The Curtain Falls

"Aaaah!"

In the Training Ground, Kazan roared and threw punch after punch, each 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 is losing!"

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

"..."

The people from Kumogakure, including A, looked terrified.

Was a Perfect Jinchuriki about to lose?

How was that possible?

Meanwhile, the villagers of Konoha 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, hoping to surpass Kazan and prove to his father, the Hokage, just how wrong he had been.

But now...

He had to admit that he had been naive.

Kurenai Yuhi, Kakashi, Obito, Rin Nohara, Kushina... Every one of them watched Kazan's relentless assault.

He was really going to do it!

Without a Kekkei Genkai, he was battering a Perfect Jinchuriki with nothing but his own body!

"Show them your youth, Kazan!!!"

The Goofball's Roar rang across the grounds again as Might Duy and his son clenched their fists.

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

A Ninja who specialized in Taijutsu could climb to the summit too. He could have a brilliant future.

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

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Punch after punch. Blow after blow.

Kazan fought in a frenzy, pouring everything he had into the assault. He actually battered Yugito Nii's Chakra Cloak apart.

"It's over, Jinchūriki!"

A scarlet gleam burst from Kazan's white eyes. His iron fist drove forward, unstoppable, as though it could punch through the sky.

Yugito Nii felt death closing in.

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

No... I haven't lost yet!

The words roared through Yugito Nii's mind.

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

Lord Third Raikage and Lord B had always encouraged her and helped her train to become a Perfect Jinchuriki.

Getting this far had been anything but easy.

Before she left the village...

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

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

As a Jinchūriki, earning the whole village's acceptance had been incredibly hard. She treasured it and did not want to disappoint them.

She could not lose, no matter what.

"Matatabi!"

She could no longer hold back. She had to release the Tailed Beast's full power and complete her Tailed Beast Transformation.

An overwhelming surge of Chakra was about to burst forth, vast as 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!"

Like a flash of gold.

Before anyone present could see or sense him, Minato Namikaze appeared in front of Kazan, catching A's descending arm on a specially made Kunai.

A had caught Kazan's finishing punch with one hand and brought the other down in a knife-hand strike. Minato Namikaze had stopped it.

"Konoha's... Minato Namikaze!"

The Third Shinobi World War had yet to break out, and the name Yellow Flash had not spread across the Shinobi World.

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

"You're fast, Konoha Ninja!"

"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 Thunderclaps around him faded.

His opponent was right. This was Konoha, not Kumogakure.

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

"Lord A, I can still—"

"That's enough, Yugito Nii. We lost."

He had said we, not just Yugito Nii.

That only made the young woman feel guiltier.

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

And she had failed.

"Lift your head. Cloud Shinobi never bow to weaklings from other Shinobi Villages." A swept his gaze across Hiruzen Sarutobi, Ebizo, and the others on the raised platform. "Besides, you've completed your mission!"

And she had.

The moment Yugito Nii appeared in perfect control of her Tailed Beast, Kumogakure had shown everyone just how hard it could hit.

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

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

So Yugito Nii had completed her mission. The only blemish was that Konoha had produced a freakish talent of its own.

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

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire lowered his folding fan and stared without blinking at that little monster in human form.

He had defeated even a Perfect Jinchuriki. Konoha was about to gain another top-tier fighter.

"Heh. There's only so much I can teach Kazan. He's a highly unusual Ninja."

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 anything like it.

But now was the time to intimidate the other Shinobi Villages. He had to stay composed, not gape like a fool.

"Is that other one from your village, Kakashi, like him?"

"Kakashi is a different kind of Ninja."

Not even close.

Kazan had been able to thrash Kakashi before learning Cherry Blossom Impact and the Eight Gates Released Formation. Kakashi stood even less of a chance against him now.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not say that aloud.

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

The representatives of the other Shinobi Villages began weighing what they had seen.

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

Both villages would remain powerful in the years to come.

One had mastered the means to create a Perfect Jinchuriki; the other kept producing Geniuses. Either might dominate the next war.

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

The Sand Shinobi?

They could not even protect their own Kage. He had died away from home, and they had not known until his body stank.

They were impossible to trust.

Kirigakure lay beyond the sea and kept itself closed off most of the time, rarely contacting the outside world. The other Shinobi Villages knew little about it.

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