In the evaluation room, the group of Jonins remained quiet.
Some stunned, others disdainful and the rest confused.
Only Shikamaru nodded. - As expected, it's about teamwork.
-I understand, he made them think that touching each other would increase the difficulty, but that's only if two people touch each other, but if three people touch each other...- Asuma said, blowing out cigarette smoke.
-...they not only don't lose chakra, they gain it.- Temari said softly.
-Clever. If it weren't for the fact that he had sealed the senses of the other candidates, I wouldn't have thought of that. Why would he do that? It wouldn't make sense if it was just a race competition, unless there was something he didn't want the teams to discover.- Shikamaru said, nodding to himself.
-Yes, but now that we know it's a competition where you have to help each other, how many teams will make it through?- Temari sighed, sensing that few from Suna would be able to advance, after all, Suna had a very strong individualistic culture.
Each individual had to fight to survive in the desert.
Temari looked at Shira's group and thought of Gaara. - "Gaara... will this boy live up to his expectations?"
-That's not all, the next exam will probably start soon after, even if you pass now without holding hands, the team will still be very weak compared to the teams that will receive chakra...- Shikamaru said.
-So, figuring out the purpose of the exam now might help with the next one.- Asuma shook his head.
Shikamaru smiled slightly at that moment, he didn't know the other teams from Konoha, but the three teams, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai, would probably pass this exam.
//-//
(Jiraiya's POV)
Jiraiya sighed as he watched Naruto fight against the toad sage Fukasaku, Naruto's eyes marked with the sage's mark. Jiraiya had risked making Naruto learn Sage Mode, after seeing Sasuke train years before, he knew that just working on the basics with Naruto wouldn't be enough.
Thus, while he focused on investigating the Akatsuki, he left Naruto to be trained by the toads, only occasionally stopping by to teach him personally.
He received Tsunade's message, so he knew the time had come and so he came to get Naruto. He also noticed the hyperactive boy's evident improvement.
Naruto looked very different, his body with strong muscles, his hair grown out after years without trimming, even longer than Minato's own.
Noticing this, Jiraiya didn't make him cut his hair, but taught him his jutsus that used hair, which could be useful during combat.
Wearing only orange pants, he diligently learned frog taijutsu and the man-frog duo continued training on the open rocky terrain, each movement creating craters.
He had grown up in more than one way, Jiraiya only hoped that it would be enough.
Naruto finally noticed Jiraiya's figure sitting on a rock watching his fight, the next moment, an excited smile appeared on his face, but unfortunately it was a bad time to be distracted.
With a slap to the chest, he was thrown far away, rolling across the ground several times before stopping, groaning in pain. -Sennin Ji-chan! That was a low blow!- he shouted, brushing the dust from his hair.
Fukasaku smiled as he spoke. -The enemies won't wait if you get distracted during the fight, Naruto-chan.
Naruto sighed, but he wasn't hurt, his body strengthened by Sage Mode, he jumped to his feet and ran towards Jiraiya.
-Ero-Sennin! Has the time come?!- Naruto asked excitedly.
Jiraiya smiled. Naruto had been asking that question lately and it always gave him a headache, but this time he nodded. -Yes, the time has come.
Naruto was excited, shouting and jumping around, until the Sage Mode effect wore off and he fell to the ground, exhausted. Without Sage Mode, the day's intense training had finally taken its toll. Soon, Jiraiya heard Naruto's clear snoring.
He shook his head and sighed, turning his face to the approaching Fukasaku. -Jiraya-chan, has the time truly come?
-Yes, Tsunade already sent a message.- Jiraiya agreed.
Fukasaku sighed and spoke, looking at Naruto sleeping. -That boy is really hardworking, I hope this is enough.
Jiraiya's smile faded as he looked at Naruto.
Naruto has made great progress, that's true, but... Sasuke didn't just stand by and wait for him, he could only hope for the best. Also, even if Naruto fails, Jiraiya hoped everything would end positively.
At the very least, the last two years have been very productive, it wasn't a waste of time, especially with Akatsuki seeming interested in the Bijuu.
//-//
(Sasuke's POV)
On the other side, at a waterfall not far from the Village of Sound, Sasuke sat on a rock at the bottom of the waterfall, receiving the direct impact. He closed his eyes as he felt the pressure on his body.
He seemed to sense something as his eyes slowly opened, gazing towards the edge of the lake not far away.
His eyes had three tomoe rotating smoothly, fixing on the figure of Jugo looking at him.
What arrived was a Snake clone of Jugo, he stood still and also looked at Sasuke, who didn't seem any different from his Shippuden appearance, but in terms of strength, he was far ahead.
Of course, he hadn't unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan yet, he lacked the right stimulus. Jugo was also thinking about how to get Sasuke to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan.
His current strength is enough to handle most Jonin, but against Itachi? He's still a little short.
Most importantly, Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan opening was marked by tremendous pain upon realizing that his brother was actually protecting him.
To be honest, Jugo didn't like Itachi, their ideas were completely opposite. But he could understand him. First, Itachi grew up in a toxic environment, second, when the massacre happened, he was only 13 years old and there were several other factors at play that led him to that point.
In the end, Jugo didn't like Itachi, but he wouldn't condemn him for it. If Jugo were a Uchiha, he might want revenge, but he isn't, so it wasn't his problem.
However, Sasuke is his student, at least nominally and it would be a shame to have invested in him this far only for Sasuke to end up being affected by Shisui's eye and run back to Konoha, or even be influenced by Obito and want to rush to destroy Konoha.
There was a theory in his past life that opening the Mangekyo Sharingan caused certain psychological changes, making the Uchiha impulsive, paranoid and extreme.
So Jugo was ready to find another way to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan. Along with some of Hashirama's cells and some help from him, Sasuke probably wouldn't go insane again.
Of course, if it comes to that point and Sasuke actually betrays him, it wouldn't be too late to turn him into a werewolf, at that point, he wouldn't be afraid of Hagoromo anymore.