Naruto did not answer the question of their next move directly. Instead, he pondered for a moment and looked at the two of them.
"I found something out," Naruto said. "The Chunin Exams were originally only planned to have three rounds. Although the final round will make the examinees give it their all, it is actually more of a performance... Therefore, the Third Hokage will not allow too many ninja to enter the third round."
Sasuke's eyes flickered as he immediately understood Naruto's meaning. "So what you mean is..."
"We not only need to obtain the Earth Scroll," Naruto stated the next part of the plan in an even tone, "we also need to seize as many scrolls as possible from teams from other ninja villages. Only then can we ensure that a preliminary round will not be added at the last minute because the number of participants exceeds expectations."
A worried look appeared on Sakura's face, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the kunai in her hand. "The purpose of doing this... is just to avoid an unnecessary preliminary round?"
Her voice was somewhat hesitant.
Among Team 7's three members, Sakura was the weakest. She instinctively felt uneasy about a plan that involved actively provoking battles.
Naruto looked at Sakura, his gaze utterly unwavering, and explained, "That's right. According to the intelligence I obtained..."
"If there is a preliminary round, the three-person team battles will become random individual matches. When that happens, it is very possible that teammates—or even people from the same village—will face each other. And those who lose in the preliminaries... will directly lose their qualification to advance to the third round."
Sakura and Sasuke fell into thought upon hearing this.
Naruto paused briefly to let them absorb his words before continuing, "Conversely, if we