I Admit Defeat

"Shadow Clone!"

Kakashi calmly watched the tide turn in Sasuke and Little Lee's battle.

Sasuke had used a Shadow Clone to lure his opponent in while his real body hid underground, waiting for an opportunity.

That was completely Naruto's favored tactical approach!

Sasuke and Naruto had been chasing after each other, growing at an astonishing speed.

"Kai, sorry, but it looks like Sasuke won."

Kakashi looked at Might Guy beside him. There was no bragging in his tone, only a calm statement of fact.

"As expected of my lifelong rival, Kakashi! I never imagined you were even this skilled at teaching students! But! Little Lee and I will not be discouraged by a temporary setback! Youth! It is an eternal flame that will never be extinguished!"

Might Guy clenched a fist against his chest, his eyes seeming to burn with flames that would never yield.

"Yes, yes..."

Knowing Might Guy's personality too well, Kakashi had long grown accustomed to his "exaggerated" behavior.

He turned his attention back to Sasuke in the arena, utterly unfazed by the youth speeches Might Guy had repeated countless times.

"Damn you, Kakashi! Even your timing for ignoring people is so perfectly calculated! But that is precisely why you can be my rival!"

Might Guy's rambling could still be heard beside him, but Kakashi merely frowned and focused entirely on Sasuke's current condition.

Although he had defeated Little Lee, Sasuke was now slightly hunched over and gasping for breath. He did not look to be in much better shape.

Gekko Hayate, the referee, stepped into Sasuke and Little Lee's battle, checking whether the dazed Little Lee still had any chance of continuing.

Sasuke merely covered the Cursed Seal on his shoulder and neck with one hand in silence, waiting for Gekko Hayate to announce the result.

The Shadow Clone, which required chakra to be evenly distributed, and the Sharingan, which continuously consumed chakra once activated...

Sasuke no longer had enough chakra to suppress the Cursed Seal.

"I declare the winner of the first match to be—Sasuke Uchiha!"

Gekko Hayate impartially announced the result.

Little Lee showed no signs of breaking free from the genjutsu himself. If this amount of time trapped in an illusion had occurred in a real battle, he would have died more than once already.

With his victory secured, Sasuke, who had been forcing himself to hold on, suddenly dropped to his knees!

Everyone who knew about the Cursed Seal was shocked!

Black markings, flickering and shifting like flames, began spreading across Sasuke's face.

"Third Hokage-sama, we really should stop Sasuke Uchiha from continuing in these exams..."

Standing beside Third, Mitaraishi Anko, who also bore a Cursed Seal, understood very well the terrifying aggression of the seal when one's chakra ran low.

Hearing Anko's words, Third also fell into thought.

Yet an unexpected development occurred within Sasuke.

Sasuke actually forced the markings of the Cursed Seal back through sheer willpower—suppressing it once more!

To Sasuke, who was severely lacking chakra, the power of the Cursed Seal was like honeyed wine laced with poison...

Even knowing it was poisonous, its sweetness would still intoxicate him.

But at the very last moment before his consciousness scattered, Sasuke recalled Naruto's words in the Forest of Death, words that had been both warning and comfort.

"Someone who cannot even defeat himself can never defeat anyone else."

Sasuke painfully pushed himself up from the ground, his black eyes looking toward Naruto in the stands.

"Looks like... this time, I barely managed to defeat myself..."

That was Sasuke's final thought after suppressing the Cursed Seal.

The next second, Sasuke, drained of all strength, collapsed unconscious.

Just before Sasuke could hit the ground, Kakashi caught him with the Body Flicker Technique.

"No need. You can't handle his problem. I'll take him for treatment."

After confirming at close range that the Cursed Seal on Sasuke had returned to a stable state, Kakashi stopped the medical team prepared for the preliminaries from stepping in.

The Cursed Seal was not something ordinary medical ninjutsu could deal with.

Kakashi raised his head toward Third. After Third gave an almost imperceptible nod of approval, Kakashi took the unconscious Sasuke and left the arena with the Body Flicker Technique.

"...Sasuke won't be in any danger, will he?"

As Sasuke's teammate in Team 7, Sakura was clearly more worried than the others about Kakashi and Sasuke leaving.

"Don't worry. Kakashi-sensei will protect Sasuke."

Naruto smiled at Sakura, but his attention was more focused on the screen, where the names of the examinees were flashing once again.

The names for the second preliminary match were finally confirmed.

Gaara VS Naruto Uzumaki!

"Cough, cough!"

Gekko Hayate looked at the two names on the screen and called out, "Gaara and Naruto Uzumaki, please come down to the arena..."

Before Gekko Hayate could finish speaking, a sudden gust of sand swept through the arena.

Standing amid the swirling sand was Gaara, with his red hair and the character for "love" carved into his forehead.

He raised his head toward Naruto, his gaze icy to the bone.

The members of Teams 8 and 10, who had graduated from the Ninja Academy with Naruto, along with Sakura, all froze upon seeing Gaara's eyes.

They shared the same illusion, as though they had seen the Naruto of two years ago in Gaara.

"Naruto Uzumaki, come down to the arena!"

Noticing the suddenly awkward atmosphere, Gekko Hayate reminded Naruto, who was still standing in the spectator stands.

Naruto merely shook his head.

The preliminary match to fight for a place in the third exam, who fought whom, who won and who lost.

Naruto was interested in none of it.

Even during Sasuke and Little Lee's earlier battle, Naruto had only been slightly curious about Sasuke's tactical style.

Naruto's Chunin Ninja Exams—were already over.

His only purpose in entering the Chunin Ninja Exams had been to make contact with Karin.

Even dealing with Yakushi Kabuto had merely been something done along the way.

Now that he had achieved his goal of contacting Karin, the Chunin Ninja Exams no longer held any meaning for Naruto.

No matter who his opponent was, Naruto would not fight them in front of Third.

The fact that his opponent happened to be Gaara only made Naruto feel a slight sense of irony.

But that was all.

"Well..."

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly and gave an embarrassed laugh. "I admit defeat..."

Gekko Hayate stared at Naruto, whose expression looked ashamed. "Why are you suddenly forfeiting?"

Faced with the referee's question, Naruto could only reluctantly lift his jacket, revealing his abdomen.

The white bandages wrapped around Naruto's abdominal wound had turned an intense crimson. Blood was still seeping from the wound, and the red stain continued to spread across the bandages.

"The injury I suffered in the Forest of Death reopened. I thought I could hold on until this match ended... but it seems that won't be possible now..."

Naruto's tone was unwilling, but anyone could see that the wound on his abdomen was extremely serious. He could not possibly continue competing.

"I understand. However, if you cannot compete due to personal reasons, it will still count as a loss. If you do not participate in this match, Gaara will be declared the winner."

Gekko Hayate asked Naruto whether he was willing to accept that result.

Naruto remained silent for a long time before finally nodding as if resigned to it. "I won't participate."

"Then I declare the winner of the second match to be—Gaara!"

After announcing the result, Gekko Hayate gestured to Gaara. "Return to the stands. The third match will begin shortly."

Gaara ignored Gekko Hayate. He merely gave Naruto a deep look before returning to the stands with the Sand Body Flicker.

"Welcome back, Gaara!"

As his older sister, Temari welcomed Gaara back with a smile.

Temari had actually let out a small sigh of relief inside.

She had a fairly good impression of Naruto, the Konoha ninja who had sat beside her during the first exam, and did not particularly want to see him hurt by Gaara.

In Temari's eyes, even the powerful Little Lee and Sasuke had not been Gaara's match, much less Naruto.

Gaara... did not think so.

"Temari, you had contact with that guy called Naruto Uzumaki before, didn't you?"

Gaara was naturally referring to the first exam.

Hearing that, Temari looked at Gaara in confusion.

Gaara, who was only interested in the strong, was actually suddenly concerned about Naruto.

"Yes, we had some contact..."

Temari answered. It was not exactly a lie, but she did not reveal the details either.

"Do not go near him again."

Gaara ordered Temari in a commanding tone.

"Why?"

Temari pressed.

Gaara did not answer. He merely watched Naruto being taken away by the medical team, with Sakura leaving alongside them.

Why did that guy hide eyes like mine...