Konoha: Naruto's abnormal life choices

Ten minutes later, Yuhi Kurenai finally arrived with her team, still searching for surviving Konoha ninja.

What greeted them made everyone freeze—shocked and horrified.

Just two minutes earlier, Mitarashi Anko had finally managed to untie the ropes binding her. And now, following behind Kurenai, she stood stiffly at the edge of the clearing, her eyes cold as they scanned the aftermath.

"Damn Sand ninjas," Anko growled through clenched teeth, slamming her fist against a nearby tree trunk. "They didn't even spare the Genin taking the exam?"

She went quiet after that. As the appointed examiner, she had abandoned her post during a critical incident and now bore the weight of that failure.

Dead leaves swirled through the air.

All around them, Genin lay unconscious on the ground, bruised, bloodied, and battered.

Konoha's next generation was already halfway defeated.

Among the fallen were Gai-sensei's three students, along with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino from Kurenai's own squad. The only one missing was Hinata Hyuga.

Damn those Sand bastards… they even kidnapped the Byakugan.

"Senior Kurenai," a Chūnin reported urgently, "aside from Rock Lee, the others are mostly fine—just unconscious."

"Senior Anko!" another ninja called. "We spotted a girl from Sunagakure not far from here."

"Kurenai-sensei, I found Hinata. She's safe!"

One by one, good news began pouring in. Anko finally exhaled deeply, her body visibly relaxing.

"Hah… At least the Sand Village doesn't kill children. That's something, I guess."

Kurenai gave her a pointed glance, her soft voice cutting through the tension. "Fool. On the battlefield, do you think anyone cares if the enemy is a child?"

"Hey! If it wasn't the Sand ninjas, then who did all this?" Anko asked, blinking in confusion.

"You're the examiner and you still don't know?" Kurenai replied coolly. "Then just be quiet."

"…Oh." Anko knew she was in the wrong and didn't argue.

Hinata was soon brought to them by a Chūnin. Her uniform was perfectly clean—not a scratch or speck of dirt on her body.

"Where's Naruto?" Kurenai asked gently.

Hinata looked up, her expression blank and distant. After a pause, she shook her head slowly. "I… don't know."

But Kurenai could already guess what had happened.

"Get these kids treated first," she ordered. "We'll deal with everything else later."

So… Naruto wanted to prove something, but ended up getting others caught in the crossfire…

But what Kurenai didn't realize was that Hinata wasn't scared—she was heartbroken.

Six minutes earlier, Naruto had been right there. He'd found Hinata and asked her for her scroll.

But Hinata refused.

She felt the scroll didn't belong only to her—it also represented Kiba and Shino. She didn't want to abandon her teammates, and she didn't want to fail the second exam.

So she stepped into a combat stance against him.

She still remembered the brief flicker of emotion on Naruto's face.

"I didn't think you would raise your fists against me, Hinata."

"Forget it. I won't bully you. Keep it."

Those were Naruto's exact words.

Then, without another word, he turned and left. He found Sakura next and asked her for her scroll. Without hesitation, she handed it to him.

Naruto tore that scroll into pieces right in front of her.

Both Sakura and Hinata had stared at him in disbelief, unsure of what he was doing.

Then Naruto looked back at Hinata and said:

"Now there's only one scroll left in your hands. You can't do anything with it. Just give up."

He didn't wait for a reply.

He turned around, grabbed Sakura, and disappeared into the trees—never even glancing back.

Hinata was left standing there, completely dazed.

If I had just handed him the scroll… would he have taken me with him?

But no—that was impossible.

All her teammates had collapsed. Even if she gave him the scroll, she would've stayed to protect them.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest—

Kakashi was following the trail left by Sasuke.

About seven minutes earlier, his ninja hound, Pakkun, had reported that Sasuke's scent was getting fainter—he was moving fast, toward the place where the giant snake had appeared.

And near Sasuke's trail, there was a disturbing amount of residual chakra—dense and violent.

Concerned for his student's safety, Kakashi didn't hesitate. He left everything behind and followed Pakkun deeper into the forest.

"How far are we?" he asked.

"The scent's stronger now," Pakkun replied from his arms. "We should be close."

Pakkun knew how important this boy was. Sasuke was one of Kakashi's most invested students, someone who needed to be protected at all costs.

CRASH!

Trees fell one after another, their trunks splitting as if swatted by a giant hand. The air felt suffocating.

At that same moment—

Sasuke was running for his life.

For all his pride, he wasn't a fool. He knew when to retreat.

This isn't running away, he told himself. This is a strategic withdrawal—for revenge and the Uchiha legacy.

"Tch!" he muttered as he sprinted through the trees. "What the hell is wrong with that red-haired freak? I'm out of chakra, and he just keeps getting stronger the more I injure him."

"And what even is that transformation? What the hell kind of monster is he?"

He still didn't know what a Jinchūriki was.

When he looked back, Gaara was already something else entirely—no longer human, no longer sane.

Only his legs still resembled a person. The rest was monstrous.

Honestly… I regret acting so cool earlier.

I should've let Naruto come with me from the start. This is a disaster.

"Uchiha Sasuke! Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to kill you both!"

Gaara's roar echoed behind him.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced his exhausted, injured body to keep moving.

He's gone completely insane. I need to lead him toward the giant snake. There has to be someone there—someone who can stop him.

But Gaara didn't plan on letting Sasuke escape.

Frustrated by how long the chase had gone on, Gaara screamed:

"You can't run, Uchiha Sasuke!"

A massive figure burst out of the ground. A colossal tail slammed into the earth, whipping up a violent sandstorm.

"You all must DIE!!"

The Konoha ninja—locked in combat with the Sound and Sand shinobi—froze as the giant beast appeared.

Their expressions darkened.

Up on the high wall, Maki—who had already killed two Konoha ninja—grinned as he looked at Moonlight Gai.

"Shukaku has appeared," he said smugly. "Where's the Nine-Tails from your Konoha?"

"Huff… Huff…"

Moonlight Gai didn't answer. He simply raised his sword, ready for battle.

He hadn't expected this Sand ninja to be so strong.

Other than Special Jōnin Yugao, the rest of the Konoha squad were only Chūnin.

The enemy had just four people, but Maki alone was already on par with Kakashi.

They were clearly outmatched.

With two comrades already dead, continuing this fight meant suicide.

"Gai," whispered Yūgao quietly, "let me hold them off. You go get reinforcements."

But before Gai could respond, Maki burst into laughter.

"Where exactly is Konoha going to get reinforcements now? You're all going to die here!"

While war raged across the village and forest, Naruto Uzumaki had slipped away—heading alone toward the Sarutobi clan compound.

"The Third Hokage's secret room," Naruto muttered to himself with a grin.

"Here I come."