Stripping Away the Rules

Temporary Kirigakure Camp.

The courtyard was quiet and desolate, free of wind and ripples, yet it harbored an endless gloom.

Chiyo stood in the corridor, gazing at the plants and trees in the courtyard, her aura calm and waveless. Sasori stood quietly half a step behind her, his eyes still utterly dead, save for a flash of vengeful light that now occasionally flickered through them.

After a long time, Chiyo slowly turned her head to look at her grandson, who had been orphaned and bitter since childhood, and spoke softly, piercing the prelude of just a moment ago with a single remark:

"You were staring at that white-haired boy just now. Did you recognize his identity?"

Sasori's body paused slightly, his pitch-black eyes shifting. He fell silent for a moment, and ultimately nodded slowly without denying it.

Chiyo sighed inwardly. How could she not understand? Konoha's White Fang had killed her son; it was both a blood feud for her and a deeply buried thorn in Sasori's heart, the root of his shattered childhood.

This obsession with revenge had long since been engraved into his bone marrow, difficult to dispel unless the great vengeance was achieved.

"I know the hatred in your heart," Chiyo pondered for a long time, a flash of deep and seasoned calculation passing through her eyes as she said meaningfully, "The Five Great Nations have already agreed that the second exam of the Chunin Ninja Exams will be a team battle in the Forest of Death, and the rules have been finalized. On the arena, life and death depend on one's own abilities, and no one can hold anyone accountable afterward."

She looked straight into Sasori's eyes, releasing the shackles that had bound him for many years, and gave her final promise: *"In the second exam,