Gaara wanted to stay, and it wasn't as if Chinatsu had forced him. There was no real benefit for Chinatsu in keeping Gaara in Konoha anyway; she simply couldn't resist it when younger kids acted clingy in front of her.
There was no helping it. After spending so many years in the role of "older sister," Chinatsu now instinctively treated everyone younger than her as little brothers. At this point, the aura of a dependable older sister practically radiated from her body. If there were an annual "Best Big Sister in the Ninja World" award and she didn't win it, then the judging panel was definitely rigged.
After saying goodbye to Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō, Chinatsu immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared outside the Hokage's office window atop the Hokage Building. Through the glass, she could see Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting behind his desk with a troubled expression while holding a report.
Just as the Third Hokage lifted his teacup for a sip
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sudden knocking from behind nearly made Hiruzen spit out his tea.
He quickly turned around and saw Chinatsu standing upside down outside the window frame like some kind of ghost.
Hiruzen Sarutobi almost choked. With a twitching expression, he walked over and opened the window. Chinatsu casually hopped inside.
"Couldn't you use the front entrance for once?" Hiruzen sighed helplessly.
Chinatsu grinned.
"What do you know? A certain failed man always makes dramatic entrances like this."
Hiruzen frowned in confusion.
"Failed… man?"
He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
The Third Hokage returned to his chair and rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"So? What brings you here this time?"
"I came to ask whether the Chūnin Exams can continue already. I already controlled the power of the explosion pretty well. Only one section of the Forest of Death was destroyed. There's no need to postpone things for this long, right?"
Chinatsu placed one hand on her hip while speaking confidently.
Honestly, now that Hiruzen had stopped pretending around her, she also found it more comfortable to stop acting like a perfectly polite "good girl." Speaking openly like this felt far more natural.
Hiruzen hesitated for a moment before handing the report in his hand to Chinatsu.
"Read this first."
Chinatsu suspiciously accepted the document and lowered her head.
A few seconds later, her expression froze.
"…Radiation?"
Her pupils trembled slightly.
Wait a second.
Can somebody explain why there was radiation left behind after her "Ninja Art: Nuclear Fusion Technique" exploded? Did she remember something incorrectly from her previous life? Or were the elemental properties of the Naruto world fundamentally different from Earth's?
Could there be a small problem somewhere in the process…?
Chinatsu's lips twitched uncontrollably.
This "World Peace Technique" was something she had forcefully pieced together by combining half-remembered scientific theories from her previous life with chakra manipulation principles from the ninja world.
The concept she imagined had originally been:
Scientific Theory + Chakra = World Peace Technique.
But the reality was more like:
Half-understood Science + Chinatsu's Wild Assumptions + Chakra = Unknown Mutant Forbidden Technique.
Chinatsu silently defended herself in her heart.
"I'm not a physicist, okay?! Isn't it normal if something goes wrong?!"
Still… from another perspective, this could actually be considered a hidden bonus effect. Continuous residual damage wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
It simply meant she would need to be more careful about where she used this technique in the future.
As Chinatsu muttered to herself while reading the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi listened nearby with a blank face.
He was known throughout the ninja world as "The Professor," someone who mastered every jutsu in Konoha.
And yet he couldn't understand a single word this girl was saying.
Eventually, Chinatsu looked up from the report and asked another question.
"But what does this have to do with postponing the Chūnin Exams? The exams don't necessarily have to continue inside the Forest of Death. You could just change the testing location or modify the format."
Hiruzen stared at her speechlessly for two seconds before answering.
"That has nothing to do with the postponement. I only showed you this report because the technique was yours. As for the continuation of the Chūnin Exams, I already finalized the new arrangements yesterday. They'll resume in one week."
"Oh~ so that's the case."
Chinatsu instantly relaxed again.
"Then never mind. I'm going to take a look at the Forest of Death myself."
After speaking, she immediately stepped onto the windowsill again.
Before Hiruzen could even stop her, Chinatsu vanished with another Body Flicker.
The Third Hokage's eyelids twitched.
"You could at least leave through the door…"
Meanwhile, Chinatsu rapidly traveled toward the Forest of Death the area she had personally nuked.
This time, however, she didn't recklessly rush inside.
After pausing for a few seconds, she activated Sage Mode.
Dark markings from Shikkotsu Forest Sage Mode spread across her face, and her sensory abilities instantly expanded several times over.
The moment her senses connected with the surrounding environment, Chinatsu's expression changed.
"Oh wow… it really exists…"
Something about the area was undeniably abnormal.
The chakra flow throughout the forest was chaotic and distorted, and even the surrounding plant life showed signs of mutation.
Chinatsu crossed her arms and desperately tried recalling the scientific knowledge from her previous life.
Unfortunately, instead of formulas and theories, all she remembered were her terrible school grades.
"…Ahem."
She coughed awkwardly.
"Well, nobody's perfect. My abilities are limited, okay?"
After comforting herself, Chinatsu decisively prepared to leave.
Some distance away, Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly coughed blood after hearing her explanation through the communication squad.
"You're just leaving it like that?!"
Chinatsu spread her hands helplessly.
"I can't do anything about it~"
She truly didn't understand how to remove the aftereffects herself.
The "Ninja Art: Nuclear Fusion Technique" was already a miracle born from reckless experimentation and chakra control. Asking her to now solve the resulting radiation problem was completely beyond her knowledge base.
Fortunately, the affected area wasn't enormous.
If left alone for ten years or so, it should probably weaken naturally by around seventy or eighty percent… right?
And thus, Chinatsu delivered this "good news" to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
From that day onward, the Forest of Death truly lived up to its name. The contaminated zone was completely sealed off, and even jōnin-level shinobi were forbidden from approaching it carelessly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened.
"That thing should absolutely be classified as a forbidden technique…"
Chinatsu waved her hand dismissively.
"Okay, okay, I got it. I'll be more careful next time."
Although Hiruzen suspected she was merely brushing him off, Chinatsu actually did plan on sealing away the technique temporarily. Its destructive power was already absurd enough. She would only consider using it again against enemies far more troublesome than Orochimaru.
With the Chūnin Exams set to resume in one week, Konoha gradually became lively again as examinees from the other villages returned.
However, unlike before, the foreign shinobi no longer dared to act arrogantly toward Konoha's ninjas.
Every single village now viewed Konoha with extreme caution.
After all, in their eyes, Konoha had secretly developed some horrifying super-weapon capable of producing mushroom clouds.
And during this week, what was Chinatsu doing?
Wearing a pair of completely unnecessary glasses and holding Tobirama Senju's forbidden scroll, she officially began special training for Naruto and Sasuke.
For Sasuke, Chinatsu selected several powerful yet relatively stable elemental ninjutsu from the forbidden scroll. Her goal was to further expand Sasuke's offensive versatility and tactical combinations.
As for Naruto…
Chinatsu only selected a single technique for him.
"Naruto," Chinatsu said while tossing over a copied notebook, "there's only one week left until the Chūnin Exams resume. Figure out a way to learn this."
Naruto caught the notebook with a confused expression and opened the first page.
At the very top were several bold words:
[S-Rank Space-Time Ninjutsu Flying Thunder God Technique]
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