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Chapter – 1128 Ōnoki’s doubts & the final match of the Quarterfinals
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 11:59:23 +0000 UTCTranslator's Note: There's a bit of an edit in Chapter 1127. Some lines have been added at the end of the chapter 1127. in Naruto and & Shikamaru's conversation. If you haven't already read those, then please do so before continuing with Chapter 1128.
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“Tengu withdrew as well?” murmured the Raikage, taken aback.
He hadn’t expected this turn of events. Samsara’s withdrawal against Deidara had already left him dissatisfied, and now Tengu was withdrawing, too. The Raikage couldn’t understand the Amegakure ninjas’ reasoning. ‘Why the hell are they withdrawing one after another?’
A possible explanation could be that the Amegakure ninjas weren’t confident about facing opponents like Deidara and Darui and chose to withdraw rather than fight a losing battle, but the Raikage was skeptical. ‘Is that really the reason?’ His instincts told him otherwise.
The Tsuchikage also felt uncertain. ‘Why did both of them withdraw one after another?’
While he had suspected Tengu might follow Samsara’s lead and withdraw from the fight, actually seeing it happen left Ōnoki confused. Samsara’s withdrawal against Deidara had initially pleased him, but now, thinking it through, it seemed odd.
‘These two are likely members of Amatsukami… so why would they be afraid of Deidara and Darui?’ From what he knew of Amatsukami, its members rarely showed any fear. Onoki doubted they withdrew due to fear—there had to be another reason.
Stroking his goatee, Ōnoki wondered, ‘What could that reason be?’
‘Why are the members of Amatsukami participating in the Joint Chūnin Promotion Exam in the first place?’ another doubt lingered in his mind. He couldn't understand why Amatsukami members would bother with the exam. After all, it's the Chūnin Promotion Exam, and becoming a Chūnin probably means nothing to them.
‘Could their purpose be… related to Akatsuki?’ Ōnoki wondered.
After all, such a large-scale event was happening in Konohagakure. The Tsuchikage wouldn't be surprised if the Akatsuki Organization was trying to take advantage of it to kidnap the Jinchūriki, since they had done so many times before.
‘If that's the case, then Amatsukami's presence might be a precaution taken by the Hokage...’ Ōnoki thought, glancing toward the Hokage from the corner of his eye.
‘But this feels strange... If the Hokage wanted Amatsukami as a precaution against the Akatsuki Organization’s attack, wouldn't it be better for them to stay low and avoid drawing attention?’ The thought made Ōnoki frown as he stroked his beard, still feeling that something was off with his theory.
Rather than saying something was off with his theory, it would be better to say he was missing something.
'There’s no reason for the members of Amatsukami to participate in the Joint Chūnin Promotion Exam if they’re in Konoha just as a precaution against the Akatsuki Organization... yet they are participating. This might mean they either have an entirely different purpose than I’ve theorized, or they have an additional goal along with being a precaution against the Akatsuki.'
'But what other reason could they have for joining the Joint Chūnin Promotion Exam? The exam is almost over, with the last match of the quarterfinals coming up, and they haven’t done anything so far, on top of that, Samsara and Tengu have already withdrawn...'
'But since Samsara and Tengu decided to withdraw, doesn’t that mean their role is already complete?'
‘But what did the two of them accomplish?’ Ōnoki continued to think but couldn’t come up with anything substantial.
The Tsuchikage would probably never imagine that the reason Amatsukami ninjas are participating in the Joint Chūnin Promotion Exam is for personal training, as well as to help train other Konoha ninjas.
Associating Amatsukami with training is probably the last thing he would think of.
Meanwhile, Pakura, not too concerned about Tengu’s withdrawal, turned to ‘Kuroto.’ “Hokage-dono, it seems the next fight will be between our disciples…”
‘Kuroto’ nodded. “That is indeed the case.”
Pakura laughed lightly. “You wouldn’t mind if your disciple got defeated by my Itsuki, right?”
‘Kuroto’ chuckled. “Well, I don’t think things will go the way you expect, Kazekage-dono. But even if they do... I’ll accept the result calmly.”
…
Konohagakure Waiting Room
"Hmm… both Samsara and Tengu have withdrawn, while Deidara and Darui have been promoted to the semi-finals…" thought Kakashi. It seemed things were going exactly as he had guessed, further confirming his speculation. "It really looks like Kuroto wants to train Naruto using Raijin..."
Before Neji and Raijin’s fight, Kakashi had suspected that Kuroto was using Raijin to push Sasuke, Neji, and Naruto. Now, with the results before him, his guess was even more confirmed.
As Kakashi’s doubts were put to rest, ‘Itachi’ called for the participants of the final match of the quarterfinals: “Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure and Itsuki of Sunagakure… please come to the arena…”
Hearing his name called, Naruto pumped his fist. “It’s finally my turn!” he said excitedly as he stood up.
Kakashi immediately spoke from behind, “Naruto, if you want to take revenge for Sasuke and Neji… you better not lose to him…”
“I know, I have no plans of losing until I avenge Sasuke and Neji…” Naruto replied confidently.
Mika quickly reminded him, “Naruto-kun, you’re aware of your opponent’s Kekkei Genkai abilities, right?”
Naruto nodded with a smile. “Of course, I know…”
Mika, not expecting such a response, didn’t wait for him to speak further and started to explain, “His Kekkei Genkai is Magnet Release–!” But she suddenly stopped. “Huh? You know?”
Seeing Mika’s surprised expression, Naruto, recalling everything Shikamaru had explained to him, smirked. “Haha… I know.”
Noting Naruto’s confidence, Kakashi asked, “Since you know his abilities, do you have a plan to defeat him?”
Naruto smiled mysteriously. “Just watch, Kakashi-sensei… I’ll show you that I’m the best!” Then he left the waiting room, leaving behind a stunned Kakashi and Mika.
…
Sunagakure Waiting Room
“It’s my turn now…” Itsuki said as he got up, preparing to leave the waiting room.
“Itsuki-san… watch out for Uzumaki Naruto’s shadow clones and Rasengan… and also his tailed beast transformation…” Shira warned him. Having been defeated by Naruto in the previous round, Shira knew well that Uzumaki Naruto was not someone to take lightly.
Itsuki nodded solemnly. “I will…” Having witnessed Naruto defeat his teammate, Shira–who in his opinion, isn’t someone that can be defeated easily–understood that fighting Naruto wouldn’t be easy.
At this time, Temari, walking into the Sunagakure waiting room, suggested thoughtfully, “Try long-range against him…”
As soon as the two Sunagakure Genins saw Temari walk in, they quickly asked, “How are you feeling?”
Temari nodded. “I’m fine…” She glanced towards the Amegakure Waiting Room with a bitter expression.
Following her gaze, Itsuki and Shira looked in the direction of the Amegakure Waiting Room and saw Samsara quietly sitting beside Raijin. Itsuki said, “She withdrew against Deidara…”
Temari, feeling conflicted and unable to accept how easily she was defeated by Samsara, sighed. “Forget it… Let’s not talk about my match. Let’s focus on yours.”
Maki, who had arrived with Temari, silently listened to Temari and Shira giving advice to Itsuki on how he might defeat Uzumaki Naruto. She didn’t interfere or add anything, knowing there was no need to. All three—Temari, Itsuki, and Shira—were more than capable of coming up with a strategy on their own.
“Uzumaki Naruto doesn’t seem to have any mastery of Genjutsu, he probably can’t throw those Rasengans, and he doesn’t seem to have many long-range ninjutsu attacks, either. So, it would be best to keep a safe distance and use long-range attacks to defeat him…” said Temari.
In his fight with Shira, Naruto had only used close-quarter combat and didn’t show any long-range attacks. Based on all the intelligence they had gathered about Naruto; it seemed he really didn’t have long-range attacks. Therefore, Temari felt that fighting from a safe distance would be the safest and most reliable option for Itsuki, who specialized in Magnet Release and was skilled at long-range combat.
Itsuki nodded, “I do plan on doing exactly that…” and with that left the Sunagakure waiting room making his way to the arena.
Comments
Liquid Shroud
Why has there been such inconsistent chapter drops for the past couple months? I understand your making some changes to the story but the bulk of it remains the same, it shouldn’t take multiple weeks at a time to translate 1 chapter….:
