In Naruto: Reborn With Talent

And as the break between the matches started, Rei focused on keeping Konan's sullen ire at bay by cuddling and improving her mood with tender kisses.

Unlike the fluffy mood between them, the Kage Box was silent as a grave after the Kages witnessed the previous fight.

Orochimaru had a hard time keeping himself from outwardly showing his orgasmic mood during the last fight so right now, he was just silently enjoying the residual joy.

The more power Temari showed, the more she unveiled the real prowess of the Magnetic Release, the more he regretted not proceeding with his original plan of assassinating the Kazekage and impersonating her.

Temari was a perfect vessel!

Powerful chakra, body in superb physical shape and extremely used to elemental ninjutsu, an incredible bloodline that, he had to admit, he underestimated quite a lot before witnessing to what heights it could reach in competent hands.

She was the wet dream of any body-snatching madma-... ahem, any civilized gentleman with a penchant to dabble in science.

Oh, oh, oh! And the Uzumaki's girl show of recreating Uchiha's Susanoo with her clan bloodline! That was pure gold! He almost moaned from elation when he saw that!

Yes, it was unfinished and half-assed at this stage but the girl basically proved it could be done!

Orochimaru found it really hard to not drool at that sight. Wasn't this what he wished for since Danzo showed him the scroll holding the information on the secret evolution of Sharingan? The reason why the Uchiha clan was really feared by those strong enough to be in the know?

If Susanoo could be replicated to this extent... what's to say other techniques like Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu could not be replicated either!?

This! This was the reason why he was so obsessed with ninjutsu! Breaking the notion of possibility with nothing but chakra alone! He wanted... no! He needed this!

Plans on how to kidnap these two girls started sprouting in his head like a weed. He didn't care about the power they showed in the arena. He was confident enough that with his superior intellect, he could come up with a plan to defeat them. He was not a Sannin for nothing!

Needless to say, if Rei heard his thoughts, he would snort and say that his delusions knew no bounds.

And while Orochimaru was reliving his boyish wet dream, the other Kages were feeling quite troubled because of what they just witnessed.

Shikaku gained a new understanding of why Tsunade put her foot down and decided to tweak the matchmaking to her own liking, not taking anyone's opinion into consideration.

At first, he thought she just wanted to give herself better stakes at winning some bet... which, unknown to him, was the real reason... but now he could see that Tsunade's foresight was incredible.

From the power levels he saw throughout the finals, the matchmaking was done incredibly well and people around the same level fought with each other. And considering there were monsters like the two last girls mixed up with lambs like... ugh, like the Konoha genins, it was a miracle that no match had a massive curb-stomping so far.

Shikaku gained a newfound respect for Tsunade for managing to accomplish this feat.

He didn't even want to imagine how he would have felt if Shikamaru was to face that Suna girl, Temari. That would have been a disaster! There was no way in Shikaku's mind that his lazy boy would be able to handle her.

In that regard, he was extremely grateful to Tsunade.

Frankly, Shikaku did not care that the two girls were definitely not genin-level kunoichi. As long as Konoha did not come to harm, he could care less if they trashed the arena. He also didn't want to reprimand either Uzushio or Suna as both were allies of Konoha but...

He was the host here and that position came with certain duties and the need to uphold an impartial image.

That's why he turned to Pakura before lazily asking in a disinterested tone, "Lady Kazekage... would you mind explaining why you sent someone far above genin level to compete in these exams?"

Shikaku knew his question was utter bullshit because Kages usually sent their strongest genins to foreign villages' Chunin Exam and these were seldom genin level ninjas. But for the sake of appearances, he asked it. Just to make sure the Tsuchikage and Raikage would feel much less threatened.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Uzushio's representative was not in the Kage Box so he did not need to ask for her intentions right now.

Pakura amusedly raised her eyebrow at Shikaku as she quipped, "What are you talking about, Hokage? The girl is bonafide genin rank! I can't see what's the problem with her participating in this fine event!" She exclaimed with feigned lack of understanding that fooled no one.

But... 'Heh. So this is the angle you want to play it?' Shikaku inwardly mused, thinking it smart. After all, as long as officially the girl was still a genin, there was nothing any of the other Kages could openly do. Temari's participation would be fair.

"Demoting your high-ranking ninja just to show off in Chunin Exams... have you no shame, woman? Even we would not fall so low." Onoki gruffly grumbled under his nose, purposefully loud enough for others to hear.

There was a reason why no Kage ever did something similar to what Onoki just described. It would drag the village's reputation through the mud in the eyes of the potential clients.

Funnily enough, normal people actually expected a degree of honor from ninjas because it gave them a sense of safety that the ninjas would not abandon them mid-way through the mission. That's why the villages strived to show a positive facade and avoid seeming deceptive during these kinds of events.

The darkness should be left buried deep enough for the normal people to not discover it, after all.

"Demoting?" Pakura smirked, "I think your brain no longer works so well in your old age, Tsuchikage. I have never demoted Temari. She just didn't get a promotion yet." She finished innocently and Onoki wanted to spit blood at the shamelessly smug woman.

She basically in a roundabout way just admitted this was all planned!

And while the Tsuchikage had a hard time keeping his blood pressure down due to the audacity of the Kazekage, the Raikage grunted, "Hmph. What else to expect from the woman who pretended to be dead for years before she walked into her former village, murdered her former Kage, and took his place."

His tone was full of contempt and Pakura's eyebrow twitched at his sentence. It was provocative enough to make even Ringo snap out of her thoughts and turn towards the conversation.

The tension in the air increased and Shikaku knew this was not going well. He was there to moderate these big-shots and prevent them from starting a fight but... 'Ain't they simply ignoring me?' He inwardly groaned.

This was why Kages had to be extremely powerful ninjas. Without that, getting even basic respect from other Kages was hard. Unfortunately, he was not in this category.

As he pondered what to do, a voice resounded through the Kage Box, making him feel as if salvation came early.

"Heh~, I see you are still the same petty bastard, shit flinger." Tsunade jeered at Onoki before turning to Raikage, "And you should keep your mouth shut about being a deceitful piece of shit because that description fits you quite well too. Hyuuga incident, remember?" She snorted and turned away, not even waiting for a reaction from him.

"The matter is closed. Temari's documents are all fine and that's that. Now then, tell me, how did you like the show?" Tsunade grinned at the disgruntled and probably offended Kages. She thought asking this would be interesting and she was not left disappointed.

Just... The first answer came from the least expected person.

"Kukuku~, Tsunade-chan..."