Shikamaru and Choji let out a sigh of relief when they saw the person who arrived was Uchiha Kage.
"But, what are you guys doing?", Looking at the situation where the other two Konoha Anbu had killed each other until only one remained, Shikamaru still couldn't quite understand what was going on.
"Just dealing with traitors within Konoha. It has nothing to do with you," Uchiha Kage gave Samui a signal with his eyes.
The latter quickly pulled out the ninja sword that had pinned Sai to the tree, then returned to his side.
"That was close. I'll scold you for it later when we get back," After Samui came over, Uchiha Kage softly commented on the female ninja's earlier battle.
"I…"
'How could I have known there were still three people ambushing in the grass?'
Samui really wanted to talk back, but held it in.
Because she knew that talking back would only make her suffer even more tonight.
"So they were traitors, no wonder they attacked us!", Ino pulled on Uchiha Kage's arm excitedly while glaring angrily at Sai lying in a pool of blood.
That guy almost made her end up in a mess when meeting Kage.
"By the way, Kage, why aren't you participating in the Chunin Exams?", Although she had already heard from Sakura earlier that Uchiha Kage wouldn't be participating, Ino was still a bit confused about why he wasn't joining.
"Because I have other missions," Patting the golden hair on the girl's head, Uchiha Kage, after notifying the medical ninja to come and take in the barely-breathing Sai, took out two scrolls he had casually picked up on the road from his pocket.
"Here, for you guys. Consider it compensation for being dragged into this."
"Thank you, Kage!", Ino happily received the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, which were necessary to pass the Chunin Exams, from Uchiha Kage's hand.
For the girl now, the Forest of Death that originally felt like a nightmare suddenly became lovable with Kage's arrival.
But the good times didn't last long. When Uchiha Kage said he had other tasks and couldn't accompany them, Ino immediately grew dejected again.
"But, this sister named 'Lily' is fine, so let her escort you to the tower for the next round of the Chunin Exams."
This Chunin Exam was indeed a bit dangerous, and Uchiha Kage didn't want Ino to get hurt again.
"You… you're helping them cheat like this, doesn't Konoha care?", Samui was furious. Not even her closest family called her that name.
'But this guy…'
"How is this cheating? Do you have any proof? We're just here to protect the Konoha candidates," While instructing Samui, Uchiha Kage was also getting ready to say goodbye to Ino and the others.
"Alright," Seeing Uchiha Kage help her so much, Ino didn't press him to come along anymore.
'Still, Kage is amazing. Already an Anbu ninja at such a young age.'
'And just now, those two are even his subordinates.'
Truly worthy of being the person she liked.
"Thanks. Now we can slack off a bit. But are you really okay helping us like this?", Shikamaru knew the chance for the three of them to pass the Chunin Exam was slim and wasn't planning to struggle too much.
In the next elimination round, if surrendering was possible, he'd definitely do it.
But Uchiha Kage gave them the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and even assigned an Anbu ninja to escort them to the next exam site. Wasn't that a little too much?
"It's fine," Uchiha Kage waved his hand, but before leaving, he glanced once more at Ino, who was still looking longingly at him.
"I prefer long hair. During the elimination round, if things don't work out, just give up if you have to," He really liked Ino's long hair and hoped she wouldn't end up like in the original story, where she pulled her hair everywhere just to fight with Sakura.
"Mm! Got it!", Without Kage even saying more, Ino already didn't want to continue this Chunin Exam.
Still, he came all this way just to save her and left behind such caring words…
'Kage really does like me the most!'
Even after Uchiha Kage's figure completely disappeared, Ino was still staring blankly into the distance.
"Hmph, another girl tricked by him," As for the blonde girl's obvious affection for Kage, Samui just scoffed coldly.
But she didn't have time to bother with such trivial matters.
'Anyway, Konoha ninjas have nothing to do with me.'
'Just… did that guy deliberately send me away to go do something big?'
Samui was a little confused.
'Under normal circumstances, that guy wouldn't let me go off on my own.'
'Because that perverted brat is always thinking about doing things to my body…'
'Forget it, being alone is at least peaceful.'
Shaking her head, Samui stopped thinking about Kage. It wasn't easy to escape that guy's clutches for a while. She was happy to take it easy.
———
On the other side, Sasuke's team, who had encountered Orochimaru, officially clashed with him.
And Uchiha Kage also arrived nearby to watch the show.
Only, surprisingly, besides him, there seemed to be several other ninjas who had accidentally wandered into the area.
———
'Did I offend him somehow?', Even as he was being carried on a stretcher by Konoha's medical ninja, Sai was still thinking about this question.
Thinking carefully, it seemed like Uchiha Kage had never planned to let him go from the start.
'Is it because I always smile at the Hokage in front of him and ended up annoying him?'
'Or is it that my attitude hasn't been humble enough?'
Surely it wasn't possible that this young superior, whom he had only met less than three times, instantly recognized him as a spy sent by Danzo, right?
'Totally incomprehensible…'
'But now it is truly troublesome.'
'If Lord Danzo found out I couldn't even defeat one of Uchiha Kage's new subordinates…'
'He'd probably be disposed of immediately for losing my value.'
"How did you get so seriously injured?"
"I… I accidentally stabbed… myself," Even when he got to the hospital, Sai couldn't tell the truth in response to the healing ninja's question.
Because whether it was Danzo's side or the Hokage's side, he couldn't explain what happened today.
'Just where did I offend him?'
———
Uchiha Kage himself didn't know why. Clearly, there were characters like Obito and Itachi in Naruto, but the one he disliked the most was Sai.
"Is it because of Ino?"
'But… do I really like Ino that much?'
'Hmm…'
'Maybe I actually do?'
Uchiha Kage counted on his fingers and realized that Ino ranked pretty high in his heart.
Currently only below Hinata, Tsunade, Kaguya, and Mikoto…
Excluding Kaguya and Mikoto, who didn't exist in this timeline, Ino could easily rank in his top three most important.
"Never realized it before…"
Maybe because Ino had always been the one chasing him, he hadn't noticed.
Until today, seeing Sai and then seeing Ino in danger—he suddenly realized it.
'Looks like I'll have to pay more attention to Ino's growth… ahem, development.'
'Speaking of which, I forgot to collect the ninja fragments from Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji just now… But no matter, there'll be another chance during the elimination round.'
'The Ino-Shika-Cho trio's jutsu were quite interesting.'
'Eh?'
'Why should I wait?'
'It's always better to rely on yourself for a full meal.'
Thinking that, Uchiha Kage got ready to put on his spare mask and night gear, planning to tell a dramatic, tearful story in the Forest of Death.
'Obito likes pretending to be Madara, right?'
'Then I'll pretend to be Obito.'
'Anyway, no one can possibly see through me.'
'And doing this will also make Uchiha Itachi more and more distrusted by the Third Hokage.'
'Truly killing multiple birds with one stone.'
"Uchiha Kage! You finally showed up!", But just as Uchiha Kage was excitedly preparing to disguise himself as Obito and about to put on his mask, he heard noisy voices from behind.
Then three… Genin trio he'd met before suddenly jumped out.
Hyuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee.
"You! Why aren't you participating in the Chunin Exam?", Neji had been training so hard for so long just to fight Uchiha Kage in the Chunin Exam and clear his past humiliation, only to find out after registering that Kage wasn't even taking the exam.
It made him so furious he was grinding his teeth.
"Because I'm already a Chunin. I don't need to take the exam," He almost forgot, there was one person in the Forest of Death who could still see through him.
That was Neji.
In their last fight, it seemed Neji had memorized his chakra and body shape.
"What? Already a Chunin? How is that possible? Clearly, everyone else has to pass the exam to be promoted…", Neji looked unconvinced.
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