Your Sand Is Restless

It was precisely this faint resistance that allowed Ling Xuan to engage in continuous, refined chakra control training even while eating, walking, or sleeping.

Every single minute and second was equivalent to several hours of grueling cultivation for others.

As the exam date approached, the atmosphere in Konoha quietly shifted; an increasing number of young ninjas wearing headbands from different villages appeared on the streets.

Their gazes were sharp, surveying the village hosting the examination like a pack of wolves, while also sizing each other up.

The air was thick with competition and the scent of gunpowder.

On this day, Ling Xuan was walking alone on the commercial street, purchasing special mineral powders for his scientific research clones.

But as he walked, the bustling street around him suddenly grew quiet.

Stopping in his tracks, Ling Xuan looked straight ahead, where three figures were slowly approaching.

Leading them was a red-haired boy carrying a giant gourd, his eyes deeply circled and his gaze hollow and cold. The aura he exuded was eerie, ominous, oppressive, and reeking of blood, causing those nearby to instinctively want to stay away.

Following behind him were a man and a woman; the girl was tall, holding a giant folding fan, her expression arrogant and confident.

The boy carried a bizarre, bandage-wrapped object on his back, his face painted with purple markings and a cynical smile playing on his lips.

Ninjas from Sunagakure.

Ling Xuan's Eye of Truth instantly swept over the three, especially Gaara, a member of the "Funeral Love" family.

It was a perfectly balanced combat squad consisting of absolute defense, long-range suppression, and mid-range control. However, the relationships within the trio were not built on trust, but on fear of Gaara.

Just as Ling Xuan intended to head home, a small conflict erupted at a nearby intersection.

Konohamaru, the grandson of the Third Hokage, had been running too fast and accidentally bumped into the Sunagakure puppeteer, Kankuro.

"Hey! Brat! Do you have eyes or not?" Kankuro grabbed Konohamaru by the collar, lifting him into mid-air and snarling.

"I... I'm sorry!" Konohamaru was so scared he was on the verge of tears.

"You think a simple 'sorry' is going to cut it?" Kankuro grinned viciously and raised his fist.

"Stop it!" Sakura and Naruto happened to be passing by, and Sakura immediately stepped forward to intervene. But Kankuro merely gave a dismissive wave, knocking her to the ground.

"Bastard! Let Konohamaru go!" Naruto roared as he charged forward.

But his strength was far inferior to these battle-hardened genin from other villages, and Kankuro easily dodged his attack.

At that moment, a small pebble struck Kankuro's wrist with pinpoint accuracy.

"Ouch!" Kankuro cried out in pain and loosened his grip.

Everyone looked back to see Sasuke Uchiha sitting coolly on a tree branch.

"You ninjas from other villages, running wild in Konoha—aren't you being a bit too arrogant?"

"Tch, another guy putting on an act," Kankuro said dismissively.

However, a voice, cold to the extreme, drifted down from the tree above him.

"Cut it out, Kankuro. Don't embarrass our Sunagakure here."

Everyone looked up to see that Gaara had somehow hung himself upside down from a branch, his eyes cold as he watched his companion.

A terrifying killing intent instantly enveloped the scene, and cold sweat immediately beaded on Kankuro's forehead.

"I... I understand, Gaara."

Just as the tense standoff reached a breaking point, a calm voice shattered the atmosphere.

"Your sand is very restless."

Ling Xuan walked over slowly. He didn't look at anyone, his gaze fixed solely on Gaara's giant gourd.

"Using pure killing intent to suppress the will of a Tailed Beast is the most foolish method," Ling Xuan's voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly. "This only causes its hatred to resonate with the Jinchuriki's own, eventually leading you to be completely devoured by it. The seal within you has already become quite thin due to this resonance of negative emotions."

Kankuro and Temari stared at Ling Xuan as if he were a monster.

Sasuke and Naruto were also completely stunned; what was Ling Xuan talking about? Tailed Beast? Seal?

And in Gaara's hollow eyes, a violent emotional fluctuation appeared for the first time. It wasn't killing intent, nor hatred, but an indescribable shock!

How could this Konoha genin know about Jinchuriki? How could he know about the uncontrollable power within him? He even saw through the state of his seal?!

Gaara stared fixedly at Ling Xuan; for the first time, he felt not a shred of fear toward someone.

The other's gaze was calm and profound, like a doctor looking at a patient with a unique condition, filled with pure, detached curiosity.

"Who... exactly are you?" Gaara asked hoarsely.

"That is not important. It is enough for you to know that certain powers can be perfectly controlled."

Without saying more, Ling Xuan locked eyes with Gaara for a few seconds, then calmly turned and walked away.

He had already obtained the data he wanted and had planted a seed called "the unknown" in the heart of this future Kazekage.

Gaara watched Ling Xuan's retreating back for a long time without speaking. Only when the figure disappeared from view did he coldly say to Kankuro and Temari beside him, "Let's go."

The disturbance subsided, but the impact it brought continued to ferment in the hearts of everyone involved.

The first stage of the Chunin Exams was held in a heavily guarded, massive classroom at the Ninja Academy.

When the four members of Team 7 walked into the room, it was already filled with genin from various villages. The air was thick with tension, vigilance, and undisguised hostility.

Every examinee sitting here was an elite who had stood out from their respective villages, scrutinizing one another as if they were prey waiting to be hunted.

"There... are so many people," Naruto muttered under his breath as he took in the scene.

"Hmph, just a bunch of small fry," Sasuke's gaze swept across the room, finally settling on Gaara, who sat alone in the corner radiating an ominous aura.

He sensed in this person a kind of dark, formidable loneliness similar to his own.

Sakura, meanwhile, looked around nervously, searching for other companions from Konoha in an attempt to find a sense of security among familiar faces.

As for Ling Xuan, he acted like an outsider, calmly walking over to an empty seat and sitting down.

He did not bother observing anyone, for the moment he stepped into the classroom, the Eye of Truth had already automatically completed a preliminary information harvest on all "high-value targets" in the room.