Naruto! Sasuke! Wake up already! Don't sleep before the match! Don't sleep before the match!!!"
chinatsu rushed into Naruto and Sasuke's room and first tried the gentler approach, grabbing their shoulders and shaking them rapidly.
When that failed…
She immediately upgraded to a far more brutal method.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
A barrage of slaps rained across their faces like a taijutsu combo.
Unfortunately, after years of being raised by Chinatsu, Naruto and Sasuke had already developed terrifying resistance to her fists, flying kicks, forehead flicks, and palm strikes.
Even while asleep, the two merely turned over slightly and continued sleeping soundly.
This was outrageous!
chinatsu stared at them in disbelief while rubbing her aching palms.
She herself had stayed awake all night and barely slept. If possible, she also wanted to collapse onto a bed and hibernate until tomorrow.
"…Tch. What can I do? I'm your older sister after all."
chinatsu sighed helplessly and slapped her own cheeks twice to wake herself up.
Then she crossed two fingers instinctively, preparing to use the Shadow Clone Technique.
But halfway through the hand seal, she paused.
"…Wait."
"Why use shadow clones when I have Wood Release?"
Wood Clones not only possessed the same operational abilities as Shadow Clones, but were also more durable and far harder to detect.
chinatsu immediately changed hand seals.
Wood Release chakra surged through the room as two wooden figures slowly separated from her body.
Before they fully detached, chinatsu added another jutsu.
"Transformation Technique!"
Bang! Bang!
Two perfectly disguised figures appeared instantly.
One was Naruto.
One was Sasuke.
"Well~ not bad. Shouldn't be easy to notice…"
The two clones spoke simultaneously, then immediately froze.
Right.
Appearance alone wasn't enough.
Speech patterns mattered too.
The two clones awkwardly coughed and immediately began adjusting their behavior.
Naruto's clone straightened less properly, scratched the back of his head, and grinned foolishly.
Sasuke's clone folded his arms and adopted a cold, aloof expression.
Perfect.
After all, these were children she had personally raised for years.
Pretending to be older people might be difficult.
Pretending to be these two brats?
Easy.
chinatsu nodded confidently and walked out of the room using her two Wood Clones transformed as Naruto and Sasuke, heading toward the third round of the Chūnin Exams.
The semifinalists were:
Naruto.
Sasuke.
Gaara.
Tenten.
At this moment, Gaara and Tenten had already arrived.
Under normal circumstances, the matches should have started long ago.
But Naruto and Sasuke two of the biggest attractions of this year's Chūnin Exams were nowhere to be seen.
If they had been ordinary genin, they would already have been disqualified.
But unfortunately…
That simply wasn't possible.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara were the three biggest dark horses of this year's Chūnin Exams. The audience had come specifically to watch monsters fight.
A Gaara versus Tenten final by itself?
That was not enough to satisfy the crowd.
So the Chūnin Exams staff desperately stalled for time.
The Chūnin Exams continued stalling for time.
The Chūnin Exams used every possible method imaginable to stall for time.
Backstage, Tenten sat with her head lowered, clutching a kunai in both hands like someone praying to a deity.
"Please, please, please…"
"Naruto is fine."
"Sasuke is fine too."
"As long as it's not Gaara…"
Beside her, Gaara sat silently with his eyes closed, arms folded, seemingly resting.
Tenten versus Gaara.
The final match.
Just imagining it made Tenten feel despair.
She could already picture tomorrow's headlines across the Five Great Nations.
[Shocking! The Most One-Sided Chūnin Finals in History!]
Tenten's eyes became watery.
She did not want to become famous like that.
If Naruto or Sasuke were around, at least everyone's attention wouldn't focus entirely on her humiliation.
Time continued passing.
Meanwhile, the circus performance hastily arranged to delay the event had become increasingly awkward.
From the VIP stands, Hiruzen Sarutobi continuously signaled frantically toward the performers.
The circus troupe was sweating profusely.
Circus performers: "We're out of material already…"
Just as the atmosphere in the arena reached maximum awkwardness
"Naruto" and "Sasuke" finally arrived.
The announcer immediately seized the opportunity and loudly declared the start of the semifinals.
Instantly, the audience erupted into cheers.
Backstage, Tenten finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You two are way too slow!"
"You almost scared me to death!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Naruto's clone replied with a bright grin.
Meanwhile, Sasuke's clone simply crossed his arms silently.
Tenten noticed absolutely nothing strange.
But Gaara frowned slightly.
Among everyone present, Gaara had actually spent a surprisingly long amount of time around Naruto and Sasuke during his stay at the Uchiha residence.
His understanding of them was much deeper than Tenten's.
"…Something's wrong."
Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Neither of them feels right."
Unfortunately, even though he sensed something unusual, he could not pinpoint the source.
After all…
Who could possibly imagine that Naruto and Sasuke were actually Chinatsu's Wood Clones transformed using the Transformation Technique?
Only someone with Chinatsu's completely unreasonable brain could come up with such nonsense.
The third round semifinals officially began.
Opponents would be decided randomly on the spot.
Tenten immediately clasped her hands together again.
"Please! Naruto is fine! Sasuke is fine too! Just not Gaara!"
She knew very well that if she fought Naruto or Sasuke, she could at least lose with dignity.
Against Gaara?
That was another matter entirely.
Tenten slowly opened her eyes and looked at the name she drew.
[Naruto]
"…YES!!!"
Tenten nearly jumped into the air from happiness.
She immediately turned toward Naruto with sparkling eyes, giving him a meaningful grin.
Tenten's meaning was simple:
Please don't destroy me too badly.
Naruto was such a good person that he would definitely understand her meaning.
If it were the real Naruto, he probably would.
Unfortunately…
This was not Naruto.
This was Chinatsu disguised as Naruto.
Seeing Tenten's meaningful expression, Chinatsu instantly misunderstood completely.
"Oh! Don't worry!"
"Naruto" gave Tenten a confident thumbs-up.
"I'll definitely shine in this match for Naruto!!!"
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