Preliminary Examination

Dosu's body suddenly went rigid, unable to move. Shikamaru had somehow gotten behind him and locked down his movements with the Shadow Imitation Technique.

With the slightest movement from Shikamaru, Dosu's body pitched forward against his will, exposing his back perfectly to Lee, who had already been waiting to strike.

A sharp gleam flashed in Lee's eyes, the muscles in his right leg bulging. The upgraded version of Leaf Great Whirlwind—Front Lotus—erupted in an instant. He grabbed Dosu's body and spun at high speed, the airflow whipping the fallen leaves around them into a sky-filling whirl. Finally, he slammed Dosu heavily into the ground. After a thunderous crash, a huge pit split open in the earth, and Dosu completely lost consciousness.

Seeing this, the remaining Sound Ninja had no choice but to hand over their scrolls of their own accord, then take Dosu and leave.

Duanmu and Neji's class had gathered all their scrolls, and after Shikamaru's class took the scrolls they had just seized from the Sound Ninja, they finally completed their Heaven and Earth Scrolls as well.

"All right, we've got all the scrolls. Let's hurry to the center of the exam grounds!" Shikamaru stretched, a trace of exhaustion on his face but unable to hide his relief. He glanced at everyone still panting. "If we keep dawdling, who knows what other trouble might pop up."

Naruto was a little speechless. He said to Shikamaru, "Your class sure had it easy, hiding in the back and picking up what was ready-made. We were the ones who fought the Sound Ninja head-on for half the day!"

As he spoke, he rubbed the arm that had been numbed by the sound waves earlier, his face full of indignation.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, his tone still cold. "Say less. The priority is getting into the exam site."

But his gaze swept over Shikamaru with a hint of barely perceptible approval—after all, if not for Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique just now, dealing with Dosu so quickly would not have been that easy.

Sakura walked over to Duanmu and carefully supported him. "Duanmu, can you still walk? That punch just now looked serious."

Duanmu shook his head and pushed her hand away. Though his chest was still aching faintly, his gaze was firm. "I'm fine. Move. Don't waste time."

Neji stood to the side, his Byakugan still active as he vigilantly observed their surroundings. "We shouldn't stay here long. The Sound Ninja may have retreated, but no one knows whether other teams will take the chance to ambush us."

Tenten put away her chained kunai and clapped her hands. "Neji's right. If our classes move together, we'll be safer too."

Lee wiped the sweat from his forehead. His green bodysuit was covered in quite a bit of dust, but he was still brimming with energy. "Then let's set out quickly! Let's aim to reach the finish line as soon as possible!"

Shikamaru yawned and followed the group with a helpless expression. "Seriously, I just wanted to coast through this easily, but it's always this troublesome..." Though he complained, his steps did not slow, and he did not forget to remind everyone, "Keep close. Don't get separated. This forest isn't exactly peaceful."

No one said anything more. Covering one another, they quickly advanced toward the center of the exam grounds.

After everyone arrived at the center, they discovered that Gaara's team had already gotten there, and none of them seemed to have been injured at all.

Looking at Gaara's calm, unruffled appearance, Naruto immediately felt a surge of competitive defiance rise in his heart. He clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "That guy... He actually got here faster than us, and he looks completely fine. Did he not run into any decent opponents along the way?"

The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he felt. His feet moved forward a few steps on their own, his gaze fixed straight on Gaara as if he were silently declaring war.

Sasuke also noticed the state of Gaara's team. His brow furrowed slightly, and his Sharingan unconsciously rotated once. He could feel the oppressive aura radiating from Gaara, as dead and still as a desert. It was a sense of danger far beyond that of an ordinary genin.

Sakura gently tugged at Naruto's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Naruto, don't be impulsive. Now isn't the time to cause trouble."

She looked at Kankuro and Temari beside Gaara. Both of them wore the same indifferent expressions, clearly caring nothing for everything around them, and that made her feel a little uneasy.

Duanmu leaned against a tree trunk, slowly calming the chaotic chakra inside his body. His gaze also fell on Gaara, his eyes complicated—he could sense the tremendous power inside Gaara, almost overflowing. Mixed within that power was an impulse toward destruction, making him raise his guard despite himself.

Shikamaru yawned, glanced over Gaara's group, and said quietly to Choji and Ino beside him, "Looks like the opponents this time won't be simple. Especially that guy with the dark circles. His aura feels really off."

Choji chewed on potato chips as he said indistinctly, "Who cares? We've already gathered our scrolls. As long as we pass the exam smoothly, that's enough."

Ino folded her arms and snorted. "With that icy look, you can tell he's hard to get along with."

Gaara seemed to sense everyone's stares. He slowly lifted his head, no emotion in his pitch-black eyes. When his gaze swept over Naruto, the corner of his mouth curved into an almost imperceptible sneer, as if he were looking at an overconfident clown.

At that moment, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat on the high platform, his sharp gaze overlooking the gathered examinees below. His pipe gently released a puff of smoke. Not much emotion could be seen on his aged face, but deep in his eyes was a trace of barely perceptible gravity.

The Anbu member beside him quietly reported the commotion that had just occurred inside the exam grounds. After the Third Hokage finished listening, his fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, and he said in a deep voice, "It seems this Chunin Exams is even less peaceful than expected..."

His gaze landed on Gaara, lingered for a moment, then turned to Duanmu, Sasuke, Naruto, and the others. Slowly, he said, "However, these children have shown me something different."

At this moment, he announced that the preliminaries for the third round of the Chunin Exams would officially begin.

The opponent assignments were still not much different from the original, except that Gaara's opponent was no longer Lee, but Duanmu, while Lee's opponent was a ninja from a small ninja village.

The earlier matches were the same as in the original, and Lee very quickly defeated his opponent in an instant. Soon, the battle between Duanmu and Gaara was about to begin.

Every gaze in the hall focused on the two of them, and the air was thick with tension.

Duanmu took a deep breath, pressed down the dull pain in his chest, and slowly straightened his body, calmly meeting Gaara's cold, emotionless eyes.

He knew this would be a hard fight. The tailed beast power inside Gaara was in no way comparable to the Sound Ninja he had encountered before. The slightest carelessness could doom him beyond recovery.

Gaara's face still showed no expression. Only the grains of sand around him began to float faintly, circling him as if alive and emitting a heart-palpitating pressure.

At the referee's command, the battle officially began.

Gaara did not hesitate in the slightest. The sand beneath his feet surged violently, rushing toward Duanmu like a tide, trying to swallow him in an instant.

Duanmu reacted extremely quickly. His feet exploded with force, and his figure retreated rapidly as his hands formed seals at high speed. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" A thick wall of water rose from the ground, temporarily blocking the sand tide's assault.

But the sand's power far exceeded imagination. Under the impact of the sand tide, the water wall trembled nonstop, making cracking sounds, clearly unable to hold out for long.

Duanmu's gaze sharpened. Knowing that passive defense was not the answer, he immediately used Flying Raijin. His figure appeared instantly thirty feet to Gaara's left, the kunai in his hand piercing straight toward Gaara's ribs with a sound of cutting wind.

Gaara seemed to have eyes on his back. The sand circling his body instantly condensed into a shield. The kunai struck the sand shield with only a crisp ding, failing to injure him in the slightest.

Duanmu could not fight a war of attrition against Gaara. His chakra had not recovered much. He had to end this quickly.

His eyes turned cold. His left hand formed seals rapidly, while his right hand slammed down onto the ground. "Lightning Release: Earth Flash!" Several streaks of blue electricity spread swiftly along the ground, coiling toward Gaara's feet like nimble venomous snakes.

Although the sand beneath Gaara's feet could defend against physical attacks, it could not completely isolate the conduction of lightning. The current instantly struck his body through the grains of sand, making his movements stiffen for a brief instant.

On the platform, Orochimaru, disguised as a spectator, grew more and more satisfied with Duanmu. He had not expected that this boy, despite being only a genin, could consecutively perform three different kinds of ninjutsu—water release, Flying Raijin, and lightning release—in such a short time, and control the timing with such precision. In particular, that strange displacement of Flying Raijin was practically identical to Minato Namikaze's from back then.

He licked his dry lips, a greedy glint flashing in his eyes. A genius like this had to be taken under his wing. Even if it required some special methods, it would be worth it.

At the same time, the Third Hokage's eyes also shone. "I never expected Duanmu to make such great progress in such a short time. This child has not only skillfully mastered combined ninjutsu using water release and lightning release, but has even applied the Flying Raijin Technique with such consummate skill. Given time, he will surely become an important force in protecting Konoha."

The members of the advisory group beside him also began discussing in low voices. One of them stroked his beard and sighed. "This boy's judgment of the battlefield and his linking of ninjutsu can be called perfect. To actually find a chance to counterattack against a jinchuriki is truly rare."

The other ninja on the platform also began discussing Duanmu's performance. The ninja from the Sand Village watched as Duanmu repeatedly broke through Gaara's Sand Release attacks, their faces showing surprise.

This Duanmu was already beyond the category of genin, wasn't he? Even Neji and Sasuke, who had previously been called geniuses, could not compare to him.