Chapter 431: The Gathering
"Chidori!"
In the small grove, a blinding blue light flared. The deafening screech of a thousand chirping birds pierced the sky as Hoshino Uchiha covered dozens of meters in under two seconds.
Clap.
With a faint clap of hands, the noisy storm of lightning vanished instantly.
Masahiko half-crouched, extending his left hand to meet Hoshino's right palm. Blue arcs of lightning crackled and danced across the point where their hands met.
A moment later, the lightning faded. Masahiko drew back his left hand and slowly clenched his fist, waiting for the stinging sensation in his palm to pass. He hadn't applied a single shred of defensive chakra to protect himself just now.
"Not bad. You've mastered it completely," Masahiko noted with a satisfied nod.
It was now late May of Konoha Year 60, just a little over a month since Masahiko had first taught the Chidori to Hoshino Uchiha.
How long did it take Sasuke to learn it in the original timeline? A month? I guess the two of them are roughly on par... Masahiko pondered for a moment before snapping back to reality and shaking his head helplessly.
Hoshino didn't show any visible joy despite mastering such a powerful ninjutsu. With a completely blank, indifferent expression, she immediately stood right back up on her tiptoes in front of Masahiko, her mind clearly wandering out in the stratosphere...
"Even on your tiptoes, you're not taller than me."
Masahiko let out a chuckle. Gathering chakra into his right hand, a long, light-blue blade of plasma extended outward. With a casual backhand swing, a whole row of trees behind him neatly snapped and collapsed.
Hoshino snapped to attention instantly, her eyes locking onto the chakra blade in Masahiko's hand, her gaze filled with deep longing.
Masahiko smirked. "Want to learn it? Too bad, I'm not teaching you! Figure it out yourself!"
The chirping screech of the Chidori flared up once again. Hoshino was nothing if not stubborn; she immediately began experimenting on her own...
Masahiko turned around with a sigh, deciding to just let her do whatever she wanted. He was a centenarian; he didn't desperately crave a little girl's pleading flattery... truly, he didn't.
After walking just a few paces, Masahiko suddenly froze. His narrowed eyes flew wide open, and his left eye shifted into a rippling pattern.
Left Eye: Rinnegan
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"Very good!"
Hoshino, who was currently attempting to form a Chidori Sharp Spear, looked up at Masahiko with a thoroughly baffled expression before lowering her head to resume her brooding calculations.
Masahiko glanced back at her, then looked toward the other two children training independently across the grove before stepping out of the small woods. "Work hard, kids. Your opponents and upperclassmen should be arriving just about now. I still need to go sign you up and fill out the paperwork... Eh, let Obito fill it out instead!"
Meanwhile, on the busy streets of Konoha Village.
Team 7 had just wrapped up a tree-planting mission. Because Naruto had been a fraction slower than Sasuke and planted one less tree, the two had locked horns again. Naruto absolutely loathed losing.
Sakura, who had only managed to plant a single tree herself, was completely left out of the dynamic. She could only trail behind them as they traded an endless loop of "Idiot Naruto!" and "Bastard Sasuke!" down the road.
"Uh—Sasuke-kun, Naruto, watch where you're going!" Sakura warned, startled.
"Huh?" Naruto and Sasuke blinked and turned their heads.
Thud! Thud!
Two distinct crashing sounds rang out consecutively. Sasuke knit his brows slightly as he looked at the face-painted youth who had just tumbled backward onto the pavement. He then turned a highly amused gaze toward Naruto, who had taken a much harder faceplant into the dirt...
"Bah! Spit... sand...?"
"Ouch! You Konoha brats, don't you know how to apologize when you run into someone?" the paint-faced youth grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his chest.
"Hehe... I'm so sorry! Sasuke-kun didn't mean to," Sakura offered hurriedly, stepping forward.
"Sakura, there's no need to apologize," Sasuke cut in calmly. "You guys aren't ninjas from Konoha Village, are you? Why are you here?"
"To think there are actually brats who don't even know about the Chunin Exams..."
"Kankuro, stop causing trouble," Temari interrupted halfway through his complaint. "Hey there, handsome Konoha ninja. The three of us are here to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams. My brother ran into your teammate, and I apologize for that."
"The Joint Chunin Exams..." Sasuke muttered to himself. Then he looked at Naruto. "It's fine. Getting knocked over just means he's too weak."
Naruto completely ignored Sasuke. The moment his eyes locked onto Gaara, who was carrying a giant gourd on his back, a thoroughly bizarre wave of emotion surged inside his chest.
The feeling didn't belong to him. It felt like it was coming from the Nine-Tails inside his stomach—a lingering sense of shared misery and mutual isolation, even if the fox still found the other presence incredibly annoying.
Gaara felt the exact same resonance.
Sakura hesitated slightly, sensing the thick, bizarre tension in the air. She offered a strained smile to break the ice: "Sasuke-kun, Naruto, didn't we say we were going to go train?"
"Let's find Kakashi-sensei first. We're participating in the Chunin Exams too. But before that..." Sasuke's eyes gleamed with genuine interest. "Hey, gourd guy. What's your name?"
"My younger brother's name is Gaara. He doesn't like to talk much," Temari answered smoothly.
"What is... your name?" Gaara suddenly spoke up in a soft, raspy whisper, his gaze firmly pinned on Naruto.
Sasuke: ??
Temari: "..."
Naruto snapped out of his daze, flashing a massive grin. He was just about to introduce himself when a deeply familiar, boisterous voice cut through the air from nearby.
"Naruto! Oh? The gourd kid is here too?"
Naruto froze, his neck turning like a rusty gear. "The... the... violence girl!"
"What did you say?! You little brat, it looks like you're begging for another thrashing!"
Naruto took a instinctive step back, but then remembered that the current him was 'incredibly strong'. "Violence girl! I'm not afraid of you anymore!"
"Oh, really?"
A few seconds later, Naruto was crumpled on the ground with a head full of massive bumps, his spine completely broken of all courage...
Karin clapped her hands clean, nodding in absolute satisfaction.
"So... so strong..." Sakura whispered in sheer awe.
Sasuke's expression grew exceptionally grave. "I remember you... Karin Uzumaki? Is the Land of Whirlpools participating in these Chunin Exams too?"
Karin shot a passing glance at Sasuke before immediately looking away. Her heart belonged entirely to Kimimaro...
"Participate in a Chunin Exam? Please, I'm already a Jonin!" Karin declared with a proud tilt of her chin. She then turned to the Sand trio. "Long time no see, Temari, Kankuro, gourd kid... Uh, it's all the Great Elder's fault! Gourd kid, what was your actual name again?"
She's already a Jonin? Sasuke instantly felt a crushing wave of urgency. He remembered that Karin was barely a year older than him.
In the distance, Haku and Kimimaro walked up side by side. One was ethereal and beautiful, the other sharp and handsome—looking for all the world like a perfectly matched pair.
"Karin, did you sense the God's chakra?" Kimimaro asked, his eyes indifferently sweeping over the gathered genin, completely devoid of interest.
Not a single one of them could fight.
Karin shook her head. "Kimimaro-kun, we can't use wide-range sensory techniques inside Konoha Village. But this brat over here definitely knows!"
Naruto's recovery rate was nothing short of monstrous; the swelling on his face was already going down. "Big Sister Haku, long time no see! Great Ancestor went to lead Team 11. He should be over at Training Ground 40 right now..."
A massive hand suddenly clamped down onto the crown of Naruto's head, and Masahiko's voice rang out: "My, my, look who's all here. By the looks of it, you've all introduced yourselves?"
"Great Ancestor!" "Great Elder!" "Lord God!" "Senior!" A cacophony of various greetings erupted simultaneously.
Masahiko chuckled and nodded. "Come along, follow me to the grove. Let's go introduce you all to the three kids of Team 11!"
The massive entourage set off down the road in a grand procession.
Naruto couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Haku was constantly stealing subtle glances at his face. Although he always called her Big Sister Haku, if it were actually... Naruto felt a sudden, bittersweet wave of melancholy.
Right then, Haku suddenly turned and flashed Naruto an exceptionally sweet, radiant smile, causing a sudden chill to run down the boy's spine...
Naruto's eyebrows... are remarkably thick...
☆☆☆
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