Sound Ninja Trio

Just as Duanmu and the others were about to reach the center of the exam site, the "Hidden Sound Trio" walked up and blocked their path.

"Hey," Dosu said, standing at the front. "You little brats. Hand over Second Pillar."

Dosu and the others were still thinking about killing Sasuke.

Seeing this, Duanmu forced his weakened body in front of Sasuke and said quietly to the three behind him, "You go first. Leave this to me."

But Naruto refused to back down. He clenched his fists and glared at Dosu. "How could we leave you here alone?! If we go, we go together!"

Sasuke also said in a low voice, "That's right. We're a team."

Though Sakura was afraid, she gritted her teeth and didn't retreat either.

Dosu gave a cold laugh. "Brats who don't know their place. Since all of you want to die, I'll grant your wish!"

Before his words had even faded, he launched the first attack. His hands formed seals, and several long, thin sound waves shot from his mouth, stabbing straight toward the four of their faces.

Duanmu's eyes sharpened. He gathered chakra in his feet and stomped forward hard. The ground split open in an instant, broken stones flying up and temporarily blocking the sound-wave attack.

At the same time, he shouted to Sasuke, "Use the Sharingan!" Sasuke immediately activated the Sharingan, caught the trajectory of Dosu's sound waves, and pulled Sakura aside to dodge.

Naruto seized the chance to gather chakra and use the Clone Technique, creating a dozen or so shadow clones that rushed toward Dosu in an attempt to disrupt his vision.

Seeing this, Dosu snorted disdainfully. A ring of sound-wave barriers surfaced around his body and shattered all of Naruto's clones.

Immediately after, his figure blurred and appeared in front of Duanmu. A heavy punch, carrying the boom of a sonic blast, smashed toward Duanmu's chest.

Duanmu had no time to dodge and could only barely raise his arm to block. With a bang, he was sent flying backward and slammed heavily into a tree, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

But he didn't hesitate in the slightest. Enduring the intense pain, his hands quickly formed seals, and he unleashed the Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique he had only recently mastered.

He thrust both hands forward, and a massive surge of water appeared out of thin air, condensing into a lifelike water dragon that roared as it charged toward Dosu.

Dosu clearly hadn't expected Duanmu to still be able to unleash ninjutsu on this scale in such a weakened state, and in his haste, he raised the sound-wave barrier again.

The water dragon slammed viciously into the barrier with a dull boom. Though it failed to break through, it still caused Dosu's movements to falter for an instant.

Sasuke seized that opportunity. Chakra erupted under his feet, and his body shot out like an arrow, the kunai in his hand flashing with cold light as it stabbed straight toward Dosu's blind spot.

Sakura took the chance to circle around from the side, trying to find an opening to attack. Naruto, meanwhile, shouted at the top of his lungs as he gathered a Rasengan, preparing to deal Dosu a fatal blow.

For a moment, the members of Team 7 were no longer fighting separately, but truly cooperating like a team, launching an assault on the powerful enemy together.

But Dosu still had teammates too. Zaku and Kin had long since been unable to hold themselves back. Zaku formed seals with both hands and spat out a large amount of yellow sand, which instantly condensed into a huge sand wall in the forest, completely blocking Sasuke and Naruto's attack routes.

Kin's figure drifted unpredictably. At some point, two short blades glimmering with a ghostly light had appeared in her hands. Like a venomous snake in the night, she silently circled behind Sakura, the short blades aimed straight at her back as she tried to use Sakura to restrain the others.

It was also at this critical moment that Rock Lee suddenly burst out from the shadows of the forest. The green bodysuit at his forehead was already soaked through with sweat, and his legs cut through the air as a swift Leaf Whirlwind kicked straight toward Kin's wrist.

Kin was caught off guard. The short blades were kicked flying, and she stumbled back several steps.

Lee landed steadily and assumed a standard fighting stance, shouting to Sakura, "Sakura, get back! Leave this to us!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he noticed the blood at the corner of Duanmu's lips and his weakened state. A trace of worry flashed through his eyes, but there was even more determination. "Duanmu, rest first. I'll handle them!"

Seeing this, Zaku formed seals with both hands again. From behind the sand wall, several sharp sand needles suddenly shot out, aimed straight at Lee.

Lee reacted extremely quickly. His toes tapped lightly against the ground, and his body spun like a top. The opening movement of the Front Lotus unfolded, and while avoiding the sand needles, he had already charged toward Zaku like a streak of green lightning.

Dosu took the opportunity to break free from the lingering impact of the Water Dragon Bullet. He crossed his hands before his chest, and sound waves condensed once more. This time, they were no longer long, thin attacks, but transformed into an invisible wave of sound spreading toward Sasuke and Naruto, trying to interfere with their movements.

Sasuke's gaze was sharp. His Sharingan locked tightly onto the fluctuations of the sound wave as he pulled Naruto and sprinted to the side, saying in a low voice, "Naruto, use clones to draw his attention. I'll find a chance to get close!"

Naruto immediately understood. He created several more shadow clones, who yelled as they charged at Dosu from different directions.

However, as soon as these clones neared the range of the sound wave, they scattered one after another as if torn apart by an invisible giant force. A mocking smile appeared on Dosu's face as his hands controlled the sound wave, continuously compressing and condensing it. Clearly, he was preparing to launch an even stronger attack.

Sasuke's brows knitted tightly. The tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly. He could clearly see the violent energy contained within the sound wave, and knew that taking it head-on was absolutely not a wise move.

Just then, Tenten and Neji also leaped out from the forest.

With a flick of Tenten's hands, several kunai attached to chains shot toward Zaku's hands, which were condensing sand needles, like shooting stars. They wrapped around his wrists with precision, instantly interrupting his sand-release ninjutsu.

Neji landed steadily beside Lee, his Byakugan already activated. A calm aura radiated from him as his gaze swept across the battlefield, and in an instant, he saw through the weak point in Dosu's sound wave. "Lee, three feet to your left front. The sound-wave density is lowest there!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable force, pointing out the direction of the breakthrough for Lee.

"Thanks, Neji!" Chakra suddenly erupted beneath Lee's feet, and his figure turned into an afterimage as he raced in the direction Neji had indicated.

His green bodysuit snapped loudly from his high-speed movement. The instant he approached the sound wave, his body suddenly tilted to the left, nearly parallel to the ground, slipping through that gap where the sound-wave density was lowest by the narrowest of margins.

Immediately after, he spun in midair, his right leg whipping out like a steel lash. With a whistle that tore through the air, he kicked viciously toward Dosu's hands, which were condensing the sound wave.

Dosu clearly hadn't expected Lee to pinpoint the flaw in the sound wave so accurately. In his haste, he tried to withdraw his move and defend, but it was already too late. There was only a muffled bang as his hands were kicked sharply backward, and the condensed sound wave instantly collapsed, turning into invisible waves of energy that spread in all directions.

Lee used the momentum to land, tapped his toes lightly against the ground, and pressed forward again. His fists rained down toward Dosu's chest, each punch carrying fierce, powerful force.

The other two Sound ninja were also falling into a disadvantage in their battle against the Konoha ninjas. Zaku's sand release was restrained by Tenten's chain kunai, making it difficult for him to use large-scale ninjutsu, and he could only barely use grains of sand to block Neji's pressure-point strikes. After losing her short blades, Kin was completely no match for Lee in close combat, and was forced back again and again by Leaf Whirlwind, several wounds already added to her body.

Watching his teammates gradually collapse while he himself was suppressed by Lee's taijutsu to the point that he couldn't fight back at all, a trace of agitation flashed in Dosu's eyes. Suddenly, he opened his mouth wide, and a torrent of sound waves far surpassing the previous ones surged out, attempting to turn the battle around with a wide-area attack.