The venue filled up in no time, and the atmosphere quickly grew lively.
"Place your bets! There are plenty of famous ninjas in this Chunin Exam. The betting's open, folks—put your money on whoever catches your eye!"
In Konoha, a ninja who specialized in this sort of thing was busy hawking his betting pool.
The many spectators soon began chatting among themselves.
"I heard they even convinced someone with Uchiha blood to join this time. I came to see Sasuke Uchiha, but I wonder what he's like!"
"Heh, if you ask me, the real attraction should be the Hyuga Clan. The Uchiha are in decline, after all. I heard they've got this Sora guy who specializes in giving women massages. What a creep!"
"Why bother hoping for something from the Uchiha? You might as well go see the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan. That's a famous Kekkei Genkai too!"
"Have you heard? A Jinchūriki's taking part this time! I wonder who it is. It'd be great if we got to see them fight!"
The spectators were buzzing with excitement. Not everyone in attendance was a ninja.
A large portion of them were influential and wealthy people from Konoha and the Land of Fire.
Most of them had come to watch the exam just for fun.
By now, almost everyone had arrived. The Hokage coughed, drawing everyone's attention.
"Everyone, listen up! All the contestants and most of the spectators have gathered. The matches are about to begin. We'll draw lots to decide the first match!"
"Contestants, get ready!"
"The first match... Rock Lee versus Gaara!"
The venue erupted into a deafening uproar.
"No way! Rock Lee? That thick-browed guy from the village? He's going up against a genius from Sunagakure? Is he trying to get himself killed?"
"Yeah! I heard Gaara's incredibly strong. They say he's a Jinchūriki from Sunagakure! This should be quite a show!"
"And I heard Rock Lee doesn't have any chakra. He's got one of the worst talents among ninjas. If he wins, I'll stand on my head and eat shit!"
"Seriously! Why are there always people trying to get a free meal out of this?"
The crowd burst into an uproar.
Down in the stands, Rock Lee's eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
"My dear friend! I never thought I'd be the first to take the field. I'm so excited! Just sit back and admire Konoha's Green Beast!"
As he spoke, Rock Lee gave Uchiha Sora's shoulder a hearty smack, grinned at him, and gave him a thumbs-up.
"You..."
Uchiha Sora's face went dark.
I did help you avoid one fight, but I never thought you'd end up facing Gaara again.
Looks like some battles are just inevitable.
Uchiha Sora was at a loss for words.
Hinata tugged at Uchiha Sora's sleeve.
"Sora, I heard Gaara might be a Jinchūriki from Sunagakure. Will you really be okay?"
Uchiha Sora shook his head calmly.
"Don't worry. The Hokage is watching. Even if he really has a Tailed Beast, the Hokage can save him in a pinch."
Hinata nodded and unconsciously edged closer to Uchiha Sora.
Uchiha Sora's heart began to race.
He could feel something soft against his shoulder!
Damn... she's so young, but she's really well-developed.
No... now's not the time to think about that. I need to find Orochimaru in the crowd and keep my distance from him!
Uchiha Sora shook his head, forcing those thoughts aside.
Where's Orochimaru hiding?
In the original story, Orochimaru had disguised himself as a bald man from Sunagakure.
He had been sitting beside the Hokage.
But things were different this time. Maybe because of Uchiha Sora, Orochimaru wasn't there.
After all, Uchiha Sora had watched him carefully for a while.
It was obvious that the man wasn't Orochimaru.
But where is he now?
Uchiha Sora was stumped. There were simply too many people in the venue.
He couldn't find Orochimaru anytime soon.
Meanwhile,
high up in the stands, the Hokage glanced down at Uchiha Sora.
He chuckled.
"That kid's still shaking his head. Is he nervous?"
Kakashi chuckled beside him.
"I doubt it. I haven't spent much time with the kid, but he seems like the carefree type. He's probably the last person here who'd get nervous."
Nearby, the bald, burly representative from Sunagakure grinned at the Hokage.
"Heh, Lord Hokage, I hear your village has two Uchiha. They're the strongest clan, after all. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing them!"
The Hokage snorted. Something about the people from Sunagakure felt off today, so he warned them.
"I suggest you don't try anything underhanded. There are only two Uchiha left, and those two are one thing. The real issue is Itachi Uchiha. No one knows where he is right now."
There was a hidden warning in the Hokage's words. If they wanted to go after the two Uchiha brothers, they'd better remember that Itachi Uchiha was still out there!
Though Itachi Uchiha had slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan, anyone with enough status knew that the village had actually orchestrated the whole thing.
And Hiruzen Sarutobi might well have been behind it.
Itachi Uchiha had had no choice.
So they all knew that Itachi Uchiha had always looked after his two younger brothers.
After all, they were the only two blood relatives he had left in the world.
And Itachi Uchiha's strength was astounding throughout the entire Ninja World!
Not even the Hokage was an exception; everyone present was wary of him.
More importantly, Itachi Uchiha had no one to hold him back. As the saying went, someone with nothing to lose had nothing to fear.
If they truly pushed him too far, it wouldn't be impossible for him to come after them and wipe out an entire village.
The bald man from Sunagakure chuckled and said no more. Instead, he shifted his gaze to Uchiha Sora and smiled.
"This kid's famous too. Didn't he do the village a great service back then?"
"But I'm still curious about how strong he is. Compared to Sasuke, which of them has more talent?"
The Hokage glanced down at Uchiha Sora, then at Sasuke nearby, weighing them both in his mind.
Honestly, if this had happened before, he would have insisted that Sasuke was stronger. But ever since Uchiha Sora had driven Orochimaru back, he no longer dared to make such claims.
He still couldn't get a clear read on Uchiha Sora's strength, so all he could do was answer vaguely.
"Why don't you compare them yourself once the matches begin?"
Meanwhile, in a corner of the crowd, Orochimaru stared fixedly at Sora.
"That kid acts like he has nothing to fear!"
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