Sasuke and Gaara were in the very first match?!
Watching the two enter the arena, Naruto suddenly rose from his seat in the stands.
Gaara was the One-Tail's Jinchūriki. There was a very high chance that he would undergo Tailed Beast Transformation during the match.
Naruto had thought he still had some time to prepare before defecting. Now, he had to race against the clock!
Only Gaara himself knew when he would transform into the One-Tail!
"Naruto, what's wrong?"
Noticing Naruto's strange behavior, Kakashi asked curiously.
"I want to find somewhere with a clearer view of the match."
That was Naruto's excuse.
To Kakashi, Naruto's words seemed perfectly natural.
Within Team 7, Naruto and Sasuke had always had a vague sort of rivalry.
But usually, Sasuke was the one who subtly regarded Naruto as his rival.
Naruto himself acted as though he had no idea Sasuke saw him as a rival.
But this unexpected defeat in the Chunin Ninja Exams seemed to have stirred Naruto's competitive spirit as well...
"Oh, right—"
Before Naruto hurried off to find a better vantage point, he seemed to remember something and rummaged through his ninja tool pouch.
"This is a gift I prepared for Kakashi-sensei."
"A gift?"
Kakashi looked blankly at the item in Naruto's hand, then his eyes widened at once!
"Th-This is..."
A calm Jōnin hardened by countless battles, an elite ninja recognized throughout Konoha.
What could possibly make Hatake Kakashi lose his composure like this?
A brand-new commemorative collector's edition of Icha Icha Paradise! Its limited print run and promise never to be reprinted proved just how valuable this edition was in the eyes of loyal readers.
And the copy of Icha Icha Paradise Naruto gave Kakashi even came with the personal signature of its author, Jiraiya!
As though receiving a