"Leaf... ninja."
Baki and Kankuro exchanged a glance, then immediately hurried in the direction Gaara had pointed.
At last, they'd caught up with the tail end of the main group!
Meanwhile, Keiichi and the others were protecting the nobles and dignitaries, but their progress was unusually slow. They'd only made it a kilometer out of the village before someone complained that they couldn't walk any farther.
The reason was simple enough: these people had arrived in carriages. They were used to being waited on hand and foot, so when had they ever walked this far?
Some of the women in particular were wearing long, trailing dresses and high heels. Every step of the way had been sheer torture.
Some even made the outrageous demand that the Konoha ninja carry them, but the request was promptly ignored.
That infuriated both sides, and the atmosphere grew tense in an instant.
Fortunately, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire was a reasonable man. He stepped in to mediate, and both sides finally backed down.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten anywhere. The two sides would have ended up fighting sooner or later.
But they couldn't keep going like this. The group had already reached the limits of their endurance. They could manage another kilometer at most before they were completely unable to move.
At just this critical moment, the Hyuga ninja sent to patrol the area and check for danger reported that a Sunagakure squad was heading their way. Judging by their chakra, the group might include two Jonin.
If the enemy charged into the crowd and started slaughtering people, there was no guarantee they could stop them.
After discussing it, everyone decided to split into two groups. One would continue escorting the nobles, while the other stayed behind to intercept the attackers from Sunagakure.
Keiichi, Neji Hyuga, and Sasuke volunteered to stay behind. Rock Lee, Tenten, Hinata Hyuga, Inuzuka Kiba, Shikamaru Nara, and the others continued the escort mission.
The two groups had barely separated when the Sunagakure ninja caught up with them. A closer look revealed that they were all familiar faces.
The one who put Keiichi most on guard wasn't Baki, the Jonin leading the group. It was Gaara, whose eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"I'm going after the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire. Leave these people to you." Baki didn't even look at them. He raced off in the direction of the footprints.
Sasuke rushed forward to stop him, but Temari stepped in front of him, and he lost his best chance.
"Sasuke! We didn't get to fight to our heart's content last time because we had to hold back. Let's pick up where we left off!" Temari rested one hand on her giant fan, her fighting spirit high.
"Don't worry. I'll finish you off as quickly as possible!" Sasuke glared, activating his Sharingan.
"Keiichi, leave Gaara to me." Neji was just as eager to fight. He'd wanted to test his skills against the one hailed as the strongest Chunin Exam candidate for a long time.
"Don't get carried away. There's a monster inside him. If it gets out, none of us will be able to handle it. Take it easy."
Neji still hadn't recovered his strength, and Keiichi was worried about him. But he was the only one here who could hold Gaara off alone, so Keiichi had little else to say.
Then he turned his attention to Kankuro, who was already watching him, clearly spoiling for a fight.
"You're the one who came up with the nickname Desert Scavenger King, right? Once I beat you, you're going to explain what you meant by it!" Kankuro unfastened the puppet on his back and flexed his fingers.
In an instant, the bandages wrapped around Crow fell to the ground. The puppet sprang forward like a beast, rushing toward Keiichi.
"I can explain right now. Tell me, where did you get that Crow puppet?"
"Obviously, I made it myself!" Kankuro declared shamelessly.
As he spoke, the puppet suddenly thrust out an arm. Keiichi raised his hand to block, but a sharp little blade shot out from the side of its forearm.
The completely unconventional attack was indeed hard to guard against.
Fortunately, the Sharingan had spotted the change in advance. Keiichi immediately ducked, narrowly avoiding injury.
"But I heard that the puppet master who created Crow was from Sunagakure."
Kankuro's expression darkened at once, because Keiichi was right. He hadn't made the puppet himself.
But I've repaired and modified it over the years. A lot of the parts inside were my own designs!
Why shouldn't small improvements count as innovation?
And how do you know this puppet is called Crow?
Kankuro hurriedly pushed those distracting thoughts out of his mind and refocused. The puppet's elbow joint suddenly opened, releasing a cloud of poison gas in a distinctly unnatural color. It enveloped Keiichi in an instant.
Got him!
The poison was so potent that it seemed to melt Keiichi into a puddle of liquid.
But Kankuro wasn't pleased by the sight. Instead, he was shocked.
The gas was supposed to be a neurotoxin that only paralyzed the victim's limbs. How could it have done this?
Could Crow be hiding secrets even I don't know about?
The next instant, a powerful sense of danger came from behind him. Kankuro switched places without hesitation.
Smack!
A Kunai embedded itself in Crow's head, driven in so deep that nearly the whole blade disappeared. If Kankuro himself had taken the hit, he'd probably have been as good as dead.
Only then did Kankuro pat his chest, still shaken. His heart was pounding.
He must have used the Clone Technique while my attention was elsewhere, right?
Could that have been a Water Clone?
But wasn't the Water Clone a technique favored by Kirigakure Ninja?
And how had he sneaked around behind me without making a sound?
Keiichi, of course, wasn't about to tell him that he knew the Invisibility Technique. His Water Clone paired with the Invisibility Technique had worked remarkably well on the first try.
The Invisibility Technique wasn't useless in a real fight; the problem was that you couldn't mold chakra while invisible.
But if a Water Clone drew the enemy's attention from the front while the real user snuck around behind them under the Invisibility Technique, it could be effective.
Of course, Keiichi dared to use the Water Clone because Konoha was in chaos. Once Hiruzen died, even fewer people would have time to chase him over such a trivial matter.
He'd thought he could land a clean hit, but Kankuro had switched places so quickly. It seemed the future pillar of Sunagakure had some real skill after all.
Keiichi now realized that although attacking the Puppeteer directly could end the fight quickly, if Kankuro kept switching places efficiently, it would be difficult to hurt him. In the end, he would have to destroy the puppet.
No wonder the Puppet Technique had become so widespread in Sunagakure. It did have something going for it.
The damage to Crow's head clearly hadn't affected its movements. After all, chakra strings controlled it. The puppet immediately turned its head 180 degrees, opened its mouth, and fired three volleys of poisoned needles.
Clang, clang, clang!
With help from the Sharingan, Keiichi's Kunai flashed up and down. He charged toward Crow while cutting down every poisoned needle that came at him. Not a single one managed to hurt him.
Sharingan Secret Technique: Cutting Edge!
"Gate of Opening, open!"
He'd taken the needles head-on to counterattack more quickly. Keiichi opened the first of the Eight Gates again and closed the distance to Crow in an instant. Then he punched it in the chest, sending it flying several meters away.
But he'd also hurt himself to land that punch. The bones in the back of his hand were exposed.
Fortunately, the Uzumaki Clan's recovery ability was exceptionally strong. This was only a minor injury.
"Damn it! Look what you've done to my Crow!" Kankuro pulled off the gray cloth covering the puppet. A fist-shaped dent was clearly visible in its chest.
What hurt him most was that the delicate mechanisms inside had been damaged. Many of the triggers no longer worked.
"Desert Scavenger King, you've got two other puppets besides Crow, right? Don't be shy. Take them out. Weren't those just things you picked up from someone else, too?"
"Shut up! It's called recycling. Besides, I've modified them so much they're completely different now!"
Kankuro grew more wary. How did this guy know so much about his hidden trump cards?
He'd already reached for his waist, ready to release the other two puppets from their sealing scrolls.
"Tsk, I heard those three puppets you've got were made by someone when they were around ten years old. You're fifteen now, right? How come you can't make even one puppet of your own? How embarrassing." Keiichi kept taunting him to throw him off balance.
"You... How do you know all that? Are you a spy in Sunagakure?" Kankuro was shaken. Even he didn't know a lot of those details.
"I've lived in Konoha my whole life. How could I be a spy? Everybody knows this. If you don't believe me, ask Neji over there. He might know even more than I do."
At that, Kankuro instinctively looked toward Neji, but quickly realized his mistake.
Getting distracted by an enemy's words in the middle of a fight was a cardinal sin. How could he fall for it again and again?
This guy's mouth was poisonous!
Sure enough, the next instant, a sharp pain struck his chest. He was sent flying several meters before curling up like a shrimp.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
It felt as if his lungs had been punctured. He could barely breathe.
The scroll containing the other two puppets fell nearby. Kankuro reached for it, but two Shuriken pierced it, leaving it unusable.
Keiichi lowered his leg and quickly shut the Gate of Opening. Even opening the first gate put a heavy strain on him.
If the Uzumaki Clan bloodline hadn't made his body so resilient, he wouldn't have dared open even the first gate.
Meanwhile, Temari was sitting on her giant fan, gliding through the air on the wind. That put her in a nearly unbeatable position.
Seeing her younger brother fall so quickly, she hurried over to rescue him.
But concern made her careless—and her opponent was Sasuke. A faint glint flashed from an almost invisible thread. Sasuke gave it a sharp tug, and the giant fan immediately lost its balance. Temari tumbled out of the sky.
When had he set up those threads?!
Was it when he'd used Shuriken to attack me earlier?
But Temari had no time to think. Sasuke wasn't about to waste such a good opportunity. Before she could even hit the ground, he unleashed a flurry of attacks, leaving her on the verge of collapse.
Chivalry?
Not a chance.
One after the other, Kankuro and Temari were beaten and rendered unable to fight. Then their hands and feet were bound. Throughout all of it, Gaara hadn't even bothered to glance their way. He was utterly cold-blooded.
When it was done, Sasuke and Keiichi joined Neji. Gaara was now the only one left on the field.
Unlike the ease with which the other two had defeated their opponents, Neji was already at the end of his strength. Even at full power, he might not have been a match for Gaara. Now, there was no question.
If he hadn't used Rotation to deflect Sand Binding Coffin several times, he might not have lasted this long.
"Be careful. He's strong!" Neji panted heavily, looking battered.
The Hyuga Clan's sense of superiority had vanished. He'd learned there was always someone stronger, and that the world held people even more talented than him!
No—far more talented!
Chapter 77: Danzo's Gamble
At that, Keiichi and Sasuke nodded. Gaara had worn Neji down in no time at all. He truly was the strongest candidate in the exam.
"Sasuke, be careful. Gaara hasn't reached his strongest form yet. If we can knock him out without letting him transform, we still have a chance of winning. Otherwise..." Keiichi shook his head.
"Hmph. No matter what, he's the same age as us. How strong can he really be?" Sasuke said, unconvinced.
Keiichi didn't have time to explain further, because Gaara had already launched an attack. Judging by the way the sand was moving, it seemed to be aimed at him.
"I'll draw his attention. Sasuke, force him into close combat. His Taijutsu is weak. He relies on his ability to control sand."
Sasuke nodded. He'd noticed that too. Gaara was standing perfectly still. If he wasn't just putting on a show, then he really wasn't good at close combat.
Neji watched, unable to help. He wanted to join the fight, but couldn't.
During their earlier battle, he'd also seen Gaara's weakness. But Neji didn't have someone like Keiichi to distract him. Whenever he tried to get close and force Gaara into hand-to-hand combat, the sand gathered into a sphere, creating a defense as strong as his Rotation. Even he couldn't break through it.
So even though Gaara had a deadly weakness, he protected it well.
Deep underground in Konoha, inside the Root Base.
Danzo was as restless as an ant on a hot pan, his anxiety growing by the minute.
Reports kept coming in. He knew what was happening outside, and probably understood the situation in Konoha even better than Hiruzen did.
If Sunagakure had been the only one attacking Konoha, Danzo might not have cared at all. He wouldn't have sent out a single subordinate, simply waiting to see how they brought about their own destruction.
He knew better than anyone how strong Konoha was and how weak Sunagakure had become. Hiruzen could handle it.
But things were different now, because the ones who had conspired with Sunagakure to attack Konoha were his own Root!
How strange. Root was rebelling, and I'm the head of Root—so how come I didn't know about it?
Before you continue