Panic gripped the entire arena. Yellow sand raged through the air, and the tailed beast's oppressive presence left everyone struggling to breathe.
Billions of viewers across the shinobi world stared fixedly at the Sky Screen, with only one thought in their minds-
Sasuke was done for!
A mere genin facing the rampaging One-Tail had no chance of winning. In another second, the yellow sand would most likely tear him apart!
But just as Sasuke hovered between life and death!
Countless pure white feathers suddenly drifted through the arena.
The feathers danced lightly through the air, slowly settling over the entire fighting stage, the spectator stands, and every corner of the arena.
A moment later, the noisy, screaming crowd fell silent.
The vast majority closed their eyes and fell into a deep sleep, one after another.
The One-Tail Shukaku's chakra, which had been raging unchecked, rapidly receded like an ebbing tide!
All strength drained from Gaara's body in an instant. His eyes rolled back, and he lost all ability to fight.
"Gaara!"
Temari and Kankuro, who had been watching tensely below the stage, blanched. They rushed up at once and caught the collapsing Gaara securely between them.
Both knew the situation had spiraled completely out of control. They did not dare hesitate for even a moment.
Konoha was already in chaos. Staying would only get them killed!
Carrying the unconscious Gaara, they turned and fled desperately toward the arena's exit, wanting nothing more than to escape Konoha immediately.
But they had barely taken a few steps.
A cold, forbidding figure suddenly gave chase.
Sasuke Uchiha's gaze locked onto the fleeing trio, the fighting spirit and obsession in his eyes undiminished.
This fight wasn't over yet!
He would never let his opponent flee in disgrace like this!
Sasuke pushed off, moving like lightning. Without hesitation, he chased the three of them out of the arena.
As the view pulled farther back, following Sasuke's pursuit, the crisis engulfing all of Konoha was laid bare on the Sky Screen!
The once bustling, peaceful village of Konoha was now consumed by fighting, with smoke rising everywhere!
Figures fought in chaotic melees wherever one looked. The ground was a wreck, buildings were damaged, and dust filled the air.
Sunagakure shinobi took advantage of the chaos to launch attacks everywhere, wreaking destruction at will;
Otogakure shinobi sowed confusion;
Several enormous, hideous snakes also occupied the streets, crashing through everything in their path.
All of Konoha had been plunged into massive turmoil, besieged from within and without!
Yet as Sasuke pursued his targets, he merely cast a fleeting glance at the fighting and devastation throughout Konoha.
He showed not the slightest reaction.
The turmoil in the village did not factor into his considerations at all.
At that moment, only one thing occupied his mind-
Catch Gaara!
Beyond the Sky Screen, the entire shinobi world erupted in an uproar!
"What jutsu were those feathers? They put almost the entire arena to sleep in an instant!"
"Konoha's in chaos! Sunagakure and Otogakure are invading together, and there are giant snakes too! This was a conspiracy from start to finish!"
"Sasuke's actually ignoring the danger to his village and only chasing his opponent?"
"That's far too obsessive! All he cares about is fighting, winning, and losing!"
Everyone had originally assumed this was merely an ordinary chunin selection tournament.
No one had imagined that behind this seemingly ordinary exam lurked a shocking plot by Sunagakure and Otogakure to launch a joint surprise attack on Konoha!
"Good grief! How is this an exam? It's an invasion of Konoha they've been planning for ages!"
"I'm suddenly getting scared! This is four years in the future, right?!"
"Could it be... the Fourth Shinobi World War is about to break out?!"
The more they thought about it, the more frightened they became. Countless civilians and ordinary shinobi fell into a panic.
"No more war! I don't want to fight another war!"
"It's been a long time since the Third Shinobi World War. The major shinobi villages have recovered their strength. Are they really going to launch another all-out war?!"
It was not just ordinary people and rank-and-file shinobi.
Even the leaders of the Five Great Shinobi Villages wore grave expressions, utterly shocked by this turn of events.
No one had expected a simple set of chunin ninja exams to conceal such a massive upheaval.
Sunagakure, the Kazekage's Office.
Fourth Kazekage Rasa watched the Sky Screen quietly, feeling the strange, scrutinizing, faintly accusatory gazes of the Sunagakure High Command around him.
After a brief silence, he nodded openly and admitted it outright.
"When I first saw on the Sky Screen that my future self would personally lead a team to Konoha for the joint exams, I started wondering."
"Could this be an opportunity to break free of Konoha?"
"Sure enough, four years from now, I really did intend to use the exams to break Konoha from within."
The assembled Sunagakure High Command was left speechless.
He couldn't say that!
An elder's mouth twitched as he reminded him helplessly, "Lord Kazekage! It's enough that you know it yourself! You must never admit it publicly!"
Rasa raised an eyebrow slightly, perfectly composed.
"I'm not an idiot, of course."
"I don't care what anyone else thinks. To outsiders, the village's position will be unanimous-deny everything."
"We are Konoha's allies. We would never betray them!"
The assembled leaders immediately relaxed and nodded repeatedly.
Inwardly, however, they hardly took those words seriously.
After all, being a shinobi meant betrayal!
Someone then asked anxiously, "But what about Konoha? They definitely won't let this slide!"
At that, Rasa's lips curled into a cold, knowing sneer.
"Don't worry about them."
"I know the Third Hokage all too well."
"He has always sought stability, favored peace, and disliked conflict."
"Even with the Sky Screen exposing this, he won't stir up trouble by pursuing it."
He paused, his gaze deep and every word certain.
"He might even... take the initiative to call it fake and help us keep the situation stable."
The assembled Sunagakure High Command froze.
And events unfolded exactly as Rasa had predicted.
At that moment, the atmosphere in Konoha's Hokage Office was suffocatingly cold.
Mitokado Homura slammed his palm onto the desk, his face livid. "Outrageous! Sunagakure openly tore up the alliance agreement! They used the chunin ninja exams to launch a surprise attack on Konoha! What treacherous ambition!"
Utatane Koharu's expression was equally icy as she said in a low voice, "We must immediately issue the sternest official warning to Sunagakure! Hold Rasa accountable!"
Danzo's lone eye turned cold. His presence was sinister, and his voice carried a fierce murderous edge.
"A warning isn't enough!"
"We must make Rasa come to Konoha in person to apologize and pay the price!"
"If he refuses, send troops straight into the border region and impose full sanctions on Sunagakure!"
Utatane Koharu frowned slightly and spoke up to dissuade him.
"There's no need to go that far, is there?"
"Rasa is still the Kage of a village. What you're proposing could easily ignite conflict across the shinobi world."
Mitokado Homura nodded in agreement, believing they should stop before going too far.
The two of them only wanted to warn Sunagakure verbally and bring it into line. They did not want a conflict, much less a war.
Seeing their reaction, Danzo sneered, his anger mounting.
"It's precisely because he's a Kage that he must be severely punished!"
"If we let even an ally's betrayal slide!"
"What dignity would Konoha have left?! Who in the shinobi world would still fear us?!"
"Wouldn't that mean anyone could provoke us however they pleased from now on?"
As their argument continued without resolution, all eyes turned to the silent Third Hokage.
In the end, the decision still rested with the Third.
Before you continue