Konoha: Naruto, Taught by Aizen

"Tch, Naruto, you're here." The moment Sasuke saw Naruto, his tense body relaxed. Though his tone was dismissive, he felt a sense of reassurance deep down.

Gaara had put immense pressure on him.

He wasn't confident he could defeat Gaara.

Especially not while also having to protect the Konohamaru Trio and Sakura.

Now, with Naruto present, the situation had taken a dramatic turn.

"Are you kidding me? That man!!"

"When did he even get over there?" Kankuro and Temari were aghast, instinctively taking a step back.

When did he get so close to me? I didn't sense him at all!

Gaara, whose killing intent had been boiling just moments before, couldn't suppress the shock in his heart. His gaze flickered to the treetop; the sand that had been swirling around him had frozen in place, as if encountering a natural predator.

My sand… is actually afraid of this man?!

Gaara's eyes widened, and then an intensely bloodthirsty smile spread across his face, the excitement in his heart soaring.

This is what makes it interesting! If I kill him, I'll definitely find the meaning of my existence!

At the same time, Naruto's gaze fell upon the headbands of Gaara and his companions.

He frowned slightly, a flicker of doubt in his mind.

Those are Sunagakure headbands.

Why would Suna shinobi be appearing so openly in Konoha?

The relationship between Sunagakure and Konoha had never been particularly good.

Situated in the desert and perennially surrounded by yellow sand, their resources were scarce, and their top-tier combat strength couldn't compare to Konoha's.

If Rasa hadn't used his Magnet Release to gather gold dust to fund the village, Sunagakure might have collapsed long ago.

In the previous Great Ninja Wars, Sunagakure had clashed with Konoha, but the outcome was invariably a crushing defeat for Suna, which only accelerated the rapid decline of their strength.

They naturally coveted the prosperous Konoha.

It was just that Konoha was vast, resource-rich, and consistently produced geniuses.

So, they could only bide their time and endure.

It was no exaggeration to say that if Konoha's top fighting power were to disappear, Sunagakure would undoubtedly attack Konoha without hesitation to carve up its resources.

But none of that mattered right now.

Naruto used Shunpo to appear beside Sasuke and the others, looking at Temari and her group with a gentle expression. "Visitors are guests. Since you have all traveled such a long way to Konoha, please do enjoy the culture and scenery of our village."

"Wow, so elegant, so handsome! This man isn't bad either," Temari swooned, a lovestruck look on her face.

For someone like her who appreciated handsome men, choosing between Sasuke and Naruto was difficult.

One was cool and aloof, the other gentle.

Which one to pick?

Gaara's eyes burned intensely. Forcibly suppressing his urge to kill, he spoke, "I'm very interested in you. What's your name?"

He desperately wanted to attack directly, but no matter how bloodthirsty he was, he understood the importance of the mission.

He was a critical part of this mission; he couldn't afford any mistakes now.

There would be plenty of opportunities to kill this man later.

Facing Gaara's question, Naruto answered quite casually,

"Uzumaki Naruto. And you?"

"Gaara," he grunted, then instantly appeared beside Kankuro and Temari, his voice low. "Let's go."

"Hmph." Sasuke couldn't help but snort. He glanced at the Sand Siblings, then at Naruto, feeling a little disgruntled.

I'm clearly strong too, so why isn't that panda-man interested in me?

"Hold on." Sasuke called out to the trio who were about to leave, his voice icy. "Since when could Suna shinobi come and go from Konoha as they please?"

"Because of the Chunin Exams, of course," Temari replied, looking completely stunned. "Don't tell me you guys didn't know?"

"Chunin Exams? How come Kakashi-sensei never mentioned anything about them?" Sasuke and Sakura exchanged bewildered glances.

"Hmph, just the Chunin Exams," Sasuke scoffed, then shouted at Gaara's retreating back, "Hey, you panda-head! Remember this: my name is Uchiha Sasuke, and I'll be the one to eliminate you!"

"Oh my, so cool~~" Temari, at the side, cupped her face, sighing with utter captivation.

"Hmph." Looking at Sasuke's handsome face and then comparing it to his own features, Kankuro felt inexplicably irked.

Gaara paused for a moment but continued walking without a word, showing no reaction.

Kankuro and Temari hurriedly followed.

"Oh? Sasuke, it looks like you were underestimated," Naruto said with a teasing smile.

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted again, unwilling to accept it, a trace of dissatisfaction in his gaze as he looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, you shouldn't have come. I could have handled them myself."

"Oh, give me a break! There's no way you could have dealt with that guy with the heavy dark circles," Sakura interjected, rolling her eyes.

"You!" Sasuke glared.

But he couldn't refute Sakura's words at all.

He could only sulk by himself.

Konohamaru tugged on Sasuke's sleeve, offering comfort.

"Boss Sasuke, in my eyes, you're the best! That panda-man isn't even worthy of shining your shoes!"

"Yeah! Boss Sasuke is so imposing! And all those sparks around you were so cool!" Moegi and Udon chimed in.

"Boss, what was that jutsu? With all the lightning crackling around you, zzt zzt! Maybe we should call that form Super Sasuke!" Konohamaru suggested excitedly.

Walking through the streets of Konoha, Gaara's eyes still glinted with killing intent, but at the same time, a long-forgotten sense of apprehension had surfaced within him.

He silently looked at his own hands.

It was hard to imagine that man had been able to get so close to him.

Even more terrifyingly…

His prized sand hadn't even reacted.

It had even… conveyed a sense of fear?

Gaara, who had killed countless people, was extremely sensitive to killing intent and death.

For some reason, he sensed the aura of death from Naruto.

And there was also a familiar scent…

It was remarkably similar to the monster inside his own body.

"Uzumaki Naruto, is it?" He mulled over the name, a somewhat twisted curve forming on his lips.

"To be able to make me feel fear… what an interesting man."

"I can hardly wait… to kill you."

Meanwhile…

After getting confirmation, Naruto's group also headed towards the location of the Chunin Exams.

Kakashi didn't accompany them; Jonin naturally had other arrangements.

Upon arriving at the Chunin Exam site, they found the first test was a written exam.

However, the exam location was concealed by a genjutsu.

Just as they reached the exam spot, they saw Rock Lee acting the fool.

He was pretending to be a weak examinee, collapsing in front of the door, when in reality, he was looking for an opportunity to pull off a grand display.

When it came to showing off, Sasuke naturally wouldn't lose to anyone. He decisively stepped forward and, in an extremely nonchalant yet actually showy tone, exposed the genjutsu at the entrance.

This really annoyed Rock Lee.

So, the two of them had a brief taijutsu skirmish right there in front of the exam location.

Rock Lee stylishly tossed his white robe into the air. A roguishly arrogant smirk curved Sasuke's lips, and tiny arcs of lightning began to crackle around his body.

The two clashed at high speed, the sounds of fists and feet meeting echoing everywhere.

To the other examinees, Rock Lee and Sasuke's speed was already too fast for them to follow.

After a simple exchange lasting about a minute, both stopped simultaneously.

They looked at each other and smiled. "Not bad for a warm-up."

The other examinees were utterly shocked. "Heavens, is this a duel between Konoha Genin? This is too terrifying, isn't it?"

"Are these monsters really going to be our opponents?"

"This is just too hopeless…"