"Swoosh~"
Gaara seized an opportunity, successfully dodging Sasuke's attack. He then wrapped himself in a large amount of sand, quickly forming a massive, hardened Sand Sphere!
"Clang~"
"What? My intermediate magic sword can't pierce it?"
Gaara's sand had always seemed so fragile when facing attacks from a magic sword.
But now, with Gaara concentrating his Chakra to transform the sand into a spherical object, even Sasuke's intermediate magic sword couldn't pierce the sphere without using full force.
"Hmph~ I refuse to believe it."
Sasuke refused to accept defeat, controlling his Flying Sword to continue attacking the sphere. After each unsuccessful attempt, he increased the force in the next strike.
When he used his full power, the magic sword finally pierced the sphere, injuring Gaara.
It was at this moment that golden feathers began to drift down from the sky.
Konoha Crush Plan, begin!
..."It's starting?"
Ge Liang looked at the feathers before him dismissively. Since he had no Chakra, these Genjutsu had no effect on him, and he couldn't even be bothered to form a hand seal.
Haku, who was beside him, reacted quickly thanks to the earlier warning, immediately forming a hand seal to dispel the Genjutsu.
The Konoha Jonin and Anbu members ambushing in the arena were a beat slower than Haku because they hadn't received Ge Liang's warning, but none of them were affected by the Genjutsu either.
"Well then, let's begin."
Orochimaru, disguised as the Fourth Kazekage in the VIP Stands, said this with extreme composure.
"Bang!"
The nearby Sunagakure Jonin threw a smoke bomb onto the ground, creating a massive cloud of smoke that obscured the view of what was happening inside.
"Whoosh"
A dark shadow shot out from the smoke and landed on the arena roof. Upon closer inspection, it was the Fourth Kazekage who had seized the Third Hokage.
Even the most foolish person now knew that the Sand Ninja were about to attack Konoha!
"Hurry and pursue!" The Anbu guarding the Third Hokage rushed toward the arena roof! They were about to catch up, but Orochimaru denied them the chance. He looked coldly at the Anbu flying toward him and said, "Do it!"
Upon receiving the command, the four Otogakure Ninja who had been ambushing on the roof began to form hand seals!
"Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Formation!" Four walls of purple light rose, obstructing the Anbu's pursuit!
"Oh? A small fry actually managed to slip in?" Orochimaru looked disdainfully at the Anbu who had darted inside.
It turned out that before the Sound Four successfully deployed the Barrier, one Anbu had already charged in, avoiding the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"Forget it, he's just a small fry. He won't cause any trouble."
Orochimaru stopped paying attention to the Anbu who had run in and turned his gaze to the Third Hokage he was holding captive.
"I didn't expect the Sand Ninja to betray Konoha."
The captive Third Hokage spoke calmly, showing no sign of panic.
"Treaties are merely a distraction meant to make opponents drop their guard."
Orochimaru interrupted what the Third Hokage was about to say next.
"This boring match ends here. I will rewrite history at this very moment!"
"Kazekage-dono, we should avoid using force and seek peaceful methods to resolve the issue."
The Third Hokage made his final effort to persuade him.
"Heh heh."
Orochimaru closed his eyes and laughed deeply.
"Have you become senile in your old age, Sarutobi-sensei!"
At this moment, Orochimaru suddenly revealed his true face!
"You! Orochimaru!" The Third Hokage's pupils contracted... The scene returned to the arena, where Temari and Kankuro stood on either side of the Sand Sphere, and Baki, the Sand Ninja Squad Leader Jonin, had already appeared before Shiranui Genma.
"Gaara, it's time to execute the plan!"
"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" Sasuke, whose mind was reeling from the sudden turn of events, asked curiously.
"I apologize, the Chunin Exams are over."
The Toothpick Man spat out the toothpick in his mouth.
"You already possess the level of a Chunin. Since you are a Konoha Ninja, go do something useful for Konoha: stop the Sunagakure Ninja!"
"Tch, seriously, how could this happen!" Sasuke looked around and saw the scene was in chaos, with Otogakure and Sand Ninja constantly attacking Konoha Ninja. Just as Sasuke was about to help, Naruto descended!
"Sasuke, don't go help yet! First, deal with the Sand Ninja in the arena!" Naruto looked at Temari and Kankuro beside Gaara.
"What about you?" Sasuke asked, frowning!
"Me?" Naruto looked helplessly at the Sand Sphere still in the arena. "I'll handle this most troublesome one!"
Hearing this, Sasuke was initially about to refuse, but thinking of Naruto's identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and looking at Gaara, the One-Tails Jinchuriki, Sasuke tacitly accepted Naruto's arrangement.
Just then, there was movement from Gaara's side.
"Hoo-hoo-hoo-wooo—!" Following Gaara's roar, the Sand Sphere began to crack little by little, revealing—Gaara in his Raccoon-Dog Form!
"He hasn't transformed into his Complete Form yet?" Baki looked at Gaara and said, "It doesn't matter. We can deal with those two Konoha Genin first."
Even after witnessing the wonders of the Internet Cafe, Baki didn't believe that any Genin could defeat the Semi-Complete Form of Gaara.
"Then let's warm up first!" Baki looked at Shiranui Genma and charged forward!
"Gaara has started transforming, we need to leave quickly! It wouldn't be good to get caught in the crossfire!" Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances and rushed out of the arena.
"Tch, don't think you can escape!" Seeing Temari and Kankuro trying to run, Sasuke quickly chased after them.
"Hoo-hoo! Uzumaki Naruto, what exactly are you fighting for!?" As the transformation began, Gaara's own consciousness grew increasingly chaotic, and his appearance became hideous and terrifying.
"Why am I fighting?" Naruto looked straight at Gaara.
"Because I have people I cherish here! I have to protect them!" Naruto said slowly.
"Ah—" Gaara's consciousness grew more and more chaotic. After a pained cry, he went completely berserk.
"Die!"
"Sand shuriken!" Dozens of sand bullets rapidly shot toward Naruto. Naruto jumped to dodge the attack, and at the same time, while airborne, he produced several Shadow Clones.
Just as the Shadow Clones were formed, the Half-Transformed Gaara leaped forward, closing in on Naruto.
It seemed he wanted to engage Naruto in close combat.
"Hmm?" Seeing this, Naruto frowned.
If it were his former self, he would definitely have a headache, as he had no other Close-Combat Moves besides the straightforward Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
Now it was different. Besides the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, he also knew... "Rasengan!"
"Bang!"
A Rasengan struck Gaara squarely on the cheek, causing him to fly backward and crash heavily onto the ground.