The voice belonged to none other than Gaara.
His soul had been temporarily extracted by Hyūga Kagami using the power of the Giant Tenseigan, then placed inside the Type-3 Biological Armor that Shion was wearing.
Since strengthening Gaara could effectively delay the revival of the Ten-Tails, Hyūga Kagami had brought him along in this unconventional way.
Naturally, this was something he could only barely pull off after obtaining the Giant Tenseigan.
Because his Soul Descent Technique could only be used on himself, the only way to completely and safely extract Gaara's soul was by relying on the Giant Tenseigan's power.
Compared to Karin, who had virtually no real combat experience, Gaara—raised as a Jinchūriki in Sunagakure from childhood and having survived countless assassination attempts—was vastly superior when it came to facing powerful enemies.
Sensing Karin's nervousness, Gaara immediately took control of the Type-3 Biological Armor she was wearing. Using the chakra connection between the armor and Karin's body—and with her consent—he temporarily seized control of her body in a manner similar to manipulating a puppet.
Whoosh—
The moment the takeover was complete, Gaara launched his attack.
Without using any ninja tools, he swung his fist straight at Samui.
Seeing the somewhat stiff movements of her opponent, Samui smirked as she dodged and sneered,
"What's wrong? Too nervous, so your movements are all messed up? Or are you just scared—"
Boom!
Before she could finish her sentence, the smile on Samui's face froze.
The enormous tree behind her previous position had been blasted into the air by that single punch, crashing through several other massive trees with a deafening roar!
"W-What?!"
Samui's blue eyes widened in disbelief.
That tree had a canopy that blocked out the sun, with a trunk at least three or four meters thick—a true giant. Even if the Fourth Raikage were here, without activating Lightning Release Chakra Mode, it would be difficult for him to send something like that flying with a single punch.
Yet this seemingly unremarkable Kirigakure genin had done exactly that—casually.
In an instant, Samui's heart sank.
"Damn it… is this brat a monster too?"
Gaara himself was also slightly surprised.
He had always known that Karin's Uzumaki Clan bloodline was extraordinary. In terms of physical constitution, she was comparable to Nagato, the Akatsuki leader who also came from the Uzumaki Clan. That was precisely why Hyūga Kagami had taken Karin in and transplanted the precious Rinnegan into her.
Even so, Gaara hadn't expected that Karin's powerful physique—when combined with the amplification of the Type-3 Biological Armor—would produce such a terrifying burst of raw strength!
---
Inside the monitoring room where the Five Kage were gathered
As they watched giant trees collapsing one after another and brilliant lightning flashing across the surveillance screens, the entire room fell into dead silence.
At this moment, whether it was the Five Kage, the elders of Kusagakure and Takigakure, or the staff operating the monitors, everyone's attention was fixed on the clash between Hyūga Kagami and Darui.
However, the hidden cameras on the battlefield simply couldn't keep up with combat at that speed.
What appeared on the screens were little more than ghostlike afterimages, flickering arcs of lightning, rolling smoke, spreading flames, and vast swaths of forest being flattened.
Worse still, the shockwaves from the battle were destroying the cameras one by one. In just a short time, more than half of the monitoring screens lost their signal, turning into nothing but white static.
"Heh, they really are two outstanding genin,"
Tsunade remarked coldly, her tone thick with sarcasm.
Not just her—even the usually composed Third Hokage had a grim expression.
Despite not being there in person, they could feel the ferocity of the battle just from the fragmented footage. This level of destruction—practically reshaping the terrain—was something even an average jōnin would struggle to achieve, let alone a genin.
The Fourth Raikage looked a bit awkward at the comment, but he was mostly shocked. He hadn't expected the declining Kirigakure to still possess someone of this caliber.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, remained relatively calm. However, Mei Terumī, standing beside him, wore a suspicious look—she couldn't think of anyone in the village who matched the identity of Qilin from back in the Forest of Death.
---
Compared to the Five Kage observing from afar, the jōnin proctors who were actually nearby—such as Kakashi—felt the impact of the distant battle far more vividly.
Watching the lightning that remained dazzling even under the blazing sun, along with the flocks of birds and beasts fleeing in panic, Shizune asked dazedly,
"Um… if I remember correctly, this is supposed to be the Chūnin Exams, right?"
Asuma, who had regrouped with the others, clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Even during the Third Great Ninja War, you didn't see fights like this very often."
With his Byakugan activated, Hyūga Hizashi spoke gravely,
"The chakra erupting from both sides is enormous—far beyond the level of ordinary jōnin. These aren't genin at all."
Hearing that, the group of jōnin all frowned. Kakashi narrowed his eye slightly.
He had already tried to overestimate the strength of the candidates sent by the other villages—but once the fighting truly began, he realized he had still underestimated them.
Against opponents like this, even the jōnin present couldn't be sure of victory in a one-on-one battle, let alone freshly graduated Academy students.
---
High in the sky
Sitting atop a clay bird, Kurotsuchi gazed downward in amazement.
"I didn't know there was such a huge primeval forest right next to Konoha!"
Sitting cross-legged nearby, Deidara pulled out a monocular scope from his ninja pouch and fitted it over his left eye.
After nearly being subdued by a single genjutsu from the God Organization's Enma last time, he had devoted himself to training his left eye to counter Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu.
Thanks to his exceptional talent and specialized training, Deidara's left eye now possessed extreme visual acuity and strong genjutsu resistance. With the aid of the scope, it could even rival the vision of a dōjutsu user.
After observing for a while, Kurotsuchi asked curiously,
"So what do we do now?"
Beside her, Akatsuchi took out an Earth Scroll.
"We should be hunting teams with a Heaven Scroll. We need a matched pair of Heaven and Earth Scrolls to pass the exam."
Deidara snorted.
"That's boring."
Rumble—!
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a thunderous roar echoed from the distance.
Deidara immediately turned his gaze toward the source. On the far side of the forest—almost diagonally opposite their entry point—an overwhelming surge of Lightning Release chakra was erupting.
The violent thunder and intense heat even altered the weather, darkening what had been a clear sky.
"A Lightning Release expert, huh?"
After a brief pause, Deidara grinned and directed the clay bird toward the disturbance.
"It's finally getting interesting."
(A/N)
After the Reborn into Naruto world with tenseigan continuation.