Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

Due to a Mist ninja constantly stirring up trouble, and also because of that certain snake's outburst of anger, life in the Death Forest suddenly became extremely harsh for the examinees.

One day later, in front of the Central Tower.

"Finally made it! Waaah!"

"This is way too brutal. Why the hell is this Chunin Exam so crazy?"

When they saw the Central Tower, the Iwagakure ninjas were brought to tears.

"Pfah!" Shidotatsu spat out a seed, his eyes blazing with fury. "Zabuza was just too damn strong. Don't you dare show your face to me again!"

Even so, his voice unmistakably carried a trace of fear.

That bastard was just too strong. If it weren't for his own decent strength and having gathered people beforehand, they could've been killed this time.

And still, five of his thirty-three Iwa genin had been seriously injured.

"Out of forty-five people, we only found thirty-nine. Six were eaten by Manda, and another five got severely wounded by Zabuza!" Shidotatsu looked devastated. He never imagined this before the exam—just one selection test had cost Iwagakure nearly half its forces!

After wiping the tears from his face, he pulled himself together and said firmly, "Everyone, rest up first. Then hide and follow our original plan to ambush those Konoha ninjas! They've got to pay for what we went through!"

Hearing him say that, the surrounding Iwa ninjas all shouted enthusiastically.

"You're damn right! Konoha did this to us!"

"Make them feel the pain—know it, live it, and embrace it!"

However, amidst these angry voices, a hesitant question suddenly arose.

"But... what if we run into Seiki Shimaseki's team?"

Shidotatsu pointed at the tower behind him. "With that understanding between us, wouldn't they already be inside the tower?"

The speaking ninja shook his head doubtfully. "Boss Shidotatsu, I didn't sense Seiki Shimaseki's chakra inside the tower."

Shidotatsu's eyes widened as he hurriedly stepped forward and gripped the man's shoulders. "Are you telling me the truth?"

The ninja nodded. "After all, I'm a sensor ninja—this distance is well within my sensing range."

"This shouldn't be happening! It only took me a day to gather everyone here..." Shidotatsu muttered, his gaze growing sharper. "Could it be... he isn't actually as strong as we thought?"

At that moment, a glasses-wearing ninja spoke up timidly. "Boss Shidotatsu, there's something I've been afraid to tell you all."

Shidotatsu frowned. "What happened?"

The glasses ninja recalled, "Before meeting up with you guys, we actually encountered Manda once again."

So it must've been that kid who brought Manda over... fury surged through Shidotatsu's mind. He was about to tear him a new one but held back after thinking it through.

"At that time, all three of us were too scared to move an inch—we just froze under the grass. But then, Seiki Shimaseki and his teammates showed up right in front of Manda..."

Overjoyed, Shidotatsu exclaimed, "Did Manda eat all three of them? That's gotta be why they're not here yet!"

At the moment when all the Iwagakure ninja were overjoyed, the glasses-wearing ninja angrily retorted, "That's not what happened at all! Orochimaru simply closed his eyes and pretended not to see them, letting the three pass like that!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the group of Iwa ninja erupted into an uproar.

"Fix! This has to be a fix!"

"We should have known earlier—Orochimaru is Konoha's summoned beast, so of course it wouldn't attack Konoha ninja!"

Shidotatsu suddenly realized, "No wonder he was so calm back in the exam area—it turns out he cheated after all!"

Thinking about this, anger at having been tricked surged through him.

"Damn it! A good-for-nothing ninja who only knows how to cheat actually made me think I was the useless one!"

Clenching his teeth, Shidotatsu cursed furiously. Just thinking about how timid he had been then made him wish he could go back in time and slap himself awake.

"Brother Shidotatsu, should we expose Konoha's cheating right now?" an Iwagakure ninja asked.

"What's the point? It won't make any real difference!" Shidotatsu snorted discontentedly. "If we're going to do something, we must go all out!"

"Brother Shidotatsu, what exactly do you mean?"

"Hmph! Considering how much effort Konoha has invested in building up this squad, their goal must be promoting Asuma Sarutobi. That Seiki Shimaseki fellow probably exists merely to create distractions for him!"

The other Iwa ninja nodded with sudden realization.

"That explains everything! No wonder such an absurd situation—genin defeating jonin—could happen!"

"Perhaps back then there were already more than ten Konoha Jonin hiding around, secretly lying in wait."

"The Third Hokage truly is despicable and treacherous—to use our Iwa Jonin to pave the way for his son, and deliberately employ someone called 'the strongest prodigy' to relieve pressure from his boy!"

"Exactly! Maybe during their match, Seiki Shimaseki will even throw the fight on purpose to let his son win!"

"Good thing we have Brother Shidotatsu whose intelligence surpasses all others—he saw through their entire conspiracy at a glance!"

Shidotatsu nodded with pride. "Eliminating more Konoha genin doesn't matter much. To really hurt Konoha, we must target Seiki Shimaseki... no, the Asuma Sarutobi squad!"

One Iwagakure ninja still hesitated slightly, "But Magze did say..."

Waving his hand dismissively, Shidotatsu replied, "Even Magze was deceived by Konoha!"

"Listen to me—don't ambush any other Konoha ninja anymore to avoid revealing our position. Wait until the Asuma Sarutobi squad appears, then deliver a decisive blow against them!"

...

Meanwhile, inside the Central Tower.

Yugito Nii puffed her cheeks indignantly, "Way to cross the line—completely unacceptable! They've completely ignored our bet!"

To win this wager, Yugito and Samui had rushed through the Death Forest at top speed.

Ninety-one minutes and thirty-seven seconds—they shattered Konoha's previous record of four hours in the Death Forest.

And ever since, she had been sitting here waiting.

Waited and waited. A whole day had passed, and even Kankuro from Sunagakure had already arrived. But the opponent she'd imagined still hadn't shown up.

Samui rolled her eyes. "So what if he's just another overrated loser? What's the big deal?"

Selina, their teammate who was standing nearby, chuckled with a slightly dazed look. "You just don't get it. Even as a figurehead, he's still the perfect one!"

Yugito gave her teammates a strange look. "You don't actually believe his strength is weak, do you?"

"We didn't say he was weak," Samui shrugged. "It's just that his power doesn't live up to his reputation. That kind of guy is just not cool at all!"

Yugito shook her head slightly, her expression serious. "You're wrong. Even Two-Tails said that man carries an aura that makes it uneasy."

"Huh?" Both girls were startled and quickly asked, "Does this mean he's also a Jinchuriki?"

Yugito bit her lip and whispered, "Not really. He definitely has some Bijuu aura about him, but it's extremely faint. What Big Cat mentioned about being wary of... is actually referring to his soul."

Shock filled both Samui and Selina's eyes. If he wasn't a Jinchuriki yet could still make the Bijuu wary—just how terrifying does that make him?

Moreover, wasn't Two-Tails known in legends as a divine beast that fed on souls? Just what kind of soul could even make it fearful?

Clutching her tiny fist, Yugito declared firmly, "Anyway, I'll make him understand the consequences of disregarding our pact!"

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