Naruto: Konoha’s Kanpu

At noon, the scorching sun hung high in the sky.

The temperature outside the central tower continued to climb, but inside, it was as cold as an ice age!

As all twelve teams, totaling thirty-six people, entered the central tower, the second stage of the Chunin Exams, the Forest of Death test, officially ended!

However, most of the Genins who passed the exam had gloomy expressions and their eyes filled with malice!

“Gaara, you bastard, how dare you trick me!” Suigetsu glared viciously at Gaara, his shark-like teeth bared, wishing he could tear him apart!

If it hadn't been for Haku holding him back earlier, he would have been surrounded by a sea of people!

Gaara stood with his arms crossed, staring at the ground blankly, and completely ignored Suigetsu.

“Bastard, I'm talking to you. Why are you playing dumb!” Suigetsu rushed over to confront Gaara, but when he met Gaara's emotionless gaze, he felt a bit intimidated.

“Suigetsu, I advise you to stay away from him, or you might not even know how you died.” The 14-year-old old man Kankuro said with a sinister smile.

“Suigetsu, our cooperation was temporary, and we agreed beforehand that we could end it at any time based on the situation. So don't make a fuss here; no one will indulge you.” Temari said.

‘Bastards!’

‘Although I don’t dare to provoke Gaara, do you think I can't deal with you? Don't underestimate me!!!’

Suigetsu rolled up his sleeves and rushed over to bicker with the ‘siblings’.

On the other side, Sasuke is also experiencing various hostile stares at the moment.

“Sasuke-kun…” Ino looked Sasuke with complicated expression, her eyes are filled with resentment and grief.

“Sasuke, you’re too much! You're even worse than those blocking the way!” Choji said angrily, though his hunger soon took precedence, and he quickly pulled out some barbecue-flavored chips to munch on.

“We’ve been classmates for six years, Uchiha Sasuke, what are you thinking?!” Kiba rushed over to confront him, with Akamaru on his head barking fiercely!

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“Uchiha Sasuke, you're really too much!” Lee panted heavily.

The rest of the Konoha’s teams also glared at Sasuke, but their reactions were mild compared to those of the Genin from other villages, who stared at Sasuke with cold, murderous intent, as if to say: Be careful in the next exam; we'll kill you.

Sasuke stood there, her expression is calm yet proud, as if he didn’t put these guys in front of his eyes. However, he was quite unsettled inside.

‘That idiot Naruto!’

‘If he had listened to me just now, how could these guys wouldn't have the chance to be whining here!’

‘Damn it!!’

“Fortunately, Naruto didn’t listen to Sasuke.” Hinata trot over to Naruto's side and thanked him softly.

The others finally shifted their gaze from Sasuke to Naruto, and they all started to praise him in unison.

“Naruto, you're the best!” Kiba gave a thumbs up.

“Woof~” Akamaru agreed.

“Naruto, you're much more upright than certain someone.”

“Naruto, thanks!”

“Naruto, as expected of you!”

Faced with everyone's gratitude and seeing Sasuke's frustrated expression, Naruto couldn't be happier. He wanted to put his hands in his pockets, strike a thoughtful pose, and say something profound like, ‘This is what I should do’.

But unfortunately, he couldn't hold back his smile, and finally…

“Hahahahahaha… It's nothing, it's what I should do, hahahaha……” With his hands on his hips, Naruto laughed heartily while looking up triumphantly.

‘That bastard Naruto, he did it on purpose…’ face twitched uncontrollably, and he nearly lose control of his expression.

Karin looked between Naruto and Sasuke, caught in the middle.

“So many of you passed?”

At this moment, Anko, the head examiner of the second stage exam, suddenly appeared in the room and attracted everyone’s attention.

“Take out your Heaven and Earth scrolls.”

Anko looked at everyone with a smile, “Trying to sneak through won't be allowed~”

Upon hearing this, each team immediately took out their scrolls to prove themselves.

After confirming that each team had both Heaven and Earth scrolls, Anko reluctantly announced that everyone had passed the exam.

At this time, the top floor of Central Tower.

Meanwhile, at the top of the central tower, seeing that the second stage has ended, Minato was about to go down and say a few words, but he was stopped by Hiruzen.

“Yondaime, I have a suggestion regarding the next part of the exam.” Hiruzen smoked the tobacco pipe and started to speak kindly.

“What suggestion?” Minato curiously asked.

“Before the final selection matches, I suggest we hold an internal elimination round.”

Hiruzen said, “Right here! One-on-one battles where the winners advance to the final selection and the losers are eliminated!”

Minato frowned slightly when he heard this, “Why do you want to add such a round?”

“Yondaime, among those teams, there are many people that reached this point relying on their teammates or sheer luck rather than their own abilities.”

Hiruzen said seriously, “However, the final selection matches are meant to test their overall combat capabilities. If those who muddled through make it to the final matches, it could affect the quality of the competition!”

In the original work, the significance of Joint Chunin Exams was more about hidden competition between the Great Shinobi Villages, reflecting the larger conflicts and dividing interests among nations!

But in this world, Minato is not dead, Uchiha Clan is still intact, Kanpū, Shisui, Itachi, Kakashi, Guy, and many other young experts are still active, so the focus had shifted.

It is simply that Great Shinobi Village wants to rise above others in the final selection matches, so as to attract the favor of those audiences: Daimyo, Ministers, rich businessmen, celebrities from all walks of life. So that they can contribute generously and contribute more GDP to the village.

Therefore, if a series of exciting matches in the final selection matches are interspersed with a series of ‘bad’ matches, wouldn’t it be like a 20-minute intelligence-reduction advertisement interspersed in a forty-minute TV series?

At that time, it will likely cause dissatisfaction among the audience… right?

So, Hiruzen's idea was to hold a 1v1 elimination round to weed out those who had only made it this far through luck, so that they didn't embarrass themselves on ‘TV’ and affect the reputation of ‘TV station’!

Minato understands Hiruzen's intention.

But…

Minato thought for a moment and then shook his head: “Sandaime, I understand your point. Adding an elimination round could indeed enhance the ‘spectacle' of the final selection matches. But how can we ensure that this round only eliminates those with insufficient overall abilities?”

For example, if Sasuke and Naruto faced each other, or if Gaara and Suigetsu clashed, one of them would inevitably lose and miss the final selection. Yet, regardless of who was eliminated, each had the potential to shine brightly in the final matches!

Wouldn't eliminating one of them defeat the purpose of the elimination round?

“This…” Hiruzen hesitated, his mind briefly considering the idea of behind-the-scenes manipulation before dismissing it. Regardless of whether Minato agrees or not, if such a thing leaked out, Konoha would never be able to host the Joint Chunin Exams again.

“One more thing,” Minato continued, delivering another critical question, “What if two evenly matched candidates fought fiercely in the elimination round, but suffered heavy injury, so both ending up too injured to participate in the final selection?”.

“This…” Hiruzen was speechless.

“And…”

Minato looked at Hiruzen who did not speak, and said with a smile, “Luck is also a part of one's strength.”

“Haha, you're right, Yondaime.” What else can Hiruzen do? He can only surrender and waved the white flag.

After convincing Hiruzen, Minato went down to the bottom of the tower. Under the heated gaze of the Genin, who exclaimed, "Wow, look, it's the Yellow Flash!" he announced the time and place for the final selection matches and gently encouraged them before dismissing everyone.

……

In the backyard of the Gekko Mansion.

‘Strange, why is there no elimination round this time?’ Kanpū watched the scene in the crystal ball, showing Naruto with his hands behind his head, happily walking out of the central tower.

He felt a bit unsatisfied.

‘But it’s also a good thing. Without that elimination round, Lee, Hinata, and the others could make it to the final selection. Who knew what kind of sparks would fly then.’