Chapter 53: The Big Black Pig

Inside Konoha Village

"Alright!! I'm going to give it my all today, too! Hyaaa!!! Full speed ahead!!"

Naruto, full of energy after eating breakfast, appeared on the streets of Konoha early in the morning. Some time had passed since the Wave Country mission, and Kakashi had been leading Team 7 on low-level missions. Naruto, unwilling to let Sasuke outshine him every time, tried to steal the spotlight during their missions, but he often ended up causing more trouble than he solved.

Kakashi was also quite exasperated by this. He had hoped Naruto would mature a little, but he found that aside from combat, Naruto hadn't changed at all in his day-to-day behavior.

"Morning, Sasuke. Morning, Sakura," Naruto said, arriving at the meeting point to find Sakura and Sasuke already waiting.

"You're late, Naruto," Sasuke said, displeased.

"Tch! Is Kakashi-sensei here yet?" Naruto grunted.

Three hours later...

"Yo! Good morning, everyone," Kakashi's voice came from behind the three, who were growing increasingly impatient. "I got lost on the path of life again..."

"Seriously!!! Can you at least try to make your lies sound believable?!! I can't take this anymore!" Sakura immediately roared at Kakashi. Although he wasn't late every time, when he was late, it was by several hours, and he still made them come so early. Sakura was really fed up.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, the missions we've been doing lately with Team 7 are too easy. Could we get something where I can show off my skills, where I can really use my ninjutsu...?"

"Alright, alright, I get it..." Kakashi said wearily.

"Kakashi-sensei, is this... the mission where I can show off my skills?" Naruto asked, looking at the river channel in front of him, his facial muscles twitching.

"Haha, Naruto, this mission is pretty suitable for your ninjutsu, isn't it? I'll leave it to you, then," Sakura said with a laugh, patting Naruto on the shoulder in an old-fashioned manner.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto sighed. He had no choice but to create shadow clones and get to work.

After the mission was completed, the three were exhausted. Kakashi was about to let them rest before starting the next mission when a messenger hawk flew overhead.

"Caw~~~~~~~~~~~~"

Kakashi heard the hawk's cry and looked up at the messenger hawk in the sky.

"Alright, everyone, that's it for today. I have to go submit the mission report," Kakashi said to the three.

"Then I'll be going," Sasuke said.

"Wait, Sasuke, let's spar!" Naruto said, calling out to Sasuke as he was about to leave, still frustrated about not getting to show off.

"Boring," Sasuke said, walking away without looking back.

"Damn it, Sasuke, don't you run away!" Naruto shouted, chasing after him.

Sasuke was about to turn a corner when Naruto's fist was about to land on him. Sasuke used a Body Flicker Technique and disappeared.

Hokage's Office

"I've called you all here for a specific reason," the Third Hokage said, looking at the assembled ninjas. "You can probably tell from my expression."

"It's that time, isn't it? Have you notified the other countries?" Kakashi said listlessly.

"When will it begin?" asked Genma Shiranui.

"One week from now," the Third Hokage continued.

"Ah! So soon?" The surrounding ninjas began to murmur among themselves.

"I now officially announce that the Chunin Selection Exams will be held one week from today," the Third Hokage said solemnly.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Konoha, Sakura and the Konohamaru Corps were facing off against two ninjas wearing the headbands of the Hidden Sand Village.

It was also Sakura's first time meeting Konohamaru. Konohamaru had originally intended to secretly follow Naruto, but seeing his "boss" get into a conflict, he immediately revealed himself.

Naruto's punch, dodged by Sasuke, had instead hit the two Sand ninjas who were just passing through the intersection.

"It seems Sasuke did that on purpose," Sakura thought, realizing that the two in front of her were already aware of the upcoming Chunin Exams.

Naruto's punch naturally hadn't hit the two Sand ninjas. Kankuro had caught it with his fist, believing Naruto was provoking him.

And so, the two groups faced off.

"Hmph, Konoha Genin, huh? That punch packed quite a wallop," Kankuro said, shaking his hand.

Naruto had put all his strength into that punch, yet Kankuro had caught it, indicating that Kankuro's strength was not to be underestimated.

"Are all Konoha Genin this rude?" Temari, standing beside him, added.

"Hey~ wait a minute, you guys aren't Konoha ninjas. Why are you here in Konoha?" Naruto, noticing that the two's headbands weren't the Konoha symbol, asked cautiously.

"Big Bro Naruto, are they enemies?" Konohamaru said excitedly. "Big Bro, let me handle them!"

Saying this, Konohamaru charged forward. Sakura was speechless. Had Konohamaru not assessed the situation, or was he just eager to show off? He was just like Naruto.

"Konohamaru, wait!" Naruto called out to Konohamaru. "They're not simple opponents."

Konohamaru stopped his charge upon hearing Naruto's words, but he had already reached Kankuro. He couldn't attack, but he couldn't not attack either.

However, Kankuro didn't have such good temper. With a smile on his face, he grabbed Konohamaru and lifted him up.

"I hate runts the most. So arrogant at such a young age. I really want to kill you..." Kankuro said with a smile, but his tone was chilling, making his words particularly terrifying.

"Sigh~ Do whatever you want..." Temari said helplessly beside him. Of course, she wasn't going to let anything happen. Temari knew Kankuro was just trying to scare them and teach them a lesson. Killing someone in the streets of Konoha would mean exposing their plan prematurely.

"Hey, you big black pig! Put Konohamaru down!" Naruto yelled at Kankuro, seeing Konohamaru being held captive.

Hearing Naruto's provocative words, Kankuro's gaze sharpened as he looked at Naruto. "Hehe, then I'll kill him first, and then I'll kill you."

Sakura didn't sense any killing intent from Kankuro, so she didn't interfere. It wouldn't hurt for that little brat Konohamaru to learn a lesson. Wasn't Naruto's growth spurred on by repeated setbacks? Besides, Sakura wasn't particularly fond of little kids.

Sakura had completely forgotten that Sasuke was supposed to intervene and save Konohamaru. She could now only recall events that had made a strong impression on her. The fading of her memories combined with the aftereffects of her transmigration meant that Sakura could only remember the most important things. As for minor details, she might remember them when they happened, or they might never happen due to her changes, or they might have already changed without her realizing it. If she hadn't encountered Kankuro today, Sakura would have completely forgotten that there was supposed to be this incident before the Chunin Exams. Seeing Kankuro, Sakura vaguely recalled that there was supposed to be something like this.

Just as Kankuro was about to punch Konohamaru in the stomach, and Naruto was too far away to intervene, a small stone struck Kankuro's wrist, the one holding Konohamaru.

"Damn it!" Kankuro cried out in pain, releasing Konohamaru. Konohamaru quickly retreated, putting distance between himself and Kankuro.

"You're being too unrestrained in someone else's village," Sasuke said, sitting on a nearby tree, tossing another small stone in his hand.