Gathering of Wind and Clouds

On the main road outside Konoha's front gate, the sound of wheels grinding over the muddy road had continued from dawn until noon.

Three horse-drawn carriages led the way, followed by more than a dozen donkey carts loaded with luggage and weapon crates. The flags of Sand Village snapped in the wind, their earth-yellow fabric embroidered with the symbol of an hourglass.

The gatekeeper chunin stood in the guard post registering their entry procedures. He had been wiping the sweat from his forehead since morning, yet it still had not dried.

"Sand Village delegation. Leading jonin Baki, three teams of genin competitors, nine people total, with six accompanying guards. Please present your travel documents."

A hand lifted the carriage curtain from inside with an impatient force, flinging it onto the roof with a smack.

A head of golden hair tied into four ponytails emerged from the carriage, followed by a honey-brown face. Her brows were furrowed, her lips turned down, and her entire being spelled out three words: not happy.

Temari jumped down from the carriage, a giant three-star fan strapped to her back, its lower end nearly dragging across the ground. With her hands on her hips, she swept her gaze across the buildings around Konoha's main entrance.

"This is it? Konoha calls itself the strongest ninja village among the Five Great Nations, but its gate isn't even as impressive as one of Sand Village's warehouses."

A boy with purple kabuki markings painted across his face climbed out of the carriage behind her, carrying a puppet wrapped in white cloth in his arms.

Kankuro yawned.

"Keep it down, Sis. We came to take an exam on someone else's turf, not wreck the place."

Temari turned and glared at him.

"Cut the nonsense. Where's Gaara?"

The door of the third carriage remained closed, but someone had appeared atop its roof at some point.

The red-haired boy stood on the roof with his arms crossed, his pale green eyes utterly devoid of warmth. The gourd on his back reflected a dull sheen beneath the sunlight.

Gaara said nothing. His gaze passed over Konoha's gates and fixed on some point deep within the village.

The Sand Village group had waited in line at registration for ten minutes. By the eighth minute, Temari's temper had nearly exploded.

"Do all Konoha ninja handle things this slowly? I've been standing here under the sun long enough to nearly roast. Are you deliberately trying to put Sand Village in its place?"

Another layer of sweat appeared on the gatekeeper chunin's forehead.

"Miss from Sand Village, please calm down. We can only let you through after completing the procedures. Those are the rules."

"Rules, rules. You have more rules than there are grains of sand in the desert."

Temari planted her fan on the ground. The base of the three-star fan smashed into the stone road, leaving behind a shallow crater.

The gatekeeper chunin's mouth twitched twice. He chose to stay silent and hastened his stamping.

At the same time, on a small road three hundred meters east of Konoha's main gate, a team bearing the emblem of Grass Village silently passed through another checkpoint.

There were only three people in the group. They wore matching grass-green ninja uniforms, their forehead protectors tied low, the brims shading half their faces.

The person in the middle was rather thin, walking with an unnaturally fluid gait, as though his skeletal joints had several more bends than those of an ordinary person.

As they passed the checkpoint, he slightly raised his head, revealing a pale chin beneath the brim and a narrow pair of lips.

His tongue slipped through his lips and licked the corner of his mouth before withdrawing.

"Konoha's security is much looser than it was three years ago. Has old man Sarutobi gotten too old to keep things under control?"

The Grass ninja on the left lowered his voice.

"My lord, Sasuke Uchiha has been confirmed to be on this year's competitor list."

"What's the rush? Sasuke can't run away." The middle man's voice squeezed out from deep in his throat, hoarse and wet in a way that made one's spine run cold. "Let's first see whether this exam has anything else interesting."

The three figures blended into the bustling crowds along the main road outside the gate and vanished into Konoha's streets and alleys.

Atop the tall tower of the Senju Main Residence, Chiba sat on the edge of the roof's upturned eave, his legs dangling and swinging in midair. In his hand was an unripe peach picked from the courtyard.

His spiritual power radiated outward from the residence in a three-thousand-meter radius, covering half of Konoha.

The chakra fluctuations of the Sand Village team near the main gate were exceptionally clear. Temari's wind-nature chakra was dense and sharp, like an unsheathed blade. The One-Tail Shukaku chakra on Gaara was heavy and oppressive, like an anvil buried beneath the sand.

On the eastern path, the chakra of those three Grass Village ninja held Chiba's attention for three seconds.

The chakra shape of the person in the middle was wrong.

The surface disguise was excellent, but under Chiba's spiritual perception, the core of that chakra mass displayed the spiral, entwined structure unique to snakes. It was highly similar to the energy patterns he had analyzed from the cursed seal within Anko.

Orochimaru.

Chiba bit into the unripe peach and squinted from the sourness.

Tsunade's voice rose from below the tower.

"Senju Chiba, why are you climbing so high again? If you fall and shatter your bones, don't expect me to put you back together!"

Chiba flicked the peach pit into the distance. It drew an arc through the air and vanished beyond the courtyard wall.

He rose to his feet and leaped down from the eave, landing before Tsunade. Wood Release chakra formed a cushioning layer beneath his feet.

"Lady Tsunade, good news."

"What good news?"

Chiba slid both hands into his pockets. The curve of his lips held the calm composure of a predator locking onto its target beneath the afternoon sun.

"The prey has entered the field. Temari's Wind Release, and Orochimaru's neck—I want them both."