It's better to be a rebel ninja than to be a Hokage

"Shadow clone!"

Kakashi watched calmly as the situation in the battle between Sasuke and Rock Lee turned around.

Sasuke used his shadow clone to lure the enemy, while his real body hid underground and waited for the right opportunity to strike.

This is exactly the tactical strategy that Naruto is good at!

Sasuke and Naruto, the two are chasing each other and growing at an astonishing speed.

"Kai, I'm sorry, it looks like Sasuke won."

Kakashi looked at Kai beside him, and stated the facts calmly without showing off in his tone.

"You are worthy of being my lifelong rival, Kakashi! I didn't expect you to be so good at teaching students! But! Lee and I will not be discouraged by a temporary setback! Youth! Is a flame that will never go out!"

Kai clenched his fists in front of his chest, and there seemed to be a blazing fire in his eyes that would never give in.

"Yes Yes……"

Because he knew Gai's character too well, Kakashi had long been accustomed to Gai's "exaggerated" behavior.

He turned his attention back to Sasuke on the field, acting unconcerned about the youthful declaration that Gai had made countless times.

"Damn Kakashi, you even know how to ignore people so well! But that's how you can become my rival!"

Kakashi could still hear Kai talking to himself, but Kakashi just frowned and focused on Sasuke's current physical condition.

Although he had defeated Rock Lee, Sasuke was now slightly hunched over and breathing heavily, and it looked like his condition wasn't much better.

As the referee of the match, Gekko Hayate intervened in the fight between Sasuke and Lee, checking whether the dazed Lee still had any possibility to continue fighting.

Sasuke just silently covered the curse seal on his shoulders and neck with his hands, waiting for Gekko Gale to decide the outcome of the match.

Shadow clones that need to evenly distribute their own chakra, and Sharingan that consumes chakra continuously once used...

Sasuke's current chakra is no longer able to suppress the curse seal.

"I declare that the winner of the first match is - Uchiha Sasuke!"

Moonlight Gale announced the result of the game impartially.

Xiao Li showed no signs of trying to get rid of the illusion. If he had been trapped in the illusion for the time he had, he would have died more than once in a real battle.

His victory was already decided, and Sasuke, who had been holding on, suddenly fell to his knees!

Everyone present who knew about the existence of the curse was shocked!

The black markings of irregular shapes like flames began to spread across Sasuke's face.

"Third Hokage, we should really stop Uchiha Sasuke from continuing to take part in this exam..."

Standing next to the Third Hokage, Mitarashi Anko, who is also a holder of the curse seal, is very clear about the terrifying aggressiveness of the curse seal when one's own chakra is insufficient.

After hearing what Hongdou said, Sandai also fell into deep thought.

An unexpected situation occurred to Sasuke.

Sasuke actually forced back the patterns of the curse seal with his own will—and suppressed the curse seal again!

The power of the curse seal is like poisoned honey wine to Sasuke, who is now seriously lacking in chakra...

Even though he knew it was poisonous, the scent of the honey still made Sasuke addicted to it.

But at the last moment when Sasuke was losing consciousness, he recalled Naruto's words of warning and comfort to him in the Forest of Death.

"If you can't even beat yourself, there's no way you can beat anyone else."

Sasuke struggled to get up from the ground, his black eyes looking at Naruto in the stands.

"It seems that I barely defeated myself this time..."

This was Sasuke's last thought after suppressing the curse seal.

The next second, Sasuke, having lost all his strength, fainted.

Before Sasuke was about to fall to the ground, Kakashi used the instant body jutsu to grab him.

"No, you can't handle his problems. I'll take him to treatment."

After confirming at close range that the curse seal on Sasuke's body had returned to a stable state, Kakashi stopped the medical team that was prepared to deal with the preliminaries from asking for help.

The problem of curse seals cannot be solved by simple medical ninjutsu.

Kakashi looked up at the Third Hokage, and after the Third Hokage nodded in agreement imperceptibly, he used the instant body-flickering technique to take the unconscious Sasuke and leave the arena.

"Is Sasuke okay?"

As a fellow member of Team 7, Sakura obviously cares more about the departure of Kakashi and Sasuke than anyone else.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei will protect Sasuke."

Naruto smiled at Sakura, his attention more focused on the screen that was flashing the candidates' names again.

The names of the candidates for the second qualifying round have finally been confirmed.

Gaara VS Uzumaki Naruto!

……

"Cough cough!"

Moonlight Gale looked at the two names on the screen and shouted, "Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto, both of you please come to the stadium..."

Before Moonlight Gale could finish his words, a sudden gust of sand flew across the field.

Standing in the gravel was Gaara, a man with red hair and the word "love" carved on his forehead.

He looked up at Naruto, his eyes icy cold.

The people from Class 8 and Class 10, who graduated from the Ninja Academy at the same time as Naruto, as well as Sakura, were all stunned when they saw Gaara.

They had the same illusion, as if they saw Naruto from two years ago in Gaara.

"Uzumaki Naruto, come to the arena!"

Noticing the sudden dull atmosphere, Gekkou Gale reminded Naruto who was still standing in the stands.

Naruto just shook his head.

In the qualifying round for the right to qualify for the third exam, who will play against whom and who will lose will win.

Naruto wasn't interested in any of it.

Even in the previous battle between Sasuke and Rock Lee, Naruto was only slightly curious about Sasuke's tactical style.

Naruto's Chunin Exams - are over.

His only purpose in taking the Chunin Exam was to get in touch with Karin.

Even getting rid of Kabuto Yakushi was just a matter of course.

Now that his goal of contacting Karin has been achieved, the Chunin Exam is no longer meaningful to Naruto.

No matter who his opponent was, Naruto would not fight him in front of the Third Hokage.

But the opponent would be Gaara, which made Naruto feel a little dramatic.

But that's about it.

"that……"

Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment and said with a wry smile: "I give up..."

Moonlight Hayate stared at Naruto who had a shameful expression on his face: "Why did you suddenly admit defeat?"

In response to the referee's questioning, Naruto could only reluctantly lift up his coat and expose his abdomen.

The white bandage that was wrapped around Naruto's abdominal wound turned bright red. Blood was still flowing out of the wound, and the red color on the bandage was still spreading.

"The wound I got in the Death Forest has reopened. I thought I could hold on until the end of this competition... but now it seems there's no way..."

Naruto sounded unwilling, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that the wound on his abdomen was extremely serious and he could not continue to participate in the competition.

"I understand, but if you can't compete due to personal reasons, you will still be judged as the loser. If you don't participate in this match, it will be counted as Gaara's victory."

Gekkou Hayate asked Naruto if he was willing to accept this outcome.

Naruto was silent for a long time, and finally nodded resignedly: "I won't participate."

"Then, I declare the winner of the second match to be - Gaara!"

After announcing the results of the match, Gekkou Hayate signaled to Gaara, "Go back to the stands. The third match will begin soon."

Gaara ignored Gekko Hayate. He just looked at Naruto deeply and used Sand Flash to return to the stands again.

"Welcome back, Gaara!"

As the eldest sister, Temari welcomed Gaara's return with a smile.

Temari actually felt a little relieved in her heart.

She had a good impression of Naruto, the Konoha ninja who sat next to her in the first exam, and didn't really want him to be hurt by Gaara.

In Temari's eyes, the previously powerful Rock Lee and Sasuke were no match for Gaara, let alone Naruto.

Gaara... doesn't think so.

"Temari, you have had contact with that guy named Uzumaki Naruto before."

What Gaara was talking about was naturally the first exam.

Upon hearing this, Temari looked at Gaara in confusion.

Gaara, who is only interested in strong people, suddenly cares about Naruto's affairs.

"Yes, some contact..."

Temari answered, not quite lying, but not giving details either.

"Don't go near him again."

Gaara asked Temari in a commanding tone.

"why?"

Temari demanded.

Gaara did not respond. He just watched Naruto being taken away by the medical team. Sakura also left with the medical team.

That guy... why did he hide the same look as mine...