Hearing Gekko Hayate's announcement, everyone felt dazed, as though they had been dreaming.
The former dead last seemed to have become someone truly remarkable! As they looked at Naruto, whose presence was unstoppable, they felt as though they were watching a rising-no, an already risen star!
Having won the match, Naruto immediately let his imposing presence fade, then turned toward Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi, flashed a smug, goofy grin, and gave them a thumbs-up.
Sakura smiled knowingly. Naruto was still the same Naruto!
Meanwhile, a figure standing on the viewing platform on the other side cast a covetous gaze at Naruto. Naturally, this was Orochimaru.
Honestly, he was wavering again, mainly because Naruto's performance had been so stunning. That powerful body really made him drool!
Besides, Naruto Uzumaki had a Tailed Beast inside him, and the strongest one, the Nine-Tails, at that. This was another enormous temptation. Although the Akatsuki was also collecting Tailed Beasts, Orochimaru wasn't afraid of them in the slightest. He couldn't beat them in raw power, but he dared say that no one in the Shinobi World knew more about lying low than he did! At worst, once he seized Naruto, he would immediately go into hiding where no one could find him!
So, should he choose the Sharingan or this Naruto Uzumaki?
In the end, he decided that he was an adult, so he would take both!
But now he faced a very awkward problem: he didn't seem particularly confident that he could handle Naruto Uzumaki...
Even if he was the Jinchūriki of the strongest Tailed Beast, he was only thirteen! Wasn't this level of strength a little too ridiculous?!
He had thought that perhaps he had been away from Konoha for too long and something had changed without his knowledge, but after observing it,