Forest of Death
“Well that was unexpected... am I so scary?” muttered Kuroto as he took off the Yama mask.
To be honest, Kuroto was a little unsure of how to scare off Obito and Zetsu, he was considering what to say that would make both Obito and Zetsu run away immediately so that he wouldn’t have to waste much time here.
Kuroto didn’t really think of fighting the two of them for two reasons, first is that except for him (Yama), the other members of Amatsukami around him were just Shadow Clones that might get exposed, and second, because of the presence of cameras, he couldn’t really fight, because that would expose his identity as Yama.
So, Kuroto had a headache. What he didn’t expect was that as soon as he showed up as Yama, the two of them didn’t even dare to wait long enough for him to speak anything, and immediately ran away.
“It seems that the effort I have put into building Yama’s invincible identity is not for nothing.” Said Kuroto with a smile.
After confirming that both Obito and Zetsu were really gone, and there were no other members of the Akatsuki Organization in the vicinity, Kuroto released the Shadow Clones, then turned around and looked towards a distant forest with a thoughtful expression.
A while ago, he had sensed a very strong and violent chakra fluctuation from that direction. This chakra fluctuation wasn’t unknown to Kuroto, but because of being busy dealing with Obito and Zetsu, Kuroto had no time to take care of it at that time.
Thinking of the cause, Kuroto couldn’t help but be a little worried, ‘Are Asuma and the others okay? I don’t think any of them can handle a violent Naruto.’ And disappeared from his place with a quick body flicker.
Soon, Kuroto arrived at the sight from where he sensed Nine-tails chakra.
Seeing Kuroto, Shisui hurriedly came to his side, and asked in a low voice, “Kuroto-san... is that matter resolved?”
Kakashi also appeared by Kuroto’s side, waiting for his response.
Kuroto nodded with a smile, “Yup... As I had guessed, they were only here for reconnaissance, and there was no plan to make any big move. So, when they saw so many members of Amatsukami at the same time, they turned their tails and immediately ran away.”
“Phew... thankfully, your method worked Kuroto.” Said Kakashi with a relieved sigh.
Shisui also nodded, “Hn, of course, I knew that the matter would be easily solved since it’s you.”
After reading the report, Hiruzen said with a sigh, “Thank you for your hard work.”
For Kuroto’s approach of fooling Akatsuki, Sandaime had nothing to say because their running away is the best result for Konoha and the five great shinobi villages, after all, the shinobi world isn’t yet ready to go to war with Akatsuki.
As for the assessment, although it ended earlier than it was supposed to because of interference of Hiruzen and the others after Naruto used the nine-tails chakra, there was no helping it, overall, Hiruzen is still very content upon witnessing the growth of the children.
After everything was handled, Kuroto and the others returned to the village and noticed villagers gathered outside the forest of death, happily talking about Naruto’s performance in the assessment.
Unexpected summoning of Garaga, or the special Orange chakra mode Naruto used, people discussed these topics excitedly. Witnessing such things is very rare for ordinary villagers, therefore, they were very excited after seeing these things for the first time in their lives, and it can be expected that for the next few weeks and months, they will never forget what they saw.
Another topic of discussion is the bravery and fearlessness Naruto displayed in protecting his companions. He was the MVP of the assessment, and his actions in the assessment changed the opinion of many people about him.
...
In this way, a few days passed by in a flash.
The influence of the Assessment was still fermenting.
When the final results of the assessment were announced, everyone was surprised to find that the winning team turned out to be Team Ino-Shika-Cho, they collected most scrolls by the time the assessment ended. This was a surprise for many, considering that they were nowhere to be seen during the confrontation with the ‘Akatsuki’.
Other than the winning team, there was special praise for Uzumaki Naruto whose performance was the best among all the candidates.
This further, elevated Naruto’s reputation, and soon, he became famous in Konoha. Unlike earlier, this time his reputation was positive, and people started to see him in a good light.
The other shinobi villages also decided to pay more attention to the Ninja Academy of their village. They have learned a lot after watching the assessment, and they want to implement their learning in their village.
Kuroto was happy to see these changes.
But his happiness didn’t last very long as he received an unexpected notice from the Hyuga Clan, “A Clan meeting at such a time?”