The Fleeting Years!

"I lost!"

The moment the white paper flashed around his neck, the chilling sensation made Naruto's hair stand on end. When Shuyuan announced the winner, he readily admitted defeat.

He slumped to the ground, feeling utterly drained after losing. Even though he still had plenty of Chakra, he just felt incredibly weak.

He had planned to dodge the flying white papers from underground and catch Suzuran off guard, but because he didn't know Earth Release), both his hands ended up bleeding... In the end, he still failed.

Shadow Clones are not a Ninjutsu unique to him.

"Tch! I shouldn't have taken that risk... My hand is all messed up now, I'm sure I'll get yelled at when I get home... Losing feels so... awful!" Naruto muttered to himself, sighing repeatedly. But his dejected state only lasted ten seconds before his idiot talent instantly revived him.

He stood up from the ground, jogged over to Suzuran's side, and began to speak at length about his feelings.

"Hey, Suzuran, what was that move you used? Was it a paper clone? Secret Technique or Kekkei Genkai? I've never seen anything like it before! And it's so powerful, it can both attack and defend, and it can even impair people's sight and hearing..."

"Eh? Um... um..."

Suzuran, who hadn't yet switched back from her battle persona, was thrown into chaos, waving her hands blankly, unsure how to respond to Naruto's barrage of questions.

"Hey! Naruto, you idiot, can't you see Suzuran-chan is upset? If you lost, get out of the way and stop bothering Suzuran-chan."

Ino stepped forward, pulled Suzuran behind her, and waved her hand as if shooing away a pest, trying to drive away Naruto, this big pest.

"What? I just asked Suzuran a few questions, I didn't do anything else."

"Go away, go away! Just being around Lily of the Suzuran is contagious with idiocy."

"Huh? What did you say? Am I a germ?"

"So you do have some self-awareness after all!"

The atmosphere was extremely tense.

Compared to the oblivious Naruto and Ino, Suzuran seemed more confused, standing blankly behind Ino, looking completely lost, which was quite cute.

"Shut up, all of you!"

The chilling shout exploded in everyone's ears like thunder.

A bluish-white wind blade silently passed between Naruto and Ino, raising dust on the ground and creating a deep crack between them.

Naruto instinctively sensed the danger and jumped back a long distance. Ino reacted more slowly, and hurriedly took several steps back, bumping into Suzuran.

"You two... had a lot of fun, didn't you?"

Shuyuan's icy smile was like a biting north wind in the dead of winter, chilling you to the bone.

"Shuyuan, are you... angry?"

Naruto blinked and asked cautiously.

What do you think?

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I won't do it again."

Naruto readily admitted his mistake.

"Hey, Naruto, did you hit your head?" Ino looked at Naruto in disbelief. "You actually apologized and admitted your mistake... Are you a fake? Transformation Jutsu?"

Naruto ignored Ino's nagging, staring intently at Shuyuan, his muscles tense, ready to flee at any moment.

"That's more like it!"

In an instant, as if spring had arrived and flowers had bloomed, and ice and snow had melted, Shuyuan's smiles became warm and gentle, as comfortable as a spring breeze.

"Ino, don't always argue with that idiot Naruto. You know he's an idiot, but you still fight with him. Um... girls should be more reserved!" Shuyuan turned around and said to Ino.

"Well, if that's how it is with Shuyuan, then there's nothing we can do. That's it for now. Suzuran-chan, let's go. The next match is about to begin."

A conflict was averted without a trace.

The second round of the competition began, with Kiba facing off against Shikamaru.

"Is that brat referee... the son of the Calamity?"

Rasa clenched his fists, his palms were icy cold and covered in cold sweat.

The murderous intent in his heart grew wildly like weeds. Konoha was already suffocating under the weight of one natural disaster, and now another 'natural disaster' had appeared. If this continued, there would be no future for the Sand Village... Would they only be able to eke out a living in Konoha's shadow?

Sand Ninja, skilled in Wind Release.

Rasa is one of the best among them.

Shuyuan's Wind Release Technique, which separated the two arguing individuals, was already at the Jonin level; he was absolutely certain of that.

A twelve-year-old Jonin is impressive, but not uncommon. Every village produces two or three similar geniuses every ten or twenty years. For example, Rasa's own youngest son is also twelve years old. Although he only recently became Genin, his strength is already at the Jonin level.

What truly shocked Rasa was the effortless skill with which Rasa handled the situation. It wasn't difficult to unleash an attack at the Jonin level, but the freedom to move at will was something a twelve-year-old kid shouldn't possess. That was a level that could only be honed and reached through repeated real battles.

"Lord Rasa."

The scorpion looked over quietly.

Rasa frowned, but instead of shouting as harshly as before, he glanced at the Ninja Academy teachers who were being held up by the rest of the delegation, and his heart began to pound wildly.

If he could, he really, really wanted to eliminate a future major enemy for the village ahead of time...

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Don't forget whose territory this is."

Suppressing his murderous intent with reason, Rasa looked up at the somewhat old office building and inexplicably felt that a huge monster was lurking in the entire school, and that his every move was being watched.

"What an awful feeling."

Scorpion lowered his head, a strange smile curving his lips—as if he were laughing?

Office.

"Yo, it's been a long time, Itachi."

A flock of pitch-black crows flew in through the open window, gathered together, and instantly transformed into human form.

"Lord Katsuki, please forgive me for not sending my greetings in a long time."

Itachi bowed his head in extremely polite greeting.

"Haha, you're still so serious! There's no need to be so dramatic, just relax. You're the Deputy Chief of Root now... Time really flies."

Seeing Itachi appear indoors, Katsuki sighed deeply.

When he first heard that Itachi was born, he even went to see the future 'Itachi God'. It turns out that the little guy who was so fair and tender back then has grown up to be one of the Twin Stars of the Uchiha Clan, the young and powerful Deputy Chief of Root. Time really is like fleeting clouds, slipping through your fingers as you try to grasp it.

Hearing Katsuki's words, Itachi simply smiled and continued to adhere to the rules and etiquette.

"You're taking this too seriously... Never mind, what brings you here? Someone like you wouldn't just drop by for no reason. Just say what you need!"

Katsuki asked directly. (To be continued)