Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 75 The Final Moment

On the second-to-last day before the exam, Naruto went to the hospital to pick up Sasuke and ran into Team 8 and Team 10, who were there to visit Choji and Kiba. Sakura had come with Kurenai, Kakashi was helping Sasuke with his discharge procedures, and Asuma, unusually, wasn't smoking but was occasionally glancing at Kurenai. Since Team 3 was all together, they quickly decided to go out for a meal. Not long after leaving, Guy and Rock Lee suddenly appeared, wanting to have a match with their lifelong rival. They were then tricked into going to a barbecue restaurant and sharing the bill.

After a satisfying meal, the teachers, busy with their own tasks, quickly left. With nothing to do, the children, in a large group, somehow wandered off to the training ground…

"Naruto, let's have a fight." Sasuke was the first to issue the challenge.

Li clutched his head and cried out, "Ah!! I was too late!!"

"I really don't understand you warmongers. Fighting is such a hassle..." Shikamaru moved aside, silently shrinking to the edge of the training ground. He had never been keen on challenging Naruto to a fight, because rationally speaking, all of Naruto's abilities were counters to the Nara clan's secret techniques. To put it bluntly, Naruto was a god-like support on the battlefield; he was very skilled at controlling the battlefield, but he lacked high-damage output methods. It would be better for him to find some reliable teammates.

Hinata and Shino nodded silently, but Ino thought differently...

"Sakura! Let's have another round!"

"What, do you want to lose again?"

"It's still uncertain who will win and who will lose!"

"Just wait and see!"

The situation turned out like this.

Naruto, unable to mediate the two boys' inexplicable fight, simply let them brawl. The battle was brutal and looked like the kind that would leave them both in the hospital afterwards. Meanwhile, the two girls' fight was a delight to watch. Sakura's genjutsu had clearly improved significantly, but she was at a disadvantage against Ino, who could sense her movements. Each side occupied a corner of the training ground, while a few spectators sat on the bench Naruto had made using Earth Release techniques, offering their comments from time to time.

"Hey Naruto, don't you think the atmosphere in the village has been a bit different these past few days?" Shikamaru, true to form, was observant despite his young age. What ultimately convinced him that something was amiss was the teachers' easy agreement to the gathering and the unusual pauses in their conversation. He told Naruto this because he knew that within their social circle, Naruto was the true unifier and leader. Don't let his goofy smile fool you; he's quite shrewd and likely noticed something was off.

"Compared to previous Chunin Exams, there are definitely more patrols. Maybe it's because the proctor was attacked? I sensed his chakra at the hospital just now." Naruto's eyes never left the battlefield, yet he casually uttered astonishing information.

Of the four people sitting in a row, three glared at them. Shikamaru was the quickest to calm down, saying, "Being in the hospital doesn't necessarily mean anything, right? Maybe they're here to see their comrade."

“His chakra state is different from when we first met; he’s very weak. He must have suffered a serious injury.” Naruto patted Shikamaru on the shoulder and said, “Don’t think too much about it. Even if something is wrong, it’s the teachers’ concern. Let’s focus on the match.”

Shikamaru remained silent, watching the entire sparring match unfold. His brilliant mind never paused, and suddenly a sense of absurdity washed over him.

Naruto knows everything, and he's even involved in it.

"Naruto, just how wide is your sensory range?"

"Hmm...who knows?"

On the last day before the exam, Sasuke still couldn't get his wish and fight Naruto.

Early in the morning, Sasuke absolutely refused to separate Naruto from the bed, and ended up lying down himself. He wasted the whole morning doing nothing, and then in the afternoon, he went crazy and insisted on going to the Hokage Rock.

What could Sasuke do? He could only go along. Although he had grown up under the watchful eyes of these stone statues, he had rarely had the chance to gaze into the distance from them. From above, he could see the entire Hidden Leaf Village. He felt a slight sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing feelings, emotions, and reflection), but soon looked away.

He looked at Naruto.

Naruto lowered his eyes, looking down at this familiar yet unfamiliar Konoha.

Under his witness, Konoha experienced three invasion crises.

Once, they lost the Third Hokage; once, the entire village was demolished and rebuilt; and once, it was utterly destroyed, affecting both the people and the village.

He saw a shooting star stop above the village, and the quiet night suddenly became as bright as day. The barrier disappeared first, but before the barrier team could figure out what had happened, the direct beam of light fell on the center of the village.

The Hokage Building was melting, and the area of ​​destruction rapidly expanded. The alarms sounded only a few times before it was completely destroyed. Ordinary people vanished before they could even make a sound, and the streets and alleys were filled with... the screams of ninjas.

Several colossal figures rose from the ground, but Susanoo was also rapidly dissolving. If the source wasn't addressed, none of them would survive. So, the purple Susanoo was the first to unfurl its wings, and the other giants vanished. Several faint rays of light flew into the purple giant, soaring with it. When the purple one couldn't hold on any longer, they moved on to the next. They flew to a place where the human eye couldn't see through the light. The only way people knew they were still struggling was by observing whether their shadows on the ground were still spreading.

The fact that they are still spreading means they are getting closer and closer to the light source; their sudden disappearance means... total annihilation.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke's voice pulled Naruto back to reality. He turned his head, only to be met by Sasuke's outstretched hand. As the fingertips barely touched his skin, the courage that had prompted Sasuke to reach out seemed to vanish. He abruptly pulled back, yet still looked at him with a mixture of confusion and worry.

Are you crying?

Naruto didn't realize this. He wiped his cheeks haphazardly and did indeed feel the cool water.

"Oh, it must be sand in my eyes," Naruto tried to brush it off, but his smile looked really awkward at this point.

He saw it; the shadow eventually disappeared.

Sasuke wasn't so easily fooled, but he couldn't figure out why Naruto looked so sad, no matter how hard he tried. He'd made Naruto's favorite ramen that morning, hadn't he? He hadn't forced Naruto out of bed; in fact, he'd stayed in bed with him. It couldn't be the pressure of exams, could it? Neji had never won a single sparring match! They'd been together since childhood, practically never separated; the longest they'd been apart… was only a week when that white-haired, lecherous old man had taken them away.

Could it be that guy made him sad?