Sand Village's Conspiracy, Anticipating Your Anticipation

Sand Village's Conspiracy, Anticipating Your Anticipation

On the eve of the Chunin Exams finals.

The streets of the Hidden Leaf Village were several times livelier than usual. Merchants and nobles from various countries entered the village one after another, and nearly every inn was full.

On the surface, it was a rare grand event.

Yet, in Chenshu Senju's perception, the Hidden Leaf Village seemed to have gained quite a few rats.

These people had hidden themselves well.

Some posed as merchants, some as tourists, and several Sound Ninja had simply blended into the craftsmen responsible for repairing the arena.

Their chakra had been suppressed, making them difficult for ordinary sensory ninja to detect.

Unfortunately, the Sage Body was anything but ordinary.

Chenshu Senju sat outside an instrument shop, his gaze resting on the dango stall across the street.

Two Sand Ninja, disguised as a married couple, sat at a table feeding each other.

"Darling, open your mouth."

The woman picked up a dango with her chopsticks, wearing a gentle smile.

The man obediently opened his mouth.

The next moment, the woman flicked her wrist and slipped a note into his collar.

Their movements were utterly natural.

If the man had not choked on the dango until his face turned purple, the exchange would have been nearly flawless.

Chenshu Senju watched for a moment before getting up and leaving.

He had been observing them for three days.

The number of ninja the Sand Village had brought into the Hidden Leaf Village far exceeded what was needed for the competition, while the Sound Ninja were secretly transporting large quantities of explosive tags.

Both sides' routes ultimately led to the Chunin Exams arena.

Combined with the fact that Orochimaru had already infiltrated the Hidden Leaf Village, the situation was obvious.

The Sand Village and Sound Ninja were preparing to join forces.

Their target was the Hidden Leaf Village.

[Detected the embryonic form of the Konoha Destruction Plan.]

[Hidden mission triggered: Seize the initiative.]

[Destroy enemy operational nodes in advance. Drawing opportunities will be awarded based on the extent of destruction.]

Chenshu Senju's steps paused slightly.

The system had practically written out the mission's name for him. If he still could not figure it out, he would be doing the Sage Body a disservice.

But directly reporting it to the Third Hokage might not be useful.

The Sand Village was still the Hidden Leaf Village's ally. Without concrete evidence, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not possibly arrest every Sand Ninja.

Besides, Danzo was still lurking within the Hidden Leaf Village.

That old bastard might even be waiting for chaos to break out so he could stuff Chenshu Senju into a sack.

With that thought, Chenshu Senju changed direction and headed for the arena.

Half an hour later.

Outside the Hidden Leaf Village arena.

A large number of craftsmen were reinforcing the stands, while the security force inspected supplies entering the grounds.

As soon as Chenshu Senju approached the entrance, he spotted Temari.

She stood beside the wall with the Three-Star Fan in her arms, speaking with a Sand Ninja.

"The eastern entrance has been confirmed. On the day of the finals, two teams will be responsible for receiving them."

"What's the signal?"

"When the feather genjutsu appears in the sky."

Temari nodded, then suddenly turned toward the street corner.

Chenshu Senju was standing there.

Their eyes met, and the air fell silent for several seconds.

The Sand Ninja's expression changed slightly as his hand quietly reached toward his waist.

Yet Chenshu Senju acted as though he had heard nothing and walked straight over.

"Move."

Temari narrowed her eyes. "It's so wide here, and you have to walk past me?"

"It's closer."

"How much closer?"

"Two steps."

A vein throbbed at Temari's temple.

This guy had beaten Kidomaru into something like a dead bug during the preliminaries. Who would have thought that, in private, he could not even be bothered to take two extra steps?

She shifted aside to let him pass.

As Chenshu Senju walked by, a gust of wind suddenly swept down the street, lifting the hem of Temari's short skirt.

Temari reacted swiftly, immediately reaching down to hold it in place.

"What are you looking at?"

Chenshu Senju withdrew his gaze. "Safety shorts."

"You really looked?"

"The Sharingan's observation is too strong. I couldn't help it."

Temari's face gradually darkened, and the Three-Star Fan was already halfway raised.

But Chenshu Senju did not linger. He entered the arena in the blink of an eye.

The Sand Ninja asked in a low voice, "Should we deal with him?"

Temari gripped the fan's handle tightly, but ultimately shook her head.

"You can't beat him."

"Then what happened just now..."

"Shut up."

The Sand Ninja immediately shut his mouth.

He suddenly felt that compared with the Konoha Destruction Plan, Temari might currently want to destroy Chenshu Senju more.

Inside the arena, several security ninja were inspecting the audience stands.

Chenshu Senju avoided the others and arrived beneath the eastern stands, pressing one hand to the ground.

Fine roots silently burrowed underground, spreading outward along the arena.

Soon, he sensed more than a dozen hidden compartments that had been dug out in advance.

They contained explosive tags, poison mist bombs, and special summoning scrolls used by the Sound Ninja.

They had prepared quite thoroughly.

Chenshu Senju did not take any of the items.

Alerting them now would only make them change their plans.

He controlled the Wood Release roots to quietly swap the fuses on the explosive tags, then left a wooden seed beside each hidden compartment.

As soon as someone injected chakra, the seeds would immediately sprout.

Whether the explosions would go off was hard to say, but the people lying in wait would definitely be bound by vines first.

After finishing all that, Chenshu Senju went to the security force's guard station.

A middle-aged ninja stretched out a hand to stop him. "Unauthorized personnel are not allowed inside."

Chenshu Senju took out a scroll and handed it over.

"If a large-scale genjutsu appears in the arena on the day of the finals, open this."

The middle-aged ninja did not take it. "What is it?"

"An early warning signal."

"Who sent you?"

Chenshu Senju thought for a moment. "The First Hokage."

The middle-aged ninja's expression immediately turned strange.

The First Hokage had been dead for decades. He clearly would not suddenly start caring about the security force's safety measures now.

"You think I'd believe that?"

Chenshu Senju raised his hand and pressed it against a nearby wooden table.

A tender shoot emerged from the tabletop, quickly blossoming into a white flower.

The middle-aged ninja fell silent.

A Wood Release user claiming it had been arranged by the First Hokage somehow did not sound that ridiculous.

At the very least, it was more normal than the Third Hokage personally going on patrol.

"I'll give the scroll to the captain."

"Don't open it early."

"Why?"

"There are spores inside. They'll spread rapidly when exposed to air."

The middle-aged ninja's hand trembled, and he nearly threw the scroll away. "Is it poisonous?"

"No. It'll only make white flowers grow on whoever touches it."

Chenshu Senju glanced at him. "Possibly including their butt."

The middle-aged ninja immediately set the scroll on the table.

He decided to let the captain open it personally.

Chenshu Senju left the guard station and placed dozens more Flying Thunder God marks around the arena.

Although the Flying Thunder God Technique was still in its fragmentary state and could not yet teleport over long distances, these coordinates would come in handy sooner or later.

They thought they were setting up the battlefield.

In reality, from the moment Chenshu Senju stepped into the arena, this place had already become Senju territory.

[Successfully established an early warning node.]

[Destroyed enemy explosive devices.]

[Mission completion: 40%.]

[Received five drawing opportunities.]

Chenshu Senju closed the system panel and looked toward the center of the arena.

The Sand Village, the Sound Ninja, and Danzo.

All three sides were preparing to make their move on the day of the finals.

Who was the hunter and who was the prey was still hard to say.

But one thing was certain.

When everyone wanted to profit from chaos, the one who ended up suffering was usually the person who thought himself the smartest.

Night gradually enveloped the Hidden Leaf Village.

Beneath the arena, in a newly dug passage, Orochimaru slowly removed his Grass Ninja conical hat.

Several glass jars filled with culture fluid sat before him.

Inside one of them floated a piece of flesh containing Wood Release cells.

Kabuto Yakushi pushed up his glasses. "The test subject and barrier are ready. All we lack is a blood sample from Chenshu Senju."

Orochimaru extended his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.

"No need to rush."

"Once the finals begin, he'll walk in here himself."

Cold chakra spread underground, and the tissue inside the glass jars began to pulse gently.

Orochimaru raised his head, his golden vertical pupils filled with anticipation.

This time, he would verify it himself.

Could the powers of the Senju and Uchiha truly fuse completely within the same body?