Retreat

In his haste, Shikamaru only managed to shout once before immediately turning his attention back to his feet.

The ground vibrations greatly interfered with his Body Flicker Technique, but fortunately, his basic skills were quite solid. He fell from a height, braving the impact of the Wind Blade, and managed to avoid injuring his ankles.

The crisis was not over yet; several broken trees fell one after another.

The situation was exactly like the trap originally designed for the enemy; unexpectedly, they themselves were about to encounter the same thing.

Fortunately, Choji stepped forward again at this moment.

All the fat in his body burned wildly, unleashing the maximum power of his Expansion Jutsu.

Standing ten meters tall beside his two teammates, he let out a low growl, caught the tree with both hands, and carefully tossed it aside. Boom!

"Wow..."

Ino cried out in pain.

Her agility was slightly lacking; she first suffered a minor ankle sprain, and then the flying pebbles cut her calf, making Shikamaru, who was watching, feel that things were in very bad shape.

"Oh no! Ino is injured!"

Shikamaru was anxious. Such a powerful Wind Release attack was completely unexpected, and his decision had put the team in danger.

This time, he truly understood how important his father's previous warnings were.

No matter how intelligent you are, you can't predict everything, especially in the unpredictable world of ninja battles.

The enemy will catch up soon, and he can't abandon his comrades and run away. What should he do...?

Whoosh whoosh whoosh--

The Ino-Shika-Cho Sunagakure, their faces full of anger, caught up and quickly reached them in a few leaps.

"You wretched bastard, die!"

Feeling tricked Kankuro immediately pulled out Crow.

A humanoid puppet with three eyes, four arms, and a tattered gray cloak flew out from behind him and quickly approached Shikamaru and his companions under his control.

"It's Puppeteer! This is bad!" Shikamaru bit his lip.

The puppet's traps and Hidden Weapons are extremely difficult to defend against, and they have a long attack range. These lethal weapons are likely to be coated with deadly poison.

Their squad lacked sufficient defensive capabilities, and their mobility was further limited by their injuries. If they didn't take action, they would surely be wiped out.

"Choji, use Plan C!"

"Clear."

Partial Expansion Jutsu!

Choji's face had become noticeably thinner. He forced himself to endure the hunger, stretched out his arms, raised his hands high, and slammed them down on the three Sunagakure members from above.

"That disgusting move again..."

Kankuro grinned maliciously and flicked his fingers. "How about you try this?"

Black Secret Technique: Dagger.

The Crow's joints sprang forth, revealing sap-covered blades, which it aimed at Choji's large hand Choji above.

The detachable and reassembleable puppet is not afraid of large-scale attacks; he wants to let his opponent experience the terror of Toxin.

Just as Choji's arm was about to collide with the puppet dagger, a black shadow suddenly extended from beneath his arm, instantly reaching the feet of the Sunagakure trio.

Instead, the Expansion Jutsu wasn't finished; the arms, which were halfway through the strike, were immediately retracted, clearly indicating that the Puppeteer's poison was not to be touched.

Shadow Imitation Technique, successful!

Click...

"What! I can't move my body." Kankuro's whole body stiffened, while the Crow continued to poke forward blankly until it fell down due to the distance.

Temari quickly noticed the anomaly beneath her feet, "It's a shadow, that Konoha Ninja's secret technique!"

Shikamaru showed no joy at his success, calmly saying, "Choji, quickly take Ino and leave. I'll follow the signal."

Having said that, he immediately took a few steps forward. His shadow visibly thickened, but his body still trembled slightly.

"This is troublesome. They're struggling so hard. How come Sunagakure has such strong people participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams..."

As Choji helped Ino up, Shikamaru, not wanting to wait passively any longer, took out a bamboo whistle from his ninja tool pouch and gently blew it at Gaara. Whoosh!

The poisoned needle flew straight towards Gaara's brow.

Just as the poison needle was about to hit its opponent, the sand around the latter seemed to come alive, automatically swirling up to deflect it and then sliding towards Shikamaru.

"No way, I can even manipulate sand after controlling it!"

Shikamaru broke out in a cold sweat. His plan to stall and delay was proving futile, forcing him to retreat slowly. The shadow connecting the two sides grew thinner and thinner, almost as if it would break off at any moment.

"There's no other way but to throw the Scroll of Heaven to the other side, hoping to distract them..."

Splash splash splash,

The sand transformed into a python and bit at Shikamaru's legs. He knew he absolutely could not be caught, or he would surely suffer the same fate as the Amegakure Ninja before him, his body crushed into a rain of blood.

Time seemed to stand still. The Shadow Imitation Technique completely broke down, and he clutched the Scroll in his hand, ready to throw it as he jumped back.

Multiple escape plans were constantly forming in his mind, and then, having devised a strategy, Shikamaru waved his hand... but the Scroll of Heaven still didn't make a move.

Sizzle!

A lightning-fast arrow ripped through the jungle, its tip sparking with electricity, hurtling towards Temari's chest at astonishing speed, poised to kill her instantly.

"The enemy is attacking!"

Temari, freed from the Shadow Imitation Technique, sensed danger approaching. Her hair stood on end, and she rolled to the side with all her might, narrowly avoiding the Lightning Arrow. Sizzle!

Blood spurted out, leaving a deep, finger-width gash on her shoulder; a slight numbness even emanated from the wound.

"Temari..."

Kankuro changed drastically. He quickly pulled back the Crow puppet and, at the same time as Gaara, looked to the other side.

Three Konoha Ninja, one in red, one in blue, and one in yellow, stood on a tree trunk. The black-haired boy in the middle, maintaining a posture of casting a spell, was clearly the culprit behind the sneak attack.

"Hmph, there are so many unexpected events in the Ninja World." Shikamaru calmed down. "But this time, the unexpected event is to our advantage. It seems we don't need to run anymore."

"Hey, you guys are terrible, Shikamaru!" Naruto, arms crossed, laughed arrogantly, "If you want to defeat our outlying opponents, you'll have to rely on Team 7."

"Quiet down!" Sakura snapped. "The opponents are strong. That cleared-out forest was clearly their doing. Let's go meet up with Team 8 first, gather information, and then we'll attack together."

"..."

Naruto immediately became obedient, not daring to utter a single word. After several high-level missions, Kakashi officially appointed Sakura as the second captain, and the team members were required to strictly obey orders.

It has to be said that he had a very accurate eye. Naruto might not be convinced by Sasuke, but he completely obeyed Sakura's every word, and the team finally established discipline.

Swish, swish, swish!

Seeing the two teams of Konoha Ninja standing together, Kankuro's expression grew increasingly grim, and Gaara's eyes even became bloodshot, as if he wanted to immediately crush the people opposite him into mincemeat.

"Let's work together and take them down as quickly as possible..."

"Don't be impulsive!" Temari clutched her shoulder, her injury quickly subsiding. "Besides Gaara, we're both in danger. That Lightning Release technique was incredibly powerful; if we get hit by the shadow technique again, we won't be able to defend ourselves."

"Don't forget why we're here. If anyone dies, the mission will be a complete failure, and there's no point in killing them and stealing the Scroll afterwards."

"Tch." Kankuro was somewhat unwilling. The one most likely to be killed among the three seemed to be himself, the Puppeteer.

Across from them, Shikamaru succinctly explained the Sunagakure squad's information to Team 7.

The reason they were so united was that both teams happened to have collected a pair of Scroll. Seeing their fellow villager about to be killed and robbed by their rivals from the enemy country, they naturally wouldn't stand idly by.

"A sand manipulator, Puppeteer, and an opponent who uses powerful Wind Release..."

Sakura's expression turned serious. "No wonder you're in danger. If you fight head-on, there will definitely be casualties. From now on, focus on repelling the enemy and don't pursue them."

Just as the situation was about to reach a stalemate, a certain red-haired troubled teenager with a penchant for killing acted without any restraint.

He half-clenched his fists and aimed them at the Konoha members, causing the sand around him to churn and surge away, doubling in speed under his special control.

"Gaara..."

Temari didn't have time to stop them.

Sakura, ever vigilant, had anticipated this. Her hands moved swiftly, Hand Seals and unleashing a spray of water – Water Release: Water Wave!

Splash--

The water waves clashed fiercely with the sand, merging together and easily neutralizing Gaara's attack.

At the same time, Sasuke followed up with his attack, unleashing a fireball several meters high that hurtled towards the three Sunagakure members.

Gaara once again manipulated sand to block, and dozens of figures fell from the sky simultaneously— Naruto's Shadow Clone —surging in to surround them. "Shuriken Formation!"

Whoosh whoosh...

"Oh no!" Kankuro realized he was completely outmatched. In desperation, he ran between his sister and brother, controlling the Crow to defend one direction.

Fortunately, Temari could still wield her fan, unleashing a Wind Release: Kamaitachi that blew away a large number of Kunai and also took care of a third of the Shadow Clone.

"Drink up! Everyone, let's go!"

The remaining Naruto shadow clones, fearless of death, charged towards Gaara and his two companions like a human pyramid.

BOOM!

With a barrage of Hidden Weapons, swirling sand walls, and the use of the Three-Star Fan as a weapon, it took considerable effort to finally eliminate these Shadow Clones.

Shadow Clone Jutsu!

To their surprise, the ninjas on the other side were completely unpredictable, and dozens of Shadow Clone appeared on the field, watching them with eager intent.

Shikamaru once again formed the hand seals for the Shadow Imitation Technique, while Ino, taking advantage of the others' cover, prepared her clan's secret technique, her special hand gesture aimed directly at Gaara. A great battle between the two sides was about to erupt.

"Gaara, please, I'm begging you... let's leave!" Temari cried out hastily, seeing the situation was getting out of control.

Gaara remained silent, his eyes fixed intently on the Konoha members, as if trying to memorize their every feature.

Sensing that some of the gourd-shaped sand used for the attack had become heavy due to the waterlogging, he said slowly with a grim expression, "Let's go."

Call!

Temari secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Kankuro didn't say anything, his silence clearly indicated that he had tacitly agreed.

After arriving in Konoha, he, as Puppeteer, felt extremely frustrated. In his first exam, he was mocked and ridiculed by the examiners, and now he was even encountering ninjas using a numbers game.

Using Shadow Clone to deplete his Hidden Weapons reserves—how could Genin have such an abnormally large amount of chakra during just one Chunin Ninja Exams...?

Whoosh!

Seeing the Sunagakure team retreat, Choji suddenly sat down on the ground with a "Ah!" and frantically grabbed potato chips and ate them.

Ino looked at Sakura with a mix of jealousy and envy. Sakura had mastered a new Ninjutsu and could command Sasuke in battle—she was so lucky!

If it were my turn, perhaps I could give Sasuke some "special" orders?

Shikamaru, unaware of the strange thoughts his peculiar female teammate was having, sighed and released the hand seal.

"I really have to thank you this time, otherwise we would have been in trouble."

I never expected that woman from Sunagakure to be so terrifying. I have to be careful in the Third Exam.