Today, Sasuke and Naruto were still grinding away like madmen.
Karin sipped her soup in small mouthfuls, a flicker of worry passing through her eyes.
"Big Brother Sora, Naruto and Sasuke... they won't be okay, right?"
"What's there to worry about?"
He patted his now-round belly, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"Come on, Karin—you need to step up your training too."
"I've recently developed a new set of medical ninjutsu theories. Perfect timing to go over them with you."
"Mm!"
...
Night, silent.
In Sora Akashi's home, everything was spotless, simple, and spacious.
He didn't turn on the lights, simply lying on the living room floor with his arms behind his head, gazing through the window at the cold, clear moon above.
Comfortable.
No need to pretend to be an endlessly energetic "little sun," no need to painstakingly guide those problem children, and no need to put on an act in front of the Third Hokage's wrinkled old face.
Lately, he'd actually been feeling a bit anxious.
This anxiety stemmed from a variable he couldn't fully control.
Orochimaru.
According to the original script, this scientist—obsessed with research and the art of patricide—should launch his grand "Konoha Crush" plan during the Chunin Exams.
And that chaos would be the perfect stage for Sora to step into the spotlight.
What better way to rapidly gain fame and the hearts of the people than to turn the tide at the moment of the village's life-or-death crisis, to prop up the collapsing tower?
He needed that chaos.
He needed a sufficiently weighty villain to highlight his own entrance as the "savior."
The problem was... this butterfly of his had flapped its wings a little too vigorously.
What if...
What if Orochimaru chickened out and canceled the Konoha Crush plan?
That would be hilarious in the worst way.
Would he have to personally send the Third Hokage on his way?
No, no.
That would look far too ugly—not fitting for his "perfect persona" script.
What he needed was a grand performance: he as the hero, not the usurper.
Just then.
A surge of information arrived from a shadow clone in some corner of the village, flooding into his mind.
...
Konoha Archives, late at night.
An ordinary chunin on night duty yawned as he sorted through a pile of miscellaneous documents.
He picked up a freshly delivered list from the Hokage Building—the final roster of participants for this year's joint Chunin Selection Exam.
He gave it a casual glance.
Konoha Hidden Village, Sunagakure, Amegakure, Kusagakure...
Hm?
His eyes caught on a somewhat glaring village name at the bottom.
Oto Hidden Village.
A newly established minor ninja village, rumored to be led by an ambitious figure.
His gaze continued downward.
Among Sunagakure's participants, three names stood out clearly.
Temari, Kankuro, and...
Gaara.
The chunin yawned again, filed the list away, locked the cabinet, and turned to leave.
After he was gone, the spot silently turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.
...
In the living room, Sora remained in that lazy position, as if nothing had happened.
But in the darkness, the curve of his mouth slowly, uncontrollably widened.
Oto Hidden Village had arrived.
Gaara had arrived.
Excellent.
It seemed Orochimaru-sensei still harbored deep feelings for his teacher.
The determination to commit patricide hadn't wavered because of a few unexpected twists.
The actors were in place.
The stage was nearly set.
And he—the director and lead actor—could finally relax and wait for the curtain to rise.
Heh.
Hehehe.
Sora rolled over into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes.
Tonight, he should finally get a good night's sleep.
...
On the streets of Konoha Village, two afterimages—one orange, one blue—streaked like lightning, kicking up chaos along the way.
"I'm first!"
"In your dreams, dead-last!"
Two almost overlapping roars rang out, followed by a massive "bang" as both hands slammed simultaneously against the door of Sora Akashi's house.
Naruto and Sasuke pressed against the door panel, foreheads touching, breathing heavily in mutual defiance, their gazes sparking fiercely in mid-air.
The door creaked open.
Sora, wearing comfortable loungewear, a toothpick in his mouth and sleepy-eyed, looked at the two idiots at his doorstep who resembled fighting bulls.
"Yo, bright and early—trying to tear the house down?"
"Sora-sensei!"
"Sora-sensei!"
They shouted in unison again, then immediately pointed at each other.
"I finished first!"
"No, I did!"
Sora dug in his ear, his face showing exaggerated exasperation.
"Oh dear, what now? You both actually finished at the same time."
He sized them up.
Naruto radiated vitality, chakra surging endlessly—clearly he'd squeezed the shadow clone training method to its absolute limit.
Sasuke's aura was restrained, his gaze sharp, with faint, almost imperceptible electric arcs occasionally flickering at his fingertips—his chakra control had already reached mastery.
"In that case..." Sora pretended to ponder, then clapped his hands with a bright, sunny smile. "Then your teacher will make an exception and teach you both the promised rewards at once."
Konoha Training Ground, dead silence.
Sora stood in the center, Naruto and Sasuke positioned on either side. Even Karin had followed curiously, watching from a distance.
"Watch closely, Naruto."
Sora created a shadow clone.
The clone extended its right hand. A standard blue chakra sphere spun rapidly in its palm.
"This is Rasengan."
Naruto nodded heavily—of course he knew that.
The next second, everything changed.
"Bzzz—!"
A piercing, eardrum-shattering high-frequency hum exploded without warning!
The originally stable blue sphere suddenly extended four massive, high-speed rotating chakra blades from its outer layer, taking the shape of an enormous shuriken.
The air was churned violently, emitting pained groans. Countless invisible micro-wind blades scattered outward.
"This is..." Naruto's pupils trembled, his throat dry.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken."
Sora's voice was as calm as if he were introducing a dish.
He casually flung the roaring "murderous weapon" in his palm toward the dense forest at the far end of the training ground.
No earth-shattering explosion.
Only a continuously expanding, enormous white sphere that silently devoured that section of forest.
When the light sphere dissipated, all that remained was a smooth, mirror-like massive crater—as if a god had scooped out a chunk of the earth with a spoon.
Naruto's mouth hung open, drool dripping from the corner, his mind completely blank.
Sasuke's body trembled uncontrollably. His single-tomoe Sharingan spun frantically, yet it could only capture a chaotic, violent torrent of chakra—impossible to analyze.
"Alright, your turn, Sasuke."
Sora clapped his hands as if he'd just tossed out trash.
He glanced at the sky and formed seals rapidly.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Several massive fireballs shot skyward—not attacking anything, but exploding high in the atmosphere, heating the air.
The sky visibly darkened.
Clouds gathered, thunder rumbled.
An oppressive, heart-palpitating pressure enveloped the entire training ground.
"Wh-what is that?" Karin's voice trembled slightly.
"I'm not creating lightning." Sora looked up, feeling the active thunder ions in the air, a wild, confident smile spreading across his face. "I'm simply commanding it."
He slowly raised his left hand, palm upward.
"Roar—!"
From the clouds came a heaven-shaking dragon's cry!
A ferocious dragon made entirely of lightning poked out its majestic head, its massive dragon eyes coldly surveying the earth below.
"Lightning Release: Kirin."
Sora pointed gently toward a distant, uninhabited mountain peak.
Time seemed to slow in that moment.
No sound.
Only a blinding white pillar of light pierced heaven and earth in a flash.
Seconds later.
BOOM—!
The belated thunder—loud enough to shatter eardrums—finally exploded!
The peak of that distant mountain had vanished without a trace.
Sasuke stared blankly at the scene.
This wasn't ninjutsu. This was a natural disaster, divine punishment—this was the power he wanted.
"How is it?" Sora's figure appeared behind them like a ghost, patting their stiff shoulders with one hand each. "Satisfied with the future your teacher tailored for you?"
The two mechanically turned around, looking at that still-cheerful smiling face as if gazing up at a god.
"But..." Sora changed the subject, his smile turning a bit infuriating. "Meals are eaten bite by bite, roads are walked step by step. Those two techniques, for you right now, are nothing but death warrants."
He withdrew his hands and demonstrated two new techniques in front of them.
To Naruto, the Rasengan in his hand suddenly expanded into a massive sphere over a meter in diameter.
"Great Ball Rasengan."
To Sasuke, his entire body erupted with blinding lightning, countless tiny currents dancing across his skin, forming a crackling layer of thunder armor.
"Chidori Current."
Sora looked at his two completely stunned students and nodded in satisfaction.
"Start with these two."
"Once you've mastered them, we'll talk about the next step."