News of the Chunin Exams

Hokage's office. Three application forms. White. Thin. The door opened—and there were ninja from every nation. All kinds of bloodline limits. All kinds of drops.

Kakashi stood beside the Third Hokage. "The Chunin Exams. One month from now. Whether you participate is your choice. But—my recommendation is that you do."

Naruto was the first to grab one. "Finally."

Sasuke did not reach out. But his eyes rested on the application form. After the Land of Waves, he understood. He was still far too weak compared to the person he wanted to kill. The Chunin Exams were for becoming stronger.

Ringo looked at the application form. The system trembled softly. It was anticipation. More than a hundred candidates. Every battle would mean drops. One month. He had to be ready.

"I'm in."

Naruto turned to him. "Of course you are. Who else is going to work with me?"

Sasuke said nothing.

...His hand reached for an application form and took it. There was no need to say anything.

Kakashi looked at the three of them. The eye beneath his forehead protector narrowed slightly. You three finally look like a team.

Konoha's streets. Afternoon. Usually quiet. Today, they had more color. Forehead protectors. The Land of Wind. The Land of Earth. The Land of Lightning. They were observing their opponents. The world, crammed into Konoha's streets.

Ringo walked down the street. The system was trembling continuously. Something was drawing closer from a certain direction. Something was approaching.

At the street corner.

Three people. Their forehead protectors marked them as Sand ninja. The one walking in front was not the tallest. He carried a gourd on his back. Sand. Sand stained with blood. It carried chakra. Something heavier lay within the sand. Will. A monster's will.

Gaara.

The system lit up. Orange.

[Detected: Tailed Beast-level chakra: One-Tail · Shukaku: Orange fragments: Continuously triggered: Source: Gaara of the Sand Waterfall: Warning: Continuous trigger within 100 meters of this person: Recommendation: Leave immediately: Or: Prepare to synthesize:]

Orange. The third time. The first had been Kakashi's Sharingan. He had not synthesized it. The second had been Naruto's Nine-Tails. He had not picked it up. The third was Gaara. Fifteen meters away. An opponent.

Ringo did not tap collect. Picking it up now would mean exposing himself. Exposing his location. Exposing his intentions. Exposing, I noticed you.

But Gaara had already noticed him.

The sand in the gourd trembled. The sand was sensing for him. Marking him for him.

"You."

Gaara's voice seemed to come from the sand. Like dust. Dry. Emotionless. But his eyes were watching him. Watching Ringo.

"You smell strange. Like creation. You are dangerous. I'll remember you."

Ringo did not retreat. He could not retreat. Retreating would be an admission. This was a street, with Anbu and Kakashi around. It was not deserted.

Naruto stood beside him. His body was trembling. The Nine-Tails inside him was stirring. Shukaku. Too close. The tailed beasts were roaring at each other through their two hosts. Naruto gripped his kunai, his knuckles turning white. He was holding it down.

Gaara glanced at Naruto. At his stomach. At the seal. He knew too. Shukaku was saying, The Nine-Tails is inside that blond brat.

He left. He had already marked two people. Ringo. Naruto. The Chunin Exams would be a hunting ground.

Sound returned to the street. Yet Ringo felt that it was quieter than before. The kind of quiet after being watched, when every sound around you became background noise. He looked back. The three Sand ninja had vanished around the corner. The gourd's shadow stretched long across the wall, like a tail.

"That gourd," Ringo murmured. "It isn't filled with sand. It's—"

He did not finish. Naruto picked up the thought. "Blood. I smelled it."

The Nine-Tails growled low inside its sealed cage. Naruto could hear it. Ringo could not. But he saw Naruto's wrist trembling. Not from fear. Chakra was pushing outward, orange chakra seeping through his skin like red-hot iron.

Sasuke had not said a word from beginning to end.

...But his Sharingan had activated on its own. When Gaara passed by, his body had felt it. Killing intent. Experience. A monster's.

"That person," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "Isn't human."

Ringo did not answer. But he knew it was more complicated than that. A person devoured by a monster. Someone who could not sleep, because if he did, Shukaku would emerge. Someone afraid to close his eyes. Someone who had never been treated as a person.

The system was still trembling. Orange. It posed a question. Could he let him sleep just once?

Hokage's office. Kakashi stood before the Third Hokage. Smoke from the pipe rose slowly through the evening light.

"Gaara of the Sand ninja. The One-Tail's jinchuriki. Today, in the street, he locked eyes with Naruto and Ringo. It was a tailed beast resonance. The Nine-Tails and Shukaku met each other in front of Ringo."

The Third Hokage set down his pipe. "And Ringo?"

"Gaara marked him. It was Gaara's own judgment. He said Ringo was 'very dangerous.'"

The Third Hokage fell silent, then smiled. It was amusement. Interesting. You're right. He is dangerous, but not in the way you understand. It is—creation.

"Protect him," the Third Hokage said. "Not from getting hurt. Protect him from being misunderstood."

Kakashi nodded. I already am.

At night, in his own room, the application form still unfilled, Ringo opened the system and organized the card slots. White ×7. Purple ×3. Gold ×2. Ice Release was gone. Boil Release remained. Kin+. The Hidden Mist Assassination Technique was there too. They were proof. Zabuza and Haku. Two cards. Two people. Remembered.

He picked up his pen and wrote his name. It was a promise. Not I'm going to participate, but I'm going to protect the people I want to protect. Team 7. Naruto. Sasuke. Kakashi. And Hinata.

The pen stopped. He was thinking about what she had said. Shoulder to shoulder. Together. Together with you.

The system lit up gold. It was confirmation. Ready.

"The Chunin Exams. One month. Ninja from every nation will gather. Kakashi said this was a performance. But—to me, this is a harvest. An understanding.

"How many strong people within a hundred meters? How many drops? They will be remembered. More people will be remembered."

Moonlight shone over the white paper. It waited. One month. Every battle. Every drop. Every synthesis. They would grow heavier. They would remember.

"Gaara, you said I'm dangerous. Is it because I know what you are? A person. Someone who has never slept. If you're my opponent in the Chunin Exams, I will let you sleep once. Let you know what it means to be understood. Just as Haku showed me that being needed needs no reason."

He put down his pen. Moonlight cut in through the window, cutting across the white paper. Beside his name was a small patch of shadow—the shadow of the hand holding the pen. He looked at his hand. The lines in his palm were faint. His grandmother had said that people with faint palm lines had light fates. He did not believe it. But whenever he saw them, he still thought of it.

There were twelve white cards and five purple cards in the card slots. Boil Release's gold card glowed in the deepest part of the slot. It seemed to breathe, brightening and dimming as though waiting for something. Ringo reached out and touched the edge of the gold fragment—it was hot. Not the kind of heat that burned. It was—alive.

He withdrew his hand. Moonlight shone on his fingertips. There was a small red mark, a trace of heat. Tiny. It would disappear by tomorrow. But he remembered it. Boil Release is waiting for me. Waiting one month. Waiting for the Chunin Exams. Waiting until I can truly use it.

The card slot trembled softly. Not orange—gold. It was Boil Release. It was understanding.