Chapter 70
In short, the team from Iruka's class led by Shikamaru did not clash head-on with the Sand ninjas.
Just like that, the Konoha squad and the Sand group went their separate ways.
Shikamaru took his people to try bypassing the ravines, while the Sand ninjas decided to take the shortcut.
They had no idea what was waiting for them.
…
As the distance shrank, many Sand ninjas recognized Naruto.
"Isn't that Konoha's jinchūriki?"
"What's he doing there?"
"And he's got a few teammates who look really weak."
"Gaara didn't participate, right? Probably because of him."
"Looks like Konoha's jinchūriki came here with bad intentions!"
"You're the one with bad intentions~"
Before the competition even started, Naruto had suddenly shown off his overwhelming power in front of everyone.
Now, quite a few Sand ninjas were already losing their nerve.
However…
It was too late!
"Good afternoon, everyone! It's really hot today, isn't it?"
From behind the Sand ninjas, Naruto's figure suddenly appeared. He walked toward them with a big, friendly grin, looking completely harmless.
But…
Kankurō remained cautious. He questioned Naruto: "Stop right there!"
"What do you want?"
The smile froze on Naruto's face, then vanished: "Don't be so hostile~"
"I'm just here to collect tolls. Please cooperate, thank you~ Otherwise I'll have to kill you all."
Kankurō and Temari: "…"
The moment those words came out, several shadow clones of Naruto jumped up from the ravines, instantly surrounding the Sand ninjas and cutting off all escape routes.
That finally pushed some of the hot-headed ones over the edge.
"What???! He really is robbing us?"
"He's just one guy—does he not see the situation clearly?!"
"Who gave him the guts to think we're scared of him?"
"If he wants to rob us, then us robbing him back isn't exactly going too far, right?"
Whoosh~
While the Sand ninjas were fuming and shouting, a black shadow suddenly shot out from the crowd.
It was Sunagakure's specialty—puppets!
Click-clack~
This was Naruto's first time facing a puppet up close. All he saw was a wooden humanoid figure making constant mechanical noises as it charged toward him.
"Mm… is that all?"
Naruto gathered chakra into his fist. When the puppet got close enough, he punched straight forward.
But…
The puppet suddenly fired several kunai from its mouth.
Then Naruto's fist made contact with the puppet's body.
BOOM!!!
The puppet instantly shattered into pieces. All its complex mechanisms were destroyed, scattering into a pile of broken parts on the ground.
Naruto made a slight dodging motion, but a thin cut still appeared on his face.
"Pretty interesting."
Under the stunned gazes of everyone, Naruto commented with genuine interest.
One punch destroyed a puppet?
Many Sand ninjas immediately started backing off. What were puppets?
They were assets with war-level value—each one built to the highest quality standards.
You could even say puppets were tougher against attacks than real human bodies.
If that punch had landed on a person… wouldn't it mean instant death?
More and more people started looking at Naruto with fear.
Just like Gaara, Naruto's strength was overwhelming.
But unlike Gaara, Naruto looked completely normal—not crazy or unhinged at all.
"Hm?"
Naruto felt a slight numbness at the wound and instinctively frowned.
Seeing this, Kankurō explained: "The kunai inside the puppet were coated with poison. You'd better deal with it quickly."