Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

Meanwhile, within an inn located in Mist Village.

"What the hell are you talking about? How could Zabuza be dead?" Biwa Juzo stared in disbelief at the Chunin standing before him.

"It's true—it's a message that originated from Konoha themselves. Everyone at the Central Tower heard it," the Mist Chunin nervously replied. "Moreover, many smaller ninja villages have lodged complaints with us, and even several of the other Great Ninja Villages expressed discontent!"

Biwa Juzo couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth. He had already heard, from teams who exited the exam early, about Zabuza chasing after them during the test.

As for the chase itself, he personally didn't really have any objections.

Mist had always harbored the intention to suppress emerging talents from other villages—it was nothing unusual. But the problem was, why only injure them severely without killing them?

Isn't that just begging for Mist to get hated!

And now, even worse, he'd gotten himself killed!

Seeing Biwa Juzo's darkening expression, the Chunin added cautiously, "Also, rumor has it Zabuza was ambushed and taken down in just seconds."

Upon hearing this, Biwa Juzo nearly spat out blood from shock.

Hadn't they come here specifically to remind the other ninja villages of Mist's terror?

So what the hell is this? A counter-reminder?

Biwa Juzo forced himself to calm down. "But exactly who was it? With Zabuza's strength, even an average Jonin would find it extremely difficult to kill him within seconds!"

"It was none other than Konoha's Seiki Shimaseki!"

"Seiki?" His face hardened; Biwa Juzo naturally had also heard of the boy's reputation. Precisely because of that, he found it all the more incredible. "How could a Genin reach such a level? Suimu, does this sound reasonable to you?"

Noticing that Biwa Juzo wasn't as furious as expected, the Chunin finally exhaled in relief inwardly, muttering to himself, "So the rumors claiming Zabuza is actually Tenzan's son must be false!"

They shared the same missing eyebrows, the same sharp fangs, the same unyielding power—and it was even said that Zabuza had gained recognition from Tenzan's Cleaver Sword.

That was why so many within Mist believed Zabuza was actually Tenzan's son... Though the age might seem slightly off, gossip has a mind of its own anyway.

"Suimu! Suimu..."

Hearing the dissatisfaction in Biwa Juzo's voice, Suimu snapped back to attention. "It does make some sense. Before coming here, I asked Mei Terumi and Shiyaya about it. They said when they'd just started the exam, they encountered this Seiki Shimaseki."

"Zabuza told them not to intervene, saying he'd handle Seiki alone—and then got knocked unconscious with two casual slaps."

Biwa Juzo glared. "Knocked out with two slaps?"

Suimu nodded quickly. [As reported by Mei Terumi], Zabuza didn't underestimate him at all. Right from the start, he used his Silent Killing Technique—but still got defeated effortlessly by Seiki Shimaseki.

After a moment of thought, Biwa Juzo murmured, "I see. That Seiki Shimaseki is likely a Sensor-type ninja. Zabuza placed too much confidence in his assassination skills, which ultimately led to his defeat."

Suimu suddenly realized, "No wonder Zabuza got killed mid-surprise attack—it must've been because the enemy already saw through his every move!"

"Even so," Biwa Juzo felt both shocked and frustrated, "that Seiki Shimaseki is truly terrifying!"

Based on the extraordinary talent Seiki Shimaseki displayed, if Zabuza could have taken him down in a mutual destruction move or at least inflicted irreversible injuries, then his death would have held some worth.

In the end, though? His death didn't accomplish anything except boost the enemy's rep.

Thinking about this, Biwa Juzo couldn't help but silently curse, *What a complete waste. He was all too happy to kill his own comrades back home, yet here at the Chunin Exams, not only did he fail to take down a single opponent—he got himself killed!*

...

Back inside the Sunagakure guesthouse, a group of people were fuming, loudly denouncing the whole thing.

"It's definitely rigged!" 

"Just look at how many Leaf ninja passed the second exam! They've gone too far just to pad their scores!"

As the Jonin leader, Chuura remained relatively calm. In his view, if Konoha had really used such methods, it would only prove their weakness.

Yet as his eyes swept over the group, he noticed Baki deep in thought, having barely spoken since returning. Concerned, Chuura asked, "Baki, something on your mind?"

Baki sighed bitterly, "I just think this result might not be due to Konoha cheating."

The other examinees gasped in disbelief. "You don't actually believe they were that lucky, do you? There's no way they never met Manda at all!"

Baki hesitated before shaking his head. "Do any of you remember when Manda went berserk during the exams?"

Everyone from Suna vaguely nodded—they'd all heard Manda's roar, but most assumed it was just mating season.

"After all," someone muttered, "it's not like Manda was fighting someone else, right?"

Baki took a deep breath. "I just happened to be nearby and saw it clearly—Seiki Shimaseki injured Manda!"

The moment he finished speaking, the room fell into stunned silence.

"You've gotta be kidding me! That was Manda!"

"A monster like that should be beyond even a Jonin's abilities… Uh, not that I'm saying you're weak, Chuura-sensei!"

Chuura twitched his lips slightly. *Well, aren't you considerate?*

Baki continued, "I could tell—Manda's rage and pain weren't fake. If it had merely lost to Seiki Shimaseki, knowing how short-tempered Manda is, it should've gone after other Leaf ninjas for revenge instead. But in reality, not only did those Konoha ninja avoid retaliation—they passed the exam in huge numbers."

Chuura seemed to grasp where Baki was going, speaking uneasily, "Are you saying... that Seiki Shimaseki not only wounded Manda, but actually defeated it so thoroughly that he forced it not to retaliate against other Konoha shinobi?"

Unlike manipulation by higher-ups, mutual aid among examinees was allowed—for example, sharing extra scrolls with teammates, as seen in previous exams.

Sighing in resignation, Baki added, "That's the only explanation I can think of."

The other Sunagakure shinobi started shaking in fear when they heard that.

"This is terrifying. Why do we have to take the exams together with a monster like him?"

"He should be promoted to Jonin already! What kind of bullying is it for him to come here and scare us mere eleven- or twelve-year-olds?"

"But isn't he only ten years old?"

"Arrrgh! I don't want to hear anymore!"

...

Meanwhile, Seiki tracked down Kushina and told her about Nagato.

"Eh? Seiki, are you saying you encountered someone possibly from the Uzumaki clan during the Chunin Exams?" Kushina couldn't help but wave her arms excitedly after hearing Seiki's words.

"Hurry hurry, Seiki, take me to see him!"

Seeing Kushina's immediate eagerness, Seiki could only smile bitterly. "He was really happy to hear you're alive, Sister Kushina, but he doesn't want to meet you in person."

Upon hearing this, Kushina calmed down, her eyes full of sympathy. "Sigh, this caution... He must've suffered quite a lot. But that's fine; having such wariness helps one survive better in this world. I won't go disturb his life then."

Seiki nodded slightly. "He has some very close friends, and his strength is tremendous. Even Zabuza couldn't beat them together."

Kushina grinned proudly. "Of course! The Uzumaki clan never gives birth to weaklings!"

"That would be an understatement," thought Seiki to himself. From what he remembered from his past life, Nagato had mastered six types of chakra nature transformations by the age of ten and was even proficient in all mainstream ninjutsu.

From Seiki's perspective, even without the Rinnegan, Nagato alone deserved a place at the pinnacle of the ninja world based purely on his innate talent.

In fact, both shared a similar fate — gifted individuals cursed by the power they never asked for.

"Madara Uchiha sure has an eye for talent!" A feeling of kinship stirred within Seiki. When it comes to riding someone else's coattails, I have to say—I'd rank you right behind me!

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