Thank You, You've Worked Hard

The deathly silence of the forest was broken by the soft crack of a bone being set back into place.

Naruto expressionlessly reset Sasuke's dislocated left arm, then released him and let him collapse limply to the ground, gasping for breath. He stood and planted one foot on Sasuke's back. The force was not great, yet it was like an immovable mountain, pinning all of Sasuke's resistance and dignity into the rotting leaves.

"A soldier aspiring to become a general is a quality worth praising."

Naruto looked down at the "soldier" beneath his foot, his tone as flat as if he were reading a report that had nothing to do with him.

"But a rebellion launched with borrowed, unstable power is not ambition. It is merely the release of cowardice. You still have a long way to go."

Every word struck Sasuke's deepest consciousness like a red-hot branding iron. He lay prone on the ground, his cheek pressed against the cold, damp soil. The wild hostility in his Kurenai eyes had faded, leaving only endless gloom and humiliation.

Naruto ignored him and turned to the other side. After sealing the final chakra point with excessive tension and concentration, Sakura had already collapsed onto the ground, drained of strength, her eyes vacant.

"Medic," Naruto ordered.

Sakura's body trembled as she dazedly raised her head.

"If the soldier displays any risky behavior that could endanger himself before the mission is complete," Naruto said without looking at her, making a chopping motion at his neck with his hand, "administer physical sedation immediately."

Sakura's face instantly turned pale. Of course she understood what that meant, but hearing the words "physical sedation" come from Naruto still sent a chill through her.

She gave an awkward smile. "That's an interesting way to put it."

Naruto said nothing more. He walked over to the Amegakure ninja whose limbs had been crippled and turned them over as though inspecting cargo. He found the Earth Scroll in one man's robe and casually stuffed it into his pocket. He did not kill them. Instead, he grabbed the collar of the Amegakure ninja who was still conscious.

"Who is running Amegakure now?"

The Amegakure ninja trembled all over, with Kiba's teeth chattering. "It... it's Lord Hanzo..."

"But based on Amegakure's current state, Hanzo of the Salamander should already be dead... or at least stripped of his authority," Naruto cut him off. "Answer my question."

The Amegakure ninja's pupils suddenly constricted. Looking into Naruto's emotionless blue eyes, he was seized by a terror deeper than death itself.

"It... it's Lord Pain..."

The Amegakure ninja's voice was so faint it was nearly inaudible, but that name was like a boulder dropped into still water, stirring waves in Naruto's heart.

Pain.

Rather than immediately throwing the Amegakure ninja aside, Naruto released his collar and let him fall back to the ground. Thinking he had been spared, the ninja was about to struggle backward when a foot lightly stepped on his wrist.

The pressure was not great, but his bones were already groaning under the strain.

"Ah—!"

"Don't rush," Naruto said, crouching down until he was level with the face twisted by fear. His voice was gentle, like he was soothing a frightened child. "I like working with smart people. Let's play a little question-and-answer game."

He tilted his head toward Sakura, whose face was pale in the distance.

"Answer correctly, and I'll let you go. Answer wrong, or lie to me..." Naruto paused, then changed direction. "My medic has recently been researching a new treatment plan specifically for the nervous system. They say it can let someone whose limbs are completely ruined still vividly feel the hallucination of ants eating every inch of their skin. Do you want to be the first clinical volunteer?"

Sakura's stomach churned violently, and she barely managed not to vomit. She had never researched anything like that!

The Amegakure ninja began shaking like a sieve.

"I... I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

"Good. First question." Naruto withdrew his foot and leisurely dusted off his pant leg. "Who is Pain? What does he look like?"

"He's a god! Lord Pain is a god!" the Amegakure ninja shouted incoherently. "He punished Lord Hanzo and ended Amegakure's civil war! No one has seen his true face!"

"Even a god needs messengers to walk among mortals," Naruto interrupted. "What I'm asking is, how many of his 'messengers' are there?"

The question was like a precise scalpel cutting through the Amegakure ninja's muddled thoughts. He froze, his pupils filled with horror.

How could he know to ask that?

Naruto did not urge him. He simply waited quietly. That invisible pressure was more crushing than any torture.

"How many are there?" the Amegakure ninja muttered hesitantly to himself.

"If your memory is still this poor in five seconds, I'll help you remember."

Naruto's tone was calm, but the Amegakure ninja immediately wailed in terror. "I really don't know how many! Maybe four, maybe five! Anyway, there's more than one! Usually, Angel handles the affairs of the Land of Rain. I'm just a Genin, that's really all I know!"

"Angel?" Naruto realized that Amegakure's situation was a massive hidden danger. The structure of an entire country had been overturned without a sound, which meant the revolutionaries' strength was terrifying.

After questioning him further, Naruto found no more useful information and left the Amegakure ninja lying on the ground.

The team set out again.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she supported Sasuke. Sasuke did not say a word the entire time. He kept his head lowered, his bangs hiding his face so that no one could see his expression. But his uninjured hand was clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his palm.

Naruto's words echoed over and over in his mind like a curse.

"Release of cowardice..."

He had never felt such humiliation, nor had he ever understood so clearly that the gap between him and Naruto had reached an almost despairing extent.

When Team 7 appeared before the gates of the final tower, time seemed to stop.

Inside the gates were several teams that had passed the exam ahead of them. Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and ninja from other villages. Some were sitting, some standing, all looking relaxed as they waited for the next stage to begin.

When the doors slowly opened, all conversation came to an abrupt stop.

Within the light and shadow at the entrance stood a "Team 7" none of them had ever seen before.

At the front was Naruto, carrying the savage-looking Chainsword over his shoulder, its blade stained with dirt and dark red blood. His orange jacket was tattered, and his entire body radiated a hardened, bloody aura that warned others to stay away.

Pale-faced and tight-lipped, Sakura supported someone who was nearly unconscious.

It was Sasuke. His face was white as paper, his eyes shut tight, and he looked almost dead.

Everyone froze.

Kiba's mouth fell open. Even Akamaru on his head let out an uneasy whine.

Ino covered her mouth, unable to believe that Sasuke, who always seemed able to handle everything, had been reduced to this state.

"What a troublesome guy..." Shikamaru frowned, slipping his hands into his pockets as he muttered, "This just got even more troublesome."

Ignoring everyone's stares, Naruto walked straight to Ibiki, who was in charge of registration. He calmly placed the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll on the table.

"Reporting. Team 7 has completed the mission." He paused, then added, "We were attacked by Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja Orochimaru on the way."

Ibiki and the examiners present changed expression dramatically.

Naruto offered no further explanation. He did not mention a single word about the Curse Mark on Sasuke's neck. He had no intention of handing one of his soldiers over to be scrutinized by people he considered weak and incompetent.

At that moment, a figure stepped out from the crowd.

It was Hinata.

While everyone else had been intimidated by Naruto's murderous aura and did not dare approach him, this always timid and shy girl lowered her head and walked toward him step by step.

Her fingers were nervously pressed together, and she did not dare look up at him. In a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum yet remarkably clear, she asked quietly:

"N-Naruto... are... are you hurt?"

The entire tower fell so silent that a pin drop could be heard.

For the first time, Naruto's face, as cold as carved ice, softened slightly. He turned his head to look at the girl before him, who seemed to be trying to curl herself into a ball.

From her, he sensed no fear. There was only pure concern, untainted by anything else.

Naruto was silent for a moment.

"I'm fine."

His answer was still brief, but some of the icy distance around him had melted away.

As if greatly encouraged, Hinata raised her head. Naruto's reflection was visible in her pale eyes. She took a small jar of ointment from her robe and offered it to him with both hands.

"This... is medicine I made myself... It's... it's very effective for scrapes..."

Naruto looked at the ointment but did not take it immediately.

"Thank you. You've worked hard."

During the break before the preliminary matches began, Naruto called Haku to an empty corner.

"From now on, you'll operate off the books." Naruto stood with his back to him, looking out the window. "Infiltrate Konoha Hospital as a medical ninja. I need an intelligence and logistics point independent of Root. Build it."

"Yes, Political Commissar." Haku's figure flashed, disappearing into the shadows in the corner.

Using Root's secret channels, he contacted Zero and issued similar orders.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura's delighted cry rang out.

Kakashi had finally arrived. He still looked lazy as ever, but when he saw Sasuke being supported by Sakura, his lifeless dead-fish eye instantly sharpened.

In a single step, he flashed to Sasuke's side, pulled open his collar, and saw the ominous black Curse Mark. He reached out to examine it, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

The Curse Mark's power was deeply sinister, yet it had been temporarily sealed and suppressed by another, purer chakra, leaving it in a strange state of stability.

Kakashi raised his head and looked at Naruto, who was wiping down the Chainsword nearby.

"You're the only one who can keep him under control," Kakashi sighed. His voice was full of helplessness and a trace of relief that even he had not noticed.

"All candidates, gather in the center!"

The preliminary round of the third exam was about to begin. The chief examiner had been replaced by Gekko Hayate, a sickly man who kept coughing and looked like he might drop dead at any moment.

Names began rapidly scrolling across the enormous electronic screen.

Finally, two names stopped.

[Sasuke Uchiha vs Akato Yoroi]

Upon hearing his name, Sasuke, who had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

He swayed as he stood, pushing away Sakura's supporting hand.

He did not look at anyone. He merely stared fixedly at the center of the arena. The humiliation Naruto had inflicted on him and the violence he had forcibly suppressed now had an outlet.

He wanted to fight.

Step by step, Sasuke walked toward the arena. His figure staggered, yet his resolve was absolute.