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The cool guy, Sasuke, showed a moment of surprise on his face, but quickly regained his usual composure.
It was normal for Naruto and Hinata to be paired up for a match, so it was also expected that he and Sakura would be teammates.
Sakura looked incredulously at him.
No matter what they thought, in the end, they both jumped off the stage and faced each other in a battle.
Naruto started setting up a grill to roast meat, and Choji had been waiting next to him for a long time, staring at the meat with such intensity that it felt as though he was about to eat a person.
Choji hadn't had a decent meal for five days in the forest, and he thought he could finally eat his fill once he saw Naruto, but Naruto was still fighting below the stage, and the match lasted for forty minutes. Choji was so hungry he could barely stand.
"Ah, I also want to fight Sasuke!" Ino, the beautiful young lady, bit her lip with envy. She wanted to have a slow, careful fight like Naruto and Hinata, where neither side used heavy strikes, and each move seemed to communicate their feelings for one another.
Hinata returned to the team, feeling happy. The previous battle had been her first official match with Naruto, and the eye contact they shared during the fight made her feel like she could sense Naruto's heart. It was a beautiful moment, and her girlish emotions bubbled up as she started thinking about how to talk to her parents about marriage.
Hinata's teacher, Kurenai, was deep in thought. She had noticed some small details during the battle, and she believed she was the only one who had caught them. She felt that Naruto was a little crafty.
Kurenai had noticed something odd about the finger Naruto had given to Hinata. Recently, she had been in a relationship herself and had started to pay attention to such things. The left ring finger is where marriage rings are traditionally worn, and based on Hinata's actions, she seemed to be used to this gesture. Hinata had mentioned practicing with Naruto since she was around nine years old.
That meant Naruto had been preparing for marriage since he was nine years old! Or maybe even earlier?
Incredible!
Kurenai gave her evaluation: to start planning for marriage and begin the preparations at nine years old—that was incredibly far-sighted.
As a woman, Kurenai was keen on details. As a genjutsu-type ninja, she had to be precise with her techniques, often needing to manipulate the environment to confuse her opponent. Even the smallest detail could make a difference because you never knew which part of the setup might cause the enemy to realize they were caught in an illusion.
So, Kurenai was particularly sensitive to small details and had noticed this issue.
While the others were thinking about how Hinata had recovered, Kurenai was already considering the deeper meaning.
Indeed, only Kurenai had noticed this.
For someone like Kurenai, whose observant nature was sharper than a direct confrontation with Orochimaru, discovering this detail was as difficult as dealing with Orochimaru's two blades.
The only other people who could notice such a small detail were people like Temari, Kakashi, Shikamaru, the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Ibiki, who worked as an interrogation officer.
Temari was too focused on her younger brother, occasionally glancing at Sasuke.
Shikamaru had been leaning against the wall, barely watching the match.
Ibiki was even more tired and wasn't paying attention.
The Third Hokage had turned his back to avoid watching the match.
Orochimaru only cared about Sasuke; he even noticed when Sasuke scratched his shoulder.
Kakashi was worried about the curse mark issue.
Only Kurenai had been watching the match the whole time and noticed the detail because Hinata was her subordinate, and she was paying close attention.
On the other side...
Kakashi was feeling relieved that Sasuke's opponent was Sakura, and he didn't have to worry about a tough fight where Sasuke might have to use the cursed mark's power. However, he was concerned for Sakura, fearing that Sasuke might not be able to control himself due to the curse mark.
As for Naruto's match earlier, Kakashi wasn't worried at all. The relationship between Naruto and Hinata was almost like an engagement, so it would be strange if something went wrong.
"Yo, Kakashi, your subordinates are having an internal fight!" Guy walked over with his team, making teasing gestures at Kakashi.
"Ah, what did you say?" Kakashi didn't hear him, as he had been thinking about the curse mark.
Guy froze for a moment, then struck a pose with his hands in front of his chest and said, "No wonder you're my eternal rival, Kakashi! Let's..."
"Huh?" Kakashi turned and gave him a confused look.
"Hello, big man!" Naruto waved at Guy, since Guy had once trained him and he felt it was polite to greet him first.
"Oh?? It's you," Guy said, thinking for a moment before recognizing Naruto.
If Naruto hadn't been the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Guy probably would've forgotten who he was. Although Guy had mentioned that Naruto was the hardest-working in Konoha, he had only remembered Naruto's name and didn't really recall what he looked like.
Naruto held the skewers in one hand and rubbed his forehead with the other. He wondered if Guy's head was full of muscles instead of brains.
"Naruto-kun, I'm the beautiful azure beast, Rock Lee! Kakashi-sensei said you're the hardest-working person in Konoha, and I really want to challenge you!" A person who looked very much like Guy's younger version introduced himself to Naruto.
Lee bowed slightly as he mentioned the challenge, showing great humility.
"Hello, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you, and yes, I accept your challenge," Naruto introduced himself. He actually wanted to see what it would be like to fight Lee and experience the power of the Eight Gates. After all, watching the anime didn't let him truly feel the impact of a kick.
"I'm TenTen, nice to meet you," a girl with Chinese-style buns introduced herself.
Naruto wanted to ask TenTen to help him get some good luck, but considering Hinata's sightline, he decided against it. Plus, his brother-in-law was right there.
"Hyuga Neji," Neji gave Naruto a cold glance, but deep down he was quite shocked.
"Nice to meet you all." Naruto thought to himself, Looks like my brother-in-law is quite aloof, but he didn't dare look at Neji.
He was afraid that his expression might show, You're in trouble now.
Neji had seen Naruto before—everyone in the Hyuga family had. What shocked him, however, was the earlier battle between Naruto and Hinata. Neji had been observing using his Byakugan and realized something.
The total amount of chakra in this room was probably less than his own.
According to Guy, this guy also practiced taijutsu.
What a weirdo. With all that chakra, why would he focus on taijutsu?
Most importantly, with all that chakra, how didn't he explode?
Naruto did indeed have a lot of chakra—thanks to dragon meat, dragon eggs, training, and battles with powerful enemies, his chakra was almost the same as the original Naruto at fifteen or sixteen years old, with about 100 chakra units. It wasn't too much, but at least he wasn't growing much yet since he was only twelve years old.
Sasuke thought Naruto's chakra was bottomless because they couldn't deplete it quickly during their training, and Naruto's chakra recovered faster.
In the first part of the series, Kakashi said Naruto had enough chakra to perform four or five Rasen Shurikens.
Naruto didn't know how many Chidori Kakashi could perform, but it surely wasn't many.
Sasuke couldn't possibly perform hundreds of Chidori in one go either—Naruto's chakra wouldn't last that long.
Naruto didn't have ninjutsu to practice, so his chakra was mostly useless—just a lot of it. It only served to annoy the Hyuga family.
So it was no surprise that Neji thought the total chakra in the room couldn't match Naruto's, considering the room had a mix of old, weak, ill, and young people.
Old—the Third Hokage, although powerful, was old and had less chakra.
Sick—Orochimaru, whose body was not his own and whose soul was damaged. Sasuke was also in this category.
Among the strong people in the room, the one with the most chakra besides Naruto was probably Gaara.
Guy slapped Kakashi on the shoulder and said, "Kakashi, doesn't this remind you of our younger days? I feel like the blood of youth is burning!"
He then pushed Kakashi aside and made some strange, indescribable gestures towards the group that was introducing themselves.
Naruto almost got hit by a thumb to the face but quickly dodged. It seemed like Guy was sending out a strange light from his eyes.
Naruto quickly stepped back. Guy's actions had been too... intimate for his taste.
Naruto felt out of place because he wasn't into that kind of thing.
TenTen and Neji turned their heads, not daring to look at Naruto. It was too embarrassing.
Lee looked like he was about to explode with flames in his eyes.
"Oh..." Kakashi casually responded, his eyes still on the arena. The match between the two contestants had been confirmed as normal, and the match was officially announced to start.
Naruto had finished setting up the grill, and Choji was already eating.
Naruto never let Choji take the skewers himself, no matter how hungry Choji got. The chubby boy was always polite.
"Shikamaru," Naruto called out to the pineapple-haired boy who was pretending to sleep next to him.
"What?" Shikamaru responded lazily.
"Can you hold this for me? I need to go to the restroom," Naruto handed over his sword, since the match had gone on for too long, and he needed a break.
He didn't want to let anyone else hold it for fear of Orochimaru's snakes sneaking off with it. He didn't want to take it with him either because Orochimaru might block the door, and if he sent it home, Orochimaru's men might sneak in. The only person he could trust with it was Guy.
"No problem," Guy said loudly, still drawing out the final syllable as he grabbed the sword from Naruto's hand.
Kakashi rolled his eyes again, thinking that Naruto had probably forgotten that he was about to take Sasuke for sealing. He suspected Naruto still held a grudge over Zabuza and wasn't letting him hold anything.
"Thanks, big man," Naruto quickly ran off, afraid he wouldn't make it to the bathroom in time.