At the same moment, inside the cave.
"Lightning Release: Purple Electricity!"
The leaping lightning streaked across the air in a jagged, purplish trajectory, suddenly bursting into the crowd at a speed no one present could discern, brushing past Baki, who stood rooted in place, and directly piercing into the puppet embedded deep within the rock wall, emitting a piercing metallic tearing sound.
The puppet, which was part of the large spatial barrier, immediately exploded, its shattered metallic structure and tiny rivets scattering like cherry blossoms in spring, flying past the group.
Baki, who was closest to the figure, instinctively stiffened first, then his eyes widened, and his body tensed, the cold sweat oozing from his pores combining with his suddenly rising body temperature, causing his entire spirit to tremble.
He abruptly looked at the figure behind him, enraged.
"Die!"
He suddenly raised his hand behind him, casually employing the Magnet Release secret technique, originally passed down only within the Kazekage lineage, and surprisingly displayed impressive mastery.
Fine metallic dust hidden within the underground rock and soil surged from the ground with his raised hand, transforming into dense black-gold trajectories in the deep, dark underground, winding into several lines, all converging towards Kakashi.
Judging by his full exertion, it was as if he intended to crush him in one go.
Interspersed within this black net was also a silent whip-tail striking directly towards this side.
At the same time, a ferocious roar, like that of a beast, rose from further away.
The dark-red figure in the distance, who had consistently herded the entire Hatake Squad towards this area from a not-too-far distance, now darted towards them at several times the previous speed, almost becoming a straight line.
"Rin!"
Kakashi, however, had already prepared before launching his attack; as he shouted this, the purplish lightning coiling around his body showed no signs of weakening, and he charged straight towards the other side in a thrusting motion.
"Bang––"
The purplish lightning pierced through the dark sand iron, breaking through multiple obstacles, forcefully diverting Baki and Sasori's attention.
Nohara Rin, who had always stayed at the very back, held a scroll with both hands and plunged it into the ground, unfurling it towards the direction of the pouncing dark-red figure.
Tadpole-like patterns immediately climbed the surrounding rock walls at a speed too fast for the naked eye to discern.
Nohara Rin then immediately dove to the other side.
"Thud!"
During his super-high-speed charge, Han, who had already extended his Tailed Beast Cloak to that of the Three-Tails, was captured almost the instant he rushed into this layered sealing net, with tadpole-like patterns like a net outlining him in the center, making his charging body resemble a large fish caught in a fishing net, freezing abruptly just as his claws were about to touch Nohara Rin's nose.
At this moment, an indescribable fury erupted from Han's beast-like vertical pupils.
He now fully understood that his intentions had long been discovered by these Konoha scoundrels.
But how did these guys know their intentions?
This thought flashed through Han's mind for only an instant.
On the other hand, Sasori, whose attack on the other side had missed, clearly thought more deeply and immediately changed his strategy, a hoarse sound emanating from his puppet body as he spoke rapidly:
"Baki! Enroll!"
"Execute Plan B!"
"This plan has failed!"
Baki and the others, who were about to continue their assault on Kakashi and Obito, who had just gotten up from the ground, couldn't help but be stunned the moment they heard Sasori's words.
Plan B, of course, was their pre-arranged escape plan.
"But, Lord Sasori—"
Before Baki could say anything more, Sasori's figure rushed directly towards the deeper parts of the underground without the slightest hesitation, not even intending to leave any room for explanation.
Sasori's mind was very clear.
To ensure the success of the plan, he dared not use his true body to enter this examination site from the beginning, lest he be discovered by Sawara Kiri's Six Eyes from the outside.
And this puppet's enhancements were entirely focused on poison and agility, designed purely for quickly deploying the Sealing Technique.
With a puppet of this level, attempting to eliminate Sawara Kiri's students in a short amount of time was simply a fantasy.
At the same time, Sawara Kiri's attitude displayed at the venue just now, and the actions of these youngsters, Kakashi and the others, all indicated one thing—their plan had no chance of success from the very beginning.
Now, there was only one factor they could still exploit.
Konoha's Genin were still inside this rock cavern.
Sawara Kiri still had a chance to enter.
If that was the case, there was only one thing he needed to do.
With this thought, Sasori did not pause for even a second, rushing directly towards the deepest part of this underground rock cavern.
Kakashi reacted in sync with him.
"Mission complete! Retreat!"
That scroll earlier wasn't a good item from a special backpack, but a trump card his father gave him to save his life; although it was of good quality, it could at most restrain a Tailed Beast for a few seconds—and that might even be an overestimation.
After all, sealing a Ninja and sealing a Tailed Beast were not on the same level at all.
However, among everyone present, the most insane and extreme was Han, who originated from Iwagakure.
After hearing Sasori's shout, in a brief instant, he recalled the Tsuchikage's repeated instructions, as well as the potential consequences of a war between Iwagakure and the other three nations with Konoha, given that Sawara Kiri had not yet been crippled or sealed.
The tragic scene was so intense that he dared not even think about it, and all negative, dark, and intense emotions coalesced into one most insane outcome.
"Kokuō!!!"
Amidst the young man's deafening roar, the color of the Tailed Beast Chakra cloak originally covering his body suddenly transformed into a deeper crimson than before.
Originally, Han's appearance could still be vaguely discerned through the light-colored Chakra cloak, but at this moment, he seemed to have completely merged into the Tailed Beast, with dark black emanating from beneath the deep crimson, appearing as countless thickly applied lines of shadow.
The surging Chakra swept in all directions like a storm, making it almost impossible for all the young Ninja fleeing further away to stand steady.
The layers of sealing nets that had barely managed to restrain him for a few seconds shattered inch by inch, and the tadpole-shaped sealing runes burst into large patches, turning into empty bubbles.
Under this instinctive sense of oppression, Baki had no time to think, directly grabbing Baki beside him and running towards another tunnel—that was the escape route they had prepared in advance.
As for the shadowy figure that had broken free, it lunged towards Kakashi and the others at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch.
A giant claw, suddenly expanded to almost cover a normal person's entire body, whistled as it shot forward.
"Kakashi!"
Gazing at this close-up scene, Obito, who had just gotten up from the ground not long ago, instinctively let out a roar.
He didn't notice that the two tomoe adorning the surface of his crimson pupils suddenly split into three.
At this moment, Obito felt the power and Chakra within him abruptly elevate by a level.
With the aid of the Chakra exoskeleton around him, he stomped forward, his heavy foot immediately crushing the hard, abrasive soil, sending large particles flying, while his body, under this extraordinary immense force, erupted with unprecedented speed, crashing with a 'boom' into the side of the shadowy figure, forcefully slamming it into the adjacent rock wall.
The shielding barrier laid on the surface of the rock wall flickered for an instant before completely disappearing, devoured by the corrosive Chakra overflowing from the surface of the Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak.
Han, who now had four long tails emerging from behind him, roared and swung his arm, smashing it towards Obito.
But.
'I can see it.'
The trajectory of that mountain-like hand swinging down was so clear in Obito's vision.
At this moment, he felt his body lighter than ever before, his reactions extraordinarily keen, and his entire combat prowess elevated by a level.
He stepped on the rock wall, rolled his body, and pushed off the ground with one hand, avoiding the heavily slamming claw.
Various taijutsu reactions he had seen before but never truly comprehended now became fully integrated in his mind, and even his use of the exoskeleton on his body suddenly became more proficient; he held a Kunai in a reverse grip with one hand, while the other quickly swept over the Ninja tool pouch at his side, scattering several shuriken connected by steel wire in a dispersed pattern forward.
"Clang, clang, clang—!"
Han, who had no intention of bothering with this 'small fry,' instinctively wanted to lunge towards Kakashi after only sweeping out one claw, but his greatly enhanced hearing keenly caught the whistling sound of shuriken coming from behind.
However, the moment his Chakra arm extended from his back, he suddenly discovered that the trajectories of those shuriken did not land on him at all.
Han instinctively turned his head backwards.
The next moment, a layer of clear blue Chakra exoskeleton suddenly appeared on Obito's body.
He used the strength enhanced by the exoskeleton to pull the intertwined steel wires, yanking them sharply backwards.
"Thud!"
Han, in his Tailed Beast form, felt a great force emanate from his body, and he was forcefully dragged and slammed heavily against the rock wall, creating a deep indentation.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
The steel wires, binding his body like threads, became the perfect conductors for the roaring dragon fire at this moment, carrying high-temperature flames that shot forward in a straight line, completely engulfing the massive body, producing a deep, muffled collision sound.
"Boom—!"
Flames surged, covering the entire body of the Tailed Beast.
Upon seeing this, a glimmer of joy flashed in Obito's eyes.
"Got him!"
However, before the joy in his heart could last even a second, he suddenly felt a force on his arm, sharply pulling him to one side.
"Bang!"
The ground beneath Obito's feet suddenly exploded, letting out a piercing shattering sound, and a massive arm, boneless as if it were soft, emerged from the ground, grabbing nothing with a 'smack.'
Obito's heart first leaped in surprise, and then he managed to turn his head to look beside him.
Then, he saw Kakashi, who had just escaped some distance, had surprisingly returned, grabbing him and pulling him forward.
He scolded him irritably:
"Idiot!"
"Didn't I tell you to run faster?!"
"Tailed Beasts aren't that easy to deal with."
Obito's heart warmed at first, but hearing Kakashi's irritated scolding, he retorted somewhat uncomfortably: "I almost took that guy down just now."
"And! The one who calls others idiots is the idiot!"
As they ran and bickered, Rin, who was in the lead, suddenly shouted:
"Get out of the way—!"
Without any further warning, Kakashi and Obito, upon hearing the alert, almost simultaneously slapped each other, using the force from the impact to lunge to opposite sides.
A dark-red giant hand, shooting forward like a bullet, violently plunged into the soil ahead, exploding into a large cloud of smoke.
Both were startled, and even their running speed picked up, their urgency going without saying.
It was simply too absurd that a monster like this could participate in the Chunin Exams!
As Han's figure emerged from the vibrating dust, a roaring sound, as if echoing, emanated from his throat beneath the shadowy cloak:
"Konoha! All of you, die—!"
However, almost the instant his words fell.
An instinctive sense of danger from his Tailed Beast nature suddenly made his footsteps halt, and he instinctively looked up at the rock wall, which was unknown meters above the underground depths.
From far above the hundreds of meters of rock, a powerful threat suddenly surged, one that even he, a Tailed Beast, could not ignore.
Not just Han.
Even Kakashi, who had just fallen to the ground, seemed to sense something, his eyes wide with astonishment.
At this moment, it wasn't just them looking at the sky.
Within Iwagakure, all Ninja with even a slight sensory ability stood stunned in place, as if sensing some indescribable monster, all looking up in unison.
In the far distance of the sky, a tiny figure, almost a mere black dot, stood calmly in the sky.
"Let me see…"
"It should be around here, right?"
Sawara Kiri hovered in the air, looking down upon the earth like a god with his clear blue Six Eyes, his face still bearing that gentle smile.
However, the Chakra slowly coiling around his body caused all the Ninja in Iwagakure to fall silent at that moment.
He could clearly feel Tiamat, the 'power source' deep within his body, letting out small cheers like a fish entering water.
An endless stream of massive Chakra surged from his meridians, finally connecting to the surface of his body, forming an illusory, star-like colossal shadow behind him.
He maintained his posture, looking down at the ground.
"Mountain‑Range‑Shaking Firewood of Venus (S)"
"Information localized, complete."
"Details: An Gal Ta Ki Gal Šè. In Sumerian mythology, the most destructive and cruel act Ishtar committed was to ravage the sacred Mount Ebih, a spiritual peak revered even by the King of Gods, with a mere 'I just didn't like the look of it,' causing the entire mountain to collapse. This Noble Phantasm is from 'FGO: Ishtar.' It cannot be upgraded."
Although Orochimaru's experimental product already possessed considerable endurance, it was still insufficient to perfectly replicate the full power of this Noble Phantasm.
Therefore, the 'Noble Phantasm deployment' that had been demonstrated once by Namikaze Minato only had half of its original power.
Even Sawara Kiri himself needed Tiamat's energy supply to fully manifest it.
Once a day, without harming the body.
"Open the gate!"
Sawara Kiri stood in the sky, swinging his arm.
The next moment, fissure-like threads unfurled behind him, and an incredibly oppressive star phantom suddenly surged into the eyes of everyone present who could witness this scene.
Compared to the star-like phantom, Sawara Kiri's figure was as tiny as a grain of sand.
However, this ant-like figure effortlessly held this star in his hand.
He slowly drew back a bow-shaped arc of light.
"Ahhhhhh—!!!"
That apocalyptic sight caused all the Iwagakure Ninja present to let out desperate wails, and many figures fled like fleas into the distance.
The entire Iwagakure plunged into chaos in that instant.
Even Ōnoki instinctively walked out of the cave, standing on a secluded mountaintop, staring blankly at the scene.
'If they fight against such a monster, do they really still have a chance to win?'
At this moment, this thought couldn't help but cross his mind.
Sawara Kiri ignored everyone's reactions, quietly releasing his right hand.
"Mountain‑Range‑Shaking Firewood of Venus."
In the sky, a star suddenly fell.