Forfeit

Kankuro resolutely abstained from the competition because he did not want to expose his puppet before the great battle.

A puppeteer's fighting power largely lies in the puppets themselves, and the intimidation of a puppet is reflected in its endless array of mechanisms. It would be unwise to expose the secrets of a puppet to the enemy before a major battle.

Kankuro's decision to forfeit the Chunin Exams to keep the puppet's secret was undoubtedly a choice demonstrating a strong sense of the bigger picture.

In fact, this factor was also one of the reasons why Temari lost so decisively to Hinata.

She certainly had one or two powerful moves up her sleeve, which, if she had used them earlier, might have secured her victory. However, she held back, presumably because she didn't want to expose her fighting prowess here.

As a result, Sakura, Hinata, and the lucky Shikamaru advanced to the second round.

However, it's difficult to say whether there will be a second round.

Sakura was unaware of when Orochimaru's original Konoha Crush Plan was scheduled to take place. In the original story, the unstable Gaara unexpectedly revealed the truth about Jinchūriki, forcing Orochimaru and his group to launch the plan ahead of schedule. Perhaps the real plan was for Gaara to seize the title of First Hokage, reveal the truth about Shukaku when the Hokage approached, and thus take down the Third, leaving Konoha leaderless?

≯≯≯≯,+

In short, the Konoha Crush Plan could be launched at any time. Perhaps in the next match, or perhaps when the Chunin Ninja Exams end.

Sakura could only prepare for the worst. Considering her physical condition, she might even have to withdraw from the next match.

The final spot in the second round will be decided among Sasuke, Gaara, and Shino.

As for Dosu, who had already emerged from the first round of the preliminary rounds, he died tragically in the wild last month after courting Gaara, thus missing the chance to take the exam.

The match between these three would begin with Shino facing Gaara, and the winner would then face Sasuke.

"The fourth match will be between Gaara and Shino Aburame!"

Gaara, who had been waiting impatiently, revealed a terrifying smile.

"Finally... it's my turn!"

Gaara to himself, enunciating each word clearly.

Each word seemed to be soaked in blood, exuding a strong smell of rust.

He was more unstable than in recent days, seemingly affected by the impending major battle.

The thought of unleashing a massacre soon filled him with excitement.

A heavy, frenzied killing intent emanated from his gradually cracking lips, spreading throughout the rest area. For a moment, everyone present fell silent, even Kankuro and Temari were so frightened that they held their breath and dared not utter a sound.

Sakura frowned, subtly protecting the people behind her, and remained silent as she looked at Gaara.

Fortunately, this guy only acted out of murderous intent; he wasn't so deranged as to actually attack on the rest platform.

However, just looking at his bloodthirsty, murderous appearance, the Sand shinobi present couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, wondering if their plan could still proceed smoothly.

Judging from his expression, he probably doesn't care about the so-called plan being implemented at all!

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after Gaara left the room.

Even the usually aloof Shino couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

He was too afraid to follow Gaara up the stairs, so he climbed over the railing and tried to jump.

Sakura grabbed him and solemnly said, "Don't push yourself. If there's danger, drop the match immediately. Something's wrong with that person!"

Shino nodded solemnly.

Giving up sounds shameful and pathetic, but it's different against Gaara. If you don't give up in time, Gaara will definitely go all out. Losing a match is okay, you can try again next time, but you only have one life.

Shino and Sakura are not the type to act impulsively or recklessly; if they can't win, they accept defeat without hesitation.

In fact, even the most passionate Naruto didn't show any emotion; instead, his eyes held a hint of concern and agreement.

Shino: "I understand!" and jumped off the field.

In the end, he still died at Gaara's hands.

The entire match lasted less than a minute. Gaara entered the arena, he used a wide-range Sand Release to completely crush the insects that Shino had secretly deployed.

Without a backup plan, Shino was easily caught by Gaara's sand attack within seconds, like a turtle in a jar. Gaara Shino shouted that he was giving up, but Gaara showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he increased his Chakra, intending to crush Shino into a bloody pulp with his Sand Binding Coffin.

Genma Shiranui, Shino reacted quickly, noticed something was wrong in time, and rescued Shino.

Even so, Shino was still covered in bruises from being crushed by the sand, and in several places his skin was broken, revealing shocking bloodstains.

The Konoha Ninja present glared angrily, and Genma sternly warned Gaara not to continue fighting after he ordered the match to end, but Gaara ignored him.

He was filled with murderous intent.

He no longer cares what others think of him or what warnings they give him.

He only desires to kill!

The killing was interrupted, and the bloodlust in his chest intensified. Gaara was close to madness, and the only thought left in his mind was to kill!

His last shred of reason told him that he couldn't beat the examiner in front of him, but someone else would be coming to his death soon!

Gaara glanced coldly at Genma Shiranui expression, looking like he wanted to devour someone!

The Sand shinobi actually sent such a ninja to participate in the competition... what are their intentions?

He said coldly:

"Please Sasuke Uchiha, the contestant for the fifth match, to the stage!"

As soon as Genma finished speaking, a young man's figure suddenly appeared on the previously empty ice surface.

It was Sasuke Uchiha appeared on the field using the Body Flicker Technique.

"Tch!" Sakura and Naruto scoffed at Sasuke's flashy entrance.

Sasuke's match was the last one, so Kakashi and he readily arrived an hour late, only showing up when Sasuke's match was about to begin.

Sakura had tried to sense their Chakra several times before, but to no avail. After Sasuke entered the arena, she sensed it carefully again and quickly noticed Kakashi's presence.

She turned around and met Kakashi's gaze, who waved and greeted her with a smile.

The girl gave Kakashi a cold look and then turned away.

She hasn't even investigated Kakashi's abrupt disappearance for a month, leaving Sasuke to cook for him alone.

And even though he knew her match with Naruto was the first one, Kakashi was late and didn't come to watch. That's extreme favoritism.

Thinking about this, Sakura felt she couldn't give Kakashi a friendly look.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile wryly when he saw his favorite disciple giving him a cold shoulder. The reason he focused so much on Sasuke was because Naruto had already been reserved by Jiraiya, and Sakura would soon have Tsunade as her teacher. Sasuke was the only one left under his wing, so naturally he would pay more attention to him.

Furthermore, Sasuke is the most suitable person to inherit his Ninjutsu system.

As for why they were late, it was because since morning, he and Might Guy had each led an Anbu to patrol Konoha. Konoha was simply too large, and even knowing that Orochimaru was very likely to cause trouble, it was difficult to maintain tight defense everywhere. Konoha was currently facing a severe shortage of personnel, even in key areas, and could only make up for it by increasing mobile patrols.

He managed to bring Sasuke to the arena when he had some free time.

Before he had even sat down, he began to observe the entire venue in a habitual manner.

"One, two,... eleven, twelve. There are only three Anbu..."

Kakashi frowned slightly. The huge venue only had three Anbu. Even if you included the Third Hokage, himself, Kurenai, and Asuma, it would still be far from enough in the event of an enemy attack.

Moreover, the Third Hokage himself was likely a prime target for the enemy's attacks.

Oh right, she's on the field too... Kakashi glanced behind the Third Hokage and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Looking at the group of Elite Genin on the rest platform, especially the three members of Team 7 whom he had personally trained, they were all there.

Two Kage Level fighters, I'm Elite Jonin, and counting Sakura's three Jonin fighters, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others together have roughly the strength of an Anbu. Plus, there are several Chunin among the spectators... Well, Hiashi doesn't count; his first choice is definitely to guard the Hyuga Clan...

Kakashi secretly plotted.

All things considered, their combined combat strength is quite considerable.

Even if the Sand shinobi and Orochimaru team up, the fighting strength here can hold them off until reinforcements arrive.

Kakashi had only one last question on his mind: When would Orochimaru launch his attack?

Meanwhile, Sakura, sitting on the rest platform, had already obtained the answer to her question.

The attack is about to begin!

Because off the field, the match had only just begun, Gaara had already been beaten into a state of near-complete possession by Sasuke.

Thanks to the stimulation of his body by Lightning Release Chakra, Sasuke's speed has completely surpassed that of Lee after he was unburdened, and is in no way inferior to Lee after he opened the Third Gate!

Sakura could actually do the same speed, or even faster, but at that speed, she would easily fall into the predicament of "seeing it but not being able to react," because her dynamic vision and reaction speed were not yet up to par.

However, thanks to the enhanced dynamic vision and reaction speed provided by his Two-Tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke was able to easily master this high-speed combat.

This is the power of the Sharingan.

Even Sakura sometimes envies the Uchiha Clan's bloodline. The ability to gain power without training, the feeling of getting something for nothing, is truly intoxicating!

While the girl was still reminiscing on the rest platform, the battle off the field was already approaching its climax.

P. S. [Suddenly I feel that Sasuke isn't cool enough now, and he doesn't know how to act cool, so I lack motivation to write...]