Shiranui Genma scratched his head helplessly and glanced at the match chart in his hand.
The next match should have been Sasuke versus Gaara.
Looking at the noisy spectators around him, he let out a sigh.
No matter what, the match had to continue.
"Next match: Konoha's Second Pillar versus Sand Ninja Gaara!"
The Sand Ninja spectators at the sidelines immediately began shouting.
They all knew exactly how strong Gaara was.
"Konoha brat, surrender! Lord Gaara is incredibly strong!"
"Stop fighting, or you might die!"
The Sand Ninja spectators kept yelling.
Amid everyone's eager anticipation, Gaara made a dazzling entrance with his huge gourd on his back. His face was utterly expressionless, but the adorable cat ears and cat tail completely erased his stern aura.
Sasuke rolled his neck.
During the Chunin Exams, he had personally witnessed Gaara's strength. Even Watermelon rind, after opening the Five Gates, had failed to defeat him. How much chance did Sasuke have?
He reached into his ninja tool bag. At a time like this, it was best to unleash his ultimate move right away!
Gaara crossed his arms and said softly, "Surrender, or you'll die horribly!"
Sasuke gave a contemptuous smile, a strange gleam surfacing in his eyes. "It's still uncertain who'll win and who'll lose. Why draw conclusions so early?"
As he spoke, he directly pulled a Screaming Chicken from his ninja tool bag.
Gaara was shocked, fear rising in his heart.
"You're too strong. You've forced me to use my trump card!" Sasuke curled his lips into a grin, then slowly raised the Screaming Chicken.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
In an instant, the skies darkened and the winds surged. Every loudspeaker around the arena seemed as though it had been hacked.
A melody began playing at the same time.
"Beat You Too Beautiful, hey hey, hey hey! Beat You Too Beautiful, hey hey, hey hey! You're simply too beautiful to beat, hey hey, hey hey..."
The brainwashing accompaniment paired with even more brainwashing dance moves plunged the area around the arena into dead silence.
Gaara's cat ears had increased his hearing tenfold to begin with. The music instantly brainwashed him, leaving him standing stiffly in the distance, his eyes clouded and dull.
Before long, he twitched. His fists abruptly clenched, and a thought arose in his mind: kill Sasuke and eliminate all future trouble.
He let out a roar, and obvious changes appeared on the right half of his body.
Orochimaru frowned nervously.
This was absolutely not what he wanted to see right now!
But if this continued, Gaara would sooner or later completely release Shukaku. What should he do?
He could not help gritting his teeth, his brows tightly furrowed.
After a full half minute, seeing that Gaara was about to reveal his true form, he could no longer sit still. He rose directly to his feet, took out a firecracker with a pull ring, and yanked it hard.
"One arrow pierces the clouds; an army of thousands comes to meet it!"
The Third Hokage hurriedly stood up. At that moment, he sensed an overwhelming danger!
Among the spectators, Kankuro, who had already finished his match, suddenly sprang into action, carrying his puppet as he released poisonous gas all around him.
The sudden upheaval threw the entire audience into chaos.
The Third Hokage looked around anxiously. In the instant he was distracted, Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, somehow appeared behind him and pressed a kunai to his throat.
"Come on, let's go up to the rooftop and enjoy the view together!"
The Third Hokage sneered, but now that he had fallen into Orochimaru's hands, he could only follow him onto the roof.
"Teacher, look at Konoha's walls. They'll be breached before long!" Orochimaru tore off his disguise and said softly, licking his crimson tongue.
The Third Hokage was stunned with alarm. He slowly cast him a sidelong glance and let out a regretful sigh.
"Orochimaru, you really weren't dead. I truly regret it now. Letting you go back then was a terrible mistake!"
"Teacher, you weren't wrong! If you had been, there wouldn't be the me of today!"
The moment those words fell, a tremendous boom suddenly came from the edge of the village. A giant snake several stories tall appeared there and smashed straight through Konoha's walls!
In the center of Konoha, Wu Di quickly stepped out of his little shop. Looking at the giant snake before him, he raised his brows in confusion.
He had clearly told Jiraiya that there was a large group of Sand Ninja outside...
At that thought, he could not help slapping his forehead.
"How stupid!" he muttered. "How did I not think of it? With Jiraiya's tadpole-brained constitution, he definitely misunderstood again!"
"This is bad. A lot of ninja are definitely going to die soon, and they're all stacks of silver notes!"
In the forest, Jiraiya abruptly turned around upon hearing the sound.
"Oh my god, when did this longworm show up? How did I not notice it?"
He narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the person standing atop the snake's head.
"Isn't that little bastard the one who talked to me just now?"
"Hmph, trying to destroy Konoha right in front of me? Keep dreaming!"
Jiraiya rapidly formed hand seals and slammed his palm against the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang!
Gama Bunta emerged with a pipe in his mouth!
The moment he appeared, he hurriedly looked around in every direction and asked cautiously in a low voice.
"That kid isn't here, right?"
Jiraiya patted his massive head.
"Don't worry, he's taking the exam right now!"
"Whew!" Gama Bunta let out a long breath, and his body immediately relaxed considerably.
Naruto had left far too great a shadow on him.
"Bunta, there's a huge longworm up ahead. Help me take it down!"
Jiraiya crouched down and spoke softly.
Gama Bunta snorted coldly, and his enormous body suddenly leaped into the air.
Only once he was airborne did Jiraiya notice that a long bandage tail was fluttering from his backside!
On the rooftop above the exam arena, the Third Hokage relaxed when he saw Gama Bunta in the distance.
"Just watch. Jiraiya will deal with your allies soon enough."
Orochimaru gritted his teeth in hatred.
That damned Jiraiya—why did he have to return now, of all times?
With him here, that giant snake was completely useless!
He said in a low voice, "Teacher, don't be in such a hurry. Even if that giant snake has lost its usefulness, I'll still win!"
"At the very least, I'll kill you and leave safely!"
The Third Hokage said calmly, "Why?"
Orochimaru took a deep breath and gazed into the distance, his voice filled with emotion.
"Because... I have a trump card..."
As he spoke, he lowered the kunai in his hand.
"It's been far too long since I last fought Teacher. This time, let's have a proper battle. It'll also be a good chance to show you whether I've improved!"
Orochimaru spoke confidently, his hand already reaching into his ninja tool bag.
To this day, two items produced by the scratch-off ticket shop remained in his ninja tool bag.
He was confident that with those two items, he would definitely crush the Third Hokage!
The Third Hokage unhurriedly took two steps forward, then turned back and said softly, "Then how can you be so sure you'll defeat me?"
"Teacher, you're still as confident as you used to be. But that confidence is destined to bring you defeat!"
He licked the corner of his mouth and directly took out a Melon Grenade.
"When all is said and done, I still have to thank your village's scratch-off ticket shop for letting me scratch out such a fine item."
"With this thing, Teacher, you are certain to lose!"
Before you continue