From the very beginning, Kazekage Gaara had known that Kabuto meant no good, so he naturally saw Kabuto Yakushi's little tricks with perfect clarity.
He watched as Kabuto stole a scroll from Naruto's ninja pouch. It was neither a Heaven Scroll nor an Earth Scroll, but an unmarked scroll with slightly unusual patterns and no writing on it at all.
That immediately piqued the Fifth Kazekage's curiosity. Why would Kabuto Yakushi be interested in that particular scroll Naruto was carrying?
Twenty years ago, during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams, he himself hadn't been the least bit interested in the name "Naruto Uzumaki," so he had never paid attention to what happened in their battles during that exam.
Kazekage Gaara couldn't quite make sense of it now. Had these events really happened back then? Had such a scroll even existed? And what exactly was Kabuto Yakushi's purpose in deliberately deceiving Naruto just to steal it?
While he hesitated, Naruto still hadn't noticed that his ninja pouch had been slit open. The mission scroll had already been taken by Kabuto, acting under Orochimaru's orders.
At that very moment, Naruto was still basking in the joy of beating that idiot Sasuke to the Earth Scroll. He happily thanked Kabuto-senpai and rushed back, full of excitement.
...
Meanwhile, on Sakura Haruno's side, which had not drawn the Fifth Kazekage's attention.
The one who had summoned the gigantic Manda was Sasuke Uchiha. By comparison, Sakura's slug, only about the size of a dog, and the two toads sitting on Naruto's shoulders were hardly impressive.
On top of that, Naruto not only carried the title of future Seventh Hokage, but there was also that vicious boy who had nearly killed an exam participant just because someone called Naruto a monster…
As a result, no one dared to provoke Naruto Uzumaki.
But Sakura, who had ended up alone, was a different story.
She looked like nothing more than an ordinary girl, a first-time participant in the Chūnin Exams, easy prey. Quite a few teams had already fixed their eyes on her.
Among them were the three Sound ninja who had been watching the trio ever since the first round of the Chūnin Exams. They had been waiting for this moment.
Hidden in the forest nearby were Ino, Shikamaru, Chōji, as well as Hinata, Shino, and Kiba...
When they saw the three Sound ninja standing in front of Sakura, all of them couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat for their former Academy classmate.
Hinata quietly asked Kiba and Shino whether they should go out and help Sakura.
She felt that if Sakura got hurt, Naruto would definitely be very unhappy. And if Sakura was carrying their team's scroll and it got taken, Naruto's group would fail the exam because of it.
Oh, right.
There was also Hinata Hyūga herself, the Byakugan girl who secretly liked Naruto, always trailing behind him.
Shino released a few insects to set up an ambush, signaling everyone to wait and see how things developed before deciding.
Ino, Chōji, and Shikamaru were nervous out of their minds. They didn't think their own strength could match those Sound ninja, who were even a bit older than them.
On the open grassy field, the pink-haired girl in red stood in a tense defensive stance, staring down the three Sound ninja across from her.
"You two don't move for now. I'll handle this girl myself," said the only woman among the three Sound ninja. "Without Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki protecting her, this woman is basically a weakling. She'll be easy to deal with."
Hearing that, Sakura locked her eyes on Kin Tsuchi. For so long, she had been nothing more than background scenery behind Naruto and Sasuke, and she was sick of it. She was fed up with feeling so stifled. It was supposed to be a three-person team, yet she was always chasing after them, never able to catch up no matter how hard she tried!!
If it were just one opponent, she still had some confidence.
But facing three at the same time...
She really didn't.
She knew her own limits. Right now, what she lacked was chakra reserves, combat experience, and any kind of trump card for a desperate counterattack...
At just twelve years old, it felt like she was missing almost everything.
In my past studies, there was nothing special about me besides being quick-witted. I spent whatever time I had left preening, watching movies, chasing idols, and crushing on Sasuke-kun. I never trained as hard as Sasuke or Naruto.
It was only recently that I realized, without even knowing when it happened, I had fallen far behind them. So far that all I could do was stare at their backs. That was when I understood I had to chase after them with everything I had.
Compared to the fear of facing three Sound ninja, it was the anger and bitterness of being looked down on that truly drove this girl, one who would one day stand among the very peak of the ninja world, to grit her teeth.
She began to think about how to fight.
Katsuyu-sama was not a combat-type summoning beast. In a situation like this, she would be of little help...
And she had no information at all on those three Sound ninja.
Just as she was completely out of ideas!
Rock Lee suddenly jumped in, taking on two of the Sound ninja by himself. He held back the two male ninja among the trio, Dosu and Zaku.
Rock Lee was incredibly strong. His taijutsu had already reached the pinnacle for someone his age. But because of the biggest problem in ninja combat, the lack of intelligence, his eardrums were injured, and vivid red blood flowed from his ear canals. Facing Dosu with his ultrasonic attacks and Zaku with his air cannons, even he was starting to struggle.
Sakura wanted to defeat Kin as quickly as possible so she could go help Lee.
So instead of drawing a kunai, she pulled out a pair of black gloves made of some unknown material from her ninja pouch.
"?!!"
Hidden in the bushes, Ino Yamanaka froze in shock. For no clear reason, an image from childhood surfaced in her mind. The weak girl who would tear up after being bullied, mocked as "wide forehead."
Then she looked again at Sakura Haruno, now pulling the gloves snugly over both hands, her eyes locked on her enemy with a fierce glare.
Ino's heart suddenly started to race. Could it be that the once-fragile Sakura actually carried a sense of dominance now? This strange feeling left Ino deeply unsettled.
Sakura's opponent, the Sound ninja Kin, believed the pink-haired girl in front of her was just bluffing. She drew her kunai and deliberately sliced toward Sakura's long hair, threatening to cut it all off.
Creak.
The sound of gloved hands clenching into fists.
Sakura Haruno didn't waste a single word on Kin.
With her usual shout of "Die!", Kin and the others lying in wait watched as Sakura leapt high into the air.
Kin sneered, calmly calculating the angle of Sakura's punch.
She shifted her body slightly, convinced that dodging a punch from a twelve-year-old Konoha genin would be more than enough.
But then—
BOOM!!!
Before Kin could even react to the thunderous impact, the ground beneath her feet shifted, throwing her completely off balance.
Sakura had never planned to land a direct hit on Kin from the start.
What she wanted was a real strike when her opponent let her guard down.
Planting her palm on the ground, she released chakra in an instant, smashing it straight into Kin's shinbone. Then she swept upward toward the side of Kin's head.
Kin instinctively raised an arm to protect her head, but the force of that swift sweep sent her flying straight toward one of her companions.
In that split second, Sakura reached out and grabbed Kin's long hair, channeling chakra into her fingers. The momentum of Kin's body and Sakura's brutal grip collided at once.
When Kin was sent flying, she didn't even register the searing pain that should have torn through her scalp and nerves.
Her companions clearly hadn't planned to step in either. Seeing Kin crash straight toward him, Zaku thrust both hands forward, revealing the Wind Hole in his palms.
[Decapitating Airwaves!!]
Kin was struck by a second heavy blow. Her internal organs were damaged, and she spat out a mouthful of blood before collapsing to the side.
All of this happened within just a few seconds.
The Konoha ninja hiding in the grass were completely stunned.
This was…
That Sakura Haruno?!!
First, Sasuke summoned a massive snake. Then someone revealed that Naruto was supposedly the future Seventh Hokage.
And now Sakura was showing this kind of monstrous strength.
Did Team 7 seriously all get buffed at the same time?!
After that, Rock Lee and Sakura fought side by side against Zaku and Dosu.
One relied on overwhelming taijutsu strength and incredible agility. The other used exquisitely precise chakra control to amplify her raw power to absurd levels.
Yet somehow, the two of them worked together with perfect coordination.
In the end, they defeated all three Sound ninja, though both Sakura and Lee were injured.
Rock Lee's ears were bleeding badly, and he couldn't hear a thing. Sakura used medical ninjutsu to treat him.
Lee was deeply moved, but Sakura simply felt it was only fair to return the favor.
Neji and Tenten arrived after following the noise. Sakura explained that she didn't have any scrolls on her, then bent down, picked up a strand of Kin's long hair from the ground, and prepared to leave.
Lee asked curiously,
"Sakura-san, what's that in your hand…?"
Sakura stopped in her tracks. With her back to Lee, she gripped the black strands of hair and tilted her head slightly.
"Loot."
This time, it wasn't just Ino. Even the others felt her presence was insanely cool.
So…
Team 7 really was cheating, right?!!!
Shikamaru muttered "what a pain" under his breath, wondering what on earth had happened to that idiot Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
At the same time, Hinata from Team Kurenai felt a quiet sadness as she realized the distance between herself and Naruto was growing wider and wider. That feeling only made her want to work even harder to chase after him.
...
Compared to Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke was facing even bigger trouble.
Not long after the three of them split up, Sasuke, unsurprisingly, entered a dense forest...
Just like the time he fought Orochimaru, the forest was so dark that once inside, it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night outside.
Sasuke stopped in his tracks and glanced toward a distant spot.
"Come out."
The person tailing him slowly revealed himself from behind a tree...
It was Gaara, the Sunagakure genin who had not long ago clashed with the Sand Eye.
After encountering Sasuke Uchiha twice, Gaara had confirmed that this person was worthy of being his opponent.
In other words, according to Gaara's creed as a genin, only by killing a stronger opponent could he prove that he truly existed in this world. Only then could he prove his reason for living, the meaning of his life.
The moment Sasuke met those icy eyes, he could already tell that the other party was determined to fight to the death.
"You want the scroll I'm holding?"
Even as he asked, Sasuke didn't believe for a second that Gaara had come just to steal a scroll.
"The scroll?" Gaara's voice was cold and flat, without the slightest ripple. "I got that kind of thing a long time ago."
They had been provoked by ninja from other villages. After killing them with Sand Burial, they discovered the scrolls on their bodies were exactly the ones they needed. It had been effortless.
Later, they were briefly delayed after spotting Orochimaru, and then headed straight for the tower.
Leaving the scrolls with Kankurō and Temari, Gaara came out alone to look for Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke knew the other man simply wanted a fight, and he had no fear of one.
Gaara's gaze gave him an inhuman feeling, but the pressure he exuded before battle was nowhere close to Madara's.
Even so...
The intent to fight to the death between the two of them was suffocating, making the tension impossible to ignore.
Especially Gaara. His killing intent surged so violently that it affected the insects and animals hidden in the forest. Their instincts seemed to sense a warning on the level of a natural disaster, causing them to flee the area long in advance.
Pop.
The stopper on the gourd strapped to Gaara's back was pushed out by an unseen force and fell to the ground.
Sasuke watched as a massive wave of sand surged toward him, as if it had a will of its own.
He jumped back instantly. The sand spread across the ground, split into several streams, then rushed toward him again.
The evasive skills Sasuke had honed under Madara Uchiha's training allowed him to deal with the sand smoothly. His feet tapped lightly against the ground as he dodged left and right, pulling more distance between himself and Gaara.
He had originally planned to test the maximum range at which the sand could be controlled, but the actual range turned out to be far, far greater than he had imagined. With no choice, Sasuke switched tactics and went on the offensive.
However, after launching Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Sasuke realized that Gaara's sand defense far exceeded its offensive power.
The endless flow of sand wrapped Gaara up completely, sealing him so tightly that he took no damage at all.
Abandoning Fire Release, Sasuke switched to close combat and attacked Gaara with taijutsu.
Gaara used his Sand Clone Technique, locking Sasuke into a stalemate in hand-to-hand combat.
After nearly two hours of fighting, both Sasuke and Gaara were starting to grow impatient.
Sasuke was faster than Gaara, but Gaara's Absolute Defense left him with no good way to break through.
At present, Sasuke only knew the Uchiha clan's Fire Release techniques. Their wide range made them ill-suited for focused attacks compared to Lightning Release. Shuriken were almost useless against Gaara's sand defense, the Sharingan couldn't copy Sand Release, and he was unwilling to use his trump card, Manda, so easily.
On Gaara's side, the prolonged inability to finish the fight, combined with Shukaku's constant noise in his head, made his headaches and bloodlust even worse. As the battle dragged on, the pain and agitation caused him to lose control of the sand attacking Sasuke, forcing him to rely solely on Absolute Defense to passively endure Sasuke's assaults.
In the following exchanges, Sasuke further boosted his speed and taijutsu power by activating the Sharingan.
Meanwhile, Gaara had wrapped himself completely in sand, forming a shape like a sea urchin.
Through a narrow crack, Sasuke caught sight of Gaara's face inside. His expression changed instantly, his pupils shrinking sharply.
Gaara's face and condition within the sand...
...were almost exactly the same as Naruto during the Nine-Tails chakra rampage in the Land of Waves.
What the hell was going on here?!