What no one noticed was that right after Sasuke and the others went in, a team of ninjas from Kusagakure followed them.
The leading ninja looked at Sasuke's back and licked his lips with a scarlet tongue, looking extremely strange.
In just a few minutes, the once bustling examination field became deserted, leaving only a group of examiners behind.
"Hehe!" Anko Mitarashi said calmly while spinning a kunai on her finger. "It looks like this year's Forest of Death will be even more exciting than usual."
Recalling what Kakashi had told her, Anko became increasingly curious about Naruto's team.
She had also noticed that the three Genin from Sunagakure seemed to be following Team 7 from the very beginning.
"Let's move. Time for us to head to the tower and wait for the survivors," she commanded and led the proctors toward the tower.
Inside the Forest of Death, Naruto followed behind Sasuke with trembling legs.
"Sasuke… which way now?" he whimpered, tugging on Sasuke's collar.
"#" Sasuke grimaced as Naruto clung tightly to him. A light blush even crept up his face.
"Let go of him, you idiot!" Sakura shouted, punching Naruto on the head.
"Tch, I haven't even held Sasuke's hand yet…" she grumbled to herself with irritation.
Her thoughts wandered again to the memory of Naruto stealing Sasuke's first kiss. She wanted to strangle him just thinking about it.
"I'm scared…" Naruto muttered pitifully.
Though he often acted fearless, he was always terrified of ghosts.
"Baka," Sakura huffed. "I already checked. There's nothing nearby."
"That's not true! Ghosts don't have chakra!" Naruto argued.
"Ugh… I give up." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Shh." Sasuke suddenly tensed. He motioned for the two to be quiet.
"There's someone approaching," Sakura confirmed, activating her senses.
The three quickly moved into a back-to-back formation, ready for battle.
From the nearby trees, three figures approached. Gaara walked in front, flanked by Kankurō and Temari.
"Oh, it's you three," Naruto said flatly.
"I'm here to kill you," Gaara said without emotion. "You're strong prey. Killing you will prove my existence."
"Hmph," Sasuke responded. "I was looking forward to this."
"Hey, you with the unwashed face paint!" Naruto pointed at Kankurō. "I owe you for bullying my little brother."
"You got lucky last time. This time, you're not escaping."
"Hah!" Kankurō scoffed. "You're still just a loser."
Without a word, Naruto whipped out a large shuriken and flung it at him.
"Seriously? The same trick again?" Kankurō smirked, dodging the weapon with a twist of his body and pulling out his puppet Crow with chakra strings.
"Danger, Kankurō!" Temari suddenly warned.
Kankurō glanced back, his gut twisting as he saw the supposedly missed shuriken arcing back.
"What the—Chakra threads?" he thought in shock.
Crow flew in front of him to block the weapon.
But as he inspected it closely, he saw no threads attached.
"Idiot!" Naruto barked.
Kankurō looked up just in time to see Naruto charging in, Rasengan spinning in hand.
He panicked.
Crow was supposed to be indestructible—crafted with reinforced iron, capable of withstanding multiple exploding tags.
But Naruto didn't hesitate. He slammed the Rasengan into the puppet, shattering it and sending Kankurō flying with a mouthful of blood.
"What… just happened?" Temari was stunned, unable to comprehend Kankurō's defeat.
She rushed forward, but—
"Don't ignore me, woman!"
Sakura shouted and punched the ground in front of Temari.
Boom!
A crater erupted, sending dirt and debris flying.
"Hey! Sakura, I'm still standing here!" Naruto screamed, fleeing.
"Hmph." Sakura dusted off her gloves and glared at Temari. "Your opponent is me."
Gaara watched silently. He had no reaction to his teammates being defeated.
"Useless trash," he muttered.
Then, his eyes fell on Sasuke.
"You're from the Uchiha clan, aren't you?"
"You've done your homework," Sasuke said coldly.
"Perfect." Gaara grinned madly. "Crushing people like you is my favorite."
"I'll kill you and prove that geniuses are worthless."
"Try me," Sasuke replied, downing an energy potion and activating Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
With a surge of lightning arcing across his limbs, he launched himself toward Gaara.
End of the Chapter.
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