Chapter 86: Snake Auntie's Persistent Thirst
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"Yeah! Isn't this just messing with people's heads? We finally made it to the third round, and now you suddenly add a preliminary match—how disgusting is that?!"
"There's never been anything like this in previous Chūnin Exams."
"Konoha is really screwing us over! Whether we got here by luck or real strength—we don't want to participate in this match. We demand to go straight to the third exam!"
The crowd grumbled and cursed.
But the Konoha higher-ups on stage didn't care at all.
No matter how powerful a ninja might be,
they still relied on the daimyō's support behind them.
The daimyō wanted an extra match.
They had no choice but to obey unconditionally.
No way around it.
The daimyō paid too damn well.
Moonlight Hayate looked indifferently at the crowd and spoke calmly:
"If you have complaints, that's fine. You can just not participate in the preliminary round."
"By the way—those who skip the preliminaries will also be disqualified from the third exam!"
The moment those words fell,
the entire hall went dead silent.
The noisy complaints vanished instantly.
This was just too disgusting.
The situation was stronger than the man—they were furious but didn't dare speak.
Sarutobi Hiruzen scanned the room and nodded in satisfaction.
Sarutobi Hiruzen: You kids really don't understand how painful it is to earn money until you're the one in charge.
Without money—no matter how talented you are,
it's useless.
You can't just fight and train all day like idiots, right?
Do you not need to eat?
The hall stayed quiet for only a moment.
Then the voices returned.
But this time—no one dared complain about the preliminary round.
Instead, they started discussing how to prepare for this match.
Of course, some ninja chose to forfeit immediately.
Like Yakushi Kabuto, who quietly slipped away from the crowd.
Naruto watched all of this.
Old intel guy.
Finished gathering info and left to report back to Orochimaru.
Though Kabuto was still low-profile right now, he'd become quite impressive later.
Mark this one—circle it, highlight it.
If he couldn't be used, just kill him.
Back to Sasuke.
Right now Sasuke's expression was twisted in pain, clutching his shoulder.
The Heaven's Curse Mark was on the back of his shoulder.
"Hiss… damn it—the pain is getting shorter and shorter."
Sasuke muttered to himself.
Sakura looked worried.
"Sasuke—should you give up the match?"
"With your condition… you might not last a few rounds."
Naruto nodded in agreement.
"The curse mark on your back—is it reacting badly with your own chakra?"
"In other words—rejection. When you use your own chakra, the curse mark gets upset and causes you pain."
"Thus tempting you to use the curse mark's power instead."
"But using the curse mark's power also brings bad side effects."
Hearing this, Sasuke froze for a second.
Then his face showed clear displeasure!
Nani??
Give up? Are you kidding me?
Pain that others can't endure—I, Uchiha, can endure.
A match others don't dare enter—I, Uchiha, will enter!
In short—whatever others don't dare do,
I, Uchiha, will do.
Whatever others don't dare kill,
I, Uchiha, will kill!
Sasuke gritted his teeth and spoke as calmly as possible:
"No need! I'm not giving up the match over something this small!"
He thought back—
his older brother Uchiha Itachi.
At Sasuke's current age, he was already an ANBU member.
The biggest reason he refused to give up
was to prove he wasn't inferior to Uchiha Itachi!
Seeing persuasion fail, Sakura turned to Naruto.
Hoping he would say something more.
Naruto just waved his hand. "Fine then—do your best when the time comes."
He was too lazy to bother with Sasuke.
But Naruto knew
Sasuke wasn't going to die in the preliminaries.
Moonlight Hayate saw that things had settled.
He spoke:
"Alright—since no one else wishes to withdraw, the preliminary round will now begin. All remaining participants—please proceed to the arena and prepare for the drawing!"
After the drawing was completed,
the first match was Sasuke vs. Akadō Kai.
Sasuke hadn't expected
to be up first out of nowhere.
Akadō Kai was also from Konoha—one of Orochimaru's hidden spy pieces.
Specialized in genjutsu and possessed the rare ability to absorb chakra.
Also had "Kai" in his name.
But compared to Might Guy—this Akadō Kai was far inferior.
Look at this Kai Kai—so lame~
It could be said that Akadō Kai somewhat countered Sasuke.
Sharingan genjutsu would have little effect.
He would have to think of other methods.
If he got close to Akadō Kai—he'd have to watch out for chakra absorption.
Among the spectators in the ninja viewing area,
a handsome man wearing a Sound Village forehead protector watched the arena with great interest.
"Now that Sasuke has gained new power—let me see just how strong you've become."
Naruto's gaze also swept through the crowd.
Because he knew—he was looking for someone wearing a Sound Village forehead protector.
Excluding women.
Among the remaining few—
his eyes scanned back and forth.
Finally locking onto a middle-aged man.
"Tsk tsk… Snake Uncle still isn't behaving. Here again."
"Persistent thirst, huh! Why not just come bite me too, you hungry freak."
When Naruto looked over—
Orochimaru also noticed instantly.
His heart jolted!
Holy crap?!
Did the Fourth's son discover me?
No way—that's too ridiculous.
Even Sarutobi-sensei and the elite Konoha jōnin didn't notice me.
How did you spot me?
Orochimaru's eye twitched.
Completely baffled.
Fortunately Naruto only glanced at him.
Then looked away.
As if he had just been casually scanning the room.
"Heh… looks like I was overthinking."
Orochimaru thought to himself.
His gaze returned to the arena.
Snake Uncle instinctively wanted to extend his long tongue and lick his lips.
But he held back.
Doing that would definitely get him discovered.
Monkeys and the others weren't idiots.
In Konoha—whose tongue was that long besides his?
Moonlight Hayate stood in the center of the arena.
cough cough… "Then—aside from these two participants, everyone else please clear the field. You may watch from the upper stairs."
Before the match began,
Moonlight Hayate gave Sasuke a few more reminders.
About the Heaven's Curse Mark.
But Sasuke was extremely helpless about it.
Damn it—he didn't even want this power in the first place!
In Naruto's eyes—
Sasuke just hadn't yet discovered the joy of cheating.
Later on,
he would understand Snake Auntie's good intentions.
Cheating once feels great.
Cheating forever feels even better.
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