Chapter 182 : Upgraded JōNin, Tsunade’s Selfishness
Gaara thought to himself, How could it be him?
Fuyi was one of Sunagakure’s higher-ranking officials. He had always supported Gaara in the past and was even regarded by Gaara as one of the few people he deeply trusted.
And now, he had tried to assassinate him.
It was difficult for Gaara to accept.
But this was Gaara’s business, so Riku simply smiled and said, "It seems like you know this person."
Gaara nodded but didn’t speak.
Riku continued, "Since he’s from your village, it wouldn’t be right for us to interfere. This is an internal matter of Sunagakure."
Gaara nodded again.
Clearly, he didn’t want Konoha’s shinobi involved in this incident either.
Riku smiled and said, "Then that saves us some trouble. Guy-sensei, Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei—let’s head out. No need for us to remain here in the examination room."
Just as Riku was about to leave, a girl approached him—Fu, who had been standing off to the side. She looked at him and said, "You’re Riku from Konoha, right? I want to be friends with you."
Riku glanced at her. She seemed to enjoy making friends.
But he could tell—Fu was a Jinchūriki who could fully transform into her tailed beast without losing consciousness. She had complete control over her tailed beast.
However, her strength was still far too weak. Even in full transformation, she couldn’t display the full power of the Seven Tails.
In the end, she was captured by one of the Akatsuki’s senior members—it was a shame.
Riku nodded. "You’re the Seven Tails’ Jinchūriki?"
Fu froze. "How do you know that?"
Riku smirked slightly. Just earlier, both she and Gaara had been radiating tailed beast chakra—did she really think he was blind?
But instead of pointing it out, Riku simply said, "I saw it earlier."
"I didn’t expect Taki to send a Jinchūriki to take the Chūnin Exams. But I must say, your control over your tailed beast seems much better than Gaara’s when he took the exam last time."
Gaara, standing nearby, had been distracted by thoughts of Fuyi, but his name being mentioned brought him back to the conversation.
To be fair, Gaara had struggled to control Shukaku back then.
Fu smiled brightly. "Seven Tails is really nice."
Seeing her smile like that, Riku could tell that she had a good relationship with her tailed beast.
That was rare.
Still, Riku didn’t feel like getting too deep into conversation with Fu, so he just smiled and said, "Do your best in the exam. We’re heading out."
With that, he left with Asuma and the others.
Fu watched Riku’s departing figure and smiled. "Riku’s a really good person. Even after knowing I’m a Jinchūriki, he wasn’t scared at all."
Gaara interrupted, "Of course not. He can suppress a tailed beast. Why would he be afraid of you, a Jinchūriki?"
In truth, Gaara and Fu had a good relationship. Both of them were Jinchūriki, and Gaara admired Fu’s optimistic and cheerful nature.
Earlier, when Gaara’s tailed beast chakra had been disturbed, it was Shukaku who had sent a distress signal to the Seven Tails.
The tailed beasts actually had a fairly decent relationship with each other.
Well, except for Shukaku and Kurama. To be precise, Kurama didn’t get along with any of the other eight tailed beasts.
Kurama, the strongest among them, looked down on the rest—he thought they were just weak fragments of himself.
After leaving the Devil Desert with Asuma and the others, Riku took time to rest. What happened next was up to Sunagakure to handle.
When Riku first sensed Gaara’s tailed beast chakra being stripped away, he had truly believed the Akatsuki had arrived.
But that hadn’t been the case.
In the days that followed, Riku lived a peaceful and uneventful life.
Aside from escorting the Konoha examinees to the exam site, he spent his time either chatting with Guy and the others outside or meditating alone in his hotel room.
Riku honestly enjoyed that kind of lifestyle.
But the environment in Sunagakure left much to be desired. If he had to live here for too long, it would become unbearable.
Even though the second round of the exams had been interrupted, Sunagakure still held the third round.
They couldn’t cancel the Chūnin Exams just because of Fuyi. That would be a huge blow to the village’s reputation.
Riku ended up staying in Sunagakure for over a month.
He had little to do during that time, which led to him spending more time with the Sand Siblings—and their relationship improved considerably.
Especially Temari. She no longer looked at Riku like he was a dangerous monster.
At the very least, she could remain calm around him now.
Because of their interactions over the past month, the distance between them had narrowed.
After the exams concluded, Riku finally brought the Konoha examinees back home.
He really didn’t want to stay in the Land of Wind any longer.
Not all of the Land of Wind was desert. While 70% of the territory was desert, the remaining 30% had livable environments.
Most of the population lived in that 30%.
Sunagakure, however, was located in the desert due to their specialization in Wind Style and sand-based techniques.
When Riku and the team returned to Konoha, they headed to the Hokage’s office.
Inside were Riku, Asuma, Guy, Kurenai, and the examinees from this year’s Chūnin Exams, all facing Tsunade.
Tsunade looked at the list in her hand and smiled. "I’ve already reviewed your performance in Sunagakure. Those whose names I call can be promoted to Chūnin."
Lee and the others held their breath with anticipation. This time, they were finally going to be promoted. They wouldn’t have to be separated from Riku anymore.
Tsunade started, "Rock Lee."
Lee clenched his fists in excitement. If they weren’t in the Hokage’s office, he might’ve jumped up and shouted.
"Tenten."
Tenten was also thrilled to hear her name.
Tsunade ignored their excitement and continued reading down the list.
Eventually, it was clear—out of the nine candidates who took the exam, all were promoted to Chūnin except for Neji.
Lee couldn’t help but ask, confused, "Lady Tsunade, what about Neji? He performed the best this time. Without him, we wouldn’t have passed the second round at all!"
It was true. Before the sandstorm even hit, they had faced countless challenges. If it hadn’t been for Neji’s leadership and Byakugan, they might not have survived. And during Gaara’s rescue, it had been Neji who led the charge.
It didn’t make sense that he wasn’t promoted.
But Neji didn’t seem upset. After all, Shikamaru had lost to Temari and still became a Chūnin.
Sasuke had fought spectacularly in the past but hadn’t been promoted to Jonin either.
So Neji believed there had to be a reason.
He trusted Tsunade’s judgment.
Tsunade glanced between Neji and Riku, then said, "Neji. Riku. Come forward."
The two of them froze.
Riku didn’t understand—what did this have to do with him?
Neji wondered if he’d done something wrong.
The two of them stepped forward.
Tsunade looked at them seriously.
"Given your outstanding performance in Sunagakure, your role in protecting Gaara, and your success in maintaining the alliance between our two villages, I’ve decided—Hyuga Neji and Riku, you will both be promoted to Jonin."
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