Hiashi was left standing on the spot without any defence , any way of defending himself and as Naruto words echoed in his mind , he felt his pride as the hyuga crumble .
Neji who had stayed back to listen , was also shocked by Narutos bravery and accurate discription of the Hyuga clan .
Hiashi who had his Byakugan active , saw Neji shake his head in disappointment and leave .
What Hiashi was thinking at this moment,only he knew as with a heavy heart and dry throat , he left with his head low .
...
Naruto didnt care about Hiashi , as his focus was on the ' kazekage ' .
Kakashi and sasuke saw Naruto return and wanted to say something, anything but seeing Narutos eyes were fixed at the Kazekage , they held themselves back .
" Congrats on the victory Naruto "
Kakashi complimented Naruto who simply nodded without even looking towards kakashi .
' Kumi .. make sure Hinata is safe and doesnt rush into any danger '
Naruto used his soul link to convey the message to Kumi who was currently snuggling with Hinata in her rabbit form .
( Ill will master )
'hmm '
Naruto finally looked down at the match between shikamaru and Temari .
As the Temari was already distracted by Naruto and the upcoming mission , she wasnt in at her peak and after several mistakes , She was caught in Shikamarus Shadow possession jutsu .
But as she was about to lose , Shikamaru withdrew and declared his defeat , keaving Temari stunned .
Naruto smiled as he looked at Temari dumbfounded face and a chuckle left his mouth .
Even though she official won , She knew and everyone knew that she had lost and returned back .
After a minute , she passed by Naruto who smiled at her , but she forced herself to not look at him and wakked towards Gaara and kankuro .
The next match was between Kankuro and Shiba aburame , But shiba withdrew instantly .
His reasoning begin , Kankuro was a puppet master and his insects were useless in front of them.
Kankuro who had been itching to fight was keft hanging dry and couldnt help but curse at Shiba .
Finally the last match of the first round was announced.
" Gaara of the sand vs Sasuke uchiha !! "
Gaara and Sasuke looked at each other as they both appeared on the field in style , Sasuke jumped from the contestants box and Gaara used his sand to float down .
They appearance send waves of excitement in people .
Naruto also leaned forward as he knew , tge moment this match ends , Orochimaru will make his move .
...
" We finally meet , Gaara "
Sasuke greeted as he had been wanting to fight gaara ever since their first meeting , it wasnt because sasuke wanted to defeat Gaara but rather he wanted to show to Naruto that He wasnt weak ! ..
Gaara on the other hand was glad and felt a weight off his chest , when he saw it was Sasuke whom he had to fight .
This was perfect as Rasa had instructed him to fight and force Sasuke on the verge of death . More than that Gaara was hoping he wouldnt have to fight Naruto as he was genuinely terrified of him .
Even against his match with Neji , Gaara knew that Naruto had only put up an act ... An act that fooled everyone , including two kages .
As he looked up towards naruto and saw him smiling as if his match was nothing but entertainment for him , Gaara felt worse .
' How in the world are we same !!? If i had that power .. only if i could be a perfect jinchuriki... No not even then would i have been able to defeat that guy '
.....
Sasuke who was completely ignored by gaara felt as if Gaara was looking down on him .
But he wasnt , it was just Gaara was glad that his opponent wasnt naruto .
Sasuke didnt say anything as he launched an attack at Gaara but his absolute defence easily blocked all of sasukes attacks and jutsus .
Finally , as sasuke was forced into a corner , did he activate his sharingan and leveled the playing field .
Attack after attack, genjutsu , taijutsu , fireball jutsu , earth wall shurin attacks and combos , like Shadow shuriken and subsitution jutsus .
Amsasuke used them all , and yet he was being overwhelmed.
His face started to darken as Sasuke didnt understand it .
" How !!! How was he abke to defeat you !! "
In his rage , sasuke shouted towards gaara .
Gaara who was protected and hadnt fekt any pressure from sasuke throughout the fight shook his head and said .
" Because he wasnt weak "
A sikence enveloped the entire stadium as everyone had two questions .
One ... Was sasuke weak ?
Second ... Who were they talking about ??
But they only had the answer to one question .
No way in hell was sasuke weak , infact some of the chunins who had been sutting in the soectator seats were in shock but how strong susuke and gaara were .
If it was them against them , they were sure they couldnt last for than ten minutes .
Gaara and Sasuke conversation also raised questions in Hiruzen and Orochimarus mind .
' Someone defeated Gaara ...no .. not only defeated but overwhelmed him to the point Gaara was humbled '
' But who ? '
Hiruzen was completely clueless , but Orichimaru had more information, as his eyes darted towards the golden hair child who was relaxing .
' Interesting...'
...
When sasuke heard it , something snapled inside him .
' i am still weak !!! As the image of itachi , tall and covered in blood appeared in his mind , another image formed in his mind , A image of Naruto looking at him from above ...just like itachi.
His eyes turned red in anger and humiliation as he , in his heart couldnt come to terms with this reality , a reality where he was inferior to naruto ... Sure Itachi he knew and was forced to accept on that night .
But Naruto , no never , his heart and kind refused fo do so !!!
" Dammit i wont losee !!! "
Sasuke screamed outloud , the curse mark on his neck reacted as sasuke in desperation called for it ... Called for power .
Gaara who had been standing still from the very beginning of the match , felt something change as he looked at sasukes neck and got a glimpse of the curse mark .
" What is that ? "
Kakashi face fell as he was about to jump down and stop sasuke but he was held back by Naruto .
" dont !! It wont look good in front of the audience"
Kakashi raised his head and looked towards the Hokage and seeing that he was not showing any hints of stopping the match , he held himself back .
.....
As Sasuke gave into the temptations of power and his drive to get stronger , the seal that Jiraya had placed on the cursed mark was attacked from both sides and broke .
Orochimaru couldnt help but smile as he leaned forward
' Thats right sasuke... Show me ... Show me what you can do !! '