How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

Chouji munched on the last chip with a grin, patting his belly, "See, I knew Shikamaru would do something like this."

Ino clenched her fists in frustration, "That jerk Shikamaru!"

Sakura wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Although shocked that Shikamaru turned defeat into victory, she was even more astonished that he actually forfeited. True to Shikamaru's form, he easily did what others couldn't.

But Sakura lowered her head slightly, "Next up is Sasuke's fight, but..."

Sasuke hadn't arrived yet.

Ino, taken aback, quickly offered a reassuring smile, "No worries, Sasuke will definitely show up. Don't stress about it."

But Sakura just shook her head with a smile, without responding.

Meanwhile, Kurenai's mouth dropped open in shock again, pointing incredulously at Shikamaru below, "He... forfeited?"

Asuma covered his face, "Yeah."

"He was about to win and he forfeited?" Kurenai couldn't believe it. "Even though the purpose of this match is just to see if the contestants can advance to Jonin, so winning or losing isn't that important, wouldn't winning add quite a few points?"

Asuma nodded with a bittersweet smile, "Shikamaru probably just wanted to avoid the hassle."

Kurenai was speechless. Forfeiting because it's a hassle... That's taking the Chunin Exam too lightly.

But there was nothing to be done. Shiranui Genma's decision had been made, and Shikamaru was already walking back to the prep area, enduring Temari's murderous gaze. Any objections now would be pointless.

However, Shikamaru's tactical and situational judgment had indeed surprised everyone, including Sarutobi Hiruzen watching from above.

Kazekage turned to look at Sarutobi Hiruzen: "This child's tactics, execution, and adaptability are truly worthy of the Nara clan."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly: "I've seen his previous report cards. Every subject is just on the passing line. He has never failed a subject, but he has also never been among the top students."

In Naruto's class at the ninja school, the last place was Uzumaki Naruto, whose scores in all subjects were often in single digits, occasionally breaking through to zero. The second last was Akimichi Chouji, whose answers always included food, but his scores could occasionally break into double digits. Then there was the third last, Nara Shikamaru.

A child who always hovered around the passing line, he would always fill out the entire test paper during exams and then sleep on the desk. He didn't care about the results, but strangely, no matter what the test was, his scores were always just above the passing line, usually by one or two points, which puzzled Iruka.

Iruka once thought Shikamaru was a genius, but after some testing, he found out that wasn't the case and could only attribute it to luck.

Iruka couldn't see it, but Sarutobi Hiruzen definitely could, which is why he was willing to train this generation's Ino-Shika-Cho, even letting his own son be their teacher.

Of course, that's not the main point. The main point is that due to some foolish actions years ago, the Uchiha clan, Hyuga clan, Aburame clan, Inuzuka clan, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio all distanced themselves from the political core of Konohagakure, leaving the power to a group of old men.

At first, Sarutobi Hiruzen enjoyed the benefits, but as these clans moved further from the political center, they even started to reject the Konohagakure government. As Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was restrained by the Hokage advisors, unable to do anything, leading to a new generation in Konohagakure that almost had no subordinates loyal to him.

It's quite funny, as a Hokage, the highest authority in the village, he only had old soldiers under him. He could barely rely on the Konohagakure ninja school to cultivate some loyal followers, but what happened?

Heh, the Hyuga clan sent Hinata to the school, claiming she was the Patriarch's daughter, but in reality, she was almost abandoned by the Hyuga clan due to her lack of talent. Hyuga Neji was from the branch family. And the rest?

A bunch of nobodies.

The core members of Ino-Shika-Cho were all trained within their own clan, and these three were the ones Sarutobi Hiruzen managed to secure with great effort.

The Aburame clan distanced themselves from the political center and turned to the Root. The Uchiha clan was wiped out in a coup. The Inuzuka clan didn't even bother with him, sending Kiba to the ninja school and then ignoring him. Their attitude was clear: if you don't like it, we'll take Kiba back too.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, each family has its own business, so they don't care about your threats. On the contrary, without the Nara clan's herbs, Konohagakure would have to import even basic supplies.

There are also other families, like the Hatake and Kurama clans. Now, they either hide or join the Root. As a Hokage, he doesn't even have the support of a major clan.

Oh, there's also the Sarutobi clan.

Now, the situation in Konohagakure is that the old folks at the top don't want to give up power and are suppressing other clans. These clans think, "If you don't like us, we'll leave and train our own successors."

As a result, Konohagakure doesn't have any outstanding new ninjas because the new generation is all being trained by their own families.

Sarutobi Hiruzen is also very tired. He thought this might happen, but he hoped it wouldn't. After all, these clans are part of Konohagakure, right? So, he turned a blind eye and let the so-called Root mess up Konohagakure.

If it weren't for the Nine-Tails still under his control, he wouldn't want to continue being Hokage at all.

He deserves it.

Now, Shikamaru has admitted defeat. It looks embarrassing, but it's even more embarrassing for the Hokage. He can't even scold Shikamaru because Shikamaru doesn't need to listen to him. Shikamaru's direct superior is Asuma, but the real authority over the Ino-Shika-Cho trio lies with their original clans.

Why is Konohagakure so weak now? It's because of this. Sarutobi Hiruzen has lost all credibility. The other clans don't believe his lies, so when war starts, unless all of Sarutobi Hiruzen's men are dead, these clans won't send their real forces.

Otherwise, if our experts die, won't Sarutobi Hiruzen take the chance to destroy us? Do you believe it? The examples of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans are still there. These clans aren't stupid.

Of course, I'm not saying this to criticize Sarutobi Hiruzen. After all, only those big clans can see these things clearly. Naruto's generation doesn't know about this. Shikamaru probably knows, but he doesn't care. It doesn't matter to him who is in power.

He leaned against the railing of the preparation area, his face still bleeding from his wounds. Next to him, Temari looked at him angrily, while Naruto kept criticizing him, looking very disappointed, which annoyed him a lot.

Finally, Kurama couldn't stand it anymore and mocked Naruto: "You laugh at him for losing the match, but he won in life. Unlike you, who let the duck fly away even when it was in your mouth."

If it weren't for a 'matchmaker' in the physical sense, you'd never find a wife in this life.

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