Chapter 33: The Chunin Exams are About to Begin
Soon, Uchiha Sasuke arrived at the scene of the quarrel, only to see a boy with strange markings painted on his face holding a brat with one hand, with a blonde girl standing beside him.
Confronting them were Naruto and Sakura, along with two other brats.
"Let Konohamaru go!"
Uzumaki Naruto formed a hand seal, glaring at the person in front of him.
Idiot, how could a Rasengan formed with the help of a Shadow Clone possibly hit anyone? Hiding in a tree and watching, Uchiha Sasuke saw through Naruto's plan at a glance.
"Kankuro, forget it. It's rude to start a fight in someone else's Village."
At that moment, the blonde girl spoke up to persuade him. Although she recognized Uzumaki Naruto's hand seal as the Shadow Clone Jutsu, she had an uneasy feeling in her heart, sensing that it wasn't that simple.
"It's fine, I'll just give these brats a little lesson." A smirk curled on Kankuro's lips as he decided to teach them a lesson.
As he spoke, he hoisted Konohamaru up with his right hand and gathered strength in his left.
Suddenly, a flash of blue light flickered.
A translucent blue needle instantly flew down from the tree and pierced Kankuro's right hand.
Pain shot through Kankuro's hand, and he instinctively let go of Konohamaru.
The sudden turn of events caused everyone's expressions to shift, and they all looked up toward the tree.
"What do you think you're doing in someone else's Village?"
Uchiha Sasuke spoke coldly as he met their gazes, a Chidori Senbon still held between his fingers. This was one of the Chidori-derived Ninjutsu he had developed under Kakashi's guidance recently.
"Another even more annoying brat!"
Kankuro snapped back to reality and glared at Uchiha Sasuke through gritted teeth, but his heart sank when he saw the blue needle in the other boy's hand.
That's a product of Chakra shape transformation and nature transformation. Such control over Chakra is no simple feat!
"Sasuke!"
"..."
Sakura and Naruto had different reactions upon seeing Sasuke; the former was happy, while the latter was speechless—he was stealing all the spotlight again!
"Scram!" Uchiha Sasuke flicked the Chidori Senbon from his hand. It moved with extreme speed, embedding itself right by Kankuro's feet—a clear warning.
However, Kankuro grew angry at this provocation. Just as he was about to retaliate, a cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang out.
At the same time, Uchiha Sasuke felt an inexplicable chill. Turning his head, he saw a flash, and a figure appeared beside him.
"Stop it, Kankuro!"
the newcomer said indifferently.
Only then did the people below realize there was someone else in the tree.
"G-Gaara!" When Kankuro saw the newcomer, his previous anger vanished instantly.
Following that, Gaara used the Body Flicker Technique to move from the tree to Kankuro's side.
Uchiha Sasuke also used the Body Flicker Technique to return to Naruto and the others.
Gaara glanced at Sasuke, then turned to leave.
"Wait, what's your name?" Uchiha Sasuke's eyes narrowed. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke up. It was rare to find an opponent of a similar age with such formidable strength.
"Gaara of the Desert. And you? I'm somewhat interested in you as well."
Hearing this, Gaara turned to look at him.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
The two stared at each other, both feeling a strong surge of fighting spirit.
"Hey, what about me?" Seeing this, Uzumaki Naruto couldn't help but chime in.
"Not interested."
Naruto's interruption broke their tension. Feeling bored, Gaara turned to leave.
"..."
Uzumaki Naruto's face fell. Wait, do I look that weak? I'm clearly very strong too, okay!
—
—
Meanwhile.
Over at the Hokage Building.
All the squad-leading Jonin currently in the Village were gathered there.
"Is that really Kakashi?"
"I heard long ago that Kakashi turned into a girl, but I didn't expect it to be true."
"I thought it was a rumor too!"
"I told you so, but you didn't believe me!"
Everyone looked at Kakashi standing at the front, whispering curiously.
Even though some Jonin had seen the female version of Kakashi before, they were still curious seeing her again now.
However, most of them didn't dare go up and ask her about it.
However, her peers Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi wanted to approach her, but they felt a bit awkward given the current setting.
They had wanted to ask Kakashi about it for a long time, but they never had the chance to run into her. Occasionally they would spot her from a distance, but before they could catch up, Kakashi would vanish.
After a while, the Third Hokage walked in.
He then began to explain the reason for calling them together.
After a long speech, the Third Hokage informed them of the specific date.
"So, the Chunin Exams are set for July 1st, one week from now."
"Isn't that a bit too soon?"
Hearing it would start in a week, the crowd broke into whispers, feeling it was a bit rushed.
Kakashi, however, didn't think it was too soon and turned to leave.
"Wait, Kakashi!"
Seeing Kakashi about to leave, Kurenai, who was nearby, quickly called out to stop her.
Stopped