In the stands.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Kazekage abruptly stood up. "What! She actually knows Lord First's Wood Release! What is going on?"
The Kazekage said, "Konoha truly lives up to its reputation! To see the legendary Wood Release with my own eyes-this trip was well worth it."
The entire arena fell silent, everyone's eyes focused on
Ino said, "W-Wood Release! When did Sakura learn that?"
Hongshi's eyes shone like stars again. "Ino, do you crave that same power? Do me a favor and become my little bro."
Ino said, "(≖_≖) I'm a girl."
Hongshi said, "(͡°͜ʖ͡°)✧ Then do me a favor and become my little sister."
Ino said, "I refuse. You're too ugly."
Hongshi said, "(°ー°〃)..."
After Sakura became the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, the Three-Tails, brainwashed by Hongshi, did his best to cooperate with her. Given time, she would certainly become a perfect jinchūriki. With her extremely abundant chakra, she finished the battle, chuckled softly, and walked out of the arena.
Gaara, on the other side, also fell deep in thought. "I never expected there to be someone even stronger than Sasuke!"
At that moment, he was a little rattled.
Guy patted Kakashi on the shoulder. "Yo, Kakashi, your Team 7 really is impressive! As expected of my lifelong rival-even the students you teach are this outstanding!"
Kakashi looked at Hongshi, who kept talking to Ino. "Ah, I... I suppose so!"
"Round two, Neji Hyuga versus Shino Aburame!"
This battle was much quieter. Against the Byakugan, the Aburame Clan's secret techniques had no openings to exploit. Moreover, Neji already knew Shino's attack patterns. He kept attacking from range with Vacuum Palm and soon ended the battle.
"Neji Hyuga wins. Round three, Temari of the Sand Waterfall versus Shikamaru Nara."
Much like in the original story, Shikamaru used his extremely high IQ to lure Temari into his trap step by step, ultimately restraining her. In the end, however, he still surrendered.
Hongshi said, "(≖_≖) So you wanted to pick her up from the start. As expected of the man whose IQ is second only to mine."
The Lord God said, "Have some shame, would you, embodiment of wisdom?"
"Temari of the Sand Waterfall wins. Round four, a three-way battle: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Yuhan."
"Oh! A three-way battle! I wonder how exciting it'll be!"
The audience erupted again.
Meanwhile, all of Konoha's jonin had already sensed danger. The fake Anbu slowly moved into advantageous combat positions, while Konoha's jonin remained where they were, ready to strike at any moment.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that the fighting would probably break out during this match. The Kazekage beside him was also beginning to fail to conceal the killing intent in his eyes.
"Yuhan, good luck!" Sandayu poked his head out and waved at Yuhan.
Yuhan responded with a smile, then addressed Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. "Little sister Hinata, Kiba, you'd better team up. Otherwise, you won't be a match for me."
Kiba said, "Tch."
Hinata said, "U-Um... big sister Yuhan, you're very strong. I'm going to give it my all!"
In truth, this match no longer mattered. Whoever won, it would be Konoha's victory.
"Begin!"
"Byakugan!"
"Beast Mimicry Ninjutsu: Fang Over Fang!"
Right at the start, Kiba fed Akamaru a Military Rations Pill and unleashed his strongest finishing move.
Watching Kiba charge at him, Yuhan remained completely calm. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
With a splash, he spat out a large volume of water, surrounding himself and temporarily blocking Fang Over Fang. Completely neutralizing it, however, was probably impossible.
"Water Release: Twin Water Human Technique!"
Four arms extended from the Water Formation Wall, grabbing Kiba and Akamaru and breaking their Fang Over Fang.
Yuhan said, "Off you go."
Two water humans slowly walked out of the Water Formation Wall, simultaneously canceling Fang Over Fang.
"Damn it, let go of me!!!"
"Woof, woof, woof!"
The boy and dog were carried away in the water humans' arms, struggling with all their might.
"Hahahaha!"
"Hahaha!"
The sight amused the audience.
"Hehehe." Even Yuhan covered his mouth and chuckled.
Gaara said, "Tch. Are they playing around?"
Baki seemed to hear something and walked over to Gaara. "Gaara, as soon as this match ends, begin fighting."
Hinata ran behind Kiba and used Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, attempting to break the water human. "Kiba, I'm coming to save you."
Yuhan said, "Go, Hinata! You can do it!"
But just then, a sound rang in Yuhan's ears, and Inoichi Yamanaka's voice reached his mind. "Yuhan, end the battle immediately."
"Hmm?" Yuhan looked toward the stands. He had accumulated extensive assassination experience during his time in the Mist Ninja's pursuit unit, and he immediately spotted the irregularities. "Genjutsu? Have we been infiltrated?"
Many masked Konoha Anbu had inexplicably appeared among the audience. They were forming hand seals, and the spectators were growing drowsy.
"Little sister Hinata, Kiba, sorry. I'm ending this fight. Water Release, Wind Release: Water Fan Breakthrough Sphere!"
Yuhan used Water Release to imitate Temari's Three Star Fan, then swung it to unleash Wind Release: Breakthrough. At the same time, the water fan turned into several water spheres. Carried by the Wind Release, the spheres passed through the water humans in an instant and struck Hinata and Kiba.
"Wah!"
"Ah!"
Boom! Boom! The tremendous impact drove Hinata and Kiba against the wall, briefly putting them out of action.
In the stands.
Hongshi said, "Nice work, Yuhan... huh, feathers? What's go-"
Duang! Hongshi toppled stiffly to the ground, his head hitting the floor and his body forming a thirty-degree angle with it. Cos 30° equaled... ahem. He even cracked the floor.
"Zzzzz."
All the spectators around him also saw feathers, then fell into a deep sleep.
"Hmm?" Beside him, Sakura and Ino said, "Genjutsu? Release!"
Baki said, "It's genjutsu. That means Kabuto has made his move!"
Boom!
Smoke bombs exploded throughout the stands, and numerous masked ninja leaped out. Their forehead protectors revealed them to be Sound Ninja, and they took advantage of the chaos to attack the Konoha ninja.
"Move out! First, abduct the daimyo of each nation and the impor-"
"Hiyah! Youth Concerto!"
Before that Sound Ninja could finish, a pair of shoes appeared in front of his face. Then his nose stung, and he lost consciousness.
The very next second after the Sound Ninja began their operation, all of Konoha's Anbu, jonin, and chunin moved as well. Their targets were clear: each jonin and Anbu engaged the nearest Sound Ninja, while the chunin immediately protected the daimyo and ordinary spectators.
The Sound Ninja had originally numbered over two hundred, but their numbers instantly dropped by nearly fifty.
Baki faced off against Inoichi Yamanaka. "What! You reacted that fast?"
Inoichi Yamanaka said, "Gekko Hayate risked his life to send back this intelligence. We can't let him down."
Baki said, "Gaara, use the Feigning Sleep Technique now!"
Killing intent surged in Gaara's eyes. He could not hear Baki at all, instead staring fixedly at Sakura in the stands. "Once I kill you, I'll be stronger than Sasuke!"
With that, he leaped high into the air.
"Gaara!" Temari and Kankuro were startled. "That isn't the plan!"
"Hahaha! Wood Release girl, let me see the power of Wood Release!"
"Damn it, has he lost his mind?" Temari chased after Gaara.
In midair, the sand gourd on Gaara's back burst apart, forming a pair of wings. He flew straight toward Sakura, who was fighting Sound Ninja in the stands opposite him.
"Sand Shower!"