💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 30→2ch | 60→5ch | 100→8ch | 200→15ch | 400→25ch⏰ Resets Monday!
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The Hokage’s office smelled of tea and pipe tobacco.
A sprawled in the chair like he owned it, residual lightning still snapping and crackling across his shoulders.
He didn’t say a word.
Hiruzen didn’t say a word either.
They just waited each other out, the silence growing heavier with every passing second.
“Tsk…
old fox.” A smacked his lips and stared straight across the desk.
“Let me be direct about why I’m here.
The Leaf is hosting a Joint Chunin Exam.
Why didn’t you contact my Cloud Village?
I want an explanation.”
Hiruzen set his pipe down without any hurry and took a quiet sip of tea.
“Lord Raikage, you and I both know the truth.
On the surface, Cloud and Leaf are at peace.
Underneath, the currents run dangerous.”
“If I had actually invited your Cloud to participate in the Chunin Exams, you would have suspected us of harboring some ulterior motive.
Wouldn’t you?”
“Hmph.” A scoffed and slapped his palm flat on the desk.
Tea jumped out of the cup and splattered across the surface.
“Third Hokage, that kind of talk honestly wounds me.”
“My attitude toward the Leaf has always been perfectly friendly.
Beautiful scenery, lovely environment, pleasant people.
I absolutely adore it here.”
[Friendly?
Adore?
You’ve had your eyes on the Land of Fire for quite some time now…]
Hiruzen grumbled inwardly, then spoke with measured calm: “Lord Raikage did not send word ahead of time, yet arrived in the village making quite the entrance.
That does not look the slightest bit friendly.”
As he spoke, he released a thread of his presence and pressed it toward A.
The Leaf couldn’t afford to provoke the Cloud right now.
That was a fact.
But it was also a fact that a Kage-level fighter had just walked through his front gate.
If he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, didn’t show some backbone here, he might as well hand in his title.
A felt the pressure and his expression darkened.
He pushed back with his own aura.
Their gazes collided somewhere in the middle of the room like two mountains grinding together, invisible sparks bursting between them.
After a long beat, A smiled.
Worthy of the title “Ninja Hero,” he had to admit.
The pressure was real.
Too bad the old man was just that.
Old.
His combat ability had probably dropped more than one tier by now.
“Alright, alright.
Plain talk.” A leaned back.
“I came for two reasons.
First, to see the Leaf for myself — check whether you’re still the powerhouse you used to be.
And second…”
He stretched out the pause deliberately.
“I’ve reached that age. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
I’m thinking about finding a companion here in the Leaf.
Good for two-village relations, too.”
Hiruzen’s expression shifted, just slightly.
“If Lord Raikage wishes to tour the village, I will arrange it gladly.
But please — don’t disturb the villagers.”
A stood up.
His frame nearly ate the room’s light whole.
“Old man, what do you take me for?
You think I’d go around bullying civilians?”
He headed for the door in long strides.
“I’ll enjoy my time here.
Keep your Anbu well back.” He paused at the threshold.
“All of them.
Except…
that purple-haired woman.”
*
Elsewhere in the village, on a side street.
Konohamaru pressed both hands over a head full of fresh lumps and stared at Sakura’s back with pure dread, muttering sideways to Naruto: “A fat, ugly thing like that even counts as a woman?”
Sakura froze mid-step.
A vein rose at her temple.
She turned her head slowly, eyes practically on fire.
“What did you just say?!” She lunged like a lioness.
Konohamaru’s soul nearly left his body.
He bolted.
“HELP!
MURDER!” The two of them tore through the street in a chaotic chase.
“Ow!” Konohamaru hit a corner at full sprint and slammed straight into someone.
The impact dumped him flat on his backside, and he grimaced, rubbing his tailbone.
The person turned around slowly.
Purple greasepaint covered his face.
A Sand Village forehead protector glinted in the sun.
“That hurt, you little brat.” The voice was cold and flat.
He reached down and lifted Konohamaru off the ground by the collar, the way you’d pick up a stray kitten.
“Konohamaru!” Naruto shouted, alarm flooding his face.
Nearby, a blonde girl with four high ponytails stood perfectly still, expression blank, as if none of this had anything to do with her.
“Kankuro,” she said flatly.
“Be careful you don’t get yourself in trouble.”
“Relax, Temari.
I’ve got this.” Kankuro scanned the street, eyes narrowing.
Sakura caught up breathless and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, this was my fault.” She studied the two strangers carefully, something uneasy prickling at the back of her mind.
[Who are these people?
Why would they be in the Leaf?]
Kankuro’s mouth curled.
“So these are Leaf Genin?” He looked down at Konohamaru, who was kicking him hard in the stomach.
Rather than getting angry, a slow, nasty smile crossed his face instead.
“Good kick, you little punk.”
“Let him go!” Naruto charged.
But just before he reached Kankuro, the man’s fingers barely twitched.
“What?
What was that?” Naruto scrambled upright, confusion and shock written all over his face.
Kankuro looked down at him and sneered.
“That’s it?
Leaf Genin are pathetic.”
Sakura bit her lip.
“They’re foreign ninja.
Why are they here?”
Udon and Moegi watched Konohamaru’s face scrunch up in growing pain, tears streaming down their cheeks.
“Konohamaru…”
“BASTARD!
LET HIM GO!” Naruto was already moving again.
Sakura grabbed his arm.
“Don’t just charge in on your own!”
Something cold settled over Kankuro’s expression.
Killing intent flickered through his eyes.
“You people are really getting on my nerves.
Younger than me and still this loud…” He raised his fist above Konohamaru.
“I’ll deal with you first.
Then I’ll get to the yellow-haired idiot.”
He swung down hard.
“Ugh—!”
Blood.
Konohamaru hit the ground.
“The hell,?” Kankuro clutched his wrist, staring at a small stone on the pavement like he couldn’t process what had just happened.
Everyone looked up.
Sasuke Uchiha was leaning against a tree, arms folded, expression empty.
“What exactly are you doing in someone else’s village?”
“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura’s face lit up like a lantern.
Temari looked at him too.
Something warmer than she intended crept into her gaze.
“Now that’s a man…”
Kankuro’s face went red.
“Another annoying brat.
Damn it, get down here!” He ripped the enormous bandage off his back, unwrapping a long, narrow cylinder with a tuft of hair jutting from one end.
Temari blinked.
“You’re actually going to use Crow out here?”
Sasuke watched Kankuro’s confidence and frowned slightly, quietly cycling his chakra.
Then a voice, cold and unhurried, cut straight through the tension.
“Kankuro.
Stop.”
Sasuke spun.
A red-haired boy was standing upside down on the tree right beside him.
[When?!]
➤ Next: Temari, the Chunin Exams?
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⚡ Members are already reading events that won’t reach public chapters for weeks.
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