Over the course of one month, all three members of Team Seven made significant progress.
Sakura's talent as a medical shinobi could honestly be described as once-in-a-century. Her learning speed in medical ninjutsu was even faster than Haku's.
Even Tsunade was surprised when she heard about it, and she hesitated, wondering whether—after being a housewife for so many years—it might be time to take on a disciple and consider making a comeback.
As for Sasuke, just like in the original timeline, he learned Lightning Release chakra stimulation for cellular activation and how to use the Chidori under Kakashi's guidance. Without the interference of the Cursed Mark, Sasuke's progress with the Chidori was even faster than in the original story.
Naruto, meanwhile, spent the month training with Jiraiya, learning the Summoning Technique and how to reduce interference from the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Since, in this timeline, the Nine-Tails' chakra barely interfered with Naruto to begin with, he learned the Summoning Technique very quickly. By now, he could already summon proper toads from Mount Myōboku.
Seeing that Naruto was progressing well with summoning, Jiraiya thought it over and decided to teach him the Rasengan as well—a technique Jiraiya was especially fond of and had learned early on from Minato.
When Minato heard about this, he exclaimed that Jiraiya had been a huge help. He had recently been planning to teach Naruto the Rasengan himself, only to find out that Jiraiya had already explained the method to him.
Although Naruto received guidance from both Jiraiya and Minato, his learning ability was still limited. Without the Shadow Clone "cheat," he hadn't fully mastered the Rasengan yet—he could only barely pop a rubber ball.
...
Under the watchful eyes of countless spectators, the third round of the Chūnin Exams officially began.
Because this was a rare large-scale joint exam in the past decade or so, the entire village of Konoha was buzzing with excitement.
Konoha residents who had bought tickets, shinobi enthusiasts from various villages who rushed over after hearing the news, and daimyōs from different nations arriving in luxurious carriages—all of them flooded into the enormous arena that had been prepared in advance.
The match hadn't even started yet, and the audience's enthusiastic cheering was already threatening to lift the roof off the venue.
When the contestants from each village arrived at the arena under the guidance of their jōnin instructors, the cheers rose yet another level.
Seeing this, the genin on the field flushed red, each one brimming with excitement.
At the very center of the stands, a VIP section resembling a private box had been specially set aside. It had seating for only three people—obviously reserved for the Kage of the three great ninja villages.
At this moment, Minato sat in the central seat, wearing a professional, polite smile as he waited for the Kazekage and the Raikage to arrive.
Before long, Rasa—wearing his hat—arrived beside Minato, surrounded by Sunagakure shinobi.
"I've long heard that the Fifth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, is a rare hero among men. Seeing you today, your reputation is indeed well-deserved."
Rasa began exchanging pleasantries from afar. Naturally, Minato didn't take them at face value and responded calmly and courteously. After a brief exchange, Minato casually asked:
"When the Kazekage came to Konoha, did you happen to meet the Raikage? I actually met the Fourth Raikage once before. Thinking back on it now, that was already more than ten years ago."
Minato had intended this as a probe, to see whether there had been any prior coordination between the Kazekage and the Raikage. However, to his surprise, the Kazekage reacted strongly:
"What? Has the Fourth Raikage not arrived?"
As soon as Rasa finished speaking, Yugito Nii appeared not far from the two of them.
"The Raikage originally planned to attend this exam," she said, "but just before departure, news arrived that our long-missing Killer B-sama had finally been located. Out of concern for his beloved brother, the Raikage changed his itinerary at the last minute. We hope the two Kage will understand."
Hearing this, Minato secretly let out a sigh of relief. Rasa, on the other hand, looked rather displeased—he was already beginning to sense that something wasn't quite right.
However, at that moment, Yugito subtly nodded at him. This small gesture eased Rasa's nerves somewhat. After all, Baki had told him before that Yugito was the Two-Tails jinchūriki of Kumogakure .
With the Eight-Tails already lost, it stood to reason that the Kumogakure would never abandon its only remaining jinchūriki. Allowing Yugito to appear here was, to a certain extent, proof of the Kumogakure's willingness to cooperate.
With that thought, Rasa's expression eased considerably. He said no more and simply turned to Minato:
"In that case, Hokage-sama, I believe our joint examination should officially begin."
Minato glanced at Rasa and nodded, then turned to the ANBU beside him:
"Pass the order down—the exam may begin."
Once the command was relayed and the announcement of the exam's start echoed out, cheers erupted throughout the arena. Amid the roaring crowd, Kurenai, the proctor of the third exam, stepped onto the stage. After bowing to the audience, she began explaining the rules of the third exam:
"This exam has a total of 21 contestants. These 21 contestants will be randomly matched into teams. Please direct your attention to the big screen!"
Kurenai raised her hand, instantly drawing everyone's focus. The crowd turned to look as a massive black screen above the stands suddenly lit up.
Names rapidly flashed across the screen. With a loud shout from Kurenai, the 21 names slowly locked into place in different positions:
Naruto vs. Kankurō
Sakura vs. Kumo Shinobi B
Sasuke vs. Rock Lee
Shikamaru vs. Temari
Chōji vs. Shin
Ino vs. Shino
Kiba vs. Kimimaro
Neji vs. Gaara
Haku vs. Kumo Shinobi A
Hinata vs. Kumo Shinobi C
Tenten — BYE (Walkover)
Seeing these results, the audience erupted into heated discussion. Even Hoshiyomi, holding his daughter in his arms, couldn't help stroking his chin. The matchups for the third exam were completely beyond his expectations.
That said, judging purely from the matchups, this was shaping up to be incredibly exciting.
Meanwhile, among the contestants, everyone cast envious glances toward Tenten. Was this what it meant to be ridiculously lucky? Out of 21 participants, she was the one who got a free pass.
Setting the third exam aside for the moment, over on the other side, Yugito was leaving the stands to return to her seat when she suddenly caught sight of a blond figure. Her steps unconsciously slowed, and she tilted her head, looking toward a family of four nearby. For some reason, they felt oddly familiar.
By the time she returned to the Kumogakure contestants' viewing area, Yugito was still thinking about that family—the blond woman, the black-haired man, and an exceptionally adorable pair of children.
They looked like a very ordinary, loving family, yet no matter how she looked at them, the blond woman in particular felt extremely familiar.
Sitting in the viewing area, Yugito unconsciously bit her fingernail. When the audience erupted into discussion once more, she snapped out of her thoughts and looked up.
The moment she raised her head, she froze.
Because directly in front of her seat was not the big screen—
—but the distant Hokage Rock.