Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

Just as Sasuke and Neji were discussing their battle plan, Naruto, who was usually carefree, waved to Kurotsuchi.

"Sister Kurotsuchi, long time no see!" Although he had only met Kurotsuchi once before, she was the junior sister of his good brother Deidara, so he naturally had to greet her now that they met.

“Oh, it’s Naruto’s little brother,” Kurotsuchi said, smiling as she looked at Naruto who was grinning and greeting her. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it?”

"Naruto, ask her if she wants to join forces?" Kurotsuchi's attitude towards Naruto gave Sasuke another option besides a direct attack, so he whispered to Naruto.

Naruto nodded, then said to Kurotsuchi, "Kurotsuchi-neechan, how about we team up and get this group of Kumogakure out of the exam hall?"

"Join forces?" Hei Tu smiled and nodded. "Sure, but could you tell me first where my idiot senior brother went?"

"Huh? You mean Deidara? I don't know him." Naruto scratched his head, pretending to be clueless.

However, at that moment, Omoi's team, who had overheard Naruto's conversation with Kurotsuchi, decided to strike first.

Omoi's figure suddenly vanished from his spot, transforming into a streak of lightning as he charged straight toward the ninja sword.

Sasuke opened and closed his eyes, revealing his crimson three-tomoe Sharingan, and almost instantly caught the opponent's movements.

Sasuke snorted and threw three shuriken, simultaneously manipulating their trajectories with a wire to block all of Omoi's angles, forcing him to abandon his attempt to draw his sword and turn to parry the shuriken with a kunai.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" After three crisp clashes, Omoi took a few steps back, reassessing his opponent. "As expected of the Uchiha clan, their shurikenjutsu is as precise as a work of art. But..."

Omoi's expression turned melancholy again. "For the sake of the battle ahead, I have to get this knife no matter what."

Sasuke didn't give his opponent any more time to think. He quickly charged forward and threw a straight punch at Omoi's face.

Omoi dodged to the side, and at the same time slashed his kunai at Sasuke's waist. Sasuke blocked with his kunai, and sparks flew as the metal clashed.

The two exchanged blows with lightning speed, and more than ten moves had already been made in the blink of an eye.

Sasuke discovered that this seemingly lazy Cloud Village ninja was not to be underestimated. The opponent could keep up with his speed, and in terms of strength, given that the opponent was also proficient in Lightning Release ninjutsu, his attacks could not forcefully break through the opponent's defense.

As for genjutsu, being a fellow practitioner of ninjutsu and taijutsu, Sasuke naturally understood that the opponent's chakra was surging violently, just like his own. Ordinary genjutsu wouldn't be able to do much to him. As for Sharingan genjutsu, the opponent was consciously avoiding his gaze while they were exchanging taijutsu. So, for the time being, Sasuke really couldn't find a way to quickly defeat his opponent.

However, under the threat of the Sharingan's genjutsu, Omoi, unable to unleash his full power, gradually fell into a disadvantageous position in his taijutsu clash with Sasuke. Realizing he could no longer delay, he changed his move and created some distance between himself and Sasuke, putting away his kunai and rapidly forming hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Earth Walk!" Azure lightning surged from Omoi's feet toward Sasuke's location.

At that moment, Sasuke suddenly revealed a confident smile, "Want to test your ninjutsu against me? Then come on."

Sasuke bit the kunai with his mouth and rapidly formed hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"

The first Lightning Release ninjutsu Sasuke learned instantly created four deep purple lightning balls in front of him the moment he completed the hand seals. At the moment these four lightning balls appeared, both Omoi and the other two who were supporting him showed a look of surprise.

As the easiest introductory ninjutsu to learn among the lightning release techniques, this ninjutsu is practically commonplace in the ninja world. Those born in countries named after lightning are naturally familiar with this ninjutsu, and it was also this ninjutsu that they used to learn the basics of lightning release.

However, these four solid purple spheres in front of me, with plasma flowing on their surfaces, exude terrifying power just by standing in front of them. Is this really something a C-rank ninjutsu can do?

What Omoi didn't expect was that the four lightning orbs Sasuke summoned seemed to have a life of their own. Two of them sank directly after they were formed, blocking the path that Sasuke would inevitably take when he used Lightning Release: Earth Walk on the ground. The lightning generated by Lightning Release: Earth Walk was almost instantly absorbed when it came into contact with the two lightning orbs.

However, Omoi didn't even have time to be surprised, because the remaining two lightning balls had already rushed towards him.

Omoi retreated rapidly, but the two lightning balls relentlessly pursued him. The two lightning balls that had absorbed Lightning Release: Earth Walk also caught up and completely blocked Omoi's retreat.

"Such exquisite control over Lightning Release... It seems that among the Hokage's three disciples, this child from your clan is the one who truly inherited your skills." In the VIP room, Onoki couldn't help but admire Sasuke's mastery of a mere C-rank ninjutsu.

Chapter 206 Cooperation

Onoki was full of praise for Sasuke's performance, but A's expression was not so good. The Omoi team was already the strongest among the young people of their generation in Kumogakure, but they were completely defeated by Uchiha Sasuke. What was even more unacceptable was that the opponent used a lightning release ninjutsu to defeat them.

During the Third Shinobi World War, the Cloud Village was somewhat dismissive of Uchiha Touko's reputation as the Azure Lightning Touko, as they had always been confident that they were the best in the shinobi world when it came to lightning release.

However, in the clashes between the younger generation, the ninjas of Kumogakure have truly lost to the ninjas of Konoha in terms of their mastery of Lightning Release. Although Omoi possesses a large part of his strength in swordsmanship, he currently lacks a suitable ninja sword, but a loss is a loss.

However, Onoki and A maintained an attitude of admiration but not fear towards Sasuke's strength. After all, for ninjas of their level, Uchiha clan ninjas, unless they awakened the legendary Mangekyou Sharingan, would only be slightly more difficult enemies to deal with in the future.

As for the possibility of Sasuke awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, the two thought to themselves, "If the Mangekyou Sharingan were so easy to awaken in the Uchiha clan, then the clan would have unified the ninja world long ago. Now the Uchiha clan already has two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan. It can't be that every genius in the Uchiha clan can awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan."

At this moment, Omoi's two teammates, seeing that Omoi was in danger, also stepped in and came to Omoi's side. The three of them used defensive ninjutsu together to resist the impact of the lightning ball explosion.

As the smoke from the explosion slowly dissipated, Omoi and his two companions had vanished from sight.

"They ran northwest. Should we chase them?" Even through the thick smoke, Neji, with his Byakugan activated, easily pinpointed the direction of their escape.

"No need for that, getting the sword first is the right thing to do." Sasuke said, walking over to the chakra short sword, pulling it out, twirling it in his hand, and then looking in the direction of Kurotsuchi and the other two.

"Uchiha guy, that's not our target." Kurotsuchi shook her head and shrugged.

"Really? Then what are you still doing here? There aren't many resources around here," Sasuke said.

"Don't be so serious. Konoha and Iwagakure are allies who have signed a contract," Kurotsuchi said with a smile. "Plus, we also have the friendship with our senior brother Deidara. How about we cooperate?"

"Cooperation?" Sasuke sheathed his sword and raised an eyebrow at the other person.

"Yes, cooperation. There are 9 teams, or 27 people, to advance to the final round of this assessment. If our two teams cooperate, I think it's not impossible for us to decide which nine teams will advance to the final round. You agree, right?"

“That’s true.” Sasuke nodded. “So, how do you plan to allocate these nine spots?”

"Hehe, since Konoha is the host, you can decide how to allocate the spots, young man. We Iwagakure only need three spots anyway," Kurotsuchi said.

"Three spots?" Sasuke nodded. "That's not unreasonable."

"So, Sasuke, how do you plan to distribute them?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Of the six spots, Konoha should take four. As for the remaining two, one can go to Kirigakure and the other to Amegakure. They've come all this way to participate, and it wouldn't be right for Konoha to leave empty-handed," Sasuke said with a smile.

"So it's decided then?" Kurotsuchi confirmed.

“Sure, but to show your sincerity, shouldn’t Iwagakure bring something out?” Sasuke turned to look at a ninja carrying a long metal staff next to Kurotsuchi.

"Do you want this?" Kurotsuchi followed Sasuke's gaze and noticed what he was looking at. The person being stared at simply took off the long staff from his back and threw it to Sasuke.

They found this long staff at a resource point on their way here. Although its quality was only slightly inferior to the ninja sword they had just used, it was definitely a top-quality weapon in this examination hall. However, none of the three of them could unleash the full power of this weapon. Therefore, Kurotsuchi decided to bring it out now to demonstrate their sincerity in cooperating.

Neji reached out and took the long staff, then nodded to Sasuke.

"Since you're so sincere, then let's consider the set of alloy ninja tools 170 meters to the northwest as a token of our sincerity from Konoha," Sasuke said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Kurotsuchi turned to look at the other person beside her, who nodded and silently headed in the direction Sasuke had indicated.

Sasuke said nothing, simply watching the other's actions. Before long, the other returned to Kurotsuchi with the acquired ninja tools. Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement and looked at Sasuke, saying:

"So, it's a pleasure doing business with you?"

"Hehe, it's a pleasure to cooperate." Sasuke nodded, finalizing the cooperation.

Meanwhile, the people in the VIP room watched the two of them openly plotting something behind the scenes, and their expressions varied.

"Hehe, please excuse my granddaughter, Hokage. She's always been fond of these little tricks since she was little," Onoki said.

“The Tsuchikage is exaggerating,” Uchiha Touko smiled and waved his hand. “In my opinion, if they can really complete their alliance plan according to their own ideas, that is also part of their ability. The Chunin Exams don’t just look at combat ability. It’s clear that your granddaughter will be an excellent ninja in the future.”

"Hmph, all you Konoha and Iwagakure know is such tricks." At this moment, A sneered and said, "In the face of absolute strength, all schemes and tricks are meaningless in a battle between ninjas."

"So, Lord Raikou is confident that your village's ninjas can break through the alliance of these two children?" Uchiha Touko, unperturbed by A's sarcastic remarks, simply chuckled and said.

"But all I saw just now was the elite genin squad of Kumogakure being routed by the geniuses of the Uchiha clan." Takagi Seiwan finally found an opportunity to speak. A had embarrassed him earlier, so he naturally wanted to make up for it now. Besides, he knew Sasuke, who was his most respected adoptive father, the son of the Uchiha Fugaku clan. In a way, he was also his adoptive brother, so he naturally wanted to praise him.

Chapter 207 Konohamaru Being Targeted

"Hmph, when did it become your place to speak here?" Ai said with a disdainful look at Takagi Seiwan.

"I was just stating a fact. Is the Raikage so domineering that he won't even let people speak?" Takagi Seiwan said.

Takagi Seiwan was well aware that compared to other properly appointed Kage, his position as the Fifth Mizukage was nothing but a facade. He wouldn't have acted so recklessly in front of the Tsuchikage or even the Kazekage.

However, the Southern Mist Village and the Cloud Village, which supports the Northern Mist Village, are already close to a complete falling out, so he felt that he didn't need to give A too much face. Anyway, in Konoha territory, his Hokage father would definitely protect him.

Sure enough, Ai's fiery temper couldn't stand a clown like Takagi Seiman jumping around in front of him. His muscles, as tough as steel, tensed instantly, and he prepared to teach Takagi Seiman a lesson.

Before he could make a move, Uchiha Touko calmly said from the side, "Hehe, Raikage and Mizukage, could you please give me some face and not start a fight here? After all, in a few days, all the daimyo from various countries will be here to watch the battle. If you two cause too much trouble, it will be difficult for everyone to save face."

Ai glanced at Uchiha Touko, snorted, and sat back down in her seat, picking up a piece of fried chicken and eating it by herself.

Soon, the first opportunity for the circle to shrink arrived, and the scattered teams gradually began to clash.

Most of them remained restrained at this time, and when they encountered other teams, they consciously left themselves a way out. Of course, there were also a few teams that performed particularly well in this process.

Take Shikamaru's team, for example.

On the edge of the survival zone in the eastern part of the map, Shikamaru, under a large tree, used Shadow Binding Technique to completely control three members of the Hidden Mist Squad who were just about to enter the zone. Ino assisted him by using mental interference, while Choji firmly protected the backs of the two who were unable to move due to their clan's secret technique.

This Mist Village squad was forcibly controlled for nearly a minute, just one step away from the safe zone. It wasn't until their bracelet summoning jutsu was triggered, causing supplies to explode all over the ground, that Shikamaru and Ino stopped their jutsu, and then the three of them quickly picked up the supplies.

"These guys have really got a lot of supplies," Ino said after taking stock of the supplies. "We've only searched a few places along the way, and the supplies we've gathered aren't even enough for Choji to eat by himself tonight. But now that we have these, we don't have to worry about food tonight."

"Under these rules, unless you have absolute strength like Sasuke's team, time is the most important thing," Shikamaru explained to his two teammates. "With all teams moving in roughly the same direction, every second you stay outside the circle increases the chance of being ambushed."

"Hehe, the members of this team are ninjas from the famous Ino-Shika-Cho clan of Konoha, right?" Takagi Seiwan said. "Although the three of them are only genin, their trap setup and timing of attack are impeccable. Even our old chunin from Kirigakure are far inferior to them in terms of ninja skills. This is the foundation of Konoha."

Although the team that was eliminated by Shikamaru and his two companions and was trapped outside the circle was from Kirigakure, Takagi Seiwan didn't mind at all. Instead, he praised Shikamaru loudly.

This is not surprising, though. Takagi Seiman did not have any expectations for his village's genin when he came to Konoha. There were a few promising genin in Kirigakure this year, but Takagi Seiman simply left them in the village and did not let them participate in the Chunin Exams.

After all, Takagi Seiwan was also worried that if their Kirigakure genin performed too well, Konoha would reduce their support for them. Without his adoptive father Fugaku, he was no match for Terumi Mei.

Ai's lips twitched slightly. Although he had overestimated Takagi Seiman's shamelessness, Takagi Seiman always managed to redefine his understanding in various ways.

Not only him, but even Onoki was a little flustered at this moment. Looking at the Mizukage Hat placed next to Takagi Seiman's seat, Onoki suddenly felt that it was too embarrassing to be on the same level as this guy.

As dusk fell, the various teams in the venue temporarily set up camp, and everyone in the VIP room went back to rest.

After returning to his residence, Ai left a lightning clone in his room and disguised his main body before sneaking out of the hotel and arriving at a restaurant in the northwest corner of Konoha.

After exchanging the password, Ai was led by a waiter to a secret private room in the restaurant.

Ai waited a short while, and soon a slightly overweight middle-aged man entered the room. Upon seeing Ai, he first bowed and said, "Lord Raikage."

"No need for formalities." Ai nodded, then got straight to the point, "How's the investigation going?"

"Lord Raikage, we have been working on the things you arranged, but the results are not very optimistic," the middle-aged man said, shaking his head.

"Hmm?" Raikage frowned.

"Lord Raikage, since Uchiha Touko took over, the crackdown on spies within Konoha has been much more intense than during Hiruzen Sarutobi's administration. Many of our Kumogakure spies have fallen into the hands of their security forces. As a result, our remaining spies have been on hold for a period of time, and only resumed operations three months ago after receiving your instructions. However, even after sacrificing several spies that the village has trained over many years, the intelligence we have obtained is still very limited."

"Thank you for your hard work. As for the brothers who sacrificed their lives, the village will forever remember their contributions." Ai nodded. This situation was actually within his expectations. After all, compared to Hiruzen Sarutobi, that old man who became more and more useless with age, Tokio Uchiha was definitely much more difficult to deal with. "Give me all the information you have gathered during this period."

"Yes!" The head of the Cloud Village's spy team, who had infiltrated Konoha, nodded and began to dictate the intelligence they had painstakingly obtained over the past few days.

"The Hyuga clan's main branch ninja, including the clan head Hiashi Hyuga, currently numbers nine. However, they are always heavily protected. Only Hinata Hyuga, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan head, and the current young clan head Neji Hyuga have no branch branch ninjas protecting them. However, Hinata Hyuga usually travels with Shisui Hyuga, an elite Jonin of the Uchiha clan, making it impossible for us to quickly take her down. As for Neji Hyuga..."