Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three

The clouds drifted across the sky, but Danzo was in no mood to enjoy the view. 👌👽  🐊☞

He had received word that Orochimaru had entered the village.

If Danzo hadn't been Hokage, he might have tried to make use of the village's rogue ninja. Now, he wanted nothing more than to eliminate him.

"Gather all the ninja. Prepare to surround and kill Orochimaru!"

Danzo gave the order at once, but Anko stopped him.

"Lord Hokage, if you decide to move against Orochimaru now, he'll do whatever it takes to destroy Konoha. Besides, some of our ninja have been sent to the Land of Wind. The risk is far too great. He's one of the Sannin, after all."

Hearing her warning, Danzo calmed down. He couldn't ignore Orochimaru, but the village's safety had to come first.

"Anko, go get Hiruzen as well. Orochimaru was his student, after all."

Danzo thought of the Third. The village was short on fighting strength, and Orochimaru had been Hiruzen's student, so it made sense to have him face Orochimaru.

Danzo also needed to go to the High Tower himself. First, he wanted to see what Orochimaru was after. Second, he wanted to address Konoha's new generation.

He had planned for only Konoha's teams to remain by the third round, so they could show off Konoha's strength in front of the lords of the various nations.

That would help them secure more funding and missions, but too many unexpected things had happened.

The scene shifted to the High Tower. After five days of competition, the final results were finally in.

The teams that had advanced were the Kabuto Team, Gaara's team, the Sound Ninja trio, Kiba Team, Neji Team, and Shikamaru's team.

As everyone looked over the teams that had advanced, each had their own thoughts.

"Naruto, you didn't... make it..."

"That Feng Yao was the rogue ninja who defeated the Third. Damn it, how am I supposed to tell anyone? He's watching me right now."

"Was that Sasuke dealt with? Never mind. If he was dealt with, then that kid must not have amounted to much."

"The person beside me has such a soothing presence."

As they watched the contestants, Kakashi and the other jonin entered the hall with Danzo.

"First, congratulations to everyone who passed the second exam. Now, Lord Hokage will announce the rules for the third exam."

Danzo walked to the center and surveyed the room. His eyes finally settled on a man leaning against the wall, wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector, with vertical pupils. Danzo knew this was Orochimaru.

After a brief pause, he looked away.

Feng Yao saw that Danzo's expression hadn't changed at all, as if they were meeting for the first time.

He couldn't let the other man see through his disguise. There were so many jonin here. If a fight broke out, he'd have an eighty percent chance of dying.

"The third round is simple: individual matches. But there's one thing I want to make clear. I expect you to do everything in your power to secure victory for Konoha. This isn't just a contest between individuals. It's a miniature version of a war between nations."

"If you win, you'll strengthen Konoha's standing among the surrounding nations and intimidate them through diplomacy. You must bring victory to Konoha, even if it costs you your lives."

Danzo spoke sternly to the Konoha ninja before him.

The crowd erupted in an uproar again. Then Gekko Hayate appeared and took charge of the proceedings.

He hadn't died at Hideyoshi's hands, but he had lost an eye, which had slightly weakened his fighting ability.

"Please leave the rest to me, Lord Hokage."

Just as he remembered, the next matches were meant to reduce the number of contestants.

But it was suspicious that the three Sand Ninja had been matched against Feng Yao's Sound Ninja trio. It didn't take much thought to realize Danzo was behind it.

Kin and Zaku were defeated by Kankuro and Temari without any suspense. Next came the match between Gaara and Feng Yao.

When Gaara saw Feng Yao, his eyes widened for a moment. The mission and his friendship with Feng Yao left him torn.

"Gaara, what are you waiting for? I've been looking forward to fighting you."

While Gaara was still making up his mind, Feng Yao leaped down first, showing him through his actions that he didn't need to hesitate.

Gaara's lips curved up slightly at the sight.

He used sand to carry himself down as well, and their match officially began.

"Heh... a match featuring Lord Yao."

Orochimaru watched with interest from the sidelines. He was far too enamored with Feng Yao's body.

Gaara launched the first attack. He had never seen Feng Yao fight, but he wouldn't underestimate the man before him.

"Sand Shower!"

The sand behind Gaara's gourd wrapped around him, then shot out a barrage of round sand pellets.

"Summoning Technique: Silver Moon Wolf!"

The white-furred wolf king appeared beside Feng Yao once more. Feng Yao grabbed its fur and dodged Gaara's attacks. The wolf took up nearly a tenth of the small arena.

Seeing a summoning beast built for speed, Gaara changed his strategy. He formed Hand Seals again and clenched one hand toward Feng Yao.

"Sand Prison!"

Sand surged into the air over a wide area. The technique had an enormous capture range.

Seeing that there was no way to dodge, Feng Yao summoned another beast to deal with it.

"Summoning Technique: Cold-Heart Sea Lion!"

Feng Yao had gone to some trouble to find this summoning beast from the sea.

The moment the sea lion appeared, it saw that Feng Yao was about to be surrounded by sand and immediately understood what was happening. It opened its mouth wide.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

The Cold-Heart Sea Lion was one of the few powerful summoning beasts Feng Yao had. It could use ninjutsu and communicate with him.

A massive torrent of water crashed into the sand. The sand grew heavy as soon as it was soaked, and Sand Prison fell apart.

"Lord Feng Yao, how did I do?"

The sea lion asked Feng Yao proudly, but Gaara had no intention of giving him time to chat.

He would decide the match with his next move. If Feng Yao kept summoning beasts, Gaara might be worn down to death.

"Shield of Shukaku!"

The sand gathered and fused in front of him, eventually forming an enormous spear nearly two meters long. It was said to be the Strongest Spear, matched only by the Shield of Shukaku.

"Damn, Gaara's really going all out. Looks like I'll have to take this seriously too." Seeing Gaara prepare a powerful move, Feng Yao had no choice but to get serious.

He pulled out several Kunai, then took out a few flash bombs.

As Gaara threw the Shield of Shukaku, Feng Yao threw his own Kunai, each marked with a Flying Thunder God Formula.

"Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three!"

This was the Fourth Hokage's signature technique, though as far as Feng Yao could remember, the Fourth had never used it except when he rescued Kakashi.

It was actually quite simple. He used flash bombs to release blinding yellow light, making his opponent think it was a ninjutsu meant to obstruct their vision. Then he used the Flying Thunder God to move around and defeat his enemy with ease.

The dazzling light didn't affect Feng Yao. He darted across the battlefield with the Kunai. Even the sand's automatic defense couldn't keep up with his speed. Gaara was blinded and couldn't aim the Shield of Shukaku. Feng Yao slashed more than ten holes in his clothes with his Kunai.

When the light faded, Gaara conceded. Feng Yao had already shown him mercy.

"I didn't expect you to have mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique too, Lord Yao."

"What was that technique just now?"

"Was it a ninjutsu that obstructed vision?"

Everyone was still discussing what they had seen. Not everyone knew about the Flying Thunder God Technique or the Fourth Hokage's signature move.

Next came the melee between the Konoha teams.

Yakushi Kabuto still withdrew from the match at the start. Since there was one more person this time, Neji received a bye.

The final qualifiers were Rock Lee, Shino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Tenten, Kankuro, Temari, and Feng Yao himself.

The final matches would be held in three days, earlier than Feng Yao had expected. Danzo probably had a plan of his own.

After the matches.

"Sakura, what happened? Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"

Kakashi looked at Sakura anxiously. He had just returned to the village and found that Naruto and Sasuke hadn't advanced.

That alone wasn't a problem. But Sakura was the only one who had come back, and Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere to be found. When asked, Sakura wouldn't answer. She only said they weren't dead.

Danzo and the other village leaders didn't know about this yet. If they learned that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had gone missing in the village, there would be hell to pay, especially under the current circumstances.

"Kakashi-sensei, I... I can't say. I can tell you after the competition ends. Otherwise, Sasuke and the others will be in danger."

Seeing how frightened Sakura was, Kakashi softened. He could only sigh.

At that moment, someone appeared in the distance.

"I think I can tell you what happened, Kakashi-sensei."

The person who stepped out of the shadows was none other than Konoha Ninja Village's future brains: Shikamaru Nara.