"After training with Sensei for three years, the village really hasn't changed at all!"
Standing at Konoha's entrance, Sasuke looked excitedly at the familiar streets and couldn't help sighing.
"Konoha is so much busier than the other villages. A big city really is different!"
Karin and Jugo beside him were also looking around in surprise.
Just then, a familiar figure appeared.
Suigetsu, wearing a Jonin uniform, was lazily leaning against a pillar by the roadside.
Sasuke was slightly startled. He instinctively activated his Sharingan and asked, "Suigetsu? How did you get here before me?"
Karin and Jugo looked just as shocked.
They had followed Sasuke the whole way using Flying Thunder God. They had traveled at incredible speed and couldn't understand how Suigetsu had beaten them here.
Suigetsu grinned, showing two rows of sharp teeth.
"Sasuke, you challenged Sensei to a race, but you still lost. Sensei and I got here ages ago. I even took a nap."
"What?!" Karin cried out.
Sasuke's expression changed slightly before he let out a deep sigh.
It looked like he was still nowhere near his teacher's speed.
"Where's Sensei? We need to report to the Hokage Building.", Sasuke asked.
Suigetsu nodded.
"Sensei's at the Hokage Building."
So Sasuke took Karin and Jugo straight there.
The moment he stepped inside, Sasuke suddenly sensed something and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
The next second, a golden figure lunged at him from the side.
Naruto had launched a sneak attack.
Sasuke flashed aside, and the two immediately exchanged a brief but intense series of blows.
Their fists cut through the air, and clashing chakra sent bright sparks flying.
"Damn it, Sasuke! It's been so long, and you've gotten a lot stronger too!"
Naruto laughed, his face full of excitement and fighting spirit.
Sasuke curled his lip and glanced at him.
"Idiot Naruto. Doesn't feel like you've improved that much..."
Naruto instantly exploded with anger. His eyes looked ready to spit fire.
"Want me to use Nine-Tails Mode and settle this with you?!"
Sasuke snorted, sounding slightly dismissive.
"Without the Nine-Tails, what are you even?"
Just as Naruto was about to activate Nine-Tails Mode and teach Sasuke a lesson...
A low, helpless voice suddenly sounded.
"Alright, you two. It's rare that you've finally met again. Can't you settle down for once?"
Yukio walked out from the end of the hallway, looking helplessly at his two rivals.
Three years had passed, and Yukio had grown much taller.
He was tall and handsome.
Sasuke's eyebrows shot up when he saw him.
"Yukio... You look just like the Sage of Six Paths!"
He wasn't joking.
The Yukio standing before him looked far too much like the Sage of Six Paths.
Yukio smiled slightly.
"Everyone in the village says that. I'm used to it now. Alright, you two, stop messing around. Let's go inside."
Naruto and Sasuke both crossed their arms, snorted, and turned their heads away from each other.
The moment Karin saw Yukio, her eyes lit up.
'Whoa... He's so handsome! An absolute top-tier handsome guy. He looks so much like Sensei... No, even more like the Sage of Six Paths!'
Just then, an excited, trembling voice rang out.
"Sasuke!!"
Sakura rushed over with hearts practically in her eyes. The longing she had kept buried for years burst out all at once.
Looking at the Sasuke who had finally returned, her heart pounded wildly.
Sasuke looked at her and forced a polite smile.
"Sakura. Long time no see."
Sakura froze for a moment.
Then her cheeks quickly turned red, and her heart started pounding.
'Sasuke never smiled at me before... But after coming back from training, he actually smiled at me?'
'Did my figure get better?'
'Did I become prettier?'
'Does Sasuke like me now?'
Looking at Sakura, who had already fallen into her own fantasy, Sasuke couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.
Haruno Sakura is still the same... such a loser girl. That was just a polite smile.
Seeing this scene, Karin's face immediately darkened with jealousy.
She looked Sakura up and down and couldn't help thinking, 'So this is Sasuke's old teammate? She looks so dumb... Wide forehead, flat chest. What does she have that's better than me?'
Sakura also noticed Karin's completely undisguised stare.
Their eyes met, and both of their expressions darkened.
'Who is this woman?'
After that, everyone entered the Hokage's office together.
As soon as they walked in, they saw Minato Namikaze sitting in the Hokage's seat with his usual gentle expression.
Arisu was casually sitting in a chair off to the side, as though he had been waiting for them for quite some time.
Kakashi was also standing nearby. Beneath his silver hair, his visible eye curved into a smile.
"Lord Seventh!"
Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and the others bowed slightly.
Minato smiled and waved his hand.
"Sasuke, you're back. It's been a long time. You've grown much taller. It seems Teacher Arisu taught you many things."
Then he looked toward Arisu, respect clear in his voice.
"Teacher Arisu is also my teacher. Back then, he and Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, were known together as 'Konoha's Two Lights.' Going by our teacher's line, Sasuke and I are actually fellow disciples."
Sasuke smiled and casually glanced at Naruto.
The look in his eyes clearly said, 'Your father and I are from the same generation. So what should you call me?'
"Show-off Sasuke."
Naruto curled his lip.
Minato continued smiling, "Alright. It's time to see how much you've all improved over these past three years. Sasuke, Naruto, Haruno Sakura... Team 7, assemble. Prepare for your test."
As he spoke, he looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi froze, then hurriedly waved his hands.
"Teacher Minato, um... I'd better pass. I don't have much chakra to begin with. I probably can't handle it."
There was no way he was going to spar with these monsters.
The last time he fought Naruto, he had been forced to use Kamui to transfer Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb. The chakra it consumed had nearly drained him dry. Even now, thinking about it still made him uneasy.
Minato also showed a helpless expression.
It was true.
In all of Konoha, the only people suitable to spar with these three now were probably himself and Teacher Arisu.
Danzo, Hiruzen, and the other old veterans were still strong, but it wasn't appropriate to have them fighting anymore.
Just then, Arisu smiled slightly and made a suggestion.
"I'll do it myself. It'll be a good chance to see how strong they've become."
As soon as he said that, everyone in the office looked surprised.
None of them had expected Teacher Arisu to volunteer personally.
Yukio's expression didn't change.
He had always felt that his father's strength was extraordinary.
Minato couldn't help asking, "Teacher... you're already sixty years old. Are you sure?"
Although Arisu still looked young, handsome, and carried himself with exceptional grace, he was actually maintaining his appearance through the Strength of a Hundred Seal. His real age had already reached sixty.
Of course, no one present knew that Arisu's true age had actually exceeded a thousand years.