Clang, clang...
The sound of clashing shuriken echoed intermittently throughout the village. The explosions of paper bombs were mixed with the screams of some of the exam candidates.
At this moment, all the ninja of Sunagakure had been mobilized, searching everywhere for the mysterious intruder.
"Quick! Seal the village exits first!" Kankuro shouted, and a group of ninja immediately moved to block all the village's exits.
"Damn it. They attacked before the exam even started." Kankuro's fists were clenched tightly.
Although he was eager to use his puppet mastery to engage the intruder in a real fight, the culprit had yet to be caught.
"How could there be an intruder? Weren't smaller nations forbidden from participating this time?" Temari held her fan, her eyes nervously darting around.
"It must be Konoha's doing!" Kankuro blamed Konoha for everything.
Just as he was about to speak, a figure flickered into existence on a Sunagakure street.
"The people from Konoha haven't arrived yet."
Hearing the familiar voice, Kankuro was first startled, then stared intently at the figure. It was Hatake Kusuo.
Kankuro gritted his teeth, suppressing the anger in his heart, and yelled at a Suna ninja running past. "Report the situation!"
"Sir! No fatalities at present, but more than ten candidates are injured! Two candidates are missing! One guard from Iwagakure is also missing!"
The Suna ninja was about to continue but was startled by the tone of Kankuro's voice. Nevertheless, he quickly reported the current situation in detail.
Hearing this, Hatake Kusuo was somewhat surprised. If it were just missing candidates, it was definitely Orochimaru's work. He probably couldn't bring himself to consume Sasuke just yet, so he was looking for a temporary vessel. Or perhaps he had taken an interest in two other children and planned to place curse marks on them.
But how could a guard go missing? Had Orochimaru become that desperate?
Kankuro's gaze remained fixed on Hatake Kusuo. He didn't expect Kusuo to help solve Sunagakure's current crisis. All Kankuro wanted now was for Gaara to return to the village safely.
"Kusuo—"
Just as Kankuro was about to speak, Hatake Kusuo's figure suddenly vanished.
The village was gradually calming down. The areas damaged by the recent explosions were already being repaired. The injured candidates were being sent to various hospitals with the help of medical-nin.
"Damn it." Kankuro stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. If he didn't have to stay in the village to oversee the situation, he would have chased after Kusuo.
Both Kankuro and Temari could sense where Kusuo had gone. An extremely powerful chakra was emanating from the forest outside the village. If there was really a problem, the enemy was definitely in the forest.
"I just don't know who it is that can unleash such formidable power," Kankuro said, looking resentfully at the forest. Temari was about to speak but heard cries for help from nearby.
"Lend a hand, there are more injured here!"
"Quick! Move this rock!"
Temari looked around, gritted her teeth, and jumped down to help restore the candidates' rest area.
...
In the forest, Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi stood opposite a man in purple clothes. Blood was trickling from the corner of the man's mouth.
"Lord Orochimaru, I will begin extracting the Four-Tails' chakra now," Kabuto said, taking out a series of devices from a wooden box he had prepared.
Roshi, the man in purple, frowned and was about to reach for a shuriken from his weapon pouch. Suddenly, Kabuto appeared directly in front of him and struck him in the chest.
Roshi coughed up a mouthful of blood. "I told you not to think about resisting. You can't escape Lord Orochimaru's grasp."
"Kabuto, hurry up. I can't wait to feel the Four-Tails' chakra," Orochimaru's sinister voice sounded from the side. He had a slight interest in the chakra of the Tailed Beasts.
Orochimaru had originally planned to absorb the Four-Tails' chakra and then trade it with Itachi for his Sharingan. But right now, his body was rejecting its current vessel, and he desperately needed a large amount of chakra to supplement it.
"You..."
Before Roshi could speak, Kabuto activated the device. The Four-Tails' chakra began to be slowly extracted from his body, flowing into a jar-like container. After all, Orochimaru didn't have the Gedo Statue, so extracting the chakra wasn't as easy.
After a while, Roshi's consciousness began to fade. Finally, unable to support his body, he collapsed.
Kabuto quickly formed hand seals, placing a sealing jutsu on the outside of the jar. Only then did he look up. Seeing the unconscious Roshi, Kabuto kicked him aside and turned to support Orochimaru.
"Lord Orochimaru, the Four-Tails' chakra has been extracted. Let's go."
Orochimaru looked at the jar with a sinister smile. "Hehe, excellent. With the Four-Tails' chakra, I can get Itachi's eyes. Itachi Uchiha... hehe..."
Orochimaru's eyes were filled with greed.
"We..."
Before Orochimaru could say the word "go," his eyes suddenly tightened. He quickly turned to an empty spot and said, "Come out."
Hatake Kusuo couldn't be bothered to hide and stepped out directly from the darkness.
Orochimaru's sharp gaze turned to one of despair upon seeing Kusuo. He wasn't confident enough to fight Kusuo over something.
"You..." Orochimaru felt an extremely strong killing intent from Kusuo.
"Lord Orochimaru, you go quickly," Kabuto said, stepping in front of Orochimaru.
But Orochimaru seemed to have no intention of leaving, his eyes fixed on Kusuo.
"Leave the jar," Kusuo said.
Kusuo had no interest in this pair, Orochimaru and Kabuto. He couldn't kill Orochimaru yet; he still needed him for Sasuke. The time wasn't right. Besides, extracting the Four-Tails' chakra wasn't an easy task.
"Kabuto, let's go."
Orochimaru's answer was surprisingly quick, catching Kusuo off guard. He had thought that with Orochimaru's personality, he would argue for a bit. But he had agreed without saying anything more.
Watching Orochimaru and Kabuto's retreating figures, Kusuo felt that this matter wasn't so simple. Especially when Orochimaru gave the jar a meaningful look before leaving. Kusuo had a feeling something was definitely off.
-------
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