Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

At Kushina's house.

"Ahhh! Why did I have to become a Chunin so early? I missed such an amazing chance to shine!"

"Senpai Shuunen, don't regret it. When the sun shines bright, who cares about stars!"

Kushina frowned. "C'mon, even I should be the moon, right?"

"No way! The moon is definitely me, Asuma!"

"Enough! Aren't we here today to analyze the strength of various ninja villages?"

But despite that, everyone was just fooling around, clearly not taking things seriously at all.

To them, no way could any Genin beat Seiki!

"The Mist Village has 24 reference ninja: Zabuza Momochi, Mei Terumi..." Kurenai analyzed seriously. Noticing Seiki's somewhat odd expression, she couldn't help asking, "Seiki, anything wrong?"

Seiki smiled mildly. "Nothing's wrong. Please continue your analysis."

Kurenai gave a slight nod. "The Hokage did say these intel reports might not be totally accurate, but from what we've got, Zabuza's the biggest threat in Mist..."

"Huh, so Zabuza's rep's bigger than the future Mizukage's now?" Seiki found this amusing at first, but quickly understood, "Mei probably hasn't developed her own kekkei genkai yet..."

After all, although Mist wasn't as dark as when the corrupted Obito controlled the Fourth Mizukage, it still maintained its biases against kekkei genkai due to being remote and backward.

If Mei had been born possessing two types of kekkei genkai, her life in Mist would certainly not have been pleasant.

Beside him, Kurenai continued analyzing earnestly. "As for Cloud, there are 66 reference ninja, including Yugito Nii and Samui..."

Upon hearing this familiar name, Seiki naturally shifted his attention.

Of course, he wasn't focusing because of some future "ferocious" woman. "Two-Tails? Is Cloud planning to cheat if they can't win properly?"

Looking at the intelligence specifically passed down by the Third, Kurenai expressed some surprise. "Cloud seems to have gone too far this time. Looks like quite a few were forced to graduate early. However, they don't seem to have any particularly impressive Genin."

Seiki shook his head slightly. In his view, the biggest threat during this Chunin Exam should definitely be Yugito.

At the Genin level, jinchuriki were simply unreasonable presences.

"Still, this is better," Seiki thought with amusement. "An overly boring Chunin Exam wouldn't attract much attention. I can't be the only one stealing the spotlight here!"

Kurenai's analysis quickly moved onto Sand. "Sand has 30 reference Genin. The one we need to pay special attention to is a ninja named Baki. He's already considered a genius in Sunagakure, and also three years older than us..."

Seiki's eyes flickered slightly. Sure enough, another "familiar face".

"Finally, there's Iwagakure with 45 reference ninja, including Shidotatsu and [Lightning]..."

When he heard this list's conclusion, Seiki was genuinely taken aback.

On Rock's side, it seemed there wasn't a single "familiar" face at all!

Were all the geniuses killed off in later wars, or could it be that there were never any geniuses to begin with?

"Is that it? This is it?" Asuma exclaimed boastfully after hearing the analysis. "There's practically no one worth fighting here! I'm *shita* invincible—already destined to face Seiki in the finals!"

Ibiki glanced at him sideways. "What if you face Seiki in the preliminary rounds?"

Asuma was stunned. "Uh... Well..."

Kurenai chuckled softly, covering her mouth. "Then beat Seiki, of course! I remember someone claiming four years ago he'd defeat Seiki within four years at most!"

Asuma's momentum faltered. "Well... Maybe I just had an explosive day..."

Seiki smiled, coming to his rescue. "Asuma, didn't Hokage-sama mention we should try our best to recruit ninja from those smaller countries?"

Sensing a change of subject, Asuma quickly jumped in. "Right, the old man did say that... Seiki, do you already have a plan?"

Seiki nodded slightly. "But I will need your assistance."

...

Meanwhile, at the inn where the Cloud ninja were staying.

As team leader, Dodai sternly warned them, "This Chunin Exam won't only have Raikage watching the final match, but also the other four villages' Kage will attend. Your performance directly represents Cloud's honor, so you must show everyone Cloud's style and strength. Understood?"

The gathered Cloud ninja responded with thunderous voices. "Understood!"

Dodai nodded satisfactorily. "Everyone else dismissed. Yugito, stay behind."

After others left, Dodai asked with a grave expression, "You've seen intelligence reports on other villages already. How confident are you for this Chunin Exam?"

Yugito energetically swung her ponytail. "I will definitely win!"

"Good! Although many villages possess their own geniuses, they shouldn't pose significant threats to you. Except..." Dodai's voice turned heavier, "...Konoha's Seiki Shimaseki. If you encounter him, enter *bijuu* mode immediately."

Yugito puffed her cheeks. "But I want to defeat him using my own strength!"

Expecting the young kitten's stubborn reaction, Dodai skillfully comforted her. "*Bijuu* itself is part of a *jinchuriki*'s power, just like Sand's puppet users—can you force them not to use puppets? Besides, Seiki is two years older than you. Restraining your strength would be unfair to yourself!"

Yugito pouted, dragging out her words. "Ooooh-kaaaay..."

...

At Mist Village's inn.

"Konoha's Seiki, Sunagakure's Baki, Iwagakure's Shidotatsu..." Two young girls were discussing earnestly when one of them angrily turned toward someone clearly not paying attention nearby. "Zabuza, we're technically a team! Show some interest!"

Zabuza polished his blade in silence. "Women... will only slow me down!"

"What did you say?!" Shiyaya snapped furiously.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes, glancing over. "Didn't catch that? Don't interfere with my killing. Otherwise... kill you too."

"Zabuza, I know you're strong," Mei Terumi quickly stood up to calm them both down. "But Seiki Shimaseki is hailed as the strongest genius from Konoha in the past twenty years! Underestimating him could cost you dearly."

...

From the Sunagakure side.

"Aniki Baki, you must definitely come out on top in this exam!"

"Yeah, let's show those other villages what we're made of!"

Though praised by everyone, Baki remained calm. "Compared to true prodigies, I'm just taking advantage of my age. There's nothing to be proud of."

He had witnessed true geniuses before—those chasms ordinary men could never hope to bridge. "If it were Sasori, he would definitely make it."

Thinking about this, his mood became increasingly heavy. "Seiki Shimaseki... a genius like Sasori?"

As for Iwagakure.

"The enemies you face this time are Konoha ninja who have shamelessly ambushed and defeated many of our outstanding shinobi."

"Magze-sama, I heard that despicable Konoha squad is also participating in this Chunin Exams. How about we—"

Magze frowned slightly. "If you meet that squad, I permit you to run away immediately!"

Shidotatsu opened his eyes wide in disbelief. "Magze-sama, how can we surrender to those despicable guys?"

Magze's expression turned cold. "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

Shidotatsu flushed red but finally lowered his head helplessly. "I understand."

Magze didn't flinch, his gaze sweeping across the group. "Except for that Konoha squad, all other Konoha ninja are fair game for you. Understood?"

"Understood!"

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