"Hayashi's smile..."
"It's completely changed."
Looking at Hayashi in midair, Naruto Uzumaki swallowed hard and spoke slowly.
"Yeah... Hayashi's power must have shown her something unpleasant."
Sasuke Uchiha instinctively grabbed the railing in front of him, his Sharingan greedily capturing the natural energy drifting around the red-haired ninja in midair.
"Both sides are about to get serious."
Had Hayashi heard Sasuke Uchiha's words, he probably would have laughed on the spot.
Then he would have wagged a finger in front of him and said, "No, no, no-"
Up to this point.
Uzumaki Hayashi had only brought out the power he had used against Zabuza in the Land of Waves.
The lone dragon horn on his head was the best proof.
After all, some things were, of course, meant for the little snake hiding in the back, playing dirty tricks!
On the raised platform, a pair of golden eyes in the Kazekage's seat stared unblinkingly at the red-haired figure in midair.
As though admiring something.
But right now, Uzumaki Hayashi had no time to pay attention to any of that, nor did he know about it.
He simply floated in the air, slowly raising his Tachi toward Gaara below.
The original ice-blue glow on the Tachi quickly vanished.
Green wind blades wound around his body and coiled onto the blade.
The blade had originally given off a faint, fragmented hum, but with the addition of wind chakra, it suddenly grew far louder and clearer.
The sound traveled across the arena and throughout Konoha.
In the village, pedestrians stopped one after another, following the ringing of the blade as they looked toward the Chunin Ninja Exams venue.
"What... is that sound?"
"It seems to be coming from the exam venue!"
Before the blade fell, its sound had already seized everyone's attention.
Inside