Arrival

"Interesting. This team is on a completely different level from the Sunagakure Squad we've encountered."

Sasuke smiled slightly and flexed his right wrist. "It seems the guy who uses sand is the strongest among them. I really want to test the power of my new technique against his defense."

Naruto pouted and turned his head to the other side after hearing this.

Kakashi taught them Ninjutsu at the same time, and all of them were A-rank, incredibly powerful techniques.

Sasuke mastered it in less than a month, while I, who had practiced hard for a long time, could never complete it. Now, watching my teammate's genius show off is extremely frustrating!

"Now that both of our teams have collected the Scroll, let's head to the Central Tower together."

Sakura thought for a moment and said, "Let's exchange information on the way. If we encounter opponents from Sunagakure in the Third Exam, it will be easier to deal with them."

The Ino-Shika-Cho team had no objections. After Ino treated her leg injury, the six of them banded together and moved forward as quickly as possible.

As dusk approached, the danger level in the Forest of Death increased significantly.

However, both teams consisted of Konoha elites, some even graduates from the same class.

By leveraging their numbers and easily dividing the work, they traversed a vast forest and successfully reached the Central Tower at night.

Hiss--

At the top of the Tower in the Forest of Death, Shuichi, dressed in the Hokage Robe, leaned back on a large sofa, his posture relaxed.

Two Konoha Ninja stood ramrod straight behind as guards, with Anko like Jonin sitting nearby.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the projection screen as the snowflakes flashed and the image gradually became clearer.

"Damn it, I've already handed over the Scroll, yet you still want to kill me all..."

The true seductive Grass Country Female Ninja, who wore a revealing dress in the first exam, has now changed into a wild and revealing outfit, but looks disheveled.

Two bloodied corpses lay nearby; they were clearly her teammates. "The Sunagakure has gone too far!"

Swish!

Seeing the strange man in black preparing to use the puppet again, she suddenly leaped up, gripping her rusty, slender short sword upside down in mid-air and thrusting it at her opponent.

A gentle breeze blew by, revealing to the naked eye that she was wearing absolutely nothing under her short skirt! Her private area was directly facing Kankuro, as if she wanted to seize his momentary hesitation and deliver a B-kill!

With a rustling sound, before the female ninja could even land, the yellow sand quickly swirled up, enveloping and binding her. Then, the sand pressed down forcefully...

"No... no, ah!"

Puff!]

"..."

"It's a bit of a pity." The two Konoha Ninja on duty appeared serious on the surface, but a sense of sympathy arose in their hearts.

Anko frowned slightly. It wasn't that she looked down on the methods of the Grass Country Female Ninja, but she just hadn't expected this group from Sunagakure to be so ruthless.

"Lord Hokage, according to the scene shown in the video, three participating teams have been completely killed by them. Konoha, Kusagakure, and Kirigakure have each lost one team."

"Furthermore, neither of the two teams from Kusagakure that participated in the Second Stage exam survived. I wonder what your plans are..."

"Yeah, this is a bit of a hassle." Shuichi he looked at Gaara and the other two.

This troubled boy, who was starved of love, completely ignored his words, forcing Konoha to explain the situation to the other villages.

According to the rules of the Second Stage test, the mission fails if one team member dies. There's no point in the remaining two continuing to collect the Scroll; they'll inevitably hand them over to the opponent to save their lives.

For squads that have successfully completed their missions, there's no need to risk casualties by fighting a potentially deadly enemy; it's pointless.

Therefore, even if most teams fail to clear the level, the probability of the entire team being wiped out is extremely small. Of course, this doesn't apply if you encounter someone who enjoys killing.

"They also said they would explain this to other countries."

Shuichi the ninjas, "Please have the Jonin leading each village review the recordings. If there are any problems, we can discuss them after the Chunin Ninja Exams. We will increase control over the Third Exam, especially the Sunagakure Village; they need special attention."

"Yes!" The invigilator acknowledged the order and left.

The Land of Grass is a loyal sycophant of the Land of Fire; it always has to soothe its wounded subordinate's emotions before it can continue to play a proper supporting role.

The number of people from Kirigakure was relatively small. Although wiping out a team of potential elites wouldn't be a major blow, they couldn't let their new allies think that Konoha was targeting them. As the host, they had to at least show that they valued the situation.

The five-day survival exercise ended before we even finished watching the video!

"Lord Hokage, Anko!"

Another screen lit up, showing a proctor dressed as a ninja reporting through the camera, "The Second Stage exam is over. After verification, 27 people have passed the Second Stage exam..."

"According to the Chunin Ninja Exams regulations, the Third Exam will be held in a preliminary round format, which hasn't been used for many years."

Shuichi adjusted his straw hat and stood up. "Alright, in 15 minutes, all teams that have cleared the stage and their respective Jonin instructors, please assemble at the competition venue on the first floor of the Tower."

"Get ready, we're coming!"

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the spacious training hall of the Central Tower, a total of nine teams of Genin stood in formation, including five teams from Konoha, two teams from Kirigakure, one team from Sunagakure, and one team from Otogakure.

Of the 27 participants, more than half were from Konoha. Despite having the most participants from their own village, this percentage was still extremely high.

Among the Genin, there was a strange tension between several teams.

The gazes of the Sunagakure Village trio met those of Team 7 and Team 8 across several ninjas; even those in between could easily sense it.

He turned his head and looked around; it was either provocation or murderous intent. If it weren't a public place, they probably would have started a fight right away.

Soon, a large group of people, led by Shuichi, entered the arena, breaking the tense atmosphere and attracting the attention of the examinees.

"This person... is he the strongest ninja in the world today?"

The Konoha Genin didn't feel anything as they looked at the smiling, handsome man in front of them, having seen him many times before.

However, Gaara, Hozuki Suigetsu, and others had different thoughts. The Land of Fire was able to suppress the two so-called allies to the point of being unable to raise their heads. Purple Aurora was definitely the heaviest bargaining chip. Today, they finally witnessed such a powerful figure with their own eyes.

Once everyone was present, the examiner didn't waste any words.

Anko spoke first, loudly announcing, "Now, please listen carefully to what the Lord Hokage has to say about the third exam!"

"Well, first of all, congratulations to everyone for passing the second exam." Shuichi calmly stepped forward, preparing to begin his speech. "In the next..."

"Waaaaah..."

"???"

A series of uncontrollable cries of pain came from the crowd. All the Jonin and Genin immediately looked in the direction of the sound, wanting to know who was so bold as to interrupt the Lord Hokage's speech.

"Gaara! What happened?" Kankuro was sweating profusely.

My younger brother's strange behavior is exactly like the prelude to that monster's rampage. Why now of all times?

"So it's Sunagakure!" The many Genin, seeing Gaara bowing with his head in his hands, thought to themselves, "Is something wrong with his health? Is he suffering from some kind of illness?"

Baki's expression tightened; the sudden change made his heart pound. "Excuse me, Lord Hokage! One of our team members has a history of headaches. Could we ask him to rest for a bit?"

"Uh... I'm fine!" After a few seconds, Gaara raised his head, his face covered by the Sand Armor, showing no sign of anything amiss. "Sorry to bother you."