Great Sandstorm

Hidden Sand Village.

The Demon Desert was dangerous because it contained massive sandstorms that meant certain death once they swallowed you.

If one was caught in a massive sandstorm by accident, survival was extremely difficult.

But since this was an examination, Hidden Sand Village's reconnaissance teams had always kept the Demon Desert under long-range surveillance and alert.

If a sandstorm formed, they would intervene.

At this moment.

Elder Fuji of Hidden Sand Village stood atop a dune, looking down over the entire examination grounds.

His gaze swept over Hidden Sand Village's stronghold, where Gaara was.

Fa Yi had already entered the field. Next, he needed to give Gaara freedom of movement and lure him out of the stronghold.

He could deploy a barrier that interfered with long-range sensing.

If long-range sensing failed, they would be unable to predict the sandstorm in advance.

Elder Fuji calculated when the sandstorm would arrive and formed hand seals.

A wave of energy spread out from him.

Far away at Hidden Sand Village's stronghold, the reconnaissance team had no idea that their long-range sensing had been sealed off by a barrier.

After a while.

A massive sandstorm that blotted out the sky began sweeping toward all the examinees.

The sandstorm covered the heavens and earth, dyeing the entire sky a dim yellow.

It moved like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, crushing forward in a frenzy.

It was nearing the examination grounds.

Elder Fuji saw the barrier break and looked toward Hidden Sand Village's stronghold.

So, what would you do?

The headquarters should be in complete chaos by now, shouldn't it?

At that moment, the sand sphere in the air that monitored the entire desert suddenly rippled on a massive scale.

The reconnaissance team shouted in panic, "A massive sandstorm has suddenly appeared!"

Kankuro, standing on the platform, was furious. "Why didn't you notice it earlier!?"

The reconnaissance team hurriedly explained, "Because we didn't detect anything abnormal before."

Several other reconnaissance team members immediately chimed in, "Mm, we didn't detect anything on our end either."

"Could someone be interfering with long-range sensing?"

"For example, deploying a barrier that disrupts normal sensing."

Kankuro's expression turned grave. "Could it be them...?"

Temari, beside him, reminded him, "More importantly, we should help the examinees first."

Right now, Kankuro only worried that the sandstorm had been caused by the opposition.

He was not particularly concerned about the examinees. "The examinees' survival abilities are part of the test too, aren't they?"

Temari frowned. "But this sandstorm is ridiculously huge. If everyone dies, we won't be able to explain ourselves either."

Kankuro clicked his tongue through gritted teeth. "What a troublesome bunch."

Kankuro then announced to the people behind him, "The second round of the examination is suspended for now. Guide the examinees to the shelters."

He then said to two jonin, "I'll leave the Fifth Kazekage to you two. He'll definitely insist on going out to rescue them personally."

Temari added, "You absolutely cannot let him leave."

"Also, report the information here to the Fourth Kazekage as quickly as possible."

"Yes!"

Everyone then put on clothing designed to protect against wind and sand, with Kankuro and Temari leading the way.

"Are you all ready!?"

"Yes!"

Both groups had equipped themselves and were ready to guide the examinees.

Kankuro ordered, "Teams One, Two, and Three, come with me!"

Temari took over, "The other teams, follow my command!"

"Keep up!"

Temari opened the sealed gates and led the Hidden Sand Village ninja rushing out.

Meanwhile, Gaara looked at the sandstorm outside the window, seemingly deep in thought.

Two jonin stood outside his door, there to prevent Gaara from leaving.

The reconnaissance team members were also flustered. "We actually failed to detect such a massive sandstorm. Who is interfering with us!?"

"Let's hope nothing goes wrong."

"Yeah."

Hidden Sand Village.

Kazekage's Office.

An Anbu knocked and entered.

"Fourth Kazekage-sama, this is bad. A massive sandstorm has erupted in the Demon Desert."

"Someone has also blocked the reconnaissance team's sensing. The sandstorm is now heading toward the chunin taking the examination."

Rasa, who had been handling official business, raised his head. "Where is Gaara?"

A subordinate replied, "The Fifth Kazekage is in the stronghold and has not gone out."

"Temari and Kankuro have already led a team out for rescue."

As he spoke, the Anbu placed a detailed scroll on Rasa's desk.

Rasa picked up the scroll and glanced through it.

He felt uneasy, as though something bad was about to happen.

At the back mountain of Hidden Sand Village, Chiyo and Ebizo were still fishing.

However, Chiyo's hook now had bait on it.

Though Ebizo was advanced in age, he had spent the past few years cultivating another group of people to serve as his eyes and ears.

"Report!"

A voice rang out.

Ebizo opened his eyes. "Come in."

A Hidden Sand Village ninja entered and handed the intelligence to Ebizo.

Ebizo opened it, then passed it to Chiyo beside him.

"There's been a change outside."

Chiyo took the information and learned of the changes at the examination grounds.

"Why has an unexpected complication arisen?"

Scorpion had sent word that Obito would dispatch someone to capture Gaara together with Scorpion's group.

Scorpion had planned to ambush the person Obito sent along with Kakuzu.

But the intelligence now showed that only someone from Hidden Sand Village could have used such a method.

Could this be Elder Fuji's doing?

"Ebizo, I'll go see what's happening."

Ebizo lifted his eyelids and looked at Chiyo's worried expression.

"Go. Be careful."

The sandstorm swept through.

Nearly all the examinees were trapped where they stood.

Forget moving—even opening their eyes was difficult.

From time to time, a few larger stones would fly out and strike an examinee, knocking them straight to the ground.

At first, the Hidden Sand Village ninja were quite pleased. "Haha, a sandstorm. This gives us Hidden Sand Village people an advantage."

But the sandstorm only grew larger. Even the Hidden Sand Village ninja found every step difficult.

The Hidden Sand Village ninja who had just been so smug could only shut their mouths.

Inside the stronghold, the guards stationed outside Gaara's room.

As they chatted and watched the raging wind and sand outside the window, they sighed.

"This is really serious."

"It's been a long time since we've seen such a massive sandstorm."

"Yeah. I wonder if the examinees are all right."

"Let's hope they're safe."

As the two chatted, one of them suddenly said, "Where is Kazekage-sama?"

They hurriedly looked inside through the window in the door.

They saw Gaara sitting calmly in his chair, watching the wind and sand rage outside.

"It's fine. He's very calm."

"As long as he doesn't want to go out, it'll be fine."

Temari and Kankuro had ordered them to keep a close watch over Gaara.

After all, the situation outside was unclear. It might even be aimed at Gaara.

But they did not know that, from an angle they could not see, the grains of sand on Gaara's body were continuously falling to the ground.