Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

Shimaseki hadn't even gotten a chance to act before the arena battle ended in an unexpectedly dramatic fashion.

In the end, he and a Konoha Genin who'd graduated two or three years ago were the ones who won by default.

The ninja from various villages were left speechless by the situation.

They had imagined countless possible endings, speculated on what abilities Shimaseki might reveal, but never in their wildest dreams did they expect that his strongest power would turn out to be his incredible charisma!

Although they doubted whether such an "attractive" ability had any real use, seeing how calm and composed Shimaseki remained made them feel jealous despite themselves.

At the same time, strange thoughts stirred in their minds.

If today it was a group of genin rushing headlong for him, who's to say tomorrow it wouldn't be smaller nations eagerly scrambling to crown a king?

"What a troublesome brat!" Dodai of Kumogakure felt annoyed, then shook his head. "Well, even without interference from other villages, just a few of them probably still couldn't force out his true strength."

Thinking this, he cast a suspicious glance at Sunagakure. "But since when did Sunagakure and Konoha become so close? Could it have something to do with the Third Kazekage affair? Are they planning mutual support through unity?"

"This is what winning people over looks like—an unchallenged king even without a crown!" The Third Hokage smiled contentedly at the front of the platform, puffing on his pipe as he glanced toward the Suna delegation. "Though I don't understand why Sunagakure has taken this stance, this may actually present an opportunity. We should actively circulate rumors that Sunagakure has formed an alliance with Konoha—even if they deny it, we can plant seeds of doubt among the other villages!"

"Of course, it would be even better if they swallowed their pride and accepted." At this thought, the Third's face clearly showed delight laced with ulterior motives.

Groups 6 and 7 advanced without incident, but when Group 8 came up, all attention focused once again on one individual.

"Baki of Sunagakure—we might've underestimated him earlier!"

"To remain so confident after knowing that Seiki Shimaseki defeated Zabuza and overwhelmed Iwagakure—could he actually be the deepest hidden powerhouse contestant in these Chunin Exams?"

"No wonder Seiki Shimaseki specifically visited the Sand territory before the exams; perhaps he sensed this threat!"

"Wow! No wonder he was one of the three who placed bets before the exam started. Compared to them, Zabuza and Shidotatsu fell far short—they were completely ignored during the gambling session!"

Hearing the whispers both onstage and off, Baki grew increasingly frantic and frustrated. "Cut it out already! If you keep talking like that, I'm really going to blow!"

However, no one was willing to fall for his "trick" this time.

"He's pretending again—definitely extremely deep-minded!"

"If it weren't for those Suna ninja accidentally letting slip some information, we'd still be clueless now!"

"Yugito is the fastest, Seiki Shimaseki the most gentle, Zabuza the fiercest, Shidotatsu the weakest—so Baki must definitely be the most deeply hidden!"

As he noticed more and more wary gazes directed at him, Baki found himself growing numb-eyed—what exactly was going on with this world?

He even feared that if he barely scraped by with a hard-fought victory, they'd only say he was faking weakness again.

Maki let out a heavy sigh, pushed distracting thoughts aside, and redirected his focus back to the arena.

"Three from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, three from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, two from the Village Hidden in the Mist, two including myself from the Village Hidden in the Sand, and four from other minor villages… this might be slightly troublesome..."

"Match Eight begins!"

Before Maki could fully react, he saw those three Leaf Genin charging toward the ninja of the Cloud Village like excited pups.

"You leave this one to us!"

"Feel free to focus on your own opponents, fellow Sunagakure shinobi!"

Maki and his fellow Sunagakure ninja found themselves at a loss—they hadn't yet figured out how their village wanted them to respond.

The problem was, the previous Sand shinobi had just engaged in friendly cooperation with Leaf. Now Leaf returned the favor, and if they ignored this goodwill and attacked Leaf, it would be a blatant slap in the face.

Given Sunagakure's current condition, they couldn't really afford to make enemies everywhere.

Therefore, they had no choice but to accept Leaf's "kindness" awkwardly.

Witnessing this, other shinobi villages looked toward Sunagakure with surprise and doubt. Only the Third stood at the front, smiling and stroking his beard contentedly.

Sunagakure's Chuura frowned deeply. He wasn't blaming Maki and his teammate—they simply hadn't had enough time to react under such sudden circumstances. What irritated him was that Leaf had latched onto such a minor flaw so quickly. What ruthless tactics!

In the end, Maki and his partner successfully claimed their spots.

Yet neither felt any joy.

"I have a feeling we've been manipulated!"

"Phew, the outside world really is dangerous after all!"

Never mind how this incident scarred the two emotionally—subsequent arena battles continued.

As expected, Mei Terumi, Asuma, Kurenai, Might Guy, Samui, and others advanced into the official competition.

This left the smaller villages sighing helplessly, marveling at how deeply powerful the Five Great Shinobi Villages truly were—utterly beyond reach for anyone else to challenge… Well, except for the Stone Village.

However, the situation started getting complicated again by the thirteenth match.

"This spot is taken by Lord Obito!" Obito shouted confidently, as though sensing someone's gaze fixed upon him from below the arena.

"A strong Uchiha?" Selina's eyes narrowed with concern.

She'd already noticed the name on the bulletin board before the match started—a member of the Uchiha clan in her group. Seeing him act so confident and imposing only increased her wariness.

[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]!

[Lightning Release: Thunderbolt]!

In an instant, Obito's body was charred by the lightning, smoke spurting from his mouth as he collapsed.

"That's supposed to be a powerful Uchiha?" Selina blinked. Somehow, the clan's fearsome reputation just took a hit.

Just then, gasps erupted from the crowd below.

"How amazing! Which village is she from?"

"It seems to be Star Village. Never thought a self-important little village like that could also produce someone this strong!"

Selina turned her head and finally noticed all the other contestants had already fallen unconscious. A gentle-looking woman stood among them.

"How could she finish so quickly?" A wave of shock hit Selina, and she glanced gratefully at Obito once more. "Good thing too—I almost didn't realize how frightened everyone must've been by the mere name 'Uchiha,' or else someone might've come interfering with us."

"Round thirteen, the winner is Natsuhoshi from Hoshigakure and Selina from Cloud Village!"

As the referee announced, a slight commotion stirred around the arena.

Although previously one or two ninjas from minor villages had passed the exam, they were mostly due to luck. None of them had advanced with such overwhelming dominance as she did.

To many spectators, she already seemed to have the strength of a mid-tier Genin from one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

"That older girl from Hoshigakure seems pretty amazing!" Asuma commented enthusiastically, "She might look three or four years older than us, but rising from such a small place like Hoshigakure is impressive enough."

Seiki then smiled slightly. "From what I learned from those Seinin I rescued during the second exam, she's definitely not an easy opponent."

Asuma waved his hand dismissively. "[Her technique] might look flashy, but I've already figured out her weakness—she can't defend against close-range attacks while casting, right? That obvious flaw's no match for me at all!"

Seiki smiled slightly. "What if... she could fly?"

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