186 Stupefied

(Whoosh!)

A figure landed in front of the crowd.

("Captain Yamato…") Naruto murmured, seeing the familiar figure again.

Yamato was a temporary leader of the interim team seven that was consisted of Naruto, Sakura, and Sai.

Later on, when Kakashi had recovered from his weak state, Yamato helped Kakashi in keeping a watch over Naruto's wind style Rasen shuriken training. Yamato did stick around for a while until he went missing during the preliminary part of the Fourth Ninja War. Yamato, later on, became a regular jōnin of the Hidden Leaf, often keeping a watch over Orochimaru's movements.

Seeing Yamato brought all these memories back to Naruto, primarily, the Wood Style ninjutsu that was carried on from the First Hokage.

Hiruzen stared at Karin, Sai, and Jūgo.

"Your jōnin leader is Yamato," Hiruzen said.

Yamato noticed the three. He then took a few steps.

"I will be your sensei from now on,"

"Hope we can get well along with each other," Yamato said.

"Mm," The three nodded silently.

Yamato then turned back and bowed a bit towards Hiruzen following which he walked towards the back to line up with the rest of the jōnin.

"Kakashi-senpai,"

"Yamato,"

Kakashi and Yamato acknowledged each other, following which Yamato stood beside Kakashi. Yamato and Kakashi once were a part of the same ANBU unit, where Kakashi had to take care of him since Yamato was reassigned under Hiruzen's orders from the Root to the ANBU Black-ops unit.

…

Hiruzen looked at all the genins who had assembled in front of him and then towards Deidara in the corner.

("The Akatsuki must already be aware of Orochimaru's suppression in the Hidden Leaf, but they also know that he's out right now,")

("In that case, there is no need to hold back on the information,") Hiruzen thought, following which he closed his eyes took a deep breath.

Hiruzen looked once again at the Genins and finally started the speech.

"As you all are already aware, there has never once been a Sports Festival in the past,"

"This is the first time such an event is being held," Hiruzen explained.

"…" all the others became attentive at this point in time.

"Normally, this matter would be kept under wraps, but since you all are officially ninjas, it is about time you all understood how circumstances are…"

("What's this old geezer getting at?") Kiba thought to himself.

"As some of you had stood witness during the Chūnin exam, Our village was on the brink of war with the Hidden Sound and the Hidden Sand," Hiruzen said.

"What?" Kiba and a few others were shocked.

Jūgo, Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru already knew about the situation, and so did Karin from what she had observed when she was sensing Chakra all around her when she was being kidnapped.

"Hidden Sand?"

"But weren't they going to betray us that day?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, they were about to do that,"

"However, their hand was forced,"

"The Kazekage could not refuse when the Hidden Sound offered to Help since the Hidden Sound had originally wanted to destroy this village," Hiruzen explained.

"Then how did the Hidden Sand suddenly turned on the Hidden Sound?" Kiba asked.

"There are two parts to this,"

"One being, help from a certain Genin from the Hidden Sand,"

"A Genin?" Kiba and the others were shocked.

"Two being, a rescue team sent to help prevent the Kazekage from being Assassinated," Hiruzen explained.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Jūgo silently recollected the battle they had fought. Especially Jūgo, since it was the mission that made Kimimaro lose a great deal of his remaining life force.

On the other hand, Deidara finally understood how Naruto's team arrived in the desert.

However, the only reason he didn't speak yet was that it was also Akatsuki's mission to deal with Orochimaru; thus, their goals were the same, which was to kill Orochimaru. At least that's how Deidara saw it. On the other hand, Naruto was glad that he was able to change Orochimaru, though it wasn't confirmed if Orochimaru's change was permanent.

"The kazekage was the target?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, The Hidden Sound leader wanted to take down the Kazekage and destroy our village as well," Hiruzen explained.

"…" all the genins were quiet at the moment.

"The battle on the stage was against the Leader of the Hidden Sound, a former student of mine," Hiruzen chuckled.

"A FORMER STUDENT?" Kiba Shouted.

"Mm," Hiruzen nodded.

("Tsunade-sama did say that,") Sakura, Ino, and Karin thought simultaneously.

"The point is,"

"The Hidden Sand is extremely grateful to the Hidden Leaf now and has promised to lend a hand during troubled times," Hiruzen explained.

"But what says that they wouldn't try and attack us again?" Kiba asked.

"Kiba," Kurenai cautioned Kiba not to overstep his bounds.

"It's all right,"

"The Kazekage and I talked to each other regarding the circumstances forcing the Hidden Sand to move,"

"It turns out that the problem has been dealt with," Hiruzen said with a smile.

(Gulp,) Kiba swallowed his spit out of instinct from the sentence he had heard. It indirectly meant that the person behind the problem had been killed.

"Since the Hidden Sand never officially broke the peace treaty that exists between us, they have prepared this event where ninjas from both villages compete in a friendly competition."

"Which means, none of you have to fight a deathmatch,"

"It is an event which both villages can benefit from each other, thus forging an even stronger bond than that of before,"

"Completely the opposite of what the Chūnin exams were about," Hiruzen explained, following which the other's thought back to Hiruzen's explanation from eh exam.

———Flashback———

"This exam is a place to see the strength of home country ninjas and a place to display this as well."

"It is because it's an exam where you truly fight for your life, that this has meaning."

"It's for this very reason that you forerunners fought in this exam, a dream worth striving for."

"It is a custom, where balance is preserved by fighting and removing life."

"This is a fight for life with the pride of the village and one's dream on the line."

"That is what the Chūnin Exam is all about."

—-End of Flashback-—

"This exam is to strengthen the bond between both nations and villages,"

"Hence, this old man requests that all of you have a healthy competition and get along well with the Hidden Sand," Hiruzen concluded.

"Mm," All the genins nodded together.

"Any questions?" Hiruzen asked.

*sh*

"Hmm?" Hiruzen saw a hand rise up in the air.

"What is it, Chōji?" Hiruzen asked.

"Lord Hokage, will there be food at this event?" Chōji asked.

"…"

"Haha, Of course, there is food,"

"There are a lot of stalls selling the local delicacies,"

"There will be prizes for the winners,"

"And there's the Kage masquerading event as well,"

"Kage masquerading?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, you can dress up as your favorite village leaders, from the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Leaf,"

"Of course you are not allowed to use a transformation jutsu,"

"The regular people attending the event have already lined up at stores to buy apparels that represent their favorite leaders," Hiruzen explained.

"eh…" Naruto was surprised.

"Um…" Sakura raised her hand.

"Hmm?" Hiruzen looked at Sakura.

"What kind of prizes are there?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, the prizes are prepared by both villages,"

"The first prize is a Cash reward of a Million Ryo," Hiruzen explained.

"A MILLION?" Sakura was shocked.

"The second Prize is Specially prepared by the Akimichi family under both villages request,"

"Eh?" Chōji was confused.

"It's the Akimichi clan's special Apocalypse Food Vault," Hiruzen explained.

"…"

Chōji was directly petrified.