Lord Hokage! Team 7 Is All Here

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

Naruto merely grinned, completely 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, Mitaraishi Anko had stepped in to dispel the Genjutsu.

Too many strange things are happening. I can't make sense of any of it. The Fourth Kazekage standing beside the Third Hokage must be Lord Orochimaru. I need to report this to Lord Orochimaru.

Naruto secretly observed Kabuto Yakushi. To Naruto, Kabuto Yakushi was an exceptionally rare talent. When it came to gathering intelligence, he was practically an expert in espionage.

Kabuto, if only you could work for me.

At that moment, the Third Hokage looked over all the Genin and noticed that Naruto's team was missing one member. He said, "Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno's team are missing one teammate. You cannot participate in the next round of the exam."

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

Naruto looked utterly 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 stripped 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 in our team or not shouldn't prevent us from continuing the exam."

"Oh! Naruto, you know quite a lot." The Third Hokage explained, "Under the old rules, that was indeed the case. But the third round will use new rules: a chaotic battle between three-person teams. Only teams of three may participate in the third round."

The exam rules had actually changed! The one-on-one duels had been directly changed into team battles. Naruto glanced toward the Fourth Kazekage. He knew that the real Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had already been assassinated by Orochimaru. The Fourth Kazekage before them was definitely Orochimaru in disguise.

There was only one reasonable explanation for the sudden change to the third-round rules: Orochimaru had intervened. Other than Orochimaru, who else had the ability to alter the rules of the Chunin Ninja Exams?

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

No matter how carefully I guard against things, unforeseen changes are always the hardest to prevent. Orochimaru, have you already lost your patience? You deliberately accelerated the schedule, but you also did me a huge favor.

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

"Hmph." Naruto gave a cold laugh. I never thought I'd owe 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 one...

"Th-This..." Upon hearing the Hokage's words, Sakura was overwhelmed by despair.

"I withdraw!" Kabuto Yakushi raised his hand high. Lord Orochimaru is personally entering the field. It's time for me to leave...

Sakura's eyes widened. She desperately wanted to take part in the Chunin Ninja Exams, yet someone had actually chosen 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 eventually left with ease.

Just as Kabuto Yakushi departed, Sasuke entered the hall, with Kakashi following beside him.

"I'm back." Sasuke seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet, but even so, he spoke with his usual cool confidence. "Team 7 will continue participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams. Hmph."

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out in delight. "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 condition?" 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 up, and walked directly toward Naruto. Once he reached him, he said briefly, "Naruto, I won't hold you back. Just watch." With that, Sasuke moved to the side.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with concern, while Naruto felt somewhat guilty.

Naruto asked Kakashi, "How is Sasuke?"

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

Kakashi looked at Sasuke and shook his head helplessly. He did know Sasuke's condition. Sasuke bore both the Heaven's Curse Mark and the Earth Seal. The two Cursed Seals seemed to restrain each other, maintaining a delicate balance within Sasuke's body. If that balance were broken, Sasuke's life would be in danger.

At that moment, Kakashi was drawn into a memory:

Earlier, Kakashi had heard that Sasuke might be in trouble and went looking for him. He finally found Sasuke with Iruka. After discovering that Sasuke had been marked by Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, he brought Sasuke to a secluded place and performed 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 formed hand seals rapidly, he continuously poured chakra into the markings.

As chakra flowed into them, the blood-drawn incantations actually began to leap about like tiny dancing figures. The markings streamed in a line toward the two Cursed Seals on Sasuke's body and successfully sealed them.

Kakashi instructed Sasuke, "I have used the Evil-Sealing Method to restrain the Cursed Seals, but this seal is tied to your will. Only by working with your will can it 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? Had he 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 is 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. None of his attacks could hurt him, while Orochimaru possessed countless bizarre methods—sometimes turning into a snake, sometimes summoning giant serpents, sometimes stretching his neck or tongue...

At the thought of his battle with Orochimaru, Sasuke could not help but shudder. Every scene was a nightmare.

Kakashi felt deeply pained. Sasuke's eyes were firm and resolute, yet his body trembled slightly with fear. It was obvious that Sasuke craved power, but his current strength was still too weak.

"Suppress the Cursed Seals. If you can do that, I'll teach you my ultimate technique!" Kakashi said. "I've discovered that your chakra has a lightning nature. This move suits you very well."

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

Back in the present, in the ninja hall, Naruto saw how determined Sasuke was and found it difficult to 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 beside them, smiled until his eyes narrowed. Yes, yes, yes. And there's me too.