Konoha Crush Plan

The matches passed one after another.

One thrilling match after another had every spectator cheering in excitement.

At this point, no one brought up the contestants' average age anymore.

Because all of them—whether Konoha's eight youngsters or Sunagakure's three—had displayed strength and strategy far beyond that of ordinary chunin.

Even some of the chunin watching from the stands began to doubt themselves. Had they taken some kind of backdoor route when they became chunin?

"Finally, it's Uchiha Sasuke's turn!"

"The others' matches have already been this amazing. He's the last descendant of the Uchiha Clan—I've decided, I'm betting this month's entire salary on him!"

"Hey, hey, hey! You're kidding, right?"

"..."

"The new generation's overall quality is really high," Kotetsu Hagane remarked. He had every reason to suspect that if any one of those on the field had been placed in their examination back then, they could have taken first place.

"What's even more terrifying is that most of them only graduated this year." Izumo Kamizuki could not help clicking his tongue.

Sunagakure's three might have been somewhat older, but compared to the average promotion age of twenty for chunin, they were still incredibly young.

"...Truly terrifying."

"Konoha really does produce talent after talent..." Even the Sand ninja siblings had no choice but to admit that fact.

They knew their own situation best.

Among the three of them, aside from Gaara, they were actually several years older than the Konoha ninja across from them.

In other words, a large part of why they could stand here now was because of their age advantage.

At the same age, could they compete equally with the Konoha ninja on the other side? To be honest, they had no confidence.

Perhaps they could explain it through their backgrounds. After all, the ninja opposite them were basically direct descendants of Konoha Ninja Clans. But weren't they also the children of the Fourth Kazekage?

"It's Gaara's match..." Kankuro watched his younger brother's back, his tone unreadable. It was impossible to tell whether he was lamenting or grieving.

"..." Temari glanced at the Fourth Kazekage on the raised platform, wondering what their "father" was thinking now...

The privilege of their birth had given them food, clothing, and a future free of obstacles;

But they had also paid the corresponding price: harsh training, cold family relationships, a life path planned out for them...

Gaara had it even worse. In order to gain more political resources, their "father" had willingly turned his child, still swaddled in his mother's arms, into the One-Tails Jinchuriki.

Indifference, discrimination, assassination...

From then on, they had become things Gaara would face for the rest of his life.

No.

His short life.

Watching her younger brother's back, Temari felt a faint ache in her heart. Both she and Kankuro understood that this might be the last time they saw Gaara, the last time they stood with their own younger brother.

After all, in the Konoha Crush Plan, Gaara's mission was to release the One-Tails within Konoha's ninja village.

Releasing a "nuclear weapon" inside the enemy's stronghold, even if that "release" was not of his own will;

Whether the plan succeeded or failed.

Gaara would have only one outcome.

That was—

Death!!

It was a tragic thing, but it was the truth.

Of course, if Gaara chose to defect from the village, then with his strength, he might be able to survive.

But from childhood, they had been taught to sacrifice everything for the village, that the village's interests stood above all else.

Even if it meant offering up their own lives.

Through their families' influence, their relatives' example, and the education of their schools, that belief had already taken root in their thoughts and actions.

So for this Konoha Crush Plan, even though the outcome had long been clear, they could not run from it, nor would they.

Time passed second by second.

To everyone's disappointment, the last descendant of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Sasuke, still had not appeared.

Theories of him running away, conspiracy theories... all sorts of speculation kept surfacing in the minds of the spectators.

Especially the nobles running the bets. They could no longer sit still.

They began guessing whether someone had bumped off Uchiha Sasuke to reap the profits.

The Uchiha Clan's influence might have been immense, but that was influence from the past, especially when enough profit was involved.

With only two survivors left, the Uchiha Clan no longer possessed the strength to make certain ambitious people wary.

A ninja whispered something into the chief examiner's ear. After listening, the chief examiner addressed all the anxious spectators in the arena:

"Wait another ten minutes!"

"...Is this the weight the Uchiha Clan carries?"

On the second floor, all the competitors remained silent.

If Uchiha Sasuke had been replaced by one of them, would anyone have been willing to wait?

Probably not.

Though cruel, they understood that this was reality...

The clock hand ticked forward slowly, while the audience's hearts felt as though they were being scratched by cat claws, unbearably itchy.

The more they could not have it, the more they yearned for it.

That was exactly the current situation.

If Sasuke had appeared according to schedule, the attention on him might not have been this great.

But the longer Sasuke failed to appear, the more he became the grand finale, and the more eagerly every spectator anticipated his arrival.

Just as one minute remained.

Boom!

Amid dispersing smoke, two figures slowly appeared in everyone's sight.

Whoaa!!!

Once they saw the newcomers' faces clearly, the arena erupted like explosives with a lit fuse.

"Hiss..."

Among their peers, every boy watching the scene felt his teeth ache.

They knew he was good at showing off, but they had never imagined he was this good at it.

"As expected of Sasuke, he's so cool!" Ino cheered. "Right, Sakura?"

"Right." Sakura let out a deep breath and collapsed weakly into her chair. She had truly been afraid—afraid that Sasuke had been taken away by that Orochimaru.

Seeing her childhood friend recover from her frazzled state, Ino also breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're not late, are we?" Kakashi asked with a smile, scratching his head.

"Just barely. The match is about to begin." The chief examiner shook his head slightly. After Kakashi left, he looked at the two people facing each other and immediately announced the start of the match.

"Sand Waterfall, Gaara..."

Uchiha Sasuke looked at the Sand ninja opposite him, exhaled softly, and vanished from where he stood.

Bang bang bang!

Within just a few breaths, several waves of sand burst around Gaara's body. They were proof that he had been attacked.

"Rock Lee, that looks like your move." Shikamaru looked toward the green-clad boy beside him.

Lee's opponent in the Preliminary Round had been Kiba, whose luck had been absurdly good.

Although Kiba had been lucky, unfortunately, against Rock Lee's crushing strength, there had not been the slightest suspense. He had been defeated outright.

Rock Lee watched Uchiha Sasuke on the field, whose speed had already rivaled his own when he removed his ankle weights, and remained silent.

He no longer remembered how many laps he had run, how much blood he had shed, how many bandages he had changed, or how much ointment he had applied in order to gain that speed...

Just one month. A mere month.

Sasuke had gained speed nearly equal to his own.

Mediocrity and genius?

The question he had only erased from his mind a month ago surfaced once more.

Compared to a genius...

Does hard work really matter?

Please vote!