Temari and Kankuro stared foolishly at Kusuo as if they had just seen a ghost. The latter remained expressionless, calmly holding his sword and looking at them. He just stood there at the intersection, blocking their path.
At this moment, the two siblings' hearts were in utter turmoil. How could anyone possibly survive Gaara's Sand Burial? Even if this man's speed was incredible, there was no way he could have emerged completely unscathed.
Suddenly, they thought of a possibility.
A shadow clone!
The expressions on their faces became even more complex. If their guess was right, if a mere shadow clone was enough to break through Gaara's defense, then how powerful was the real person?
In that moment, Kusuo, who wasn't making any extra movements, exuded a pressure as heavy as a mountain upon them.
"It seems you're quite a bit stronger than the others," Gaara said, his gaze fixed darkly on him.
Kusuo didn't respond. He lightly raised the sword in his hand, about to swing.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Several figures in animal masks descended from the sky. They stood or crouched on the walls, looking down from above, their cold gazes piercing through their masks.
"Fighting is forbidden within the village!!"
ANBU!
The huge commotion from earlier had attracted a nearby patrolling ANBU squad. With the Chunin Exams approaching, many ninja from other villages were scattered throughout Konoha, so the overall security was much stricter than usual.
Seeing the ANBU arrive, Kusuo slowly lowered his sword and turned to leave. Since he had been stopped, this fight could not continue.
Gaara's eyelid twitched. How could he be willing to let it go? The gourd on his back seemed to respond to his mood, and a large amount of sand began to pour out.
"Gaara!" Kankuro and Temari cried out in alarm, stopping his next move. If they really let him run wild, who knew what would happen. They couldn't bear that kind of responsibility.
Finally, after Gaara had calmed down with great difficulty, he looked at the departing back of the boy in red and asked in a deep voice, "What's your name?"
Kusuo didn't turn back, just giving a casual wave. "Hatake Kusuo."
Hatake Kusuo... Gaara repeated the name softly a few times, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes. "The next time we meet, I will kill you."
Kankuro and Temari were speechless, looking at their younger brother. With Gaara, the most they could do was try to persuade him. They didn't dare to overstep their bounds. Once this guy went crazy, he would even kill his own family.
"Let's go!" The ANBU captain had already sensed who had caused the commotion earlier. He had no friendly attitude towards this group of uncontrollable foreign ninja. With his squad, he escorted them all the way to the Hokage Tower to register.
On the other side, after Kusuo returned safely, Naruto came down from the verge of going berserk. He immediately began to ask with concern if Kusuo was injured. Looking at Naruto, who was covered in cuts himself, Kusuo was at a loss for words. Should he say the boy was simple-minded, or that he was just kind-hearted?
"Hey, Kusuo, did you give those horrible guys a good beating?" Naruto asked, waving his little fist angrily.
Kusuo just smiled faintly and lightly tapped Naruto's yellow hair with his scabbard. "Ouch!"
"Let's go. You're badly hurt, you need to go put some medicine on."
"I know, I know! Stop hitting me there! Oww, that hurts, that hurts!"
Under the setting sun, the handsome and upright young man and the lively, chattering buffoon disappeared at the end of the road.
...
The next day, Asuma rarely gathered the members of Team 10 again.
"Naruto, what happened to you?" Asuma asked, looking at the bandage-covered Naruto with a completely baffled expression. He turned to look at Kusuo, who just shrugged. Naruto had made him promise a thousand times yesterday not to tell anyone he had gotten beaten up, so he had to agree.
Kusuo glanced at Hinata beside him. To avoid any accidents yesterday, he had told her to leave first. After just one day apart, Hinata seemed to be very dependent on him, clinging to his chest and unwilling to let go.
"Ahem." Although Asuma appreciated the young couple, even he couldn't stand them showing off their love so openly in broad daylight. "Good thing I'm not a single dog," he muttered to himself.
"Alright, I've gathered you all here today because there's something important I need to tell you. Of course, after you hear it, the final decision is in your hands."
The moment Kusuo heard this, he knew what Asuma was going to say. "Sensei, are you talking about the Chunin Exams that are about to start?"
Asuma nodded. With so many foreign ninja coming to the village these days, anyone could find out with a little asking around.
"This time, the Chunin Exams will be hosted by us, Konoha, and the number of participants is the highest in recent years. You have all just graduated from the academy and have only recently become genin. Whether you want to participate in this exam is still up to you to decide."
After hearing Asuma's words, the others fell silent.
Asuma looked at Kusuo. He of course knew that if his student participated, passing the exam would be no problem. Hinata's strength wasn't too outstanding, but with Kusuo looking after her, it shouldn't be an issue either. The only one left was Naruto. As the son of the Fourth Hokage, he understood that this exam was for teams of three. If one person lagged too far behind, they could very well drag down their other teammates.
"We'll participate," Kusuo said suddenly.
Hinata, nestled beside him, nodded in agreement. Naruto did the same. Despite being covered in bandages, he nodded with an excited expression. It looked like he was one step away from rolling up his sleeves and pumping his fist.
Looking at the state of his three students, seeing only confidence and no cowardice, Asuma couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. He took the cigarette from his mouth and said, "Alright then. Since you have this confidence, I'll take care of the registration. You all go back and prepare well."
"Especially you!" He grabbed Naruto's hair, his expression one of tough love. "Don't get into any more trouble. Rest up and heal, you hear me?"
With that, Asuma even took out a few bottles of healing medicine. "Take this back and apply it properly. It should be quite effective."
Wincing in pain, Naruto took the medicine bottles with a look of pleasant surprise. "Mm! I'll definitely go back and rest up! I won't let you down, Sensei!"
-------
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