Facing Gaara's surging killing intent, Ye Chuan's gaze sharpened, and Wado Ichimonji hummed softly in his hand.
"Sand Shigure!"
Gaara attacked first, sending countless high-speed sand bullets raining down on Ye Chuan like a torrential storm!
Ye Chuan flickered rapidly through the dense barrage. Observation Haki let him predict the path of every sand bullet, allowing him to slip easily through the narrowest gaps.
"He's so fast!"
Watching from the side, Kankuro's heart pounded with alarm. Such evasive speed and reflexes went beyond his understanding of what a Genin could do!
Meanwhile, Hinata and Temari, as well as Kiba and Kankuro, had also begun fighting.
Hinata temporarily kept Temari occupied with Gentle Fist, preventing her from easily unleashing large-scale Wind Release techniques.
Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru relied on their tricky, swift movements to contend with Kankuro's Puppet Crow, leaving neither side with a clear advantage for the moment.
At the center of the battlefield, after dodging Sand Shigure, Ye Chuan charged straight at Gaara instead of retreating!
"Hmph, you're asking to die!"
Gaara snorted coldly. More sand surged from his gourd, forming a thick wall in front of him!
However, Ye Chuan's aim was not to attack Gaara himself directly.
"Slash!"
With a low shout, he abruptly accelerated Wado Ichimonji, its gleaming blade tracing a stunning arc through the air!
This time, he not only infused it with Armament Haki but also incorporated his own understanding of "slashing" into it!
Shhh-!
A visible, pale blue-green slash wave shot from the blade like a rapidly spinning crescent moon, crashing viciously into the thick sand wall!
Boom!!!
A tremendous crash rang out! As though struck by heavy artillery, the solid sand wall instantly burst apart from the middle, sending sand and dirt flying!
"What?!"
Gaara's emotionless pupils suddenly contracted!
His Sand Defense had actually been shattered in a single strike?!
After smashing through the sand wall, the slash wave continued forward without losing any power, grazing Gaara's shoulder.
It left a distinct slash mark on the Sand Armor covering his entire body.
A few drops of blood even seeped out!
Injured?!
Gaara looked down at the faint trace of blood on his shoulder, completely stunned.
He had never been injured since the day he was born!
That unfamiliar pain was like a key, instantly unlocking the shackles of some savage existence!
"Aaaaaah-!!!"
Chakra far more violent than before erupted from Gaara's body like a volcano!
Sand churned wildly around him, vaguely forming the outline of a massive sand claw.
His blood-red hair stirred without any wind, and his eyes filled with madness!
"This is bad! This guy... has lost control of his emotions!"
With his Observation Haki, Ye Chuan clearly sensed the terrifying power belonging to Shukaku, the One-Tail, inside Gaara.
"If we keep fighting and draw out the Tailed Beast, we'll be in trouble!"
His only goals were to seize the scroll and test his strength. He had no interest in risking his life against a rampaging Jinchūriki here.
"Retreat!" Ye Chuan decided immediately.
Although Hinata and Kiba were somewhat confused, their trust in Ye Chuan led them to immediately make feints and break away from their respective opponents.
With a backhand swing, Ye Chuan sent a fierce sword-energy slash into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Seizing the opportunity, Team 8's three members and one dog turned without hesitation and vanished into the depths of the forest as fast as they could.
Behind them, Gaara's frenzied roars could faintly be heard...
With their exceptional strength and a little luck, Team 8 successfully collected both the [Heaven Scroll] and the [Earth Scroll] less than half a day after entering the Forest of Death.
After that, they avoided further complications and headed straight for the Central Tower at top speed.
Finally, only about six hours after the exam had begun, Team 8 appeared inside the tower at the finish line.
The ninja in charge of registration looked at them, then checked the time, an expression of disbelief appearing on his face.
Without a doubt, Konoha's Team 8 had become the first team to pass the second exam!
After finishing the second exam, Ye Chuan returned to his little house to wait for the others to finish.
After all the running around in the forest, he did feel a little tired.
He did not immediately begin his daily tasks.
Ever since learning that combat could also earn him large amounts of experience, his attitude toward daily tasks had changed.
Previously, he had completed them without fail, but now he had become more flexible.
If there really was not enough time that day, he would selectively skip one or two daily tasks.
After all, compared with the meager experience from daily tasks, the rewards from combat were much greater.
His thoughts had already begun shifting more toward finding suitable opportunities for actual combat.
Still, he could not neglect the fundamentals.
Ye Chuan picked up Wado Ichimonji and began practicing basic sword swings, no longer insisting on a certain number and instead focusing more on what he learned from each swing.
Judging by the time, Team 7 should have encountered Orochimaru by now.
Sasuke's Cursed Seal... Naruto's eruption of Nine-Tails Chakra... and the deadly fighting between the other teams...
The five-day exam period soon ended.
The surviving teams arrived at the Central Tower one after another.
All those who had passed were gathered in a hall inside the tower.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, appeared in person and delivered a speech to the Genin who had endured this trial of life and death.
Ye Chuan remained as absentminded as ever, showing little interest in these oft-repeated words.
After the speech, the Third Hokage looked at the still somewhat crowded teams below and announced:
"The number of people who passed the second exam has exceeded the allotted number of places in the final elimination tournament."
"Therefore, before the official competition begins, we will hold preliminary matches to determine who will ultimately participate in the third, official exam!"
As his words fell, a figure appeared beside the Third Hokage.
His face was pale, with heavy bags under his eyes. He coughed occasionally, looking frail and sickly.
It was the Special Jōnin serving as chief examiner for the preliminary matches-Gekko Hayate.
"Cough, cough... well then, everyone,"
Gekko Hayate said weakly:
"The rules for the preliminaries are simple. Individual, one-on-one combat, with no rules, continuing until one side surrenders, dies, or becomes unable to fight."
"The matchups... will be drawn at random."
Just then, Kabuto Yakushi suddenly raised his hand from within the crowd:
"I'm sorry, examiner, sir. I... cough, cough... was injured too badly in the earlier fighting, and my body can't hold up through the coming matches. I choose to withdraw."
Just as expected.
Ye Chuan watched Kabuto's "feeble" appearance without the slightest ripple of emotion.
This guy had already achieved his objective, so naturally, he would not stay to take part in such meaningless battles.
"Hmm, withdrawing? That's fine." Gekko Hayate nodded.
"Then, excluding him, twenty people remain. Exactly ten matches."
He signaled for the Chunin behind him to activate the electronic display on the wall.
The names on the screen began scrolling rapidly.
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