East side of the Forest of Death, the canopy blocking out the sky.
Three figures were shuttling at high speed among the branches, sending fallen leaves rustling down.
Sasuke was at the front, his black hair streaming backward as he dashed, the crimson pupils of his two-tomoe Sharingan glinting faintly in the dim forest.
His speed was extremely fast, almost a full sprint, not at all like he was executing a long-term survival challenge meant to last five days. It seemed more like he was chasing something.
"Sasuke!"
Sai quickly caught up from behind, maintaining a parallel course with Sasuke.
His face still had that same smile lacking warmth, but his voice carried a hint of confusion: "Our direction of travel seems to have deviated from the shortest route to the central tower. Is something wrong?"
Sasuke didn't turn his head, his gaze fixed firmly on the path ahead, answering only briefly: "Find a team as soon as possible, get the scroll, and pass the exam. That's our goal, isn't it?"
His tone was very cold, even somewhat brusque, clearly not wanting to say more.
Shigaraki followed silently, slightly behind Sasuke on the left. His eyes narrowed beneath his black hair, carefully studying Sasuke's profile and his Sharingan.
As a Ninja trained by Root, Shigaraki's training had made him exceptionally sensitive to micro-expressions and body language.
But Shigaraki didn't ask any questions. He just gave a light snort and temporarily buried his doubts deep in his heart.
The mission Danzo had given him was clear: monitor Sasuke alongside Sai, especially to observe any possible contact with Land of Stars' Ninja, while protecting this precious 'Sharingan seed' from dying accidentally during the exam.
As for why Danzo valued Sasuke so highly, Shigaraki could roughly guess. After the Uchiha Clan defected from Konoha, he's the only pure-blooded Uchiha remaining in Konoha… this Sharingan is a treasure.
The three continued racing forward.
The forest grew denser, the light dimmer. The humid smell in the air, mixed with a certain stench, made their noses itch.
Suddenly—
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several kunai shot out from the shadows of the canopy ahead, their trajectories tricky, aimed respectively at the three's throats, hearts, and abdomens.
"Enemy attack!"
Sai was the first to raise the alarm. He rolled sharply to the right, the kunai grazing his shoulder and embedding itself in the tree trunk behind him, sinking deep.
Sasuke reacted almost simultaneously. His Sharingan had already captured the trajectories of the incoming kunai. He simply shifted his body slightly, and the kunai brushed past the clothes on his chest. The wind pressure they carried caused the hem of his clothes to flutter slightly.
Shigaraki was even more direct. He flicked his wrist, and a shuriken slid out from his sleeve, precisely striking the kunai aimed at him with a sharp 'clang', sparks flying.
The three landed almost simultaneously, standing back-to-back in a triangular formation, watching their surroundings alertly.
"Come out," Sasuke said coldly, his Sharingan spinning slowly, scanning every patch of shadow.
Silence.
Only the rustle of wind through the treetops and the faint sound of birdsong in the distance.
But the next moment, a sudden change occurred.
On the surface of the tree trunk beside Sai, the texture of the bark suddenly twisted and bulged, faintly revealing the outline of a human form.
That outline quickly solidified into an Otogakure's Ninja wearing a sedge hat and a grey combat uniform. His right arm was raised, and a dark hole in the center of his palm was aimed directly at the back of Sai's head!
"Look out!" Sasuke's Sharingan detected the abnormality first, shouting out loud.
Sai reacted extremely quickly. Almost the moment Sasuke spoke, he had already thrown himself forward, creating distance with a clumsy but effective roll.
"Tch." The sedge-hatted Otogakure's Ninja clicked his tongue, his voice hoarse: "Troublesome brat. Why can't you just die nicely?"
Before his words faded, Sasuke had already struck.
He swept his hands across his waist, and three shuriken shot at the Otogakure's Ninja in a triangular formation with a sharp whistling sound.
The Sharingan's dynamic vision allowed him to precisely predict his opponent's evasive path. These three shuriken blocked the upward, left, and right directions, forcing the opponent to either block them head-on or retreat.
The Otogakure's Ninja indeed chose to block.
He raised his left arm to shield his body. Three sharp 'clang' sounds rang out as the shuriken struck his arm, actually producing a metallic impact sound!
The sleeve was torn, revealing a silver-grey metal vambrace underneath.
"What's this?" Sasuke's pupils contracted slightly, 'That wasn't a simple metal vambrace... it looked more like some kind of ninja tool!'
The Otogakure's Ninja sneered, raising his right palm again, the black hole aimed at Sasuke: "Sound Wave Cannon!"
Humm—
An invisible shockwave burst from the hole. The air visibly twisted and compressed, forming a transparent blast of impact that smashed in front of Sasuke in an instant!
'Too fast!'
Sasuke only had time to cross his arms in front of his chest, instinctively gathering Chakra in his arms to form a defense.
Boom!
His entire body was sent flying backward by that tremendous force, his back slamming hard against a tree trunk, shaking leaves down in a cascade.
His throat went sweet, the taste of blood rising into his mouth, which he forcibly swallowed back down.
"Sasuke!" Sai picked himself up from the ground, quickly pulling out a scroll and a paintbrush from his back.
But another Otogakure's Ninja had already emerged from his flank.
This Otogakure's Ninja also wore a sedge hat, but his build was smaller. He was equipped with similar metal vambraces on both arms, with black holes in the centers of both palms.
He wasted no words, extending both palms together, sending two sound wave beams shooting toward Sai and Shigaraki, one left and one right!
"Spread out!" Shigaraki growled low, rolling to the right.
Sai, meanwhile, moved his brush with great speed and vigor, quickly sketching on the scroll. An ink lion leaped from the paper, positioning itself in front of him.
The sound wave beams struck the ink lion, causing it to instantly disintegrate into countless ink droplets. But this bought Sai a fraction of a second. He used the momentum to jump backward, and the ground where he had been standing was blasted into a shallow pit by the sound waves.
"Their attack method—" Sasuke wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, his Sharingan fixed on the two Otogakure's Ninja's vambraces. "It's a special ninja tool that converts Chakra into sound wave attacks."
This kind of attack was formless and intangible, difficult to block with conventional methods, and extremely fast. If not for the Sharingan's ability to barely capture the distorted trajectory of the air, that last attack would have caused more than just minor injuries.
"Sai! Cover me!" Sasuke suddenly shouted, while rapidly forming hand seals.
"Understood," Sai nodded, his paintbrush flying across the scroll: "Super Beast Imitation Drawing: Complete Collection!"
Several ink lions and ink tigers surged from the scroll, roaring as they charged at the two Otogakure's Ninja.
They were massive in size, their movements swift. Though they were only ink creations, the force of their bites and swipes was not to be underestimated.
The two Otogakure's Ninja were forced to retreat, swinging their vambraces to emit sound wave attacks, dispersing the ink beasts one by one.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Sasuke seized the opportunity. He completed his hand seals, took a deep breath, and suddenly exhaled.
Dozens of fist-sized fireballs shot from his mouth, like blossoming phoenix flowers, their trajectories erratic, covering all possible evasive routes of the two Otogakure's Ninja.
"Dammit!" the smaller Otogakure's Ninja cursed. The two had to retreat again. Their sound wave beams dispersed a few fireballs, but more were already approaching.
At the same time, the last ink tiger Sai had drawn pounced close, opening its massive jaws to bite down on the taller Otogakure's Ninja.
"Get away!" The Otogakure's Ninja roared, aiming his right palm at the tiger's head: "Sound Wave Cannon!"
Humm—
The close-range sound wave impact directly dispersed the tiger's head, ink splattering everywhere.
But the tiger's body continued forward due to inertia, slamming into him and knocking him hard to the ground.
"Now!" Shigaraki moved.
He had been lurking on the flank and now shot out like a leopard, his kunai flashing cold light as he thrust it toward the smaller Otogakure's Ninja's back.
The smaller Otogakure's Ninja sensed the danger and barely turned his body. The kunai pierced his shoulder, blood spraying.
He cried out in pain and struck backhandedly at Shigaraki.
Shigaraki was prepared, ducking to avoid the strike and kicking the other in the knee.
Crack.
The sound of breaking bones was clearly audible.
The smaller Otogakure's Ninja screamed and collapsed to his knees. By then, Sasuke had already charged to the taller Ninja's side.
The Sharingan spun.
The taller Otogakure's Ninja had just gotten up from the ground when he saw a pair of crimson eyes, the dark tomoes in their pupils slowly rotating.
In that instant, he felt his movements slow down, his thoughts also stagnating.
That instant was all the opening needed.
Sasuke's right leg whipped out like a whip, savagely kicking the taller Otogakure's Ninja's abdomen.
"Ugh—" The taller Otogakure's Ninja's eyes bulged, a mix of stomach fluid and blood spraying from his mouth. His body curled into a shrimp-like shape as he flew backward, colliding with the smaller Otogakure's Ninja, the two rolling into a heap.
The battle, from start to finish, lasted less than two minutes.
The two Otogakure's Ninja lay in a pool of blood, one with a pierced shoulder and shattered knee, the other suffering from a heavy blow to the abdomen with internal injuries, both moaning in pain.
Shigaraki walked over and raised his kunai expressionlessly.
"Wait!" The taller Otogakure's Ninja struggled to raise his head, his face full of fear: "The scroll… we'll give you the scroll… please…"
Schlick.
The kunai pierced his throat.
The sound stopped abruptly.
Shigaraki pulled out the kunai and added another cut to the smaller Otogakure's Ninja's neck.
The movements were clean and neat, without a moment's hesitation.
Sasuke stood by, watching the blood gushing from their throats stain the ground, his expression unchanged.
He had grown accustomed to death that night, and had personally ended many lives during Anbu missions.
This level of killing no longer stirred much emotion in him.
Only… he frowned slightly.
His Sharingan scanned the two bodies, then looked around.
"Where are their scrolls?" Sasuke asked.
Shigaraki had already quickly searched the bodies and shook his head: "Not on them."
"Then where's the third person?" Sasuke looked into the depths of the forest. "Everyone taking the exam is in three-man teams, but only these two appeared."
Shigaraki wiped the blood off his kunai and said in a deep voice: "Maybe they split up. For example… setting traps elsewhere."
"Better be careful," Sai said, putting away his scroll and paintbrush as he walked over.
His face still had a smile, but his eyes held a contemplative look: "The Chunin Exams is based on teams. Missing one person means you can't register. A third person definitely exists. If they split up, it means they're overconfident in their abilities."
Sai paused and added, "Also, these two's Ninjutsu were very special. I've seen descriptions similar to that kind of sound wave attack ninja tool in some intelligence reports."
"The Land of Stars' Ninja forces are equipped with a type of scientific ninja tool that can seal Ninjutsu into scrolls and then activate them through special devices. But their attack method was somewhat different. It seemed more like directly converting Chakra into sound waves, a more primitive technological path, but not lacking in power."
"The Land of Stars?" Sasuke's brow furrowed even tighter.
He recalled the Land of Stars' Genin he had seen in the exam hall, those two teams… Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Karin's team.
But they didn't seem to be carrying any special ninja tools.
"Either way, we can't stay here long," Sasuke said, glancing at the corpses on the ground. "The smell of blood will attract other things soon."
"Agreed." Shigaraki stood up and moved his ankle, which he had slightly twisted while dodging the sound wave attacks earlier.
The three prepared to set off again.
But just as Sasuke turned around…
The ground beneath their feet, a patch of earth covered with fallen leaves, suddenly began to bulge and roll without warning!
No, it wasn't earth!
It was sand!
Golden grains of fine sand, like living tidewater, gushed forth from underground, transforming into several sand tentacles that shot lightning-fast toward Sasuke's legs!
"What?!" Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply. His Sharingan clearly saw the trajectory of the sand's movement, but his body couldn't react in time… too close, too fast!
He could only extremely leap backward, but more sand tentacles were already approaching from all directions.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Shigaraki reacted extremely quickly. He slapped his hands on the ground, and a mud wall rose in front of Sasuke, blocking most of the sand tentacles.
But this only delayed them for a second.
The mud wall was easily smashed by the sand tentacles, the scattered mud and sand mixing together.
And then, one sand tentacle had already bypassed the mud wall's obstruction, wrapping around Shigaraki's right ankle like a snake!
"Urgh!" Shigaraki grunted, feeling a tremendous force on his ankle. His entire body was dragged stumbling forward.
The power of that sand tentacle was astonishing... it actually dragged him sliding toward the depths of the forest, plowing a furrow in the ground.
"Super Beast Imitation Drawing: Grass Snakes!"
Sai's paintbrush left afterimages on the scroll as several ink water snakes leaped from the paper.
The largest water snake quickly wrapped around Shigaraki's waist, engaging in a tug-of-war with the sand tentacle. The remaining water snakes split into left and right paths, counterattacking along the path of the sand tentacles, burrowing into the shadows of the forest.
The pulling force of the sand tentacle faltered slightly.
Shigaraki seized the opportunity, pulling out his kunai and stabbing it fiercely into the sand wrapped around his ankle!
The sand seemed to feel pain, contracting slightly, its force weakening.
Shigaraki used this chance to break free, rolling backward to create distance, panting heavily as he clutched his ankle.
And at that moment, Sai's face changed.
He said quietly: "My ink snakes were almost all eliminated in an instant."
"The opponent is very strong."
The forest fell into a brief silence.
Only the sound of wind through the treetops, and a certain rustling sound of sand grains rubbing together, came from the shadows ahead.
Sasuke stood still, his gaze fixed on the direction where the sand tentacles had retreated.
His Sharingan glowed crimson in the dim light.
And then, he saw them.
Three figures landed on the horizontal branch of a giant tree twenty meters ahead.
Towering overhead.
On the left was a blonde girl carrying a giant fan, her hair tied in four ponytails, currently smiling teasingly: "Oh, I was just wondering where to find people, and we run into you first. Isn't this Uchiha Sasuke? How come you look so disheveled after just taking on one team of Otogakure's Ninja?"
On the right was a boy with purple markings painted on his face, carrying a puppet wrapped in bandages on his back, his eyes alert.
And standing in the middle was a boy with short red hair, a long crimson robe, wearing a Star Ninja's standard blue-grey flak jacket over it, the character for [Love] carved on his forehead.
Those emerald green pupils were now fixed on Sasuke.
Gaara!
Sasuke's breathing, in that instant, stopped.
Because his gaze had fallen on Gaara's chest.
There, a silver chain emerged from his collar, and at the end of the chain was a four-leaf clover-shaped green crystal pendant.
The pendant glowed with a soft luster in the faint light filtering through the canopy.
"We finally meet, Uchiha Sasuke."
Gaara spoke, his voice calm yet carrying a certain heavy pressure, as if each word were carrying grains of sand.
"I've been waiting for you, for a very long time."
Sasuke's fists slowly clenched at his sides.
His nails dug into his palms, pain shooting through them, but it couldn't match the burning mix of shock, anger, and confusion rising in his chest.
He raised his head, the tomoes in his Sharingan spinning faster.
"You—" Sasuke's voice was somewhat hoarse. "That pendant… where did you get it?"
Gaara did not answer.
He simply raised his right hand, gently grasping the four-leaf clover pendant on his chest, his finger pads rubbing against the crystal surface.
Then, he looked at Sasuke, his green eyes holding a complex, almost pitying expression.
"It seems you don't know anything," Gaara said softly. "How pitiful, how sad."
Sasuke's face turned pale, little by little.
"You… what the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke ground his teeth, his voice forced through them.
Gaara released the pendant.
The four-leaf clover crystal fell back onto his chest, gently swaying.
He didn't answer Sasuke's question. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread wide.
Under the layer of fallen leaves at his feet, countless grains of sand began to writhe and gather, like golden streams flowing toward his feet, rising behind him to form a suspended sand curtain wall.
"If you want to know the answer—"
Deep within Gaara's pupils, something violent and turbid began to stir.
"Then use your own eyes to find it."
The moment the words fell.
Boom!!!
The sand curtain exploded, transforming into countless sand hands, like an raging ocean, surging toward Sasuke and his two companions!
The battle was about to begin!