The King Returns

Everyone in the hall turned toward the commotion outside the doors.

Mitokado Homura frowned impatiently and was about to signal the guards to investigate when unhurried footsteps came down the corridor.

A moment later, six figures walked into the Central Tower's Council Hall side by side.

Nara Tsukimi led the way, calm and faintly smiling. He stood straight, his breathing steady, with no sign that he had been injured, exhausted, or near death.

Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Asuma, and Kurenai followed close behind, their steps sure and their expressions composed.

The six of them quietly entered the standoff.

In an instant, the noisy, tense hall fell utterly silent.

Senior figures from every Ninja village, the team leaders at the scene, and the remaining Genin all stared at the doorway, eyes wide with disbelief.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Yesterday, a Tailed Beast Bomb had flattened an entire stretch of forest. Fire had soared into the sky, and violent Chakra had swept across the surrounding miles. Everyone who had witnessed it was certain the Konoha boy at the center of the blast had died.

Baki of Sunagakure, Hunt of Iwagakure, and Shi and Mabui of Cloud Hidden had all reported last night that Nara Tsukimi had taken a direct hit from the Tailed Beast Bomb. There was no chance he had survived.

The senior figures of the major Ninja villages had believed them. They had already accepted that Konoha's foremost young genius had died in the Second Exam.

Yet here he was, standing before them without a scratch.

Kitsuchi of Iwagakure and Chiyo of Sunagakure were the first to react.

Their pupils contracted slightly as they fixed their eyes on Tsukimi, stunned despite themselves.

They had known this Konoha genius had strange abilities and plenty of tricks up his sleeve.