Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

"Another one!" The Raikage on the spectator platform was visibly frustrated. Their Hidden Cloud had no shortage of lower-level ninja who exceeded normal standards, even slightly surpassing those of Konoha. However, at the elite level, they were far behind.

Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi—even they could easily outmatch any genin from the Cloud Village. Not to mention, Konoha also had a monster like Seiki Shimaseki who made absolutely no sense at all.

Thinking about this, the Raikage sourly asked, "Hokage, you must have some special methods to produce so many outstanding ninja. Since we're all gathered here today, don't be stingy and keep it to yourself!"

Sarutobi raised his eyebrows in surprise and replied, "Do talents really require deliberate cultivation?"

Seeing the Raikage's face darken, Sarutobi suddenly seemed to realize something and continued enthusiastically, "Oh! I know now. It must be because my writing of *The Extension and Expansion of the Will of Fire* helped them understand the inheritance of the Will of Fire, inspiring them to study diligently and train hard, finally becoming excellent ninja."

Sarutobi suddenly became very enthusiastic and grabbed Raikage's arm. "By the way, Raikage, would you like to take a few copies back home for distribution? Don't worry, for the friendship between our two nations, I won't charge you anything!"

Raikage pointed at him with trembling hands, almost gasping for breath. "You... you..."

Rasa watched in wide-eyed astonishment, realizing there was still much for him to learn.

Although Raikage was experienced and cunning, attempting to pressure Konoha into handing over their training methods for free, compared to Hokage, he was clearly outmatched by more than one level.

Not only did he get casually deflected, but he was also teased a little, losing the upper hand completely in momentum.

Rasa silently shook his head. Thinking to himself, *"Indeed, compared to these seniors, I still have much to learn."*

As they were talking, the third match had already begun.

"I'm sorry, but genjutsu is completely ineffective against me!" Yugito stood calmly with a cool tone.

"I know that, but I still want to give it a try!" Kurenai tightened her jaw, appearing extremely serious.

Seeing Kurenai begin forming hand seals, Yugito simply stood there watching without even attempting to stop her.

[Genjutsu: Falling Petal Illusion]

For a brief moment, Yugito's gaze clouded—then she blinked, and her vision cleared instantly.

Witnessing this, Kurenai thought to herself, *"So as expected, she's not absolutely immune to genjutsu!"*

Without hesitation, Kurenai immediately raised her hand toward the referee and announced, "I concede."

"So quickly conceding. Was this just a test on behalf of someone else?" Yugito instinctively turned her gaze toward the warm and sunny young man seated on the spectator platform. "If it were you, how would you handle this battle?"

Most of the spectators looked confused until someone finally spoke up to explain.

"To put it simply, Yugito has another power within her that helps her break free from genjutsu, making it completely ineffective against her!"

"What? Then doesn't that directly neutralize the strongest ability of Seiki Shimaseki?"

"Although his genjutsu is definitely stronger than that little girl's, genjutsu itself still has inherent limitations that cannot be changed."

"Sigh, it seems the winner of this Chunin Exams has already been decided!"

Among the voices of regret and lament, Kurenai sat back down beside Seiki and whispered, "Seiki, it'll also take her some time to completely dispel the genjutsu, although that time will be extremely short!"

Seiki nodded slightly, accepting her concern, "I understand. Thank you."

Kurenai raised her small fist playfully, "Then you must win, okay?"

Soon afterward, the third round of matches concluded completely.

"The first match of the fourth round: Seiki Shimaseki from Konoha versus Natsuhoshi from Hoshigakure."

Not many people paid attention to this match since, in most people's eyes, it would only last for an instant.

The match started.

"I know it might sound arrogant, but I still want to take you on!" Natsuhoshi said, immediately soaring high into the sky.

"If my guess is correct," Seiki replied with a wry smile while beginning to form hand seals, "the one facing trouble here should actually be me."

[Genjutsu: Soul Decay!]

Natsuhoshi's flying motion stuttered momentarily, but she quickly regained her agility the next moment.

Seeing this, Seiki could only feel somewhat helpless. "As expected, it didn't work. Your chakra is just too active!"

He could manipulate dreams with such mastery that any opponent showing even the faintest sign of drowsiness would quickly fall into a deep sleep. However, the issue was that Natsuhoshi resembled someone overly excited and unable to fall asleep—no matter how many dream-control techniques he possessed, they proved difficult to apply effectively against her.

Although he wasn't entirely without options, dealing with her this way would simply be too troublesome, conflicting with his original intention to display overwhelming power.

Meanwhile, the spectator platform had already begun buzzing with excitement.

"Impossible, right? The genjutsu that even Mei Terumi from Kirigakure and Baki from Sunagakure couldn't dispel has actually been undone by her!"

"Could it be she possesses a second hidden power inside her like Yugito Nii?"

"Now that Seiki's genjutsu has failed and Natsuhoshi holds the aerial advantage, are we witnessing yet another unexpected upset?"

"Is it possible that this ninja from Hoshigakure really will make a stunning comeback all the way to the finals?"

What had once been seen as a one-sided match suddenly drew widespread attention.

Of course, among those who understood Seiki's true strength, such a development wasn't worth worrying about at all.

If even Asuma found it difficult to handle her, then naturally, Seiki Shimaseki would have the upper hand.

Natsuhoshi understood this reasoning as well. She never seriously expected to win—her only goal was to hold out a bit longer and show off Hoshigakure's strength to the shinobi world.

"So then, what will you do?" Natsuhoshi remained alert while staring downward, watching as Seiki retrieved a large handful of shuriken from his tool pouch.

While there were many available approaches, this was certainly the simplest... Seiki thought silently, then hurled the entire set of shuriken outward.

"It's coming out!" On the stands, Yellow Earth's eyes immediately sharpened with focus.

With a flap of her radiant wings, Natsuhoshi unleashed a powerful gust that instantly threw all the shuriken off-target.

But before she could even exhale in relief, those stray shuriken that had veered sideways suddenly accelerated, swirling around and attacking her from every direction.

Even though remotely controlled, they were just as agile as if handled by a skilled hand. Within just several exchanges, they forced Natsuhoshi into a defensive struggle.

"This Chakra Threads manipulation technique... If he's willing, he might become the greatest puppet master of all. Damn it, why are all the geniuses in Konoha?" Rasa felt a pang of regret in his heart, suddenly narrowing his eyes, "This is..."

"Incredible! Just being attacked by his long-range guided ninja tools alone left me completely helpless!" Natsuhoshi also marveled. Compared to Asuma, who could only remotely control a single Chakra Blade, Seiki Shimaseki's long-range attacks were practically hell mode!

Just at this moment, however, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Seiki had somehow already disappeared from the arena.

No sooner had she begun to respond when a sharp pain shot through her back. Her chaotic chakra gave out, and her Radiant Wings dissipated as she fell downward.

Fortunately, just before she hit the ground, Seiki gave her a helping hand.

Witnessing this scene while secretly fuming, the Raikage almost spat out a mouthful of tea. "Is this... the Flying Thunder God Technique!?"

Sandaime chuckled with a nod. "It's just an S-rank ninjutsu — really not that big a deal."

The Raikage couldn't help but sigh. "[Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages], only you and I have the gall to pull off something this outrageous."

Sandaime didn't get angry, smiling as he replied, "No no no, actually, you're even more outrageous."

Mizukage was already beginning to question her purpose. "Wait a second, what exactly are we here for? Is it to suppress other villages or simply to send Zabuza here to die?"

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