On the other side, Sasuke, Naruto, Menma, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino walked home together.
Sakura, Kiba, and Shino had already parted ways at the previous intersection to go to their respective homes.
Naruto, hands behind his head, walked briskly, humming an out-of-tune song.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he turned to the others and said: "That guy named Suigetsu earlier, he seemed pretty nice! Although he spoke a bit arrogantly, he didn't feel like a bad person."
Sasuke snorted lightly, glancing sideways at Naruto: "Idiot, he was deliberately trying to get information out of you. Didn't you notice he kept asking about Zabuza and Iida Yusuke?"
"Eh? Was that it?" Naruto blinked, looking blank.
Shikamaru couldn't help but sigh, his dead fish eye turning to Naruto: "I told you... at least have some guard up. The Chunin Exams is essentially an opportunity for villages to show their strength and probe for intelligence. Even if you make friends, you need to be careful."
As he spoke, his gaze flicked to Menma nearby, and he sighed inwardly.
'Fortunately, Naruto had been placed on Menma's team.'
'With Menma around, at least he could keep an eye on this overly simple idiot.'
'If Naruto were on my team...'
Shikamaru shuddered, not daring to think further.
Menma just smiled, not intervening.
His left hand was held by Hinata. The girl's small hand was soft and warm, like a piece of warm jade, which Menma couldn't bear to let go of.
Hinata kept her head down, obediently walking beside Menma, her heart pounding.
This was the first time she had actively held Menma's hand in front of everyone. Although 'Big Sis' often did this, it still took a tremendous amount of courage for her.
She could feel Ino occasionally casting teasing and amused glances, and her face stayed red.
Ino was indeed secretly laughing.
She leaned close to Shikamaru's ear and whispered: "Look at Hinata. It's the first time I've seen her, not the Big Sis personality, be so forward. But Menma seems very unfazed. Doesn't he look a bit like a player?"
Shikamaru glanced over and muttered: "Matters of the heart are the most troublesome..."
Choji was still savoring the barbecue, patting his stomach and saying to Naruto: "Next time, let's try the wagyu beef from the Land of Lightning... burp! I heard that meat has perfectly even fat distribution and melts in your mouth when grilled..."
Chatting like this, the group arrived at a crossroad.
The streetlights cast warm halos at the corners, stretching their shadows long.
"Well, let's part ways here," Menma said, stopping and turning to the others. "See you at the exam."
Naruto nodded firmly: "Mm! Everyone, do your best! We'll definitely pass the exam together!"
Sasuke, hands in his pockets, nodded coolly in response.
Shikamaru yawned: "Yeah, yeah... I'll do my best, even if it's a bother."
Ino smiled and waved: "Good luck, Hinata! Bye!"
Hinata responded softly: "Mm, goodbye..."
Choji also smiled honestly and said goodbye.
As the group prepared to head in different directions, Sasuke also stepped forward, ready to walk home alone.
A wave of cold, heavy oppressive force suddenly emanated from the darkness before Sasuke.
It wasn't killing intent, but a more savage sense of oppression, as if being targeted by some fierce beast, sending a chill up the spine.
Sasuke's steps abruptly halted, every muscle in his body instantly taut.
His Sharingan activated almost instinctively, the crimson Two-Tomoe slowly spinning.
Not only him, but Naruto, Shikamaru, Menma, and the others behind him also sensed this unusual aura, stopping and vigilantly looking towards the darkness before Sasuke.
Menma narrowed his eyes slightly, 'This Chakra felt like...'
Hinata instinctively tightened her grip on Menma's hand. Her Byakugan silently activated, veins appearing at the corners of her eyes.
Through her Byakugan's field of vision, she 'saw' the vast, chaotic Chakra in the darkness, her face paling slightly.
"Sasuke!" Naruto quickly came to Sasuke's side, his blue eyes fixed on the depths of the darkness.
Shikamaru's hand had already moved to his rear ninja tool pouch. Choji had also put away his honest smile, his expression becoming serious.
Ino stepped back half a step, her face grave, assuming a posture ready to form seals at any moment.
Under the group's heavy gaze, a figure slowly walked out from the shadows beyond the reach of the streetlights.
It was a red-haired boy.
He wasn't particularly tall, wearing dark red long-sleeved shirt and pants, with a blue-grey Land of Stars' standard flak jacket over them.
On his forehead was a prominent 'love' character.
Most striking was the tan gourd on his back, nearly as tall as he was, firmly fixed with bandages.
The boy had short dark red hair and delicate features, but those green pupils were cold, devoid of any warmth.
He just stood there quietly, his gaze fixed on Sasuke, as if the others around didn't exist.
"Gaara, why are you running so fast!" A female voice came from behind the red-haired boy.
Footsteps sounded, and two more people ran out of the darkness.
One was a blonde girl with her hair in four ponytails, carrying a huge iron fan nearly as tall as she was, panting as she followed.
She wore a dark blue short skirt and long stockings, and similarly wore a Star Ninja's forehead protector.
The other was a black-haired boy with prominent purple markings on his face, wearing high-collared dark clothes, his expression vigilant.
All three were clearly Genin of the Land of Stars, but Sasuke didn't remember seeing them at the village gate.
Shikamaru's brow furrowed tightly. He stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Are you Genin from the Land of Stars here to participate in the Chunin Exams?"
Temari glanced at Shikamaru, didn't answer, and instead said to Gaara: "Gaara, what's wrong? Why did you run off so fast..."
She followed Gaara's gaze and saw Sasuke, momentarily stunned.
Kankuro also vigilantly sized up the Konoha's group. When he saw Sasuke's crimson Sharingan, his eyes became grave, but then he saw Menma not far away, and his eyes widened.
Gaara still didn't answer anyone.
He just looked deeply at Sasuke, those green eyes devoid of any emotion, his voice eerily calm:
"You are Sasuke?"
Sasuke felt a chill rise from his feet.
Not because he was puzzled that this red-haired boy knew him, but because of the aura emanating from him.
It wasn't the killing intent accumulated by an ordinary Ninja through combat, but a sense of savagery mixed with the desolate scent of the desert washing over him.
Sasuke had carried out many dangerous missions in the Anbu and faced many strong enemies, but no one had ever given him this feeling.
It was as if... standing before him wasn't a person, but a monster in human skin.
"Who are you?" Sasuke's voice was somewhat hoarse from tension, but he forced himself to stay calm, his Sharingan fixed on the other.
"How do you know my name?"
Gaara didn't answer.
He just slowly raised his right hand.
The next instant, the stopper of the gourd on his back popped out automatically.
Whoosh—
Countless grains of sand poured from the gourd, like a living yellow torrent, condensing and transforming in the air, then shooting towards Sasuke with startling speed!
"Sasuke, look out!" Naruto shouted, about to rush forward.
But it all happened too fast, from Gaara raising his hand to the sand attack, it was but the blink of an eye.
Sasuke was sent flying.
"Gaara, stop!" Temari shouted sternly. "This isn't the Land of Stars! Don't cause trouble!"
Gaara watched Sasuke struggle to his feet after being knocked back. Those green eyes held, besides the earlier curiosity, a hint of disappointment.
The sand slowly retracted, flowing back into the gourd.
The stopper was replaced.
Gaara glanced one last time at Sasuke, then turned and said to the two:
"Let's go back."
His tone remained calm, as if he hadn't nearly killed someone just moments ago.
"Wait!" Sasuke finally snapped out of his shock, a wave of humiliation and anger washing over him.
"You! Who are you?! Why did you attack me?!"
Gaara paused.
He didn't turn around, just slightly turned his face, his voice drifting in the night wind: "Uchiha Sasuke... you are too disappointing..."
He paused, then added:
"At the Chunin Exams, don't die too soon."
With that, he didn't linger, walking straight towards the other end of the street.
Temari and Kankuro exchanged a glance and quickly followed.
Kankuro looked back at the Konoha group vigilantly, especially staring deeply at Menma, before turning and leaving.
The three figures soon disappeared into the night.
Only when they were completely gone did the tense atmosphere ease slightly.
"Th-that guy..." Naruto let out a long breath, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "What a terrifying feeling... scarier than any enemy we've faced before..."
Shikamaru's expression was also very ugly: "The Land of Stars actually has a monster like that... that sand just now, it moved too fast. I almost couldn't see it."
Ino patted her chest, still shaken: "Is that gourd on his back filled with sand?"
Choji swallowed: "And he said 'don't die too soon'... what does that mean? Are they really going to kill during the exam?"
Hinata held Menma's hand tightly, whispering: "The Chakra inside him... is terrifyingly vast... it's like... it's like..."
She didn't know how to describe that feeling.
Menma gently patted the back of Hinata's hand, signaling her to relax.
He turned to look at Sasuke: "Are you okay?"
Sasuke shook his head, but his face was still pale, his Sharingan filled with humiliation and unwillingness.
He had just been taken down by that one move before he could even react.
If the other party hadn't intended to kill him, he would have been dead or seriously injured.
He hadn't felt this kind of powerlessness since joining the Anbu.