Just a few days ago, Iruka-sensei had taught him all that stuff, but Naruto didn't remember much of it. Then, after the trip to the fledgling Konoha...
"I forgot everything..."
"What?!" Sasuke's cool demeanor cracked as he grabbed Naruto by the collar and shook him.
"I said I forgot everything!!!" Naruto groaned in frustration, unable to recall even a bit of what he'd memorized before.
Minato Namikaze sighed and rubbed his forehead.
Rin watched the future son of her teacher with a mix of affection and helplessness. Often, she could see traces of Obito in him.
"Oh, right," Obito suddenly pulled a photograph from his ninja pouch and handed it to Minato. "Minato-sensei, after coming back from that place, I found this photo in my pouch."
Minato took it, and the others leaned over with curiosity.
The photo showed four young men standing together beneath the Hokage Rock. Three of them were familiar faces—Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, and Tobirama Senju, all from Konoha's founding era.
The fourth was a young man who looked strikingly similar to Sasuke and Itachi, standing between Madara and Tobirama. He smiled brightly at the camera, his expression warm with a hint of shyness.
"Looks like the four of them got along pretty well."
Obito's voice trembled in shock. "But that guy standing next to the old man is Izuna Uchiha, right?! He's supposed to be dead—Waaah?!!"
His outburst startled even Naruto, who was the most afraid of ghosts. "Don't scare me like that!"
Itachi pointed out a detail in the photo. "When we left, none of the buildings beneath the Hokage Rock had been constructed yet. Judging by the timeline, this must have been taken at least several months or even years after our departure."
Adult Kakashi immediately caught his meaning. "You're saying Izuna Uchiha was revived using the method that was left behind?"
"I believe that's the case."
"That's good news for everyone, but I can't help wondering what the purpose of this photo is. Maybe it's just meant to share the good news?"
"But it still feels really weird to me!" Naruto rubbed his arms, silently hoping he wouldn't have nightmares that night.
Minato nodded. "Either way, let's put the photo and the previous intelligence scroll away for now."
He turned to Naruto. "Take out your mission scroll and let me have a look."
"Huh? Oh." Naruto obediently pulled out the scroll. Minato Namikaze took it and opened it. Sure enough, with his perception of Space-Time Ninjutsu active, a new mission had appeared on the scroll.
[Mission Rank: C-rank]
[Mission Content: Invite Gaara to eat at Ramen Ichiraku.]
"A C-rank mission?" Minato said in surprise. "I've never seen a C-rank mission like this before."
But...
"Invite Gaara to eat ramen?!" Naruto scowled. "Who is he? Why do I have to treat him to ramen?!"
"That guy from the Sunagakure ninja village in the Land of the Wind." Sasuke recalled the young ninja named Gaara, his expression growing heavy. The boy was clearly just like his past self—a vengeful soul immersed in darkness.
And compared to Sasuke, Gaara carried an even stronger, more dangerous bloodlust.
If the target was that guy, then even inviting him out for a single bowl of ramen would be anything but simple.
Young Kakashi looked at the mission scroll and asked Naruto, "You have the first round of the Chūnin Exams tomorrow afternoon, right? Should you finish the S-rank mission first, or take care of this C-rank one?"
"Don't remind me…" Just mentioning the exam gave Naruto a headache. He slumped down, clutching his head as he squatted on the ground, looking utterly deflated and anxious.
Obito said, "We should finish the S-rank mission first." Better to get it over with quickly. He could tell that Naruto was just like his younger self, completely hopeless when it came to exams. Luckily, Itachi and Rin had already told him the answers.
Last-minute cramming might not be perfect, but at least it was something.
That entire day, everyone from Team Kakashi stayed there to keep Naruto company while he studied. Even Sasuke helped him answer questions, which moved Naruto more than he expected.
However...
The next day, Sasuke and Sakura arrived at the exam venue on time, but after waiting nearly half an hour, Naruto still hadn't shown up.
Sasuke was so angry he wanted to go straight to Naruto's house, but Sakura stopped him. If Sasuke and Naruto went separate ways and Naruto arrived while Sasuke wasn't there, that would be even worse.
At that moment, a boy wearing a strange green jumpsuit with a bowl-cut hairstyle stepped in front of Sasuke Uchiha.
"Sasuke Uchiha, would you like to have a match right now?"
Sasuke: "..."
"Huh?! Who are you?!" Sakura blurted out. "And we're in a hurry right now!" Damn it, Naruto! When you finally show up, I'm definitely going to beat you up!
Rock Lee noticed Sakura and immediately blushed. Then, in a bold display, he blew her an affectionate flying kiss and openly confessed.
Sakura frantically dodged those so-called "expressions of love" and refused to engage.
Sasuke had no interest in accepting the challenge either. He turned, ready to go look for that idiot dead last.
But because Neji had been paying attention to Sasuke Uchiha, Rock Lee was determined to test himself against him. He suddenly darted forward and blocked Sasuke's path again.
Already worried about what might have happened to Naruto and why he still hadn't arrived, Sasuke completely lost his patience.
"Are you sure you want to stop me right now?"
His dark eyes locked onto Rock Lee. Sakura glanced around nervously. If Rock Lee weren't also a ninja from Konoha, she was sure Sasuke would have already activated his Sharingan.
Because of the repeated time-travel incidents, the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke had grown so close that she often felt there was no place for her anymore. Weren't there supposed to be three students and one teacher in a team?! Lately, Kakashi-sensei was always with the Fourth Hokage-sama, making her feel like she'd been unintentionally left out.
"Please fight me!" Rock Lee said earnestly. "I'm extremely curious about the strength of the last survivor of the Uchiha clan!"
That single sentence completely ignited Sasuke's already simmering anger.
"So you know this clan name and still dare to challenge me? You've got guts, thick-brow!"
S-Sasuke-kun is really angry!
Sakura watched the two of them, her nerves stretched tight.
Sasuke took his stance, bringing his fingers together and curling them in a clear "come on" gesture toward Rock Lee.
Rock Lee vanished from Sakura's sight in an instant!
"Body Flicker Technique?!" Sakura cried. "No, that's not it, it's pure taijutsu!"
As she spoke, Rock Lee had already appeared behind Sasuke, leaping into a sweeping kick.
Sasuke stayed calm. He raised his arm, tensed his muscles, and blocked the flying kick with his forearm.
So heavy!
The impact traveling through his arm made Sasuke pause for a moment.
"But it's still nowhere near as strong as the old ancestor's!"
After getting beaten up by Madara again and again, Obito had complained nonstop, and Sasuke had picked up the habit of calling Madara "the old ancestor" as well.
Even though Madara never fought them seriously, a casual kick from him was something a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old Rock Lee couldn't possibly match.
After several days of special training under Madara, Obito and Sasuke were nothing like their former selves.
Seeing his first strike fail, Rock Lee quickly flipped in midair, twisting his body and following up with another kick.
This time, Sasuke didn't block head-on. Instead, he snapped his wrist and grabbed Rock Lee's ankle as it came in. Rock Lee pushed sideways, while Sasuke thrust upward from below. Not only did he completely disperse the force of the kick, he also threw Rock Lee off balance, leaving him top-heavy and unstable.
Watching from the side, Sakura clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest.
"Sasuke-kun, you've gotten so much stronger!"
Sasuke thought to himself: Obviously! This is what getting ground down by Madara does to you!
Still, Rock Lee, who was useless at genjutsu and ninjutsu and had devoted everything to taijutsu, wasn't easy to deal with.
Just as his head was about to slam into the ground, he planted both hands on the floor, kicked hard with his legs, and launched a wide spinning double-leg kick.
Sasuke jumped back.
Before Rock Lee could fully recover and assume a defensive posture, Sasuke suddenly activated his Sharingan.
His back foot slammed into the ground as he pushed off with all his strength.
His body shot forward like a cannonball straight toward Rock Lee.
In that split second, Rock Lee made up his mind to use the forbidden technique he had promised Guy-sensei he wouldn't use.
They had only exchanged a few moves, yet both had already gone all out, abandoning defense and focusing solely on defeating the other?!
"!!!!" Sakura wanted to stop them, but there was nothing she could do.
Just then—
"That's enough, Lee!"
"That's far enough, Sasuke."
Two voices appeared at the same time, standing between Rock Lee and Sasuke.
They couldn't stop in time. Just as Sasuke was about to crash into Minato Namikaze, who was dressed in ANBU gear, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to pull him out of the battle zone. At the same time, Rock Lee was sent flying by a turtle.
"......" Sasuke froze in shock when he saw Minato Namikaze, almost blurting out "Fourth Hokage."
He quickly realized what was going on. The Fourth Hokage had brought Naruto here to take part in the Chūnin Exams.
Seeing a turtle lecturing a Konoha ninja with outrageously thick eyebrows, Naruto turned to Sakura beside him and asked, "Is that… a turtle?"
The moment he finished speaking, there was a loud bang.
"Seriously! You kids are way too full of youth!!!"
Standing on top of the turtle shell was a man who was… honestly hard to describe.
He wore a green skin-tight outfit under a jōnin vest identical to Kakashi's, with a bowl-cut hairstyle and eyebrows so thick and shiny they were impossible to ignore.
The sight left Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura completely speechless.
Minato, however, recognized him at a glance. This was Might Guy, from the same generation as Kakashi and Obito.
The same guy who had swiftly defeated Obito during the Chūnin Exams, only to lose to Kakashi afterward and get eliminated.
Now that he looked at him again…
He seemed to have grown even more wild.
Watching the master-and-disciple pair, who looked uncannily like father and son, suddenly break into a dramatic sunset scene and cling to each other while crying their eyes out, Minato Namikaze felt that this kind of teaching style was something he would probably never learn in his lifetime.
The awkwardness on the scene was intense enough to make everyone want to dig their toes into the ground.
After the emotional reunion between Might Guy and Rock Lee ended, Guy turned toward the blond ANBU who had arrived with Naruto.
"Hey! Who are you? I don't remember seeing you in Konoha before."
Minato said calmly, "I'm an ANBU of Konoha. It's normal that you don't recognize me. I'm here on Kakashi's request, to bring this child to participate in the Chūnin Exams."
ANBU identities were indeed highly confidential.
"But… that move you used just now…"
"It was just a basic Body Flicker Technique. You can use it too, right?"
"Ah, I'm much better at taijutsu. I'm not very good at the other stuff." Guy was easily led off-topic.
Minato said, "Let's end the conversation here. They don't have much time left before the first exam begins."
With that, Minato disappeared from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.
Guy also left, taking Lee with him.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura rushed toward the exam building. Along the way, Sasuke angrily demanded why Naruto was so late.
"That's right!" Sakura added. "Sasuke-kun was about to go look for you!"
Naruto scratched his head and laughed sheepishly. "I was too scared last night, so I studied all night. Then I overslept this morning. I even slept through lunch. If my dad hadn't woken me up, I'd probably still be sleeping."
In the end, his dad had no choice but to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to send him straight to the exam site.
Being personally delivered to the Chūnin Exams by his parents was the kind of top-tier treatment he never would have dared to imagine before.
While they were running, Naruto asked about the two guys with the super thick eyebrows.
"How would I know?!" Sasuke snapped. "They just showed up out of nowhere to provoke me!"
"You really attract all kinds of weird people, you know," Naruto complained.
Sasuke shot back irritably, "Do you have any right to say that, you idiot?! Hurry up, we're about to be late!"
The three of them finally reached the classroom door. The two fake chūnin guarding the entrance were instantly exposed by an already irritated Sasuke.
When they pushed open the door and saw the exam hall, they were all startled. The ninjas inside looked terrifying, with an average age well over thirty, tall builds, and intimidating appearances.
These were all genin who had failed to pass the Chūnin Exams?!
At that moment, Ino enthusiastically threw herself at Sasuke Uchiha and immediately started arguing with Sakura Haruno, who still lacked confidence about the exam.
Right after that, Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi came over to greet Naruto.
Shikamaru, sharp as ever, quickly noticed that Sakura and Sasuke were treating Naruto differently than before. Naruto himself didn't seem to have changed much on the surface, but…
Somehow, he looked more energetic, and even seemed a bit more put together than he used to be.
"N- Naruto-kun…" Hinata greeted him shyly from behind.
Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka followed closely after her.
Hinata might not be a genius with an IQ over two hundred like Shikamaru, but she had always quietly paid attention to Naruto from the sidelines.
"N- Naruto-kun, d- did something good happen to you recently?" she asked haltingly. Afterward, she hurried to explain that she wasn't trying to pry into his privacy, but if something good really had happened, she wanted to congratulate him.
Naruto thought about saving his parents in another world, helping Uncle Madara resolve his conflicts, and the possibility that the Uzumaki Clan might not be wiped out in that parallel world, meaning tragedies like what happened to Karin and her mother would never occur.
"Yeah! A lot of good things really did happen! Thanks, Hinata!"
So… so dazzling…
Hinata nearly fainted from his smile.
"Hey! Hinata!" Kiba quickly rushed over and caught her from behind before she collapsed.
"I never thought all nine of us from our class would end up taking the Chūnin Exams," Shino said as he adjusted his small black sunglasses. "But I suspect there won't be many people here who actually earn the title of chūnin. As for why…"
No one was listening to his muttering. Kiba was loudly declaring that his only rival was Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, who had recently endured hellish sandbag-level training from the genuine Madara Uchiha, had already undergone a complete transformation in both taijutsu and combat experience.
In Sasuke's eyes, there was only one real opponent now.
Naruto's C-rank mission target—Gaara.
...
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