Kushina Uzumaki

"It's over, Kazan!"

A took Yugito Nii away, conceding their defeat.

Only then did Minato Namikaze lower his guard. He turned to Kazan with a smile as bright as the sun.

The Chakra ebbed away like a receding tide.

The emerald steam quickly dispersed, and Kazan's pupils returned to normal.

"I'm exhausted."

"And thanks."

Kazan let out a breath. The moment he released the Eight Gates Released Formation, his body began to protest.

Not violently, but it was definitely protesting.

Clearly, he still wasn't strong enough.

"Konoha's True Kazan wins!"

Shinku Yuhi swiftly announced the result.

Simple and decisive.

Kazan had defeated a Perfect Jinchuriki and advanced. It was exhilarating, as though the star of Konoha were soaring ever higher.

The people of Konoha cheered, proud to call him one of their own.

Shinku Yuhi walked up to Kazan and congratulated him. "Congratulations, Kazan. As of today, you're a Chunin."

"The exam isn't over yet, old man."

"No, it isn't."

But that no longer mattered.

After the strength Kazan had just displayed, who could possibly stand against him?

"Come over for dinner once the exam ends. Your aunt has a present for you."

"Sure. I'm starving anyway."

Kazan patted his stomach. After all that exertion, he was a little hungry.

Yugito Nii was out.

The exam continued.

After reaching the quarterfinals, Kazan faced a Grass Ninja—the one who had said he wanted a taste of the Five Great Shinobi Villages' Ninja blood.

Even after witnessing Kazan's battle with Yugito Nii, he refused to back down.

Because he specialized in Genjutsu.

"If I beat a genius like you, even I could make a name for myself across the Shinobi World, couldn't I?"

He gave a sinister chuckle.

The man was devious. Before Shinku Yuhi had even announced the start, he had begun casting his Genjutsu.

He held a weapon resembling a wind chime and struck it rhythmically, sending a ceaseless tinkling through the air.

Shinku Yuhi saw through it at once but did nothing to stop him.

A Konoha Genjutsu master, an elite Jonin, and Kurenai Yuhi's father—he refused to be the only one Kazan had made a fool of.

He wanted someone else to experience it too.

"Begin!"

Only after the Grass Ninja had completed his technique did Shinku Yuhi announce the start.

In an instant, Kazan's opponent grinned even wider. His Genjutsu was ready.

"The head of Konoha's genius is mine!"

Laughing, he pulled out a Kunai and lunged for Kazan's neck.

"My Genjutsu spreads through sound. It doesn't target just one person—everyone who hears it is caught!"

"So even if I kill you, they won't react in time!"

He licked his lips, looking bloodthirsty.

Boom!

At almost the same moment, just as he reached Kazan, a vast surge of Chakra erupted from Kazan and cracked the ground once more.

Kazan broke through the Genjutsu in an instant, his body enveloped in blue-white Chakra.

"What?!"

His opponent's grin vanished. Terrified, he froze in place.

Bang!

Kazan threw a punch that sent him crashing into the wall, where he remained embedded, unconscious.

"Didn't you stop to think? Would a Konoha Jonin fall for your Genjutsu so easily?"

Kazan drew back his fist and picked at his ear.

"That felt good!"

Shinku Yuhi felt wonderful. The Grass Ninja's shattered, questioning-everything expression was exactly what he himself had looked like for the past two weeks.

"The winner: Konoha's True Kazan!"

He quickly announced the next match.

Kazan's victory left the other examinees in utter despair.

None of them had Yugito Nii's strength. If even Genjutsu—one of the best ways to counter a Taijutsu specialist—was useless, they had no chance.

And so it proved.

Kazan quickly defeated every remaining opponent and won the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The moment the Chunin Ninja Exams were declared over, fireworks rose around the Training Ground.

Unfortunately, it was daytime, so there was little to enjoy besides the noise.

With the exam over, Kazan changed into a white suit like the one Lucci had worn during his CP0 days, looking every inch a sharply dressed menace.

He wasn't tall enough yet, though, so he left off the coat draped over the shoulders.

So handsome!

By the time Kurenai found Kazan, he had already changed.

The outfit was unusual, nothing like what anyone else wore. It gave him a fashionable air, as though he were ahead of the trends.

"Kazan, what's with..."

"This? I had someone make it for me earlier. It's comfortable."

That was a lie.

He wore it purely because it looked cooler. Even his dress shoes were white. He couldn't have been showing off more.

"Come on. Didn't your mother say she was throwing me a victory party?"

"Oh, right! I need to get back and help."

Kurenai trotted after him and walked at his side. With her hands clasped behind her back, she stole one glance at Kazan, then another, and another, and yet another...

"Even though I made Chunin, nothing really feels different."

"What are you talking about? Chunin is just a title."

Kazan rolled his eyes. Even if he had the title of Admiral right now, he still couldn't beat a fully manifested Tailed Beast.

A title was only a title.

"Not bad, you little wrecking ball."

Just then, Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze happened to emerge as well.

When Kushina spotted Kazan, she pulled Minato over.

She acted as though they were old friends, every bit the bossy big sister, and thumped Kazan hard on the shoulder.

"Not bad, not bad. You're sturdy, all right. No wonder you sent someone flying so far with one punch."

Seeing Kazan's puzzled look, she introduced herself.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kushina Uzumaki, Minato's wife. He's the Ninja who stepped in and blocked that second-generation Kage for you. Isn't he handsome?"

She had exactly Naruto's personality. He was practically a copy of her.

No sense of personal space, no matter who she was dealing with.

Kazan also sensed an enormous malice inside Kushina.

It had to be the Nine-Tails.

"You're a Jinchūriki too?"

"Uh... you can sense it?"

"Yeah. That malice is practically suffocating me. It's not nearly as cute as that Mother Cat from Kumogakure."

Boom!

Inside Kushina Uzumaki, the sealed Nine-Tails slammed its paw against the gate of its prison.

"You little bastard!"

The Nine-Tails couldn't stand being told it was inferior to any of the other eight Tailed Beasts, whether in strength or anything else.

It was the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts. Even Madara Uchiha had come specifically to capture it.

Sure, that was a damn dark chapter in its past, but it was the strongest in every way. No arguments!

"Why are you so angry? Was anything I said wrong?"

"Besides, why not behave yourself and work with this lady like Kumogakure's Two-Tails does? Then you'd be free, wouldn't you?"

Kazan leaned toward Kushina's seal—her belly—and spoke to it.

"You can talk to the Nine-Tails?"

Kushina froze for a moment, then flew into a rage.

"Who are you calling a lady, you little brat? I'm eighteen every year!"

Quick to use violence, she raised a fist and brought it down.

Clang!

"Ah!"

Kushina cried out. Her fist turned bright red from the impact, and she rolled across the ground without a shred of dignity.

"Tekkai," Kazan said, then continued to taunt her. "Get up. Don't try to blame me for this, lady. You're the one who starts throwing punches."

"You little monster!" Kushina sprang to her feet, her long red hair stirring without a breeze. Refusing to accept defeat, she punched him again.

Clang!

"Aaah!"

Another piercing scream burst from her. Now both fists were bright red, as though they'd been roasted over a fire.

Kazan looked at her with disdain and said the same two words again. "Tekkai."

Tekkai, my ass!!!