Naruto Uzumaki, You Are Under Arrest!

Naruto entered the arena and searched for a long time before finally finding his team.

Ino and Sakura, who weren't up for the match, were sitting together, talking about something. Nearby, Choji was eating chips, eagerly watching the lively scene in the arena. As soon as he saw Naruto, he quickly raised his chubby hand and waved.

"Here! Over here!"

Seeing this, Naruto squeezed through the crowd and found a seat. The four of them sat in a row, with Naruto sitting next to Choji. Before sitting down, he asked:

"Choji, are you feeling better from your injury?"

During the second round of the Chuunin Exams, Choji had narrowly lost to Inuzuka Kiba. After taking a pill, Choji suffered severe physical exhaustion and was carried into the Konoha hospital by the medical team.

"I'm completely fine now!" Choji grinned, "But you sending four or five boxes of fruit was too much! My dad was startled. I don't even like fruit."

"Being picky isn't a good habit. You should eat fruit properly during recovery, Choji."

As Naruto sat down, he instinctively reached for some chips. He also took out a paper bag, handed out canned drinks to the three of them, but when he looked up, he noticed that Sakura, who was sitting on the far left, seemed distracted.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Huh? What?"

Sakura suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and met Naruto's confused gaze.

"It seems like you have something on your mind?"

"Sakura's definitely worried about Sasuke. She hasn't seen him in a month," Ino said.

Sakura didn't deny it. She lowered her head, looking gloomy.

"Half a month ago, Kakashi-sensei came to see me. He said the cursed seal on Sasuke is very dangerous, and training might have some unexpected consequences. He asked me to try to save a bed for Sasuke."

"What happened then?" Ino asked.

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing happened."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Naruto opened a can of drink with a 'crack' sound, taking a sip, and said to himself, "Sasuke always wanted to get stronger. He even said before that he wanted revenge. If the cursed seal can give him strength..."

"But that's too dangerous," Sakura said, her expression dazed.

"Well, there's a match for Sasuke today, right?" Ino quickly tried to change the subject, sensing the mood wasn't right.

Naruto didn't say anything more. Sasuke was living for revenge, so it was impossible for him to settle down as Sakura wished.

A youth's hatred grows like wild grass in the wilderness—just a spark, and the wildfires connect to the heavens.

Sakura didn't understand what the hatred of wiping out a clan meant, and no one could truly empathize with it. If one day Sasuke Uchiha let go of his hatred, that would surely be the day he was already dead; living would be nothing more than an empty shell.

As a companion, instead of stopping him, it was better to let him go freely for revenge. But even so, Naruto wouldn't try to change Sakura's thoughts.

The match began, and Kankurou forfeited immediately, allowing Hyuga Neji to advance.

As the two entered the arena, the crowd cheered. They didn't understand what being a ninja or ninjutsu meant; they simply celebrated along with their way of life. Even though they were called useless scraps, they still believed the village's ninjas would protect them.

Naruto tilted his head back and took a sip from his drink, his fingers gripping the can. Listening to the roar of the crowd and watching their excited faces, it felt just like spectators at a gladiator arena.

Trying to change someone's mind is a ridiculous idea in itself.

The match started, and Kankurou forfeited, letting Neji advance. With the first round being a forfeit, they immediately started the second round with Inuzuka Kiba against Aburame Shino. These two fought back and forth.

The Inuzuka clan and the Aburame clan both relied on animals for sensory abilities, and the fight was quite exciting. But when the overwhelming insects flooded the arena, the audience didn't see anything, and Kiba went down.

The third match was Gaara from Sunagakure against Sasuke Uchiha, the biggest highlight of the Chuunin Exams. However, Sasuke didn't show up on time, and the referee team stood around discussing for a while before deciding to prepare for a forfeit for Sasuke.

The audience was enraged, shouting loudly.

"I bet everything on Sasuke! You're telling me there won't be a match?!"

"Can't we delay it? You're just declaring him forfeited?! We waited so long for this, and this is what we get?!"

"Dammit! Refund!" This shout came from Naruto, who stood up and yelled.

"Refund! Refund!"

For a moment, the call for a refund spread from the cheapest stands at the top all the way down to the commoner section. Choji, watching this in shock, had dropped his chips on the ground, staring at Naruto with a dumbfounded expression.

Naruto turned around, looked at Choji, Ino, and Sakura, who were equally bewildered, and frowned.

"Come on, join in! Don't you want to see Sasuke's match or let him forfeit?"

Without waiting for a reply, Naruto jumped onto the railing and kept yelling in protest. Using his ninja status, he threw his empty can onto the field and shouted a stirring, angry roar.

"Another shady deal! Delay the match!"

The audience in the stands erupted into fervent protests, led by the referees, including the likes of Shiranui Genma.

"Delay it! We want to see Sasuke Uchiha's match!!"

"Delay it! I've bet everything on Uchiha! If you don't delay, I'll jump from here!"

Just as Naruto was about to lead the audience into a full-blown riot, two hands landed on his shoulders from both sides. He looked up and saw two ANBU members.

Naruto's face immediately became awkward. He coughed and yelled to the front.

"Class! Where's your class? This is too much!"

The ANBU members coldly stared at him, their hands pressing on his shoulders like iron clamps.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are suspected of inciting a disturbance. You are under arrest."

"You've got the wrong guy, hey!" Naruto resisted, but was still forcibly taken away. "Damn it, I want to see the Hokage!"

"The Hokage doesn't have time to see you!"

"I'm a law-abiding citizen! You can't arrest me! Hey! I've made an irreplaceable contribution to the village's peace!"

As the ANBU members left, Naruto's voice gradually faded away. On the stands, Sakura, Ino, and Choji were stunned, exchanging looks, feeling like they were in some bizarre dream.

"Naruto...?" Choji opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"I'm worried," Sakura stood up and walked in the direction where Naruto had been taken.

"I'll go with you!" Ino hurriedly got up to follow.

"You guys... there's nothing you can do even if you go?"

Choji sat back down, still holding a chip, and suddenly froze as if he had just remembered something.

His pupils dilated, and he immediately jumped up, dropping the chip on the ground without care. He quickly ran to catch up.

"Wait! Those two weren't ANBU!"

At that moment, snowflakes began to fall from the sky like goose feathers. It seemed like someone was chanting a song, lulling everyone into a dream.

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