Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe

"Still eating dumplings, huh? Do you even know how you'll end up because of that?" Daniel Davis muttered as he watched Anko Mitarashi eat dango while explaining the rules for the second round of the Chūnin Exams. His mind wandered to her future self, the one who would be teaching at the ninja academy—completely different from her current, energetic self.

With that thought, Daniel led Sasuke and Karin out of the 44th Training Ground. Since they had already withdrawn from the exam, there was no point in staying any longer.

The second round of the Chūnin Exams was a three-day battle to collect Heaven and Earth scrolls, testing the participants' survival, stealth, and intelligence. It was also the most dangerous part of the exam, with the highest chance of casualties.

"This place is so desolate. Has the Leaf Village ever thought about developing this area?" Daniel commented late that night as he and Sasuke appeared in the Uchiha clan's old compound. The area was still cordoned off, prohibiting anyone from entering.

It had been six or seven years since the Uchiha clan was massacred, and even the ANBU had stopped patrolling the area. Once a bustling district, the Uchiha's homes were now in ruins, looted of anything valuable. The only place that remained intact and well-maintained was Sasuke's personal residence.

"Meow, meow, meow."

As they entered the compound, Daniel was greeted by a group of cats lounging nearby, all of different breeds and colors.

"Technically, all of this should be Sasuke's inheritance, but it's been confiscated. What a waste," Daniel remarked, observing the vast Uchiha district that stretched along an entire street.

Though it was now far from the center of the village, in the future, when Naruto becomes Hokage and the village expands, this location would likely become part of the Leaf's inner rings.

"How did Sakura end up with a mortgage when she should have had this? Even without this estate, with her and Sasuke's skills, they shouldn't be struggling with housing loans. Maybe the repeated destruction of their home is to blame—or was there rampant inflation in the housing market?"

Sasuke led the way into his house while Daniel idly mused over these thoughts.

"It feels so empty," Daniel noted, walking through the house while Sasuke went to retrieve something. The estate was still in decent shape, but most of the decorations were gone, and the library, once filled with books, had only a few basic ninjutsu scrolls left.

"So, you came here to get money, huh? Looks like the Third Hokage won't be able to wash this off his hands," Daniel muttered to himself. Unlike Naruto, who had struggled with hunger and poverty, Sasuke had at least grown up without financial worries. But Naruto, despite being the son of the Fourth Hokage, had lived in squalor, often having to catch fish or eat expired food.

It wasn't about giving Naruto a life of luxury, but denying him the basic necessities was cruel. If Naruto had been anyone other than Asura's reincarnation, he might have turned out very differently. Most jinchūriki had struggled, but only Naruto and Killer Bee had managed to avoid falling into darkness. And Bee had his brother, the Fourth Raikage, looking out for him from the start—something Naruto never had.

Even Iruka, who eventually became Naruto's mentor, had initially despised him.

"Let's go," Sasuke said, returning from his room. They quickly made their way south of the Leaf Village, leaving its boundaries entirely. They arrived at a secluded valley, where, under the guidance of several cats, they entered a cave and met its owner—Cat Granny.

It was thanks to Cat Granny's connections that Sasuke's home had remained clean and intact all these years.

Cat Granny had been a key supplier of weapons and information to the Uchiha clan, as they had struggled to get proper supplies due to the Leaf's internal politics.

"I heard you betrayed the Leaf... Oh, you brothers..." Cat Granny sighed heavily upon seeing Sasuke. She had watched both Itachi and Sasuke grow up, and seeing the brothers torn apart like this filled her with sadness.

"Take care of that for me," Sasuke said calmly, placing two bundles of money in front of her.

"I will. Be careful," Cat Granny replied. Though she dealt in information, she didn't have the full picture of what had happened between Itachi and Sasuke. She still sided with Sasuke, though, given her limited knowledge.

Cat Granny's network relied heavily on the stray cats scattered across the Land of Fire, which made them excellent spies. Even Daniel wouldn't normally pay attention to a random stray cat in the street.

"Granny."

"Karin."

As they spoke, a long-haired, pretty girl walked into the room, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Sasuke.

"Let's go," Sasuke nodded at her briefly, then turned to leave.

"So, she's the one—Kiba's future partner. Cat and dog, huh? And childhood friends, no less," Daniel mused as they left. The girl, Karin, would eventually become Kiba Inuzuka's romantic partner.

Daniel and Sasuke returned to the Leaf Village without alerting anyone. Although the village's barrier made it difficult for outsiders to infiltrate, someone as familiar with the village as Orochimaru—or with an inside man like Kabuto—could bypass it. The same was true for Itachi.

"No wonder both the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara liked to sit here. What a view." Standing on top of the Hokage Rock, Daniel looked down at the prosperous Leaf Village and shook his head slightly.

Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, Daniel had the most fondness for the Leaf. Despite its darkness, it was still better than the others.

Not to mention that Naruto and the other key players resided in the Leaf. And compared to the other villages, the environment in the Leaf was much more appealing. But the village's insularity made it hard for an outsider to truly integrate.

The Hokage Rock was always guarded by the ANBU, and it was rare for anyone to stand atop it without being noticed. But Daniel wasn't hiding from the ANBU—he was in a mirror dimension, invisible to the regular world. His time in the Sound Village had allowed him to master communication with different dimensions.

"This match will probably be seared into Kiba's memory. The Inuzuka clan will definitely take precautions against similar incidents in the future," Daniel thought as he watched the second round of the Chūnin Exams. Naruto was pitted against Kiba, just like in the original story. And once again, Naruto's flatulence led to Kiba's defeat, his sensitive nose leaving him vulnerable.

The spectators, including the Third Hokage, were stunned, with the Hokage's lips twitching in disbelief.

"Tenten's luck wasn't bad this time," Daniel noted. In the individual matches, other than Naruto and Hinata's battles, several other matchups had changed due to Sasuke's absence. Tenten, benefiting from not facing Temari or Gaara, managed to win her match by overwhelming her opponent with her massive arsenal of weapons.

Sai, meanwhile, had forfeited his match entirely, as Root members were trained to avoid exposing their abilities in public.

Without facing Gaara, Rock Lee also won his match with flair.

Soon, the participants for the third and final round of the Chūnin Exams were confirmed, and they were given a month to prepare.

Each stage of the Chūnin Exams had its own significance. The written test measured intelligence and information-gathering skills. The survival exam in the Forest of Death tested a wide range of abilities, from survival to stealth and combat. The individual battles were meant to assess how well participants could handle unfamiliar opponents.

The month-long break before the final round wasn't just for the participants to rest—it was a test of their ability to strategize and improve in a short time.

Becoming a Chūnin wasn't just about strength—it required intelligence and leadership skills, as Chūnin could lead teams of genin on missions.

Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the majority of mission teams were led by Chūnin, not jōnin. Naruto and the others from the Twelve Guardian Ninja were assigned jōnin as their leaders only because they were exceptional cases.

Eighty-seven genin from the Leaf had participated in this year's Chūnin Exams. Of those, twelve were from the Twelve Guardian Ninja, leaving more than seventy regular genin, most of whom were led by Chūnin team leaders.

In the ninja world, only those who showed exceptional talent were given better resources. If any of the remaining genin demonstrated extraordinary potential during the exams, they would be transferred to stronger teams rather than having their team leaders changed.

A month was not a long time, but for genin, it could be a period of significant growth. In a single month, Sasuke mastered the Chidori, and Naruto learned the Summoning Jutsu.

While the participants trained intensively for the final round, more prominent figures began arriving in the Leaf. Among them were the daimyo of the Land of Fire, envoys from the other four great nations, and even representatives from the Rock and Cloud Villages. They had come to watch the final matches.

The relationship between the great nations and the ninja villages was complex. While each nation had its own ninja village, the villagers didn't always hire their own ninjas. For instance, the wife of the former daimyo of the Land of Lightning had once hired members of the Uchiha clan from the Leaf to destroy the Blood Dragon Eye clan of the Cloud Village

.

The extermination of the Blood Dragon Eye clan wasn't the first case of someone killing their own family—Itachi wasn't the first, nor would he be the last. Before him, another man had done the same, driven by his obsessive love for his daughter.

"Rasengan!" On the southern edge of the Leaf, near a training ground, Naruto stood beside a tree. With the help of his shadow clones, he formed a Rasengan in his right hand and left a smooth, circular hole in the tree's trunk.

"This next match is going to be interesting," Daniel thought, considering the fact that Naruto's first opponent in the finals would still be Neji Hyūga. With his newly acquired Rasengan, Naruto would be a formidable opponent for Neji, his future brother-in-law.

"Is this how Jiraiya taught the Fourth Hokage back then too?" Daniel wondered as he watched Jiraiya lounging nearby, watching some women near a waterfall while Naruto trained. Jiraiya's teaching style was simple: teach the basics, then let the student figure it out while he went off to "research."

As the final exam day approached, more and more high-profile figures arrived in the Leaf Village. Daniel, leaving a shadow clone behind, quietly slipped out of the village with Kabuto.

"Are they making their move?" Daniel mused as he and Kabuto sped through the forest. Soon, they arrived at a small wooden house where Orochimaru and Kimimaro were waiting.

"I'm only here to watch. I want to see how strong a Kage-level shinobi really is," Daniel stated plainly upon meeting Orochimaru. Orochimaru's goal was clear: to assassinate the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, and then disguise himself as the Kazekage to infiltrate the Chūnin Exams.

"You'll get to see it soon enough."

With that, the group moved quickly toward the Land of Rivers. Killing a Kage wasn't easy, and Orochimaru had clearly been planning this for a while, knowing Rasa's route ahead of time.

The path Rasa had chosen was not public information, even though he and Orochimaru were supposedly allies. A direct route from the Sand Village to the Leaf could have taken many different paths, and without inside knowledge, setting an ambush would have been impossible.

"The Land of Rivers—it's the perfect place to ambush Rasa," Daniel thought as they arrived in the small nation. Sandwiched between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, the Land of Rivers was a narrow, weak country that survived largely because it served as a buffer between the two great nations. Even its daimyo was present at the Chūnin Exams.

True to its name, the Land of Rivers was filled with fast-flowing waterways. While this would give a water-style user a significant advantage, it was the worst possible terrain for Rasa, whose Magnet Release was not suited for combat in such an environment.

It seemed Gaara wasn't the only member of the Kazekage's family with good instincts.

"Don't worry, I won't interfere," Daniel said, leaping to a distant spot where he could observe the battle from a safe distance. Entering the mirror dimension, he waited patiently.

About an hour later, three figures approached from the west. Leading them was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, wearing his Kazekage robes and hat.

"Hmm." Rasa suddenly stopped, scanning the area warily. His two ANBU guards immediately moved to shield him, taking up defensive positions as they cautiously surveyed their surroundings.

"Show yourself," Rasa called out after a moment.

"I've been waiting for you," Orochimaru replied, stepping out from behind a rock.

"Orochimaru? Why are you here?" Rasa demanded.

"Take a guess—Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

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