Shaking Them Down

Nothing happened that night. Tianming woke up early the next morning.

On his way from the Aokawa Clan to the academy, he ran into the Sand Village trio head-on.

For this Chunin Exam, every other ninja village had sent powerful shinobi, and the Sand Village was no exception.

On their first visit to Konoha, Kankuro and Temari had naturally gotten lost in Konoha's broad streets.

"This is such a pain! Why don't we just use ninjutsu to blast a path through..." Kankuro scratched his head in frustration and was about to form hand seals.

"No!" Temari flatly refused. "This is Konoha. We can't act rashly! And don't forget our real objective!"

"Hmph!" Though displeased, Kankuro did not dare go against Temari's wishes.

"Don't tell me Gaara got lost too?" Kankuro muttered.

"That's none of your concern." Temari rolled her eyes at Kankuro. "Let's find someone to ask for directions first."

"Good point." Kankuro looked up and spotted several children running out of an alley ahead.

"Hey! Brat over there! I have something to ask you!" Kankuro called out. The child who had been playing froze on the spot, then immediately burst into tears.

It had to be said, Kankuro's puppeteer outfit was rather frightening.

"I said, what are you crying for?" Kankuro instantly appeared before the child, picked him up, and said, "A kid like you makes me want to kill you!"

Smack!

At that moment, a pebble wrapped in chakra silently appeared behind Kankuro's head.

The pebble struck the back of Kankuro's head. He winced in pain, then roared furiously, "Who attacked me?!"

Hearing Kankuro's roar, Temari, standing a little farther back, narrowed her eyes. That pebble had struck Kankuro from behind, which meant the attacker was behind them?

"You came to my Konoha to bully people?" Tianming strolled out of the alley behind Temari.

Of course, Tianming knew the trio were not enemies, but during the Chunin Exam, the Sand Village still had a plan to destroy Konoha to carry out. Strictly speaking, calling them enemies now was not wrong.

"Bastard!" Kankuro was already boiling with rage and wanted to make a move. The bandages on his back began to loosen, revealing the puppet, Crow.

Just as the tension reached its peak, an upside-down figure appeared on a towering tree by the roadside.

"Kankuro, don't."

Gaara's voice was icy.

As soon as he spoke, Kankuro could only slowly rein in his violent chakra. Toward this younger brother of his, Kankuro both respected and feared him.

"There will be plenty of chances. The mission comes first." After speaking, Gaara vanished from where he stood again, never once glancing Tianming's way.

"Damn it!" Kankuro glared at Tianming as if he wanted to devour him. "What's your name? Just wait until the Chunin Exam!"

"Qingchuan Tianming." After introducing himself, Tianming's tone turned teasing. "Kankuro, if you want to beat me, first overcome your fear of your little brother."

The moment those words came out, Temari, who had been walking ahead, abruptly stopped. Her hand involuntarily gripped the Three-Star Fan...

"You know me?" Some reason returned to Kankuro amid his rage. He was not stupid. This was their first time in Konoha, so no one should have known them.

Rather than exposing everything outright, Tianming looked at Temari and said, "Temari, with your strategic mind, are you going to make a move?"

At that moment, Temari was truly certain. The person before her might know about the plan to destroy Konoha!

"You know about our plan?" Temari asked in an uncertain tone. She was hesitating over whether to join forces with Kankuro and strike by force.

The smile on Tianming's face did not fade. Instead, he laughed aloud. "Konoha's higher-ups don't know about your plan. What I can tell you is that it will fail. And as for strategy, I think you'll meet someone named Shikamaru Nara."

"Who is Shikamaru Nara?" Temari asked.

Who is he? He's your future husband!

Of course, Tianming would not reveal something like that.

"You're not from Konoha. What do you want?" Kankuro had calmed down.

"I am from Konoha. As for what I want, naturally I won't tell you. After all, everyone has secrets, don't they?" With that, Tianming walked over to the child Kankuro had frightened into tears and gently offered him a lollipop.

Temari and Kankuro stared at Tianming for a while. Only after Tianming said, "Follow me if you're not afraid of getting lost," did they make a move.

Ninja Academy! Shinobi from every village had gathered together.

The moment Tianming stepped into the Ninja Academy, the check-in mission was triggered. After standing in place for ten seconds, Tianming gained a head full of Naruto world cultural knowledge.

Tianming roughly understood. The system wanted him to pass the first round with full marks...

"Tianming!" When he reached the classroom, Naruto Uzumaki waved from a corner. All three members of Team 7 had arrived.

Tianming walked over and stood with Team 7, looking over the shinobi from all around the classroom.

Even Naruto Uzumaki grew serious at this sight. "Everyone looks really strong."