Lord Hokage! Team 7 Is All Here

Gaara noticed that the situation was inappropriate and could only suppress the rage in his heart, though his eyes remained fixed on Naruto.

Naruto merely grinned, utterly unconcerned.

Kabuto Yakushi, standing nearby, found it strange. He had clearly seen Gaara awaken long ago, so what had happened for Gaara to fall unconscious again? In the end, Anko Mitarashi had to step in and dispel the genjutsu.

Kabuto Yakushi thought, There are too many strange things here. I simply can't make sense of them. The Fourth Kazekage standing beside the Third Hokage should be Lord Orochimaru. I need to report the situation to Lord Orochimaru.

Meanwhile, Naruto secretly observed Kabuto Yakushi. In Naruto's eyes, Kabuto Yakushi was an exceptionally rare talent, practically an expert in the field of espionage when it came to gathering intelligence.

Naruto thought, Kabuto, how wonderful it would be if you could work for me.

At that moment, the Third Hokage glanced over the Genin present. Noticing that Naruto's team was missing one person, he said, "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno's team is short one member and cannot participate in the next round of the exam."

"Lord Hokage! How can you do this?!" Sakura nearly roared. "Sasuke will be back soon!"

Naruto looked completely indifferent. To him, these Chunin Ninja Exams were nothing more than a farce.

"Naruto, say something." Sakura could not accept having their eligibility for the Chunin Ninja Exams taken away so easily.

Unable to refuse Sakura's request, Naruto said, "Lord Hokage, isn't the third round supposed to be one-on-one duels? Whether Sasuke is on our team or not shouldn't prevent us from continuing in the exams."

"Oh! You know quite a lot, Naruto." The Third Hokage explained, "Under the old rules, that would indeed be the case. But the third round will use new rules: it will be a three-person team melee. Only teams with all three members may participate in the third round."

The exam rules had actually changed! The one-on-one duels had been directly changed into team melees. Naruto glanced at the Fourth Kazekage. He knew that the real Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had already been assassinated by Orochimaru. The Fourth Kazekage before him had to be Orochimaru in disguise.

There was only one reasonable explanation for changing the third-round rules so abruptly: Orochimaru had interfered. Other than Orochimaru, who else had the ability to alter the Chunin Ninja Exams' rules?

Orochimaru had changed his strategy, turning the one-on-one duels into a team melee. He wanted to launch the Konoha Crush Plan ahead of schedule.

Naruto thought, No matter how carefully you guard against things, unexpected changes are impossible to prevent. Orochimaru, have you finally run out of patience? You deliberately sped things up, but you've also done me a huge favor.

Because if the rules had not changed, Hinata and Neji would have faced each other in a one-on-one match next. Hinata would have been beaten terribly by Neji and ultimately carried out on a stretcher.

"Hmph." Naruto sneered, thinking, I didn't expect to end up owing Orochimaru a favor. Since he changed the rules, the duel between Hinata and Neji won't happen. Though I was already prepared, I would never allow anyone to hurt Hinata right before my eyes. No matter who it was...

"Th-This..." Hearing the Hokage's words, Sakura's heart filled with despair.

"I withdraw!" Kabuto Yakushi raised his hand high, thinking, Lord Orochimaru is personally taking the field. Then it's time for me to make my exit...

Sakura's eyes widened. She had desperately wanted to take part in the Chunin Ninja Exams, never expecting someone would choose to give up.

With Kabuto Yakushi's withdrawal, his two teammates were eliminated along with him. The two of them cursed Kabuto Yakushi furiously, but Kabuto did not care in the slightest and left with ease.

As Kabuto Yakushi departed, Sasuke entered the hall, with Kakashi beside him.

"I'm back." Sasuke seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet, yet he still said with an imposing air, "Team 7 will continue in the Chunin Ninja Exams. Hmph."

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out joyfully. "You're okay!"

Naruto carefully observed Sasuke's posture. His right arm hung limply at his side, his left hand pressed against his chest, his breathing was too rapid, and his knees were slightly bent, as though even standing took considerable effort.

"Can you still fight in that state?" Naruto spoke so softly that only he could hear himself. Can't you just rest properly? Do you even know what condition you're in?

Sasuke took a deep breath, straightened himself, and walked directly toward Naruto. Once he reached him, he said briefly, "Naruto, I won't hold you back. Just watch." With that, Sasuke stepped aside.

Sakura watched Sasuke with concern, while Naruto felt somewhat guilty.

Naruto asked Kakashi, "How is Sasuke doing?"

Just as Kakashi was about to speak, Sasuke cut him off. "Naruto! I'm fine!"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke and helplessly shook his head. He knew Sasuke's condition well. Sasuke bore both the Heaven's Curse Mark and the Earth Seal. The two curse marks seemed to counterbalance one another, maintaining a delicate equilibrium within Sasuke's body. If that balance were broken, Sasuke's life would be in danger.

At that moment, Kakashi fell into recollection:

Earlier, Kakashi had heard that Sasuke might be in trouble, so he went looking for him. He finally found Sasuke with Iruka. After discovering that Sasuke had been afflicted by Orochimaru's curse mark, he brought Sasuke to a secluded place to perform a sealing technique.

First, he used blood to draw strange incantations on the ground, then drew the same incantations on Sasuke's body. As Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals, he continuously poured chakra into the markings.

As the chakra flowed in, the blood-drawn incantations actually began to leap about like tiny dancing figures. The markings lined up and surged toward the two curse marks on Sasuke's body, successfully sealing them both.

Kakashi warned Sasuke, "I have used the Evil-Sealing Method to restrain the curse marks, but this seal is tied to your will. Only by working with your own will can you suppress them. Otherwise, even this sealing technique cannot help you."

Sasuke fell into thought. He seemed to be missing a portion of his memories. Why did he have no recollection whatsoever of the second round of the exam? Could he have fallen under an enemy's genjutsu?

Kakashi asked, "Sasuke, do you remember what happened? How did you encounter Orochimaru?"

"Orochimaru!" Sasuke said. "That person's name was Orochimaru? I don't remember... I only remember that when I regained consciousness, I saw a bizarre face..."

"No matter what I did, I couldn't defeat him..." As he spoke, Sasuke recalled that terrifying battle. Fighting Orochimaru had been utterly harrowing. No attack could hurt him, while Orochimaru possessed countless bizarre methods—sometimes turning into a snake, sometimes summoning giant snakes, sometimes stretching out his neck or tongue...

Remembering his battle with Orochimaru, Sasuke could not help but shudder. Every scene had been a nightmare.

Kakashi's heart ached for him. Looking at Sasuke's firm and resolute eyes, then at his body trembling slightly in fear, it was obvious that Sasuke yearned for strength, yet was still weak at present.

"Suppress the curse marks. As long as you can do that, I will teach you my ultimate technique!" Kakashi said. "I discovered that your chakra has a lightning nature. This move suits you very well."

"Heh." Sasuke smiled. As long as he could become stronger, even the most terrifying memories could be erased.

Returning to the present in the ninja hall, Naruto saw how determined Sasuke was and could not say anything more. He stepped forward and declared, "Lord Hokage! Team 7 is all here! Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno are all present!"

Kakashi, standing nearby, smiled until his eyes narrowed, thinking, Yes, yes, yes. And there's me too.