178. A Month Before The Next Round of The Exam

Well, even if he died from hitting his head against a wall, Izumi still could resurrect him with Momo's revival skill. Still, Izumi didn't want to expose that skill.

"Fuuh, I thought I'm gonna die." Kazuma lay limp while spreading his arms.

"You would definitely die if I didn't save you just now." Izumi replied while crossing his arms.

"Hahaha, thanks." Kazuma looked at Hayate and continued. "I lost."

Even if Kazuma didn't say "give up", with Izumi helping Kazuma, it could be said that Kazuma couldn't continue the fight anymore. Hayate stated.

"The winner...cough...is Temari."

"Hmmm, even that kid can use the ice element. Can Kekkei Genkai be that easy to learn?"

The Hokage who saw the match questioned the abilities of every youngster from Kaiyougakure village. Then, he shook his head to forget that. There was no point in questioning it because Warrod had already said that each of them had unique abilities.

Since there were only 3 participants left, there will only be 1 match left, and 1 lucky person will qualify for the next without fighting.

Everyone was looking forward to the last match of the round by looking at the digital board. And the eleventh match brought together Choji and Luffy to the arena platform. That meant Kankuro qualified for the next round by default.

The fight ended very briefly. Choji knew that Luffy was a formidable opponent, so he used the signature Jutsu soon after the match, and started to attack Luffy. But he couldn't control his speed which made him crash into the wall and the match ended with Luffy's victory who put a confused look on his face.

The Hokage then announced that the next round would be held in 1 month by inviting important people from other countries so they could see the potential of the young ninjas.

— — — —

The next day.

That morning, Izumi decided to walk around Konohagakure with the other boys, Kazuma, Hiiro, and Luffy. Meanwhile, Kuroneko went shopping with Tabane, Yuki Onna, and Rori. Well, just to be safe, it would be better to have Rori with them. She could help if Orochimaru or Kabuto attacked them.

Izumi and the others wanted to have breakfast, but he didn't want to eat meat in the morning as Luffy wanted. So Izumi took them to the Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

"Welcome. Oh, you kids? I heard all of you got a lot of attention at the Chūnin exam because of your strengths, hahaha." The shop owner knew a little about Izumi and his group because they often bought ramen at his shop.

"You're exaggerating, uncle." Izumi replied with an awkward smile.

"Hahaha, don't be modest. I know you are amazing since a lot of people are talking about you."

Then, Kazuma replied.

"Don't say that, I'm blushing."

Izumi twitched his cheek as he thought in his mind, "How could he say that so smugly?"

"Uncle, I want ramen with meat."

"I want special ramen."

Luffy and Hiiro couldn't wait any longer.

— — — —

"Ugh, I'm broke."

Izumi complained about his empty wallet. Then Kazuma said,

"Aren't you the one who ate too much food?"

Izumi was speechless. Ever since he got the new magic, once he ate, his stomach could become a pit. He couldn't deny Kazuma's words. Coupled with Luffy's portion of food, it was no strange that the money would be drained.

He wondered what to do to get money to live for a month.

Just when Izumi's mind was still full of thoughts, Kakashi suddenly came from behind.

"Finally, I found you."

"Oh, Kakashi-san. You're gonna train Sasuke right?"

Izumi had expected that Kakashi would still train Sasuke like in canon. Kakashi confirmed with a nod.

"Yeah, this is perfect timing for him to train."

"Did you know that we were going to take Sasuke away?" Izumi asked Kakashi if he had been told by Sasuke or not.

Kakashi looked to the left and right cautiously. Then, he said in a low voice.

"Oh, he didn't say anything to me, but Sakura did. So he will be our new member?"

Sasuke didn't say anything regarding what happened during the survival test. But Sakura said that Sasuke would leave because of an offer from Izumi and his group that Sasuke couldn't refuse. Hearing this, Kakashi was slightly surprised and comforted Sakura that Sasuke would not leave forever. He would return to Konohagakure since he was a Konohagakure ninja.

"That's not what I meant. You do know that his Sharingan has grown to a higher level, right?"

"Yeah, I saw it yesterday."

"Since you know it, you understand what I mean just now right? It means he should leave as soon as possible before that bastard takes action. And this is also an opportunity for Sasuke to develop without help from adults."

Kakashi pondered what Izumi had said, and then remembered that he also understood a little that Danzo had an interest in the Sharingan.

"I see, so it's like that."

"Therefore, you shouldn't say things like forgetting revenge. That will only make him want revenge on Itachi even more. Moreover..."

"Moreover?"

"Moreover, it would be better if the person talking to him was the same age as him. Because it was more effective than an adult talking to him. Well, you could say it's pubescent psychology."

Just like what Izumi said, one's puberty period was too unstable. Most people of that age often don't listen when adults rebuke them. But they often share their problems with other people of their age or with an age that is not too far from them. On the condition that they have to understand each other.

"Hmmm, alright then. Anyway, I leave Naruto to you guys." As Kakashi spoke, he briefly glanced in a certain direction.

Izumi's brows rose.

"Hey, don't be irresponsible, can you just look for that Jiraya?"

"Well, I don't know where he is now." Kakashi just shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent look.

"Liar, just say you're too lazy!"

"Well, Naruto is here, bye!" Kakashi waved and then disappeared from where he was standing.

"This goddamned one-eyed Sharingan!"

*sigh*

Izumi looked in a certain direction as Naruto showed up with a dash. Naruto who saw Izumi and his group immediately approached them.

"Did you see Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto immediately asked when he arrived in front of them.

"Why, you weren't told? Kakashi said he wanted to give Sasuke special training."

"What? What the hell! How could he secretly give Sasuke special training while I'm not? I'm gonna catch them."

Naruto was angry that Kakashi had left him secretly and prioritized Sasuke even more.

"Wait Naruto!"

When Naruto was about to leave, Izumi called him. Naruto answered Izumi with an impatient expression.

"What is it? I'm in hurry, you know."

"Why not come with us?"

"Training with you guys? Don't wanna, it's boring, you know."

When training with Izumi and the others, he only trained his feet on the water to control his chakra, and it did make Naruto able to control his chakra better. However, if training like that continued, Naruto would feel bored. He wanted to have a strong Jutsu.

"Hehe, I can give you a tip to make any of your training 100 times faster. Still, if you don't want it, then you're free to go."

Naruto's eyes lit up. If he could train 100 times faster, of course he wanted to. Naruto asked.

"You're not lying are you?"

"You can say it's a lie, or it isn't."

The answer from Izumi was quite confusing to Naruto. He didn't really understand what Izumi meant, so he asked again.

"What did that mean?"

"How should I say this? So, it's like this, do you realize that your chakra capacity is so huge?"

Naruto shook his head when Izumi asked.

Then Izumi said that Naruto's chakra capacity even exceeded the Jōnin-level ninja. Izumi said that was the reason why Naruto could train 100 times faster than the others.

Even though what Izumi said was a mere fabrication, it wasn't completely a lie.

And Naruto had been persuaded to follow where Izumi would go to train him.

With a grin, Izumi said inwardly,

"Hehehe, it would be interesting if Naruto and Sasuke were much stronger than in canon when the shinobi world war started."