As soon as Konohamaru said this, Sasuke, who was about to have fun, instantly froze.
Naruto, who was standing nearby, noticed that Sasuke's eyes were turning red with rage, his facial features were twisting violently, and the veins on his forehead were bulging.
"Stop it, Kankuro."
"You're embarrassing our village."
Kankuro had no choice but to let go of the kid in his hand, and the moment Konohamaru's feet touched the ground, he immediately scrambled behind Sasuke for safety.
Sasuke looked at the red-haired boy angrily when he heard this.
'Huh?'
'What the hell does this guy mean by that?!'
'Is he lowkey mocking me?!'
"Thank you, Thin Ice Bro."
Konohamaru tugged at Sasuke's sleeve, calling out to him with innocent admiration.
Sasuke glanced at Konohamaru, then back at Gaara …
For a moment, he wasn't sure who he wanted to punch first.
But he was really angry now.
"Sasuke, that's enough."
Fortunately, Kakashi stepped forward in time to give Sasuke a way out.
Otherwise, the furious Sasuke would really have to consider killing everyone present, then cut his forehead protector and defect from Konoha Village on the spot.
Kankuro's gaze remained fixed on this so-called Thin Ice Bro. He hadn't even seen that movement earlier at all.
'This guy...'
'He's dangerous!'
Gaara glanced at Sasuke, then at Naruto beside him, without showing any expression.
"Let's go."
Kankuro and Temari followed behind Gaara as they brushed past Team 7.
But just before leaving, Gaara left a cold sentence...
"Konoha's… Thin Ice Bro."
"See you at the Chunin Exams."
"Fu**!"
Sszzzttt…
When Sasuke heard this nickname coming from a Shinobi from another village, he was so angry that he went berserk. Electricity was flashing all over his body, and he even took off the Heavy Xuan Ruler from his back.
'Screw it!'
'It doesn't matter if I defect!'
'I'm going to kill these outsiders right here, right now!'
"Sasuke, calm down!"
"Get a grip!"
Naruto was the first to react, and he slammed Sasuke into the ground before he could lunge. Kakashi also rushed over to help restrain him.
It can't be helped. Even though these two often bully Sasuke, Sasuke is really strong now.
Kakashi was really worried that Sasuke would kill the three Shinobi from the Sunagakure on the spot.
Moreover, Naruto had a feeling that if Gaara didn't transform into a Biju, his 'Absolute Defense' alone might not be able to keep up with Sasuke's Three Thousand Lightning Movement.
'At that point, Shukaku would definitely come out to play.'
'As for the edgy Pikachu lookalike...'
'He will probably be killed in an instant by Uchiha Xiao Yan.'
'…And so would Shikamaru's future wife.'
"LET ME GO!"
"I'M GOING TO KILL THEM!!"
"AAAAHHHH!!"
The furious Sasuke was pinned to the ground by Naruto, unable to move. He could only watch the three figures walking farther and farther away, roaring beneath the two of them.
"Huh?"
"Are you the yellow-haired delinquent from Konoha?" (T/N: From now on, I'll change yellow-haired guy to yellow-haired delinquent.)
Konohamaru suddenly gasped, staring at Naruto with stars in his eyes. He started circling Naruto like an excited puppy, radiating pure hero worship.
Naruto: "???"
'What's wrong with this kid?'
'Calling me yellow-haired guy as soon as you come up?'
'There are only few people in the entire Konoha Village who dare to call me that in the face...'
'This little brat... must not be allowed to live!'
Both Naruto and Sasuke slowly turned their heads toward Konohamaru, their eyes gleaming with menace.
When the two of them were thinking about how to deal with this naughty kid, who would have thought that Konohamaru would drop to his knees in a dramatic slide.
He then hugged Naruto's thighs tightly, and shouted loudly, "Naruto-sama!"
"I've always looked up to you!"
"If Grandpa hadn't forbidden me from hanging out with you..."
"I would've… I would've… WAAAAAH…"
The kid seemed to have been reminded of some deep sorrow, his lips trembling as he burst into loud, snotty tears.
"Naruto-sama!"
"Please let me join your crew!"
"I want to become as strong as you!"
"I will make everyone acknowledge me!"
Konohamaru's passionate speech really made Naruto and Sasuke, who were about to take action, at a loss.
Naruto looked at Konohamaru, who was hugging his thighs and crying, with a complicated expression.
To be honest, he really wanted to teach this brat a lesson just now, but when he heard Konohamaru admiring him so much...
His mood suddenly became complicated.
'Still…'
'This kid has good taste!'
Compared to the other people of Konoha Village...
Naruto suddenly found this naughty brat way more likable.
"Konohamaru-sama! Stay away from that guy..."
"Sandaime-sama has strictly forbidden you from having any contact with him!"
Ebisu, Konohamaru's tutor, rushed forward in a panic, frantically wiping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Hiruzen had explicitly ordered him before...
That under no circumstances, Konohamaru was allowed to hang out with Naruto.
Konoha was already miserable enough being tortured by one Uzumaki Naruto, so if there was another one...
Hiruzen felt that no matter how many antihypertensive medicines he took, they would be useless.
Naruto looked at the man with sunglasses in front of him with hatred.
'What do you mean by that, you pervert?'
'You're making up stories in front of me! You really think I won't jump you in a dark alley for talking shit about me?'
'You don't let me play with Konohamaru...'
'Then I'll play with him!'
Naruto, who had been a rebellious person all his life, ignored the nagging tutor beside him, slowly helped Konohamaru up, and said with a look of solemn approval on his face, "Very good. You've got spirit."
"You are Konohamaru, the grandson of Sandaime Hokage, right?"
"Mhm!"
When Konohamaru heard Naruto calling him, he immediately straightened up and he looked at his idolized elder brother with tearful eyes.
He'd heard all about Konoha's infamous yellow-haired delinquent, Uzumaki Naruto.
At the age of six, Naruto could jump off the Hokage Rock without any injury.
Later, he single-handedly broke through the defenses created the entire Konoha Village's Shinobi and shattered the village's barrier!
It's really, really amazing!
Until now, whenever the people of Konoha Village hear the name, Uzumaki Naruto, they always look at him with admiration.
Even his grandfather, the Hokage, gets a headache every time he hears Naruto name!!'
So how could he NOT worship him?!
'Well... Thin Ice Bro next to him is not quite there.'
Konohamaru noticed that Thin Ice Bro was looking at him, so he scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.
"Alright, Konohamaru."
"Your big brother is going to visit the exam venue today, so please go to the grove east of the village and wait for me there."
"You know where that is, right?"
Naruto patted Konohamaru on the shoulder and was thinking about how to... 'train' this kid.
"Of course!"
"Big Bro, I'll wait for you over there!"
"Don't you forget…"
"Konohamaru-sama, wait…"
Konohamaru sniffled, waved, and immediately sprinted toward the grove, glancing back every few steps to make sure Naruto was watching.
Kakashi raised his hand and was about to say something, but after thinking about it, he lowered it with a sigh.
Naruto noticed that the conflicted look on the white-haired slacker, so he asked without thinking too much, "What's wrong?"
"Kakashi-sensei, do you have anything to say?"
"… No."
"The venue is in Room 301, you guys go there by yourselves."
"I just remembered that I have something else to do, so I won't go with you guys."
Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and walked away. Looking in the direction where Konohamaru disappeared just now, he shook his head and sighed, and secretly said in his heart, 'Sandaime-sama...'
'There's no stopping Naruto.'
'This matter has nothing to do with me.'
'Sorry…'
Kakashi thought it was better to mind his own business, so he immediately left the scene.
When Hiruzen asked him about it later, he would just pretend that he didn't know.
'Sigh…'
'I just hope Konohamaru wouldn't get too corrupted by Naruto.'