath of war.
Smoke still drifted through the air. Broken earth, ruined ground, and the wreckage of battle stretched in every direction. Judging from the surroundings, this was the Land of Lightning.
Then two figures appeared.
One was a dark-skinned man with black hair standing sharply upward.
The other wore blue armor and had silver hair.
The moment Konoha saw that second figure, the arena exploded.
"The Second Hokage!"
"That's Lord Tobirama!"
"I never thought I'd live to see Lord Second again!"
Shouts of shock and reverence rose everywhere.
But on the high platform, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reaction was entirely different.
His hand tightened around the armrest.
The moment he saw the names Kinkaku and Ginkaku, his heart had already clenched.
And when that familiar figure in blue appeared—
his eyes locked onto the scene.
A terrible feeling rose in his chest.
His teacher.
Tobirama Senju.
The Second Hokage had died at the hands of those two.
In Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage stared at the image of the dark-skinned man with his fists clenched tight.
"The Second Raikage…"
His thoughts immediately turned to his father, the Third Raikage.
The Second Raikage had once been his father's teacher. Ever since A was young, he had heard stories about that man—how he had led Kumogakure toward power and prosperity.
So seeing him again stirred something deep inside him.
But the moment A saw the names Kinkaku and Ginkaku, his expression darkened just as quickly as Hiruzen's had.
Because according to Kumogakure's records, the Second Raikage had also died at their hands.
The vision continued.
[Behind the Second Hokage stood a younger Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Danzō Shimura, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Kagami Uchiha.]
[Behind the Second Raikage stood a group of elite Cloud shinobi.]
[After exchanging a few words, the two Kage reached an agreement and shook hands.]
Then everything changed.
[Without warning, a silver-haired man carrying a treasured gourd burst out from behind the Second Raikage and launched a sneak attack, gravely wounding him.]
[Tobirama reacted at once and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to create distance.]
[But in the next moment, another man rushed straight at him—a blond shinobi wielding a strange fan.]
[Crimson chakra cloaked his body.]
[It was the Nine-Tails' chakra.]
[The blond shinobi swung the fan and launched a savage assault on Tobirama.]
[Tobirama relied on the Flying Thunder God Technique to evade and counterattack again and again, and for a time the battle remained dead even.]
The moment they saw that, the people of Konoha erupted in fury.
"Who is that bastard?! He dared to ambush Lord Tobirama?!"
"Hmph! He's just courting death!"
"Lord Second will crush that blond idiot!"
On the high platform, Orochimaru—still wearing the Fourth Kazekage's face—let a faint smile appear at the corner of his lips.
So that old monkey had been ugly even in his youth.
Still…
Tobirama Senju.
This was a rare chance to see the true strength of the Second Hokage—the teacher of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Beside him, however, Hiruzen was in no mood to admire anything.
Unlike the villagers below, he knew exactly what this scene meant.
The details of Tobirama's death had never been made public. Most people only knew that the Second Hokage had died for the village.
But Hiruzen knew the truth.
He had been there.
Tobirama-sensei had died while covering their retreat from the Land of Lightning.
And the man who had killed him—
was that blond shinobi now appearing before the entire world.
This was that mission.
The very mission where they had followed their teacher to the Land of Lightning to negotiate an alliance.
And it was also during that mission—
that Tobirama had named him the next Hokage.
One long-buried memory after another surged back into Hiruzen's mind.
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