The entire Konoha Village had successfully advanced to the final round of the Chunin Exams.
Among those who qualified were Neji Hyuga, Tenten, Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and many others.
Even Karin, the Uzumaki girl whom Naruto had once rescued, represented Konoha once again. She defeated opponent after opponent and fought her way into the finals.
Naturally, Sunagakure took second place in terms of participants. Jasmine, Yukata, Komaza, and several other talented shinobi had also secured their spots in the final round.
Of course, Fu, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from Takigakure, was among the finalists as well.
As the decisive battles began, the Hidden Sand Village became livelier than ever.
After the Third Shinobi World War and the Konoha Crush incident, Sunagakure had suffered enormous losses. The village had been left weakened, leaderless, and burdened by poverty.
The fact that it had managed to recover enough to host such a grand event was already an impressive achievement.
Spectators from countless nations and ninja villages had gathered to witness the finals. Nobles, merchants, travelers, and shinobi from every corner of the world filled the village streets.
The result was constant excitement and endless noise.
Standing in the viewing area, Tsunade watched the bustling scene and nodded in satisfaction.
Beside her, Shizune held Tonton in her arms and smiled.
"Everyone from Konoha has performed exceptionally well," she said.
"It looks like we'll have another successful harvest of talented young shinobi."
She knew better than anyone how much Tsunade valued the next generation.
Tsunade crossed her arms and smiled faintly.
"Yes."
"These are difficult times. The younger generation must grow stronger as quickly as possible."
Many Konoha shinobi who had already attained the rank of Chunin were present to observe the battles.
However, one person was noticeably absent.
Tsunade glanced toward the audience seats behind her and frowned slightly.
"Is Naruto still training?"
Shizune sighed helplessly.
"Yes."
"I personally informed him that he was one of the Chunin Exam representatives appointed by Lady Tsunade and should attend the finals."
"But he refused to come."
"What did he say?" Tsunade asked.
Shizune smiled bitterly.
"He said that while everyone else was relaxing, he needed to keep training."
"He said only by doing that could he continue surpassing them."
A trace of warmth appeared in Tsunade's eyes.
A smile slowly formed on her lips.
"What a stubborn brat."
After a brief pause, she waved her hand.
"Forget it."
"Let him do as he pleases."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Meanwhile, far from the arena, Naruto could clearly hear the sounds of battle.
The cheers of the audience.
The thunderous applause.
The excited shouting.
The clash of weapons and techniques.
Even from a great distance, the atmosphere was incredibly lively.
But Naruto paid no attention to it.
That excitement belonged to others.
His path was different.
Without a word, he continued training.
His current training intensity far exceeded anything he had done before.
Although his battle against Kakuzu and Hidan had ended in victory, it had also revealed his greatest weaknesses.
His strongest weapon was undoubtedly the Wind Release Chakra Mode.
Without it, defeating Hidan and cornering Kakuzu would have been nearly impossible.
However, Naruto knew one thing clearly.
He had not truly mastered it yet.
On the system panel, the proficiency of Wind Release Chakra Mode stood at only 58 points.
That meant he had not even reached complete mastery of the fundamentals.
After carefully analyzing his performance, Naruto identified several flaws.
The first problem was duration.
The technique was overwhelmingly powerful, but it could only be maintained for approximately five minutes.
At first, Naruto believed the limitation was caused by insufficient chakra reserves.
However, after several real battles, he discovered that wasn't the case.
His chakra was never fully exhausted.
Even when his natural reserves ran low, he still possessed the enormous chakra stored within the Yin Seal.
The true reason was much simpler.
He hadn't mastered the technique completely.
Although the activity of his one hundred and thirty trillion somatic cells had increased to more than two hundred times that of an ordinary human, this merely represented the minimum threshold required to activate Wind Release Chakra Mode.
It was far from complete synchronization.
Therefore, Naruto needed to further strengthen his body and increase cellular activity even more.
And that was exactly what he was doing now.
Every time he activated Wind Release Chakra Mode, he noticed something interesting.
The activity of his cells increased slightly afterward.
The process of activating the technique pushed every cell to its limit before allowing them to recover.
In other words, every use of Wind Release Chakra Mode functioned as an intense training session.
That realization changed everything.
Naruto repeatedly pushed himself to the brink.
He activated the technique until his body reached its absolute limit.
Then he stopped.
Using the chakra stored within the Yin Seal, he repaired the damage done to his body.
After recovering, he repeated the process all over again.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The training was so brutal that it resembled dying and being reborn repeatedly.
The exhaustion was beyond description.
The pain was unimaginable.
Few people in the world could endure such suffering.
Yet the results were undeniable.
After every grueling session, his mastery of Wind Release Chakra Mode improved slightly.
However, Naruto knew there was another problem.
An internal issue had been solved gradually.
An external issue remained.
He still had not fully grasped the true essence of Wind Release.
Earlier, he had realized that the essence of wind was flow.
But understanding something intellectually was very different from integrating that understanding into reality.
He could comprehend the concept.
Yet he couldn't fully merge that realization with Wind Release Chakra Mode.
Likewise, he still couldn't perfectly integrate all of his Wind Release techniques into the form.
This wasn't merely a matter of talent or intelligence.
It required experience.
It required perception.
It required constant interaction with real wind itself.
Therefore, Naruto continued.
Again and again, he activated Wind Release Chakra Mode.
Powerful winds erupted around him.
The skies trembled.
Sand and stones were thrown into the air.
The ground shook beneath his feet.
The surrounding desert seemed to roar in response.
Only after his chakra reserves reached their limit did he finally stop.
This method allowed him to increase cellular activity while simultaneously deepening his understanding of Wind Release.
Fortunately, Temari had been right.
The Hidden Sand Village was truly a sacred land for Wind Release users.
Constant winds swept across the desert day and night.
Endless sandstorms shaped the landscape.
For ordinary people, these harsh conditions were a burden.
For a Wind Release ninja, however, they were a priceless advantage.
There was no better place to feel the flow of wind.
No better place to understand its nature.
Suddenly, a familiar notification appeared in Naruto's mind.
[The host has trained Wind Release Chakra Mode again.]
[Proficiency increased.]
[Current Proficiency: 61 Points.]
Naruto felt a brief surge of satisfaction.
But it was quickly replaced by frustration.
Even with such intense training, he could only improve by a single point at a time.
Sometimes, he couldn't gain a point at all.
Logically speaking, his cellular activity had already approached two hundred and fifty times that of an ordinary person.
Yet the overall improvement remained limited.
This suggested an important truth.
His problem was no longer one of quantity.
It was a matter of quality.
There was still a qualitative flaw within Wind Release Chakra Mode.
Something fundamental was missing.
At that moment, Naruto released the power of the Yin Seal.
Warm chakra surged through his body.
Countless damaged cells rapidly recovered.
Every injury disappeared.
Every strain vanished.
His body returned to peak condition.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, Naruto activated Wind Release Chakra Mode once more.
If an ordinary person attempted such madness, they would undoubtedly die.
But Naruto was no longer ordinary.
In an instant, his senses expanded dramatically.
The world seemed to transform.
He could feel the wind between heaven and earth.
He could sense the currents flowing through the desert.
The wind scattered clouds across the sky.
The wind bent the grasses.
The wind shaped rivers and waves.
Countless grains of sand drifted endlessly through the air.
Everything moved.
Everything flowed.
Everything obeyed the rhythm of the wind.
At the same time, Naruto's perception reached an unprecedented level.
Even the distant sounds from the Chunin Exam arena became magnified hundreds of times.
Every cheer.
Every shout.
Every footstep.
Every heartbeat.
It was as though the entire arena existed right beside him.
Through the wind itself, Naruto could perceive the movements of everyone present.
He could even clearly observe the two fighters currently battling in the arena.
"Hm?"
Naruto frowned slightly.
"That's Sakura?"
The familiar figure appeared both recognizable and strangely distant.
Long ago, Sakura had occupied an important place in his heart.
When they were younger, Naruto had admired her deeply.
He would have done anything to earn her acknowledgment.
But that was years ago.
Now, things were different.
To Naruto, Sakura was simply a comrade.
Nothing more.
In truth, they were no longer particularly close.
The people closest to him now were undoubtedly Hinata and Sasuke.
After them came friends such as Shikamaru, Choji, and Rock Lee, people with whom he had formed genuine bonds.
Then there were comrades who had fought alongside him—people like Shino Aburame and Ino Yamanaka.
As for Neji, Tenten, Kiba, and Sakura, they were still companions.
But they weren't among the people closest to his heart.
Ironically, Gaara felt closer to him than many of them.
After all, both were Jinchuriki.
Both had endured loneliness.
Both understood burdens that few others could truly comprehend.
Nevertheless, Naruto silently cheered for Sakura.
"Looks like she's fighting a kunoichi from Sunagakure."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Come on, Sakura-chan."
Just then—
A familiar presence suddenly entered his perception range.
The feeling was warm.
Gentle.
Comforting.
And incredibly familiar.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
Standing before him was a shy yet beautiful girl.
Soft lavender eyes looked at him with concern.
Long dark-blue hair fluttered gently in the wind.
Naruto blinked.
"Hinata?"
A hint of surprise appeared on his face.
"What are you doing here?"
"Aren't you supposed to be watching the Chunin Exam finals?"
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)