He knew very well:
If you must attack someone in Konoha,
you must never lay a finger on Naruto.
Otherwise, you would absolutely incur the wrath of the entire village.
Even the powerful Konoha shinobi in the Pure Land would not forgive him.
Because ever since the scroll appeared, everything had changed.
People in the Pure Land could be resurrected at any time—
Uchiha Madara was the perfect example.
Gaara said softly, "Thank you… Uzumaki Naruto."
Then he began eating the Devil Fruit in huge bites.
Orochimaru shook his head regretfully.
Such a pity.
If he could have studied that Devil Fruit properly…
He might have found a way to mass-produce them.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Gaara resisted the urge to vomit and quickly finished the fruit.
Meanwhile,
Might Guy and Rock Lee's frog jumping was kicking up dust across the entire Chūnin Exam arena.
Gaara waved his hand—
all the sand and dust instantly settled back onto the ground.
Guy and Lee also stopped their frog jumps, stunned.
At that moment—
Orochimaru moved.
He darted toward Gaara and Naruto.
Dodging Naruto's strike, he swiftly snatched the fallen fragments of the Suna-Suna Fruit from the ground.
Then leapt aside.
"Don't misunderstand—
I have no intention of attacking."
He said as he quickly stored away the fruit fragments,
giving Naruto a sinister smile that made everyone's skin crawl.
Kankurō and Temari approached Gaara with shame on their faces.
Kankurō said, "Gaara… I'm sorry. I was wrong before."
Temari added, "Gaara… that fruit you ate… it didn't cause any problems, right?"
Gaara clenched his fist.
"Thank you… for worrying about me. I'm fine."
"And I've become stronger.
Stronger than when I fully unleashed Shukaku's power—several times stronger!"
Inside his stomach, Shukaku heard this and felt a little unhappy.
But no one knew Gaara's changes better than Shukaku.
Chat Group.
[Nine-Tails @ One-Tail: How is it? You should be able to sense what that Suna-Suna Fruit is capable of.]
[One-Tail: The power of that Suna-Suna Fruit… is unbelievably magical.]
[Eight-Tails: How magical? How strong are we talking?]
[One-Tail: If I could eat that fruit,
my strength might not be weaker than the Nine-Tails.]
[Nine-Tails: Stronger than me? Don't joke.]
[One-Tail: I'm not joking!!]
[Uchiha Madara: That so-called Suna-Suna Fruit is really that strong? If I could get a Fire-Fire Fruit, wouldn't my Fire Style become invincible?]
[Second Hokage Tobirama: Then I need a Water-Water Fruit.]
[First Hokage Hashirama: Madara! Brother!
If I eat a Wood-Wood Fruit on top of this…
who on earth could possibly defeat me?]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei: I'm definitely getting ranked too!
Someone give me a Beauty Beauty Fruit!]
[Uchiha Izuna: A Beauty Fruit? What's the point? Sounds useless in battle.]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei: Eternal youth and perfect beauty!
Unlike this old woman pretending to be young!
@Senju Tsunade, with the Beauty Fruit we could both stay young forever—
but you'd still be older than me.]
[Senju Tsunade: Tch! I'm not only older—some parts of me are bigger too!]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei: Old woman! I'm younger!]
[Senju Tsunade: Brat! I'm bigger!]
*[…]
Everyone watching the quarrel between Mei and Tsunade was utterly speechless.
While the arguing continued, new names appeared on the ranking list.
[Fifth Mizukage Terumi Mei – Tied for 10th Place on the Five Kage Power Ranking!]
[Possesses two Kekkei Genkai: Lava Release and Boil Release; expert in Water Style.]
[Ended the era of the "Bloody Mist," implemented open policies, and gradually reformed the formerly brutal Hidden Mist Village.]
Reward: Twelve Talismans
Rat Talisman: Power of Animation—brings inanimate objects to life.
Ox Talisman: Power of Strength—grants immense physical strength.
Tiger Talisman: Power of Balance—stabilizes yin-yang forces within the user; can split one into good/evil halves.
Rabbit Talisman: Power of Speed—grants supersonic speed; can apply to objects.
Dragon Talisman: Power of Combustion—fires explosive flames.
Snake Talisman: Power of Invisibility—turn invisible; deep invisibility grants teleportation, can carry others.
Horse Talisman: Power of Healing—cures all external influences, heals all illnesses; activated via sneeze.
Sheep Talisman: Astral Projection—soul leaves the body, can deliver dreams; damage taken affects body on return.
Monkey Talisman: Shape-Shifting—turns living beings into animals.
Rooster Talisman: Levitation—makes objects float; combined with Rabbit Talisman allows flight.
Dog Talisman: Immortality—eternal youth and imperishability.
Pig Talisman: Eye-Beams—shoots fire from the eyes.
Instantly, the entire ninja world exploded in commotion.
[Fifth Mizukage Mei: What? I'm tied with Gaara at tenth place?! I was the first female Mizukage in history and cleaned up all the messes in the village!]
Mei was extremely displeased by her ranking.
She didn't even pay attention to her reward—
only the number bothered her.
It was still 10th place,
and clearly the Five Kage Comprehensive Ranking only went down to 10th.
She believed she should be ranked higher.
A comprehensive ranking—
shouldn't her beauty and figure count for extra points?
[Senju Tsunade @ Mei: Hahaha! Brat!
Looks like I'm definitely ranked above you!
How does that feel? I told you you're not as good as me!]
[Mei @ Tsunade: Old woman, don't celebrate too early—you might not even make the list.]
[Tsunade: Gaara ranking proves future Kage are eligible.
Did you forget? In the future, I am the Fifth Hokage!]
[Mei: Just wait. If you fail to rank, let's see if you can still laugh.]
Pure Land.
The Third Mizukage gritted his teeth.
He had painstakingly created the Bloody Mist era.
Being judged harshly by the ranking list was one thing—
he couldn't complain to the ranking list.
But this brat Terumi Mei—
how dare she call his achievements a "mess"?
Never mind merit or effort—
didn't he have his own dignity as the Third Mizukage?!
No.
He couldn't stand this.
Absolutely not.
Chat Group.
[Third Mizukage @ Fifth Mizukage Mei: What?! You called the Bloody Mist era I worked so hard to create… a mess?]
[Mei @ Third Mizukage: It was a mess. I said nothing wrong.]
[First Mizukage Byakuren @ Third Mizukage: The village fell to ruin because of you!
I haven't even started scolding you, and you're already complaining?]
[Third Mizukage: First Mizukage, I… I just wanted the village to grow stronger…]
Hearing this, Fourth Kazekage Rasa, Third Hokage Hiruzen, and Root Leader Danzō—
all felt deep sympathy.
They completely understood the Third Mizukage's thinking.
Of course—
none of them were stupid enough to say so out loud.
At the moment, the Third Mizukage was the target of everyone's criticism.
Even if they agreed with him,
there was no way they'd publicly support him.
[First Mizukage Byakuren: You STILL dare to say it was "for the village"?!]
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