Second floor, waiting room.
The Naruto shadow clone gazed at the sand sphere below. Unlike the bewildered audience, he could clearly sense the inhuman aura emanating from within the sphere.
"What's wrong?" Shikamaru walked over to his side and asked, tilting his head.
"Nothing, just curious about his ninjutsu." The Naruto clone shook his head slightly. "His ninjutsu is strange; the technique seems to precede the person."
Gaara's sand defense was fundamentally different from any defensive ninjutsu he was familiar with. Other ninjas executed defensive techniques after detecting an attack, actively deploying them. Gaara's sand, however, seemed to possess its own consciousness; it wasn't Gaara controlling the sand, but rather the sand automatically protecting Gaara. This was evident from Gaara's own bewildered expression when Sasuke attacked him with incredibly high movement speed; Gaara himself hadn't even realized Sasuke's position, yet his sand had steadfastly blocked Sasuke's attack.
Chirp, chirp, chirp!!!!
Suddenly, a piercing bird-like cry, originating from Sasuke's left hand, reverberated throughout the entire arena.
"What kind of ninjutsu is that?!" Kiba nearly bit his tongue off. Even before the jutsu was fully unleashed, its sheer imposing presence practically screamed—this is no ordinary technique! Having all graduated in the same year, Kiba increasingly felt like he didn't belong among these freaks of nature.
Of the entire audience in the arena, ninjas comprised less than ten percent; the majority were ordinary people with only a rudimentary understanding of ninjutsu. For those not in the profession, their criteria for judging whether a ninjutsu was powerful or not were simple: it had to be dazzling and have an impressive display. And the ninjutsu in Sasuke's hand perfectly matched their perception of a powerful technique.
"This is amazing! I can't believe the morning matches are already this exciting!" "A ninjutsu like that, it's got to be B-rank at least, right?" "What do you know? I'm telling you, that ninjutsu is definitely S-rank!" an 'expert' declared, looking as if he had seen through everything.
"S-rank?" Kamizuki Izumo's expression turned peculiar. If he remembered correctly, there weren't many in Konoha who had mastered ninjutsu of that caliber. While Chidori was indeed an advanced ninjutsu, it was only A-rank, still a far cry from S-rank.
"He's moving!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
All eyes focused intently. They saw Sasuke, Chidori crackling in his hand, carve a clearly visible trench in the ground as he charged fiercely towards Gaara, who was concealed within the sand sphere.
Thwump!
Hitting a stationary target is always easy, especially a human-sized stationary target like this one. Feeling the damp, hot sensation transmitted from his hand, Sasuke knew he had hit the 'bullseye.'
"Blood! It's blood!!"
Suddenly, Sasuke felt an overwhelming threat to his life. His figure shot backwards. A ferocious, sand-like beast claw slammed down violently where he had been standing just moments before.
"What is that thing?!" Sasuke stared in shock at the now completely transformed Gaara.
"Oh my, the Sand's sealing techniques are exceptionally unreliable, aren't they?" In B-section, towards the back of the audience, the ANBU-disguised ninja muttered upon seeing this scene.
"Temple of Nirvana Technique!"
From above the spectator stands, countless dream-like white feathers began to drift down. The audience members, who had just been loudly cheering for the Chidori, one after another slumped into unconsciousness.
Shhh-shhh-shhh!
Several shuriken flew towards the ANBU ninja, who swiftly dodged them.
"It seems there are a few too many big fish here," the ninja chuckled lightly, looking at Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma, who now flanked him. Clearly, he had no confidence in taking on two jonin simultaneously. "Farewell!"
Poof!
A smoke bomb slammed onto the ground.
"Kurenai, don't pursue him!" Asuma quickly called out to Kurenai. "Let's deal with the grunts around us first. The kids might not be able to handle them." Several enemy ninjas had them completely surrounded.
"Sand and Sound working together…" Asuma frowned slightly, looking at the differing headbands of their opponents.
Clang! Asuma deflected a kunai. The horn for battle had sounded.
"That was dangerous." Hidden amongst the leaves, the ANBU-disguised ninja felt a small measure of relief.
Puchi!
Suddenly, a long sword thrust upwards from below.
[Indeed, things you just pick up are never quite as comfortable to use.] Naruto, also dressed in an ANBU uniform, looked with dissatisfaction at the ANBU standard-issue sword in his hand—also something he had 'picked up.' If the sword in his hand had been Kusabimaru, that person would definitely be lying on the ground by now.
"Urgh…" The ANBU ninja struggled to prop himself up. A deep sword wound, exposing bone, stretched from his chest directly to his cheek.
"So it was him." A flicker of surprise crossed Naruto's mind. This person was none other than the white-haired man from the first exam who had been constantly watching Uchiha Sasuke. If he wasn't mistaken, his name was Yakushi Kabuto. He was one of the two who had withdrawn during the preliminary matches.
[There's a bad apple among the crowd, huh…] Naruto thought to himself. This person had participated in the Chunin Exams under the guise of a Konoha genin.
"I am very familiar with Konoha!" Yakushi Kabuto, seeing his enemy's blade about to swing again, hastily declared his value. The fact that this person hadn't joined Sarutobi Asuma and Kurenai in attacking him earlier, but had instead chosen to ambush him here, suggested he was most likely an opportunist looking to fish in troubled waters. But as long as he wasn't a Konoha ninja and there was no fundamental conflict of interest, there was room for negotiation.
"For example?" Naruto's sword swing paused slightly.
"Konoha's Intelligence Division is located on the first basement level of the Hokage Tower. It's guarded by five ANBU members and several ninjas from the Intelligence Bureau, though their combat strength is relatively weak." "Strategic supplies are stored in the northwest, within the second mountain from the left."
Naruto's long sword swung out. This kind of intelligence was fundamentally useless; none of those places could be easily breached, not to mention the multiple sealing barriers in place.
"The seal release sequence for the Intelligence Division is: Rat – Boar – Bird – Ox – Horse – Bird – Rat – Tiger – Dog – Tiger – Snake – Ox – Bird – Snake – Boar – Tiger – Rat – Bird!" Yakushi Kabuto, seeing the long sword aimed at his neck, maintained a calm expression, but his speaking speed surged to the very limits of human capability.
"Repeat that one more time?" A thought stirred in Naruto's mind. The long sword in his hand swung aside.
"Rat – Boar – Bird – Ox – Horse – Bird – Rat – Tiger – Dog – Tiger – Snake – Ox – Bird – Snake – Boar – Tiger – Rat – Bird!" Yakushi Kabuto, feeling his life force steadily ebbing away, quickly reiterated the crucial information.
"Say it again," Naruto nodded slightly.
"Rat – Boar – Bird – Ox – Horse – Bird – Rat – Tiger – Dog – Tiger – Snake – Ox – Bird – Snake – Boar – Tiger – Rat – Bird."
Naruto nodded slightly, then his long sword suddenly plunged into Kabuto's heart.
Thud!
Yakushi Kabuto's eyes were filled with shock and utter disbelief.
With a flourish, Naruto flicked the blood from his blade and gazed in the direction of the Hokage Tower. Repeating it once might be false, but being able to repeat it three times flawlessly lent it some credibility. But only some; he couldn't guarantee this person wasn't one of those freaks with an eidetic memory. There were many things he needed to understand more deeply.
Perhaps this was an opportunity…
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