Before the Preliminaries

Sasuke's persistent questioning after a long silence left Naruto speechless. Sakura, feeling a bit nervous, was afraid the two of them would suddenly start fighting... mainly, she was afraid Naruto might accidentally break Sasuke.

"Heh..."

Naruto let out a light sigh, a mix of surprise and relief. Compared to his past self who admired the excellent Sasuke, had he underestimated the current Sasuke too much?

Scratching his head, he said, "Since you want to know... it's fine to tell you." Not wanting the other teammate to feel left out, Naruto added, "Hinata, you should listen too... coincidentally, in the upcoming 'Third Exam Preliminaries,' there are things you need to pay attention to."

In his memory, Hinata had been badly beaten by Neji in this preliminary match.

Naruto felt conflicted. He didn't want Hinata to fight, but it was also inappropriate to stop her. If he let her fight... he couldn't bear to see it. Even though Hinata was a bit stronger than she was at this point in his memory, she still couldn't possibly defeat the genius Neji, right?

Hmm... should he give Hinata some of Kurama's chakra then?

Naruto thought to himself, he really hoped the grouping for the matches... would change.

Hinata herself looked a little stunned by Naruto's words. Sasuke, on the other hand, was serious and ready to listen carefully to what Naruto was about to say.

Naruto organized his thoughts and slowly began, "As I said, this Orochimaru, his appearance this time is actually aimed at you, Sasuke." Seeing Sasuke nod, he continued, "In the memories I received, if I were just a normal genin... according to the original historical trajectory, Sasuke, you would have graduated as the top student of our genin class. I would have been assigned to Team 7 as the dead last, and the other teammate would be Sakura, who performed more averagely."

Huh!? Hinata was quite surprised to hear that Sakura was originally a member of Team 7.

Sasuke didn't react. He didn't have any impression of this "Sakura" and didn't think anyone's Byakugan would be more suitable for their team than Hinata's.

"So, after Orochimaru infiltrated the Chunin Exams, he directly approached our Team 7, who 'weren't very strong.' At that time, I couldn't freely use Kurama's power yet, and Sasuke, you only had the Sharingan with two tomoe. As for Sakura... she hadn't grown yet."

"Orochimaru 'sealed' my movements, and after briefly testing your strength, he placed a special 'Curse Mark' he developed on you."

Sasuke frowned, "Curse Mark?"

Naruto nodded and continued, "That's a curse mark Orochimaru developed using natural energy. It allows the carrier to directly obtain the power contained within the curse mark, but it also simultaneously erodes the carrier's body..."

He glanced at a serious Sasuke, "And at that time, Sasuke, after witnessing Orochimaru's power, you deeply felt your own weakness... and because you experienced the power brought by the curse mark, you, who were deeply trapped in hatred and unable to extricate yourself... chose to defect from Konoha and defect to Orochimaru!"

Hinata looked at Sasuke in shock. Sasuke also frowned deeply, but he still nodded, "If we remove the influence you've had over these years, Naruto..." He thought seriously and said, "I don't think it's strange for me to have acted that way."

Naruto smiled helplessly, let out a breath, and said, "Orochimaru has a secret jutsu, which he boasts is a ninjutsu for eternal youth and immortality... that is his unique Body Transfer Jutsu! He can use another person's body as a vessel to house his own soul!"

Hinata listened intently and couldn't help but ask, "Then if Sasuke defected to that Orochimaru, wouldn't that mean..."

Sasuke slowly shook his head. He said softly, "I think, in that me's heart... avenging that man was more important than his own life."

Naruto nodded, silent.

"What happened next?" Sasuke asked.

"Later... due to the limitations of his own ninjutsu, Orochimaru didn't immediately transfer into you. Instead, he acted as your master and guided your training for three years. However, after three years, when he was preparing to take over your body, you killed him," Naruto said calmly.

"Heh..." Sasuke actually chuckled, "To personally train a member of the Uchiha clan... this Orochimaru is quite confident, isn't he..."

Naruto smiled and then turned to Hinata, "Let's talk about the upcoming exam... when we reach the tower, we'll have a preliminary match for the third exam inside, and the matches in my memory are..."

"You, Sasuke, will fight a Konoha ninja named Dosu Kinuta... but I think their team probably won't pass the second exam this time."

Because Kabuto was captured.

"I'll be fighting Kiba, and I win."

"And Hinata, you..."

Naruto looked at Hinata's pure and beautiful face with some complexity. Her clear white eyes seemed devoid of any impurities... he said, "Your opponent is Hyuga Neji!"

"Brother Neji...?" Hinata was startled. She knew what a genius her cousin Neji from the branch family was. Even though she lived deep within the Main Family compound, she often heard his various pronouncements.

He was known as the most talented Hyuga clan member in decades.

Can I... contend with that... Brother Neji?

"The result was that you, Hinata, lost, and were even severely injured by that Neji fellow." Naruto clenched his fist slightly. His memory didn't contain the emotions of his past self. Even though Neji died protecting them during the war... Naruto didn't have a good impression of him.

After all, the Neji who died was not the current arrogant, conceited, and resentful Neji.

Indeed... Hinata lowered her head in dejection. Am I still... not good enough...

How can I even slightly catch up to... Naruto-kun's footsteps?

She felt very dejected.

A hand was placed on top of Hinata's head.

It was Naruto's hand.

"Don't worry! Hinata!" he said with a smile, comforting her, "I will definitely protect you... As for that Neji fellow..." He scratched his face, "I don't care, I won't let him hurt you! If this guy starts rambling... I'll beat him senseless!"

Hinata looked up, gazing at this confident, shy, and somewhat clumsy Naruto. The warmth from his palm on her head... she nodded with a blush.

"Yeah!"

I feel... a little happy.

Naruto realized and awkwardly withdrew his hand, scratching his face.

Sasuke watched from the side, speechless, and turned to look at the scenery.

On the third day, Team 7, while steadily advancing towards the central tower in the Forest of Death, continued their individual training and sparring drills... they had pretty much stopped paying attention to other genin teams.

During this time, the First Hokage had already been released from Impure World Reincarnation and had left the land he loved so dearly.

Karin was also picked up by Tsunade and the others. As for the negotiations with Kusagakure, the routine checks on Karin's identity, and various other procedures, those were not Naruto's concerns.

He wasn't the Hokage.

Sasuke was sparring with Hinata. Sasuke wanted to get used to dealing with the Byakugan and Gentle Fist, while Hinata also needed to try and counter an opponent of Sasuke's caliber... Naruto, of course, was watching from the sidelines.

Sharingan!

The three tomoe slowly spun, and Hinata was instantly trapped in a genjutsu.

"Huh? Does Hinata's Byakugan have no counter to genjutsu?" Naruto asked curiously after Hinata emerged from the illusion. He thought the Byakugan was quite strong and was surprised she fell for Sasuke's genjutsu so easily.

Sasuke was also puzzled. When he was younger, he had only heard that the Hyuga's Byakugan was difficult to deal with...

Hinata blushed and shyly explained, "It was my own carelessness... When I was little, Father once told me that when dealing with the Sharingan, you just need to open your Byakugan and close your eyes, or avoid making eye contact with the Sharingan..."

She had just made direct eye contact with Sasuke. Sasuke, being an exceptionally talented Uchiha elite, had keenly seized the opportunity and used the Sharingan's genjutsu.

When I was little... Sasuke thought, his heart sinking slightly.

Naruto didn't understand genjutsu very well... He just scratched his face.

It's just genjutsu. Even if it's that Tsukuyomi thing, you don't need to worry with me here.

Kurama grumbled within Naruto, showing disdain for the Uchiha clan.

On the fourth day, Team 7 continued with their tasks. Since they already had the scroll, there was no rush at all.

Training.

Catching fish.

Chatting.

Traveling.

On the fifth day, at the last moment, Team 7 finally arrived at the tower and submitted the Heaven and Earth scrolls.