August.
Konoha was packed with people that day, its streets bustling with activity.
The crowds were all heading in the same direction—the large Konoha arena.
The finals of this year's Chunin Exams would be held there!
The arena was an open-air circular structure. Naruto, who had been eliminated during the preliminaries, sat in the stands atop its high walls, looking down at the vast open space below.
Standing in a neat line at the center of the field were the eight Genin candidates who had qualified for the finals.
Standing before them was the finals examiner—Konoha Special Jōnin Genma Shiranui, wearing a black bandanna and holding a senbon between his lips.
Naruto's gaze settled on Sasuke, who stood beside Sakura in the arena.
Ever since Kakashi had taken Sasuke away after the preliminaries, this was the first time Naruto had seen him again.
During his training with Jiraiya last month, Jiraiya had briefly mentioned Sasuke's training with Kakashi to Naruto and Sakura, telling them not to worry too much and to focus on their own training.
Although Jiraiya had not said what Kakashi and Sasuke were practicing, Naruto could guess.
—It could only be the Chidori.
Chidori and Kakashi's Lightning Cutter were the same technique, but strictly speaking, Chidori was an incompletely developed ninjutsu.
Just like Naruto's Rasengan and Wind Release: Rasengan.
At its core, the Rasengan was merely a sphere of rapidly rotating chakra, so it too was an incompletely developed ninjutsu.
Wind Release: Rasengan, which successfully incorporated wind nature transformation, showed that the Rasengan had made considerable progress in its development.
Kakashi taught Sasuke Chidori rather than Lightning Cutter because he naturally hoped Sasuke would refine Chidori through his own ninjutsu traits and fighting style, turning it into a technique uniquely his own.
When an outstanding teacher faced