"Cheers!!"
In a restaurant, Goku, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi raised their drinks and clinked glasses together.
Following the conclusion of the preliminaries, they had come here to celebrate Naruto and Sasuke's advancement to the finals, even though this outcome had been expected.
"Naruto, Sasuke, you two were amazing!" Sakura congratulated them cheerfully.
But then, she let out a soft sigh. "Sigh, it's a shame I'm still too weak. I couldn't make it to the finals with you guys."
"If only I were a little stronger, I could have beaten him."
Although she had forfeited the match voluntarily, that didn't mean she was happy about it. If there had been even a sliver of a chance to win without risking her life, she would never have given up so easily.
"It's okay, Sakura. You're already very impressive. Your growth over these past two months has been astonishing," Kakashi comforted her with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah! If it weren't for that guy's turtle shell, you would have won ages ago! Right, Sasuke?" Naruto shouted loudly.
"Yeah," Sasuke replied.
"Is that so?"
"Of course it is!" the three of them said in unison.
"Alright, thanks for comforting me. I'm just a bit unreconciled about not making the finals. You know, this is the first time I've ever failed an exam." Sakura looked dejected.
Not making the finals meant she had failed the Chunin Exam. Back at the academy, she had always had excellent grades and had never failed a test. She hadn't expected the Chunin Exam to become a stain on her record as a top student.
"Well, failing once isn't a big deal. Back when I entered the World Martial Arts Tournament for the first time, I didn't become the champion either."
Goku, who had buried his face in his food immediately after the toast, looked up and said earnestly to Sakura.
"World Martial Arts Tournament? What's that?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
World's Number One?
That sounded incredibly exciting!
The others were also curious, looking at Goku with shining eyes (or eye, in Kakashi's case).
"Mmm (chew)... well."
Seeing everyone's curious gazes, Goku finished off the fragrant meat leg in his hand in one go, putting down a bone so clean it would make a dog weep.
"The World Martial Arts Tournament is a competition where all the strongest fighters gather to decide who is number one in the world."
All the strongest fighters gathering to compete?
Deciding the world's number one?
Everyone was stunned.
Kakashi couldn't help but imagine the "wonderful" scene of the Kage, the strongest of the five great villages, and ninjas from various villages fighting it out in an arena.
Hiss!!
He didn't dare think about it. If tempers flared, the Fourth Great Ninja War might just break out right there.
Naruto, on the other hand, looked excited after recovering from his shock.
"A World Martial Arts Tournament... just thinking about it gets me pumped!"
"Wouldn't it be great if we had a competition like that in the ninja world?"
"If I took first place in a competition like that, I'd definitely become Hokage!"
"Hmm... since it's a martial arts tournament for the ninja world, why not call it the Ninja World Martial Arts Tournament?"
By the end, he had even come up with a name for it.
"Ninja World Martial Arts Tournament? Hmph, interesting," Sasuke smirked. "If there were such a competition, I wouldn't let you have first place."
"I don't need you to let me have it! I'll take it with my own strength!" Naruto pointed at him confidently.
"Hmph, we'll see about that."
Sasuke crossed his arms, equally confident.
Zzzzt!!
The two stared at each other, sparks seeming to fly from their eyes and clash violently in the air between them.
"Hey, hey, it's not even a real thing yet. No need to get so worked up," Sakura said, facepalming helplessly. But the slight upturn of her lips betrayed her true feelings.
Distracted by Goku's talk of the tournament and Naruto and Sasuke's bickering, she had forgotten the unpleasantness of the exam, and her mood had lightened considerably.
"Hmph!!" x2
Seeing Sakura looking much brighter, Naruto and Sasuke snorted in unison, seemingly by tacit agreement, and turned their heads away.
Then, Naruto turned back to Goku, who had resumed eating at some point, and asked curiously, "Hey, Goku-sensei, you said earlier that you didn't win the championship the first time you participated. So, what place did you get?"
Having spent so much time with Goku, he had grown fond of this cheerful, powerful, and unpretentious teacher—or rather, friend—who taught them with such care.
He was very curious about the past of this man who was both a teacher and a friend, and wanted to know how he had trained step by step to achieve his current super-strength.
"Hmm?"
Hearing the question, Goku, his cheeks stuffed full, quickly chewed and swallowed his food before grinning simply. "Oh, that? Second place, haha."
"Wow! Second place is amazing!" Sakura exclaimed, covering her mouth.
In her opinion, getting second place among a gathering of powerful fighters was already an incredible achievement. If it were in the ninja world, wouldn't that be equivalent to defeating four Kage?
"Hahaha."
Goku responded to her praise with a simple laugh. But as he laughed, a trace of reminiscence flashed in his eyes.
Come to think of it, he had been fooled by Master Roshi for a long time back then.
If Master Roshi hadn't gotten drunk at a dinner later and let it slip, he might never have known that the champion who beat him that time was actually Master Roshi in disguise.
"Hey, hey, Goku-sensei, did you ever win the championship later?" Naruto continued to ask.
"Yeah. Hmm, let me think... I think I won it the third time I participated."
"It took quite a bit of effort to win that match," Goku said, rubbing his nose with a smile.
'Quite a bit of effort... it must have been an intense fight,' Kakashi thought to himself.
What he didn't know was that "quite a bit of effort" was an understatement. In that battle, Goku's limbs had been broken, and a hole had been blasted through his chest. He had only defeated his opponent with a headbutt from the sky as a last resort.
"Whoa, Goku-sensei, you're really amazing!" Hearing that Goku had won the championship, Naruto's eyes filled with admiration.
At that moment, he made a silent resolution:
One day, he would hold the Ninja World Martial Arts Tournament, invite all the strong ninjas in the world, beat everyone, and take first place!!
Meanwhile, in the hotel, Konoha had arranged for the Sand Village.
"a month later?"
Gaara looked expressionlessly at Baki, who had just returned.
"Yes, a month. The final round will begin in a month, and that's when our plan will officially commence."
"Until then, behave yourself. Do not get into conflicts with Konoha ninjas."
"Once the plan starts, you will have plenty of opportunities to kill to your heart's content."