The three of them slowly entered the central tower.
Naruto was weighed down with thoughts, his brows tightly furrowed as he kept sorting through the clues they had so far.
He glanced at Sakura and couldn't help whispering, "What were you doing before you transmigrated?"
Sakura looked at him, clearly surprised by the question. She thought for a long while before murmuring, "I don't really remember… I think I was arguing with someone online?"
"And how were you feeling at the time?"
"Huh?" Sakura was completely baffled by the random follow-up. "What exactly did you find out?"
"Just tell me first—were you in a really bad mood back then?"
Sakura froze, her expression turning strange. "I was fighting with people. Of course my mood was terrible."
"As I thought…" Naruto nodded lightly.
He sensed movement on his back. The two of them laid Sasuke down, and Naruto gave his cheek a couple of gentle pats.
Sasuke woke groggily, blank for a heartbeat, then snapped back to awareness.
"Naruto, Sakura… wait—where's she? What happened to her?!"
Naruto smiled at him. "You got taken out early by the enemy's Shadow Clones. Don't worry though—the enemy's already been dealt with."
"…Really? But I remember it was you—"
"Looks like your memory's a bit scrambled," Naruto cut in earnestly. "Later you should have the boss check you out. And maybe deal with that thing on your neck too."
Only then did Sasuke feel the throbbing pain at the back of his neck.
"So I've just been lying there this whole time until now?" A trace of indignation rose inside him. He'd finally gotten power beyond the norm, yet still hadn't managed to help.
Naruto hurried to soothe him. "Hey, you were plenty useful. Like… while you were unconscious you played the role of Sleeping Beauty—female ninja couldn't take their eyes off your face."
"Even my Sexy Jutsu bows to you, right, Sakura?"
He turned to her without the slightest shame. Sakura rolled her eyes and ignored him.
"See? No answer means she agrees. Women are all tsundere creatures." He added in a tiny voice to Sasuke.
The three stood up, opened both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls together, and after Iruka was summoned, they officially cleared the exam.
Right after clearing it, Naruto found an excuse to slip away and used the white snake to contact Anko, telling her the enemy had been eliminated and asking her to keep an eye on Orochimaru.
Because their pace was far ahead of the original timeline, they had to wait until the entire second stage ended.
Evening came.
Konoha, Hokage Tower.
On the office sofa sat four of Konoha's higher-ups: Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Shimura Danzo, and Sarutobi Hiruzen. Tonight there was only one topic—
Uzumaki Naruto.
"Hiruzen," Koharu opened first, "we're here for no other reason than to discuss the Jinchūriki."
"We heard from Danzo that you intend to personally instruct Naruto, correct?"
Hiruzen blew a ring of smoke, not surprised in the least by Danzo's maneuvering. "That's right. As Hokage, I have the duty to guide Naruto onto the correct path."
"But," Homura added slowly, his face stern, "as I understand it, Naruto has already shown abnormalities. Your previous report said those abnormalities came from being influenced by the Nine-Tails."
Koharu continued, "We all know the Nine-Tails is the embodiment of hatred. If you, as the village leader, are influenced as well, Konoha would face catastrophe."
"Taking Naruto as your disciple is far too risky."
Hiruzen said nothing. Instead of answering head-on, he asked calmly, "Are those words truly yours… or Danzo's?"
Koharu and Homura both stiffened.
Tap. Tap.
Danzo struck the floor with his cane, eyes narrowing at Hiruzen. "Hiruzen, that's pointless to say. We're discussing a matter of the village. Don't mix in personal feelings."
Personal feelings? Hiruzen chuckled softly. "You and I both know Naruto must be guided. If not by me, then by you. Because you don't trust anyone else, do you, Danzo?"
Danzo stayed silent.
"You want to insert your people to monitor him, but you fear saying it outright will make you look biased. So you brought these two to pressure me. But why should I trust you? You're openly hostile toward the Jinchūriki. What if you push him over the edge?"
"Enough, Hiruzen!" Homura barked, face darkening. "Is this the time for infighting?"
Once Hiruzen and Danzo started tearing into each other, "facts and logic" quickly became a question of whose stance was crooked. That was why Homura had signaled Danzo to hold back and let him and Koharu do the talking.
Homura pressed on. "We're speaking only of facts. The report says Naruto is influenced by the Nine-Tails. That's a fact."
Hiruzen didn't flinch. "That report is outdated. The newest eyewitness accounts say Naruto's condition is excellent, and his performance extraordinary."
"What?" Danzo half rose, unable to hide it.
A knock came at the door.
"Come in," Hiruzen said.
Two instructors entered. Their expressions sharpened when they saw the elders.
Morino Ibiki. Mitarashi Anko.
Hiruzen had prepared for this tonight. He knew words alone wouldn't persuade the council; he needed solid testimony. He'd already spoken with Ibiki ahead of time, and Anko—someone he had personally promoted—was extremely unlikely to favor Danzo.
"These two served as examiners for the first and second stages. Let them speak of Naruto's performance."
Ibiki grasped Hiruzen's intent at once, praised Naruto directly, and deliberately omitted the "too-scheming-for-a-genin" part. He focused on Naruto's stability.
Anko's mind, meanwhile, was in turmoil.
She had absolutely noticed Naruto's performance. His strength and intelligence had surpassed genin level and went far beyond a mere chunin candidate.
And now the Hokage wanted her evaluation—she couldn't help recalling the white snake she had given Naruto.
Was that part of his plan too?
Had he expected this meeting from the start?
The more she thought, the more plausible it felt, until Naruto's image in her heart turned mysterious and towering.
After a quick struggle, Anko decided to report honestly. "Naruto's performance in the second stage was exceptionally strong, and his mental state was very stable."
Hiruzen's brows lifted slightly. He hadn't expected even Anko to rate Naruto that highly.
He looked back to the three elders, calm as ever. "Satisfied now?"
Koharu and Homura stayed quiet, but Danzo didn't want to hand over control of the Nine-Tails so easily.
"Words alone are meaningless. Seeing is believing." He fixed Hiruzen with a stare. "After stage two, there's a preliminary round, yes? Let's watch together. If Naruto shows signs of Nine-Tails transformation, he's unstable. If not, he's fine."
Koharu and Homura considered and agreed.
Hiruzen didn't object further, only nodding. He turned to Anko. "Have Gekkō Hayate organize the preliminaries."
True gold feared no fire.
"Yes." Anko answered crisply.
At the same time, a voice in her head kept shouting—
She had to tell Naruto.
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