The Curtain Falls

"Ahhh!"

At the Training Ground, Kazan roared, throwing punch after punch, each one heavier than the last.

Yugito Nii was completely on the defensive. Even with a Tailed Beast helping her, she could not fight back.

"This is bad! Yugito Nii's losing ground!"

"What kind of technique is that? How can it break through her Chakra Cloak?"

"..."

The people from Kumogakure, A included, looked terrified.

Was a perfect Jinchūriki really about to lose?

How was that possible?

The villagers of Konoha, meanwhile, cheered Kazan on, their voices rising alongside his roars.

"Which one of them is the Tailed Beast?" Asuma stared in disbelief.

Lately, he had trained harder than ever, determined to surpass Kazan and prove to his father, the Hokage, just how wrong he had been.

But now...

He had to admit his thinking had been naive.

Kurenai Yuhi, Kakashi, Obito, Rin Nohara, Kushina... everyone watched Kazan's frenzied assault.

He was really going to do it!

Without a Kekkei Genkai, he was pummeling a perfect Jinchūriki with nothing but his own mortal body!

"Show them your youth, Kazan!!!"

Goofball's Roar rang across the Training Ground once more as Might Duy and his son clenched their fists.

After today, perhaps no one would look down on them again.

Taijutsu shinobi could climb to the summit too. They could have a brilliant Future.

On the Training Ground, Armament Haki now covered both of Kazan's fists completely, giving them a metallic sheen.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Punch after punch. Blow after blow.

Kazan fought with wild abandon, pouring everything he had into his assault. He battered Yugito Nii's Chakra Cloak until it broke apart.

"It's over, Jinchūriki!"

A crimson light burst from Kazan's eyes, now showing nothing but white. His iron fist drove forward as though it could punch through the sky.

Yugito Nii felt death closing in.

That fist swelled rapidly in her vision until it filled her world, vast as a mountain.

"No... I haven't lost yet!"

Yugito Nii roared inwardly.

The Two-Tails, Matatabi, had been sealed inside her when she was little, and she had endured the village's cold stares ever since.

The Third Raikage and B had always encouraged her and helped her train to become a perfect Jinchūriki.

Getting this far had been anything but easy.

Before she left the village...

She still remembered the expectation in the Third Raikage's eyes.

These Chunin Ninja Exams were about far more than a promotion to Chunin. They concerned the village's Future and a war that might one day erupt.

Earning the whole village's acceptance as a Jinchūriki had been so difficult. She treasured it and did not want to let them down.

She could not lose, no matter what.

"Matatabi!"

She no longer cared what it took. She would release the Tailed Beast's full power and complete her Tailed Beast Transformation.

An immense surge of Chakra was about to burst forth like a flood.

But then—

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Just as it was about to happen, two figures shot into the arena.

"The match is decided, Raikage's Son!"

One moved like a yellow flash.

Before anyone present could see or sense him, Minato Namikaze was already standing in front of Kazan, using a specially made Kunai to block A's descending arm.

A had caught Kazan's finishing punch with one hand and swung his other arm down like a blade, only for Minato Namikaze to stop it.

"Konoha's... Minato Namikaze!"

The Third Shinobi World War had yet to begin, and the name Yellow Flash had not spread throughout the Shinobi World.

Even so, Minato Namikaze's extraordinary speed had left a deep impression on the Four Great Shinobi Villages.

"You're fast, Konoha shinobi!"

"You're not slow yourself. I almost didn't make it in time."

Minato Namikaze smiled, but there was a warning behind it.

"This is Konoha. Please don't cause trouble."

"And what if it is Konoha? What if I do cause trouble?"

Despite his words, A slowly lowered his arm, and the violent lightning surrounding him faded.

The man was right. This was Konoha, not Kumogakure.

A turned to Yugito Nii, whose face was full of unwillingness.

"Lord A, I can still—"

"Enough, Yugito Nii. We lost."

He had said we, not just Yugito Nii.

That only made the young Yugito Nii feel guiltier.

Like Kazan, she had entered these Chunin Ninja Exams with an important mission.

And she had failed.

"Hold your head high. Kumogakure shinobi never bow to the weaklings of other villages." A glanced toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, Ebizo, and the others on the raised platform, then added in his booming voice, "Besides, you've already completed your mission!"

And she had.

The moment Yugito Nii appeared with perfect control over her Tailed Beast, Kumogakure had shown everyone just how hard its fist could hit.

After all, Kumogakure possessed two Tailed Beasts. One of them was Gyuki, the Eight-Tails, one of the strongest among the Nine Tailed Beasts!

True, a Tailed Beast's strength was not determined by its number of tails. But the Shinobi World widely regarded Konoha's Nine-Tails as the strongest, followed by Kumogakure's Eight-Tails.

So yes.

Yugito Nii had completed her mission. The only blemish was that Konoha had produced an extraordinary talent of its own.

"Hokage, I hear he's your fourth disciple?"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire lowered his folding fan, his eyes fixed on that little monster in human form.

He had defeated even a perfect Jinchūriki. Konoha was about to gain another supreme powerhouse.

"Heh, there's only so much I can teach Kazan. He's a very unusual shinobi."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke modestly, but he did not deny it.

Kazan's potential and fighting strength had exceeded even his expectations.

A technique that could strike Chakra directly and forcibly break apart a Jinchūriki's Chakra Cloak—he had never heard of such a thing.

But this was the moment to overawe the other villages. He had to stay composed, not act like a fool.

"Is that other young shinobi from your village, Kakashi, the same as him?"

"Kakashi is a different kind of shinobi."

Like hell he's the same.

Kazan could thrash Kakashi even before training in Cherry Blossom Impact and the Eight Gates Released Formation. Now Kakashi stood even less of a chance against him.

Of course, he could not say that aloud.

Until today, Kakashi had been the standout genius of Konoha's generation!

The people from the other villages began weighing their options.

Konoha and Kumogakure had both displayed their strength and their future.

Those two villages would remain powerful for years to come.

One had mastered the means to create perfect Jinchūriki; the other kept producing geniuses. Either might dominate a future war.

If they had to choose, it would have to be one of those two villages.

The Sand Shinobi?

They could not even keep their own leader safe. He had died away from home, and they had not found out until his body had begun to rot.

How could anyone trust them?

Kirigakure lay across the sea and remained closed off most of the time, rarely contacting the outside world. The other villages knew little about it.

Iwagakure was strong enough, but the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was as stubborn as stone and extremely difficult to deal with.