The Gap

Sasuke Uchiha, whose speed and strength had both increased dramatically, instantly defeated the kunoichi Kin. Then he wrapped his shuriken in the Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique and attacked Zaku again. The attack came so fast that Zaku had no time to dodge. He could only counter with the Cutting Air Wave, trying to blow away the flames. But the shuriken emerged from the fire and struck him squarely. Before the horrified Zaku could react, Sasuke was already on top of him. For Zaku, whose main means of attack was his air waves, fighting Sasuke at close range was pure agony. In an instant, Sasuke had seized his arms, twisted them behind his back, and pinned him to the ground.

The battle ended far sooner than anyone had expected. Feeling the rush that came with such overwhelming power, Sasuke couldn't help laughing. His ruthless, merciless attitude was nothing like his usual self. The Cursed Seal was unconsciously stirring the darkness buried deep within his heart.

Dosu, seeing that both his teammates had been taken down, chose to yield before Sasuke's overwhelming strength. In the end, Dosu knelt and begged for mercy, then handed over his scroll. He left with Zaku, whose arms were injured, and Kin, who was unconscious.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you may be strong, but I'm no weakling either. If we fought to the death, the outcome would still be uncertain. If we meet again, then we'll settle things once and for all."

Of the Sound Ninja Trio, Dosu was probably the only one with even the faintest trace of decency. In the original story, he repeatedly stopped his teammates from committing pointless acts of murder. He was willing to kneel and beg Sasuke to save his teammates, and during the Chunin Ninja Exams, he went easy on Choji Akimichi. Among the three Sound Ninja, Dosu was the one most like a normal person. That was already a rare quality among the twisted people who had risen to prominence through bloodshed and conflict.

The one thing Dosu couldn't accept was that Orochimaru, whom he admired, had used him as a whetstone for Sasuke Uchiha. As a discarded pawn, his last hope was to defeat Sasuke Uchiha fair and square in the Chunin Ninja Exams and prove his worth.

"It's not time yet. First, I need to verify a few things. Then I'll face Sasuke in a fight to the death."

With the Sound Ninja gone, Sakura Haruno finally breathed a sigh of relief. But if she thought it was all over, she was celebrating far too soon.

The power of the Cursed Seal was constantly affecting Sasuke Uchiha. Its corrosive effect on his body and soul was no joke. His usual caution was nowhere to be seen. Sasuke wanted to vent all the grievances he had ever suffered, and his newfound strength gave him the confidence to do it.

"You hiding in the shadows—come out if you've got the guts." Sasuke didn't hesitate to taunt the intruders he sensed lurking nearby.

Now that they had been spotted, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten stepped out without hesitation.

"So it's you guys. Perfect." Sasuke had been brooding ever since Rock Lee had beaten him so badly not long ago. At last, he had the strength to fight back.

"We're not here to fight you. We just saw Sakura being bullied, so we came to—"

Before Rock Lee could finish, Sasuke suddenly attacked, knocking him to the ground with a flurry of punches and kicks.

"You're a lot slower than you were before the exam."

Caught off guard by Sasuke's sudden increase in strength, Rock Lee had completely underestimated him. And it seemed Sasuke had no intention of holding back. It only took a few blows to injure Lee.

The opponent he had once been powerless to resist had become a defeated foe in the blink of an eye. Sasuke's confidence swelled to the point that he could no longer hold back. He blurred out of sight and appeared behind Neji Hyuga.

"I heard you were last year's top student, and that you even called yourself Konoha's strongest Genin. Let me see what you can do."

Just as Sasuke was about to deal with Neji the same way he had dealt with Rock Lee, he suddenly realized he couldn't move.

"This is why rookies never know their place." Neji calmly turned around and assumed the standard Gentle Fist stance. Chakra had already sealed off the surrounding space. Completely ignorant of the Hyuga Clan and the Gentle Fist, Sasuke had arrogantly walked right into Neji's trap.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Mizuki might have looked down on the Hyuga Clan's use of the Byakugan, mocking them for using a machine gun like a hammer. But in certain situations, the Byakugan could be devastating in battle. It was especially effective at suppressing opponents who were clearly weaker, and once someone fell into the rhythm of the Gentle Fist, it was hard to turn the tables. Sasuke Uchiha was a pitiful fool who rushed in without even a basic understanding of the Hyuga, then got taken down before he could even show what he could do. Neji's Gentle Fist landed squarely on Sasuke.

"How is this possible?" Sasuke was helpless as Neji beat him mercilessly. The huge gap in their strength instantly doused his hotheaded confidence.

"Fool. You think winning one fight because Lee let his guard down makes you invincible? You don't understand the difference between rookies and us." Neji didn't hesitate to expose Sasuke's false sense of strength. Then he stepped forward and took the scroll the Sound Ninja Trio had given him. Sasuke's chakra network had been sealed, leaving him unable to circulate chakra or move at all.

"We'll take this as our spoils. Until next time. I hope you'll manage to interest me a little more. Honestly, that little bit of exercise just now wasn't even as effective as my usual training with Lee."

The stronger side made the rules. Faced with Neji's taunts, Sasuke had no way to argue back.

"Oh, and one piece of advice: whether I'm the strongest Genin is debatable, but even the strongest Genin is still just a Genin." With that, Neji and Tenten helped Rock Lee up and left.

"Damn it!" Now that he had calmed down, Sasuke couldn't help feeling frustrated. "Was I too impatient?" As the Cursed Seal faded, the aftereffects of pushing his body too far quickly set in. Exhausted, Sasuke swayed unsteadily. Sakura hurried over to support him.

"How are you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I just can't use chakra for a little while, so I'm temporarily out of the fight."

"That's good," Sakura said. As long as he was all right, that was what mattered. In the heart of a girl in love, nothing was more important. She was still worried about Orochimaru and about the Cursed Seal that had covered Sasuke's body, but for now she could set those worries aside. Once the exam was over, Kakashi-sensei would surely be able to help resolve everything.

Not long after everything had settled down, Sasuke and the others were resting when someone else suddenly arrived.

"Why is it you guys?" It was the Ino-Shika-Cho team.

"Looks like you're not doing much better than we are." Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara immediately sized up each other's situation.

As the main team joined up with the Ino-Shika-Cho group, the two teams—both in dire straits in the Forest of Death—decided to work together. Meanwhile, in the woods not far away, a flash of light glinted off a pair of glasses. It was Kabuto Yakushi, who had watched the whole thing unfold.