Naruto: Zanka No Tachi

Chapter 36: NZNT: Chapter 36

Three days after parting ways with the six genin, Yusuke and Shirayuki Hazuki stood outside the east gate of Sunagakure, waiting for their genin to arrive.

For the past few days, Yusuke’s Fire Release clone had been observing the six genin from the sky. He had also seen many genin from other ninja villages.

The genin from the various ninja villages had varying levels of strength. Yusuke had seen many genin from other villages who were lost in the desert and couldn’t find their way. Some were exhausted and collapsed in the desert.

These genin were rescued by their village’s guiding Jonin, but they lost their eligibility to continue participating in the Chunin Exams.

Compared to some of the smaller ninja villages, Konoha’s six genin were in much better shape. Except for Kurenai Yūhi and Moonlight Aoba, whose stamina was insufficient and slowed down the team’s progress, they were all able to reach Sunagakure within three days.

Kurenai Yūhi was the type who wasn’t good at taijutsu, and Aoba was chronically ill. Although it didn’t affect his explosiveness and speed, his endurance was much worse than other genin of the same level.

In this stage, the two who performed the best were Anko and Mizuki.

The ”Book of the Limit” had a comment about Anko: ”Anko’s endurance is stronger than that of men.” Seeing Anko’s active performance in the desert through his Fire Release clone, Yusuke had to agree.

Mizuki’s performance was a bit unexpected compared to the other genin. It seemed that the desert’s hot environment and the fatigue of the long journey had no effect on him.

”In the original story, Mizuki was Orochimaru’s pawn. But judging from his current performance, it’s very likely that Orochimaru has strengthened his abilities and left him in Konoha as a secret agent.”

Through his observations over the past few days, Yusuke had also noticed that Mizuki was intentionally approaching Itachi. But he wasn’t very concerned about this.

First, judging from Itachi’s performance, he had already become wary of Mizuki. Second, in the original story, even Orochimaru had suffered several setbacks at Itachi’s hands. What could Mizuki, a mere pawn, do?

Yusuke and Hazuki didn’t have to wait long. Konoha’s six genin arrived at the east gate of Sunagakure and met up with them.

Except for Moonlight Aoba, who always had a sickly look on his face, Yusuke and Hazuki saw that the other five were in good shape. They were still energetic, and the two of them couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

This showed that their stamina allocation and time management were very reasonable. They were able to reach their destination within the specified time, and they weren’t too tired.

When all the participants in the Chunin Exams had gathered, Sunagakure’s staff took the genin who had passed the first round to a square for assembly.

The guiding Jonin from each village and some ninjas who had been invited to watch sat in the stands around the square.

As the highest leader of the Chunin Exams, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, also appeared and gave an inspiring speech, encouraging the genin participating in the exam to strive for excellence, to be courageous, and to fully display their strength in the exam.

The Fourth Kazekage was the most money-making Kage among the Five Great Ninja Villages. He could use his Magnet Release bloodline limit to mine gold from the desert and then sell it to various countries.

The Daimyō of the Land of Wind provided very limited funding to Sunagakure. It was precisely because of the Fourth Kazekage’s ability that Sunagakure had enough funds to maintain its current size.

Actually, many ninjas in the ninja world could use their abilities for more than just fighting. They could be used in other fields.

For example, Yamato’s Wood Release could easily build a high-quality wooden house in an instant. Not to mention the First Hokage. He could build the infrastructure of a resort village in a few minutes.

In Yusuke’s view, if these types of ninjas focused on economic construction, they would be much stronger than ordinary people.

Besides the Fourth Kazekage, Yusuke also saw several famous figures from Sunagakure, Pakura, Maki, and Yura.

At this time, Yura should have already been affected by Sasori’s ”Brain-Controlled Sand.” He was completely under Sasori’s control.

The ”Brain-Controlled Sand” technique wasn’t entirely a genjutsu. Although it also manipulated the target by disrupting the chakra in their brain, the medium of manipulation was real sand.

Yusuke was very skilled in genjutsu, but he couldn’t break this technique. In the original story, Orochimaru was able to break this technique for Kabuto. He probably performed brain surgery and removed the sand inside.

Of all the people present, the one who attracted Yusuke’s attention the most was ”Scorch Release” Pakura. Not only was she far stronger than the others, but in Yusuke’s understanding, she was someone he could potentially cooperate with in the future.

This hero ninja of Sunagakure would soon die in a conspiracy by Sunagakure’s high-ranking officials. Her life would be exchanged for peace between Kirigakure and Sunagakure.

Yusuke believed that there was definitely a power struggle within Sunagakure behind this decision by the high-ranking officials.

Otherwise, in this world where personal martial arts could influence wars, a bloodline limit expert like Pakura would be very intimidating. It was impossible to give up on her so easily.

”This trip to Sunagakure is a good opportunity to get in touch with her,” Yusuke thought to himself.

Pakura was a very strong-willed female ninja. In the original story, after being resurrected by the Edo Tensei, she clearly knew that she had been framed by Sunagakure’s high-ranking officials. She immediately decided to take revenge, and her methods were very tough.

This showed that Pakura wasn’t the type who was blindly loyal to the village. It would be easier to establish a cooperative relationship with her.

As Yusuke was observing others, he noticed that he and Hazuki had also become the focus of others’ attention. After all, they were Jonin from Konoha, the first of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and they were both famous figures in the ninja world. Naturally, they would attract attention.

”That’s Shirayuki Hazuki, the elite Jonin of Konoha, right? The ninja beside him is so young. He can’t be a Jonin, can he?”

”The one beside him is Uchiha Yusuke, Konoha’s ’Flame Sword.’ He’s the genius ninja who killed Kurosuki Raiga during the Third Great Ninja War. He should only be fifteen or sixteen years old now.”

”The Uchiha clan is truly one of the top clans in the ninja world. I heard that there’s a young ninja nicknamed ’Shisui of the Body Flicker’ who’s also very good.”

Similar discussions could be heard everywhere. The Uchiha clan, plus a genius ninja, was truly a very attractive topic.

”Yusuke, you’re one of Konoha’s signature ninjas now. When I was your age, I had just become a Chunin,” Hazuki sighed.

Yusuke shook his head helplessly, ”Being famous isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

The serious Hazuki rarely smiled, ”Fame is a deterrent! The Third Hokage sent you out to let the outside world know that even though Konoha is currently in a low point, there are still young experts like you.”

”I have high hopes for you. I believe you will become a pillar of Konoha in the future.”

Yusuke and Hazuki chatted casually. The examiners of the Chunin Exams began to announce the content of the second stage of the exam.

The content of the second stage of the exam was the well-known ”Heaven and Earth Scrolls” in the ninja world. Each team of candidates would carry either a ”Heaven Scroll” or an ”Earth Scroll.” They would enter the ”Demon Desert” from different entrances and engage in a seventy-two-hour survival battle.

After seventy-two hours, the teams that hadn’t lost any members and had at least one ”Heaven Scroll” and one ”Earth Scroll” would successfully enter the third round. The other teams would all be eliminated.

The Demon Desert was extremely hot during the day, and there was no wind. At night, the temperature would plummet to below freezing, and there would be strong winds, occasionally forming large sandstorms.

The genin in the Demon Desert would not only have to adapt to the extremely harsh weather and environment, but they would also have to guard against the giant sand scorpions that appeared out of nowhere in the desert.

More importantly, in order to advance, each team would have to steal at least one scroll that their team didn’t have from their opponents. This meant that at least half of the teams would be eliminated in this exam.

According to past experience, the stronger teams would steal more scrolls and eliminate more opponents. The passing rate was generally around 30%.

”Your crow clone is really convenient. I want to see how these kids are doing, but I can’t enter,” Hazuki said enviously, seeing Yusuke send out two Fire Release clones to fly over the Demon Desert.

Yusuke’s Fire Release clones were indeed very convenient for reconnaissance. Not only could they fly and observe from above, but more importantly, they had no physical form. They were invulnerable to physical attacks and weren’t as fragile as ordinary clones.

Yusuke smiled, ”Don’t worry, Hazuki-senpai. With these kids’ strength, this challenge won’t be difficult for them.”

This wasn’t Yusuke being overly confident. Konoha, as the leader of the Five Great Ninja Villages and the first ninja village to implement the ninja school system, had top-notch ninjas.

The genin selected to participate in this exam were all elites among the village’s genin. With a genius like Itachi, this exam was nothing.

After the second stage of the exam officially began, the guiding Jonin from each ninja village were free to do as they pleased. Some strolled around the open areas of Sunagakure. Others returned to the inns they had been assigned to rest.

Because ninjas were unpredictable individuals, Sunagakure had arranged for many ANBU and ninjas to secretly monitor the ninjas from various villages, in case anyone did something detrimental to Sunagakure.

Yusuke didn’t stroll around Sunagakure. He returned to the inn to rest and waited until nightfall.

Using the night sky, Yusuke summoned a large number of Fire Release clones. Because Fire Release clones were black, they were almost invisible in the darkness. Even if someone accidentally saw one or two, they would only think they were birds passing by.

Yusuke controlled most of the Fire Release clones to fly to the Nara Desert, a distance away from Sunagakure, to look for Shukaku. He kept a few in the sky above Sunagakure, looking for Pakura.

Not long after, Yusuke’s Fire Release clones found Pakura in a bustling night market in Sunagakure.

At this time, Pakura wasn’t wearing her usual ninja clothes. She was wearing casual kimono clothes, and she was accompanied by a cute girl with war paint on her face. It was her closest disciple, Maki.

It had to be said that Pakura was a true beauty. She had exquisite features, and her long black hair was tied up high. Two strands of crimson hair hung down on either side of her forehead, adding a touch of heroism to her beauty.

Today, Pakura had taken a rare break from her ninja training. She had accepted Maki’s invitation to go to the night market.

As they were laughing and joking, Pakura couldn’t help but feel something was wrong.

There was nothing unusual about the surroundings, but Pakura felt an odd and discordant feeling. She just couldn’t figure out what it was.

”Could it just be my imagination?”

Pakura thought to herself.

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