The break passed in a flash.
The day of the Chunin Exam finals had finally arrived.
At the center of the Leaf Village, the newly built, enormous stadium was packed to the brim. Civilians and merchants from all over the Land of Fire, along with ninja and envoys from the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and other nations, filled up hundreds of thousands of seats.
This was a grand festival for the entire ninja world.
At the highest tier of the stands was the VIP section, prepared for the various daimyos and nobles.
Surrounded by his retainers, the daimyo of the Land of Fire looked down at the arena below with great interest.
At his side sat a "Kazekage" wearing a hat that completely covered his face.
The Sound ninja disguised under Orochimaru's transformation had also blended into the crowd.
His gaze swept over the Leaf's leadership box on the opposite side.
Minato sat there, chatting and laughing with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen. Behind them sat Kushina and Jiraiya.
Orochimaru had already discussed the revised plan with Rasa, but even so, he couldn't shake a vague sense of unease.
Everything was going too smoothly.
Beside the Fourth Kazekage, Temari and Kankuro stared tensely at the arena below. Ever since the end of the preliminaries, their younger brother Gaara had become abnormally quiet; no one knew what he was thinking.
Out of their line of sight, Kabuto, disguised as an Anbu, was using a miniature communication device to make final confirmations with the forces lurking throughout the village.
"A-point, in position."
"B-point, in position."
"Summoning scrolls, ready."
"Barrier team, in position."
Everything was prepared. All they were waiting for was a single signal.
In the Leaf's leadership box…
Minato smiled as he made small talk with the daimyo, but his sensory field had long since spread to cover the entire stadium.
Any abnormal chakra flow would not escape his notice.
Behind him, Shinju sat calmly, just like an ordinary spectator.
In his ear, nearly invisible, was a tiny earpiece.
Intelligence from the Shin Court was pouring into him without pause.
"Report to Lord Shinju: Sand Village force, three hundred and fourteen ninja, have already infiltrated the western residential district."
"Sound Village force, one hundred and twenty-two ninja, have taken control of the No. 3 water tower."
"Orochimaru's four-man barrier squad has mixed into the arena security detail and taken the four rooftop corners."
Shinju's expression didn't change in the slightest.
His gaze fell toward the waiting area for the contestants below, where he saw the figure in a white training outfit—Neji.
That sight reminded him of something that had happened after the preliminaries.
Originally, the name that should have entered the finals bracket was Hinata, not Neji. In that preliminary match, Hinata had won by a hair's breadth.
But the day after the roster was announced, Hinata had gone to the Third Hokage of her own accord, giving up her spot in the finals and requesting that the slot be transferred to Neji.
That decision had caused quite a stir within the Hyuga clan.
The reasons Hinata gave were sound and, on the surface, hard to refute.
On the one hand, she believed her victory had an element of luck, and that she was still lacking in true strength. Just because she'd received special training didn't mean she could keep standing above everyone forever; she'd chosen to maintain a humble heart.
More importantly, she didn't want a single match to worsen the conflict between the main house and the branch house.
The caged bird on the branch house's foreheads had all but eliminated the possibility of true reconciliation. With the main house able to decide a branch house member's life or death with a single thought, it was something no one with self-respect could ever fully accept.
To ease the tension between the two sides, she hoped Neji could stand on the finals' stage in her place and show everyone the strength of the Hyuga clan.
It was a decision made for the sake of the bigger picture—one that even the Hyuga elders found difficult to argue against.
But from this piece of intel, Shinju had read something deeper.
The corrective force of history—or perhaps it should be called coincidence—really did exist.
Because of his interference, Hinata had won the match and avoided a tragic, near-fatal outcome.
Yet the one standing on the finals stage was still Neji. The opponent he was destined to face was still Naruto.
The process had changed, but the result had not.
That only made Shinju more certain: simply altering a single event node was not enough to completely overturn the ultimate course of history.
If he wanted to achieve his goals, he needed a far more meticulous layout—one that took into account every possible variable.
He looked at the massive arena below, at the crowds cheering excitedly for the upcoming battles.
These people had no idea that a war capable of destroying the village was about to break out right above their heads.
And this arena… was the most magnificent tomb he had prepared for all of his enemies.
He raised a hand and pressed lightly against his earpiece, issuing an emotionless order.
"All units, take note. The 'audience' is fully seated."
"Once the 'actors' finish their performance, get ready to… shut the door and beat the dogs."
In the waiting area for the contestants…
Neji sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing. On this stage that all eyes were fixed upon, he would prove to everyone that fate could not be defied. The opportunity granted to him by the main family's young lady—he would use victory to prove that this charity had been the correct choice…
Sasuke leaned against the wall with one hand in his pocket, expression cold. In his left eye, the three tomoe of his Sharingan slowly rotated. Only one thought occupied his mind—defeating Gaara to prove his own power as a man.
Gaara, meanwhile, sat alone in a dark corner, arms crossed. No one knew what he was thinking.
"Oi! It's our turn!"
Naruto slapped Neji on the shoulder, his face lit with absolute confidence.
Proctor Genma appeared at the center of the arena, announcing the beginning of the first match of the finals.
"First match: Naruto versus Neji!"
The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.
One was the son of the Fourth Hokage, a "dead-last" who had revealed astonishing potential during the preliminaries.
The other was a once-in-a-century prodigy of the Hyuga clan, hailed as "perfect."
This clash had no shortage of anticipation.
Naruto and Neji walked to the center of the arena, facing each other from a distance.
"Dead-last… your good luck ends here." Neji opened his Byakugan and shifted into the starting stance of the Hyuga's Juken (Gentle Fist) style. "I'll make you understand that from the moment we're born, our fate is already decided."
Naruto didn't bother to argue. He simply grinned.
"Yeah? Then I'll just beat that boring 'fate' of yours into the ground first!"
"Begin!"
Genma's shout rang out.
Neji's figure vanished. In the next instant he appeared right in front of Naruto, his hands blossoming into a storm of palm strikes targeting the chakra points all over Naruto's body.
Hakke Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!
From the very first move, he unleashed the Hyuga's strongest taijutsu. Since this technique had already been exposed in earlier matches, there was no longer any need to hold back—he would open with his ultimate attack.
Faced with this barrage like a raging storm, Naruto did something that shocked everyone watching.
He stood perfectly still.
His hands formed a strange seal.
Then he closed his eyes.
Neji's attack was about to land!
In that instant, Naruto's eyes snapped open.
A vast, immense chakra filled with natural energy surged out from within him.
Around his eyes, faint orange markings appeared.
His pupils shifted from round to a horizontal line.
Sennin Modo (Sage Mode)!
It was incomplete, but the qualitative change in his power was impossible to miss.
Naruto's perception and strength both exploded in that moment.
Neji's lightning-fast assault became crystal clear within the enhanced sensory field of Sage Mode.
(End of Chapter)
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