Strange Sunagakure

The Chunin Ninja Exams finals arena.

The chaos caused by Rasa's self-destruction was still ongoing. This time, no one used the Nirvana Temple Jutsu to put ordinary civilians to sleep; everyone faced this disaster head-on.

Ninjas had relatively high resistance to radiation, but the poor civilians were swiftly evacuated.

The Third Hokage was temporarily trapped, and Sunagakure took the opportunity to wreak havoc everywhere. Gaara floated in midair atop sand, looking down as he admired the hellish scene.

The Sunagakure ninjas attacked with suicidal frenzy. They knew neither fatigue nor pain, and they would not stop until death. Their faces did not even show any unnecessary expression.

Aside from Temari and Kankuro, who still retained human traits, the other Sunagakure ninjas seemed to have undergone some unknown change. They... did not seem human.

Gaara was the One-Tail Jinchuriki. Due to the ninja villages' special policies toward Jinchuriki, everyone in Sunagakure despised and feared Gaara. Behind his back, they called him a monster. Even Gaara's father, Rasa, often subjected him to inhumane "tests."

The rejection of the villagers and his family made Gaara increasingly twisted, while the twisted Gaara became increasingly unacceptable to the village. It was as though he had fallen into a vicious cycle.

Then one day, many years ago, Gaara suddenly gained two little companions. They played happily together, like friends who had known each other for years.

This abnormal situation immediately caught Rasa's attention. He sent people to investigate the two children's identities and discovered that they were orphans from the village. They had said plenty of bad things about Gaara before, but for some reason, they had suddenly become his playmates.

Rasa did not investigate further, because he decided to use those two children's lives to conduct a new "test" on Gaara, to observe whether he had controlled the One-Tail and whether he would lose control.

Right before Gaara's eyes, his two little companions were brutally killed. Yet Gaara merely glanced at them without sorrow or joy, then turned around and found two new companions.

Rasa's feelings at the time were complicated. In theory, Gaara had passed his bizarre "test," but when he saw Gaara's utter lack of emotional fluctuation, his horrifying indifference, his heart went cold.

In the end, what kind of scene did Rasa actually want to see?

He hoped Gaara would suffer an emotional breakdown like a normal person, yet hold fast to his bottom line, remain unaffected by the Tailed Beast, and afterward still face life with a sunny, cheerful smile—something like Naruto's template.

Rasa refused to give up and wanted to continue testing and reshaping Gaara's way of thinking. Yet something astonishing happened—the villagers actually accepted Gaara!

It was as if he was no longer a monster, but merely an ordinary child. Passersby no longer looked at him with fearful, disgusted eyes, and children his age would play games with him.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Temari looked relieved.

"That is impossible, absolutely impossible!" Rasa did not believe Gaara could be accepted by the villagers, nor did he believe Gaara could become a perfect Jinchuriki. In his eyes, Gaara had always been a failure.

Yet no matter how unwilling he was to believe it, Gaara became a "normal person" right under Rasa's nose. The village's ninjas also unanimously praised him. Baki, Granny Chiyo, Ebizo—those who had once been deeply suspicious of Gaara would always suddenly change their attitudes at some point and tell Rasa with smiles on their faces, "Gaara is a good child."

They wore exactly the same smile, even the curve of their upturned lips perfectly identical. Their eyes were no longer lively. They knew neither fatigue nor pain, numb and emotionless, without sorrow or joy.

Rasa became afraid, and then he himself became like that.

His consciousness was trapped within his body. All his senses were stripped away, yet he remained awake forever. Other than thinking, he could see nothing, hear nothing, and receive no information at all.

There were only three living people in Sunagakure: Gaara and his older brother and sister. Everyone else had become puppets altered by some secret technique. Their bodies remained alive, while their consciousnesses were controlled by Gaara.

Amid Temari and Kankuro's horrified stares, Gaara told them, "It was all Mother's doing. Mother said that only this way could I gain everyone's approval. Sure enough, Mother did not lie to me."

Even now, Gaara was following "Mother's" instructions and contributing to the Konoha Crush Plan.

Neji leisurely left the chaotic scene. Before departing, he glanced at Naruto. The little blond who had once been bursting with energy now looked so dejected he seemed to have turned gray and white.

He swept his gaze around again and saw Hyuga Hiashi protecting Hinata and Hanabi. What a good father he was.

"Even if they must be destroyed, they cannot be allowed to fall into someone else's hands. In that case, they might as well all be given to me. Once the Hyuga no longer exist, the Caged Bird will lose its value, and the harm it causes will naturally disappear as well."

"Neji, where are you going?" Rock Lee suddenly shouted at Neji's retreating back.

Neji paused for a moment. "I am going to do something very important. Take Tenten and hide quickly. The coming battle is not something you can interfere with."

With that, Neji vanished without looking back.

Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi faced each other.

Orochimaru seemed somewhat impatient. He extended his long tongue and licked his lips, his voice hoarse. "Teacher Sarutobi, let us end this quickly. I have been very busy lately."

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed angered by Orochimaru's careless attitude. "Orochimaru! What exactly are you trying to do?!"

"What am I trying to do? You cannot even see something so obvious. You truly have grown old, Teacher Sarutobi!" Orochimaru sneered, though a faint sadness showed in his snake-like eyes. "Teacher Sarutobi, Konoha, this windmill, has completely rotted away. Even you, the wheel that turns it, are beyond saving. Since that is the case, then as your disciple, I will send you on your way."

Originally, Orochimaru had intended to use Impure World Reincarnation to summon the First and Second Hokage. The two former Hokage, working with Orochimaru, would give Hiruzen Sarutobi a magnificent final curtain call.

—With Hiruzen Sarutobi's current strength, dealing with Orochimaru alone was already somewhat difficult, let alone facing the First and Second Hokage in their Impure World state.

Impure World Reincarnation could not bring out all the strength they possessed in life, but it could at least bring out half. In the original story, Hiruzen Sarutobi displayed great might and drove the two back. Though he paid with his life, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation would certainly have resounded throughout the Shinobi World afterward. After all, his enemies had not only included Orochimaru, but also Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.

The younger generation of ninjas had never witnessed the First and Second Hokage's true strength. All they saw was the Third fighting one against three without falling behind, even coming close to wiping out his enemies.

Such a glorious record undoubtedly cemented his reputation as the "strongest Hokage."

Who knew whether Orochimaru had caused such an outcome deliberately or by accident.

But Orochimaru at this moment had no such thoughts, nor did he intend to let Hiruzen Sarutobi die with dignity. He only wanted to end the battle quickly.