Problem Solved, Meal on the line...

Outside the tower.

Shino stood near the entrance receiving reports from the insects on what was going on…

"The Genins, Jounins, and even the ANBU members have left the hall…"

"But Naruto is inside all alone with the sand guy…"

"Hinata has also run inside now…" Shino murmured to himself.

He then turned towards the direction in which the evacuated people and the Hokage was…

"There is something more to this than meets the eye…"

…

"Hokage-sama, the sealing team, is on standby."

"We await your orders for dispatch!" ANBU agent reported.

"Mm," Hiruzen nodded.

Sasuke stood by the side and heard the conversation.

("Looks like Naruto is handling everything by himself inside…")

("Does the Third know Naruto's secret") Sasuke thought as he looked towards Hiruzen.

….

….

….

Inside the Tower Hall…

"SEAL!"

Naruto shouted upon which the characters that were written in blood on the floor, slowly got sucked towards the place where the adamantine chains were holding Shukaku.

Gaara grunted in unconsciousness, while Naruto held onto his body to hold Gaara in place.

The characters were being sucked in a steady pace, which also increased the pain felt by Gaara slowly.

"AAAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Gaara shouted following which, the characters had finally finished flowing in, and a seal mark was formed in its place.

"Whew!" Naruto heaved a sigh of relief.

"It's done!"

Naruto felt proud of his work.

"Gaara!"

"From today onwards you can get your perfect sleep…"

Naruto was happy for Gaara.

He then walked towards Hinata and carried her in his arms.

…

…

…

Naruto walked out of an alternative exit away for the evacuated crowd which was noticed by an ANBU agent.

The ANBU agent reported this development to Hiruzen.

"It's over then…" Hiruzen smiled.

("Naruto has performed meritorious service.")

Hiruzen turned towards Anko and the other examiners.

"Round up all the Jounins and the Genins."

"Conduct the tenth round, after which I will address the plans for the next stage in the hall."

"Yes!" The examiners and Anko replied together and dispersed.

…

…

…

Anko approached Baki.

"Hokage-sama requires you and your team's presence in the Tower Hall." She conveyed, after which she jumped towards another direction.

"It couldn't be…." Baki looked towards the Tower in disbelief.

("What will happen to the plan now…")

Temari and Kankuro approached Baki.

"Is everything all right?" Kankuro asked.

"They have called us in…" Baki replied.

Kankuro and Temari were shocked.

…

Soon everyone made their way in… including the medics and the injured ninjas.

Gaara finally gained consciousness and stared about.

Gai saw Gaara get up again as though the battle between him and his favorite disciple was one that had no significance at all.

Gai gritted his teeth and made his way to the medics.

…

"Naruto!"

"I want to meet you in my office after everything is over…" Hiruzen said in a low voice.

"Okay!" Naruto nodded and walked towards the direction of his team.

("Minato, your son has already become a splendid Ninja…")

("In places where the leaf dances, a fire burns…")

("The shadow of the fire will illuminate the village…")

Hiruzen thought as he watched Naruto's departing back.

….

"Are you the teacher of that young man?" A man in a white full body suit asked as he pointed towards Lee who was lying unconscious on the stretcher.

"Mm" Gai nodded

"The boy's body contains comminuted fractures and muscle tears to his entire body."

"recovery will likely take quite some time…." The medic ninja reported.

("This is the effect of forcefully opening all the way up to the fifth gate on the first try…") Gai thought.

"I advise a bed rest of minimum of two-three months accompanied by a lot of supplements and special recovery pills."

"No matter what, the boy should not even think about training in the first month."

"That is all!" The medical ninja concluded.

Gai bowed down to the medical ninja as he left the scene.

Meanwhile, Naruto watched the interaction from far.

("Super thick brows sensei should understand that it is the best possible outcome that could have happened to thick brows if he wanted to take on Gaara.")

("The previous one almost had an understanding of life after spending an entire month as a cripple…") Naruto thought about Lee back in the previous world as he nodded in approval.

….

"Gaara are you okay?" Kankuro asked with concern.

Gaara looked towards Kankuro and Temari.

…

Flashback - Chapter 40

"But soon, I met people who are very important to me now."

"I won't allow those important people to get hurt!"

Naruto said with anger in his eyes.

.

.

"They are the ones who saved me from the hell of being all alone."

"They accepted me for who I was."

"That's why…they are important to me!" Naruto concluded.

…

"Temari….Kankuro…"

"I'm sorry for everything before."

Kankuro and Temari looked at Gaara with wide eyes.

("What in the world just happen?")

Kankuro approached Gaara slowly and placed his hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"You have nothing to apologize for…"

Gaara lifted his face to see Kankuro with a bright smile across his face.

At this moment he knew that the man standing in front of him had genuinely cared about him.

("Thank you….")

A tear dropped from the side of his eye.

….

After a few minutes, everyone took their places by the standing area.

Hiruzen noticed this and approached the stage.

"The problem from earlier has now been settled."

"The last match will continue as per schedule!" Hiruzen announced after which Hayate took over.

…

Chouji knew at this point his time was up, since he was the only one remaining to face the sound guy.

He crouched down on his legs.

"I plan to forfeit," Chouji said.

"So that means…"

"You plan to forego all you can eat BBQ, too, then," Asuma said.

"What? Come on!" Chouji complained.

Asuma stepped beside Chouji and got on his knees as he said…

"Don't worry Chouji."

"If things start getting ugly…"

"I will step in and stop the fight for you just like the others did for Hinata. Okay?"

…

"Prime beef tongues, short ribs… You can eat whatever you want!" Asuma concluded.

As soon as Chouji hear the bet on the table…

He summoned his courage that was derived from the food menu he had imagined which powered him up to the extent that he started to burn with fighting intent.

"OOOOHHHHHH!!!!"

"B-B-Q!"

"B-B-Q"

"ALL YOU CAN EAT!" Chouji shouted while he cheered himself up.

….

Back on the stage…

"Then, the tenth and final round is next,"

"Both contestants come forward!" Hayate announced.

…

Chouji and Dosu both walked towards the center of the stage as they stared at each other.

("I'm gonna win and have some barbecued beef!") Chouji thought.

Meanwhile, Dosu thought ("In any case, I need to last until the main tournament and battle Sasuke.")

("Or I will not have met your expectations Orochimaru-sama…")

("I can almost see through it…")

("The reason you spared us the other day was that I was able to defeat Sasuke with just one technique. Now you are going to use me to test Sasuke once again to see if he has improved.")

("In other words, we were the guinea pigs to measure Sasuke's abilities during the examinations")

("What you wanted isn't Sasuke's life but Sasuke himself…")

("I was also taken for a fool…")

….

Hayate looked towards the two and then looked towards the center again, as he raised his hand.

"Now, let the tenth round begin."