Konoha and Sand: The First Exam

"You are very strong, but your companions are far inferior to you... Even if you can stop me, your companions cannot stop my teammates!"

Gaara's calm, unwavering voice, treading on the yellow sand, revealed his immense confidence in himself.

"Sunagakure and Konoha are ultimately allies... I hope you can make a rational choice. You have three minutes to consider."

He held up three fingers and shook them.

"Three minutes!"

Temari smiled, but she didn't put away the huge Iron Fan in her hand, clearly ready to make a move.

Similarly, Kankuro had a puppet perched on his shoulder, ready to fly out and fight at any moment.

Hand over your number plate, or don't.

Two choices, two outcomes.

Senju Sayuri's face was gloomy. This was the first time in her life that she had experienced what it felt like to be threatened from a superior position.

She was very upset and extremely unhappy.

She instinctively clenched her fists, veins bulging on her snow-white skin, as she desperately suppressed the anger in her heart.

Compared to her good-tempered father, her personality is more like that of her aunt Tsunade; her impulsive nature has earned her no shortage of reprimands from her father.

"Don't get angry, don't get angry..."

While controlling his anger, he pondered whether there was a third option. Three minutes—not a long time, but truly short...

"Thirty seconds left."

Kankuro suddenly spoke, a repulsive smile appearing on his face, which was covered in purple patterns.

The puppet on his shoulder made a clicking sound, like a threat.

"I······"

"Hey, Rindou, Miki, you're here too!"

A greeting suddenly came from behind Sheath and the others.

"Shuyuan!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

Exclamations of surprise rang out one after another.

The three people from Shuyuan arrived.

Since the disastrous events of the first day, Shuyuan and the others have gradually lost much of their focus on the Chunin Ninja Exams.

They didn't deliberately collect more number plates. After collecting the required three, they strolled leisurely towards the highest stone tower, taking a picnic along the way. Even so, there were always some clueless guys who would offer up their contribution.

And so it wasn't until the very last day, which is today, that they finally arrived at their leisure.

I never expected to encounter such a dramatic scene upon arrival.

"Time is up."

Amidst a cacophony of greetings, Gaara quietly uttered his ultimatum, while Senju Sayuri, distracted by the arrival of Shuyuan and the others, failed to react in time.

The yellow sand beneath Gaara's feet, which had been slowly writhing, once again went into a frenzy.

"Sand Waterfall Flow".

He swung his right hand down towards the location where Senju Sayuri and the others were.

The earth shook.

The solid mountain rocks instantly shattered into rolling sand, and a huge sand waterfall more than 30 meters wide rushed down.

"Run!"

"Aaaaaah!!!"

"Wood Release: Wood Sea Birth"

The reactions from the crowd were chaotic.

This time, Senju Sayuri was two seconds too late in striking, and the tender sapling, before it could even sprout and grow, was crushed by the quicksand.

Seeing the green patch that was quickly swallowed up as soon as it appeared, a look of despair appeared in the eyes of Senju Sayuri and the other six.

"Earth Release, Earth Tremor Core!"

The five or six meters between Senju Sayuri and the others and the quicksand suddenly became an insurmountable chasm. A deep pit, thirty meters long and five meters wide, continued to sink downwards, swallowing up all the yellow sand that rolled down.

Not a single grain of sand could cross that short distance of five or six meters.

The quicksand filled the deep pit completely.

Shuyuan then released the seal, and the sinking pit finally stopped sinking any deeper.

"Hey, you carrying a gourd, let me play with you."

Shuyuan stretched her arms, full of fighting spirit.

He sensed a threat from the guy carrying the gourd, and he was excited. Apart from encountering the monsters Senju Zen and Uchiha Genso on the first day, Gaara was the first person he had met in the past few days who could make him feel threatened.

However, the other party's reaction was unexpected.

"Temari, Kankuro, let's go."

Gaara glanced at Shuyuan, the yellow sand beneath his feet rolling as he sped towards the stone tower atop the mountain, carrying Temari, Kankuro.

"Please call me 'sister,' okay? It's so rude to call me by my first name."

Temari complained, and a strange look flashed across Kankuro's face, but he didn't say anything, letting Ryusuna lead them forward.

Once they were a hundred meters away and had darted into a pile of rocks above, Temari no longer concealed her surprise.

"Gaara, why... did you suddenly leave? This doesn't match the initial plan..."

Hearing Temari's question, Gaara remained unmoved, his cold voice still calm and expressionless.

"The new redhead is strong, at least on par with that woman who uses Wood Release... I can suppress one of them, but I can't stop both of them, and either of them has the ability to seriously injure you and Kankuro... If either of you is killed, I will also lose my qualification to participate in the next exam."

He paused, his sharp gaze sweeping over Temari and Kankuro. "This is what truly goes against the plan. Don't forget, our primary objective is to defeat the Cloud Ninja, not Konoha."

The Sand Village team participating in this Chunin Ninja Exams received orders before entering the arena.

Regardless of the type of exam, the primary goal is to weaken the Cloud Ninja as much as possible, with Gaara as the core, to send him to the final stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams, and to make a name for the Sand Ninja by stepping on the Cloud Ninja's heads.

If conditions permit, then giving Konoha examinees a moderate blow is also part of the plan.

Temari blinked and remained silent. She had always trusted her Gaara's ability to sense danger. The three siblings had carried out many missions together, and Gaara's senses had proven his ability to escape danger on several occasions.

Furthermore, the fact that he was able to block Gaara's Sand Waterfall using Earth Release shows that he is no ordinary person.

However, she secretly complained, since they knew the primary target was the Cloud Ninja, why bother chasing after a few Konoha Ninja? They'd wasted over four days...

Of course, I dared not say these words aloud; I just thought about them in my heart and then buried them deep inside.

She muttered a few words and then shut her mouth.

Gaara was unaware of his sister's inner thoughts; beneath his calm exterior, the turmoil within him lingered for a long time.

He didn't tell Temari and Kankuro that the aura that Uzumaki Shuyuan revealed when she stopped Ryusuna was actually stronger than Senju Sayuri's. Even he himself wasn't confident of winning in a one-on-one fight.

"Konoha's genius... Is he the one Father was talking about?"

He couldn't help but think about it, but he wasn't discouraged. Instead, a fierce fighting spirit welled up from the bottom of his heart. He would have a proper showdown in the next exam!

In real battles, situations are ever-changing; there is no absolute difference in strength, and victory or defeat is not predetermined. (To be continued)