"Has it begun?"
Deep within the Akatsuchi Mountains, in a hidden cave hall.
Han looked up, gazing towards the direction of the faint vibrations, his eyes narrowed slightly.
The Five Tails, Kokuo, didn't appear much in the original story, so its strength was often underestimated by many, but it was actually a Tailed Beast that naturally mastered Boil Release and could crush rocks with the horns on its head, possessing powerful vibrational force.
It naturally couldn't compare to the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails at the very top of the Tailed Beast world, but among the Genin, it was already considered a crushing, top-tier combat force.
With the vibrational and Boil Release power from the Tailed Beast, Han had also possessed extremely strong sensory abilities since childhood.
At this moment, just by narrowing his eyes slightly, he could clearly feel the movement coming from another cave in the distance.
"It's about time for us to act too."
He spoke calmly, turning his head to look behind him.
If Kakashi and the others were here, they would likely exclaim in surprise.
Because the ones present in this cave hall were not just from Iwagakure.
But Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure—all three Villages were complete.
"Hey! Masked bastard!"
Killer Bee, who had just recently blown up a bunch of Iwagakure examiners in front of everyone, was sitting casually on a rock at the edge of the cave wall, completely unconcerned about the surrounding Ninja from other Villages, picking his ear with a carrot-like finger, blowing out a light breath, and then continuing nonchalantly:
"Although Big Brother told me to cooperate with your Konoha operation, we should at least know what we're going to do before the mission starts, right?"
"If it's just to take out those Konoha idiots, there's no need for so many people to make such a big fuss."
A sneer spread across his dark face: "Just with those few cats and dogs, I alone am enough."
"Hmph."
Although they were currently in a period of secret cooperation between the three countries, with the main goal being to jointly oppose Konoha, Killer Bee had really used deadly force when fighting their Village's Jonin just now.
Although there was also the reason to avoid 'That Person' observing in secret, if Han didn't have the slightest bit of animosity in his heart, then it would truly be ghostly.
After a cold snort, he continued to speak:
"Naturally."
"Our mission is to drive those Konoha fellows to the second extended junction between Exit 31 and Exit 37, where there is a large rock cave of about three square kilometers."
"Currently, there are five Konoha squads remaining, and the one that needs special attention is the Hatake Squad led by 'That Person'."
"As for other subsequent plans, that's not something our level can know."
Han scanned the surrounding Genin, speaking calmly:
"The only thing I can tell you is…"
"This time, it is the first, and possibly last, time that our three parties will act against 'That Person'."
"To ensure the smooth progress of the operation and prevent the other party from forcibly intervening, none of our three parties have any clear Jonin or above-level individuals acting."
"Throughout the entire operation, there is a very high possibility of the other party detecting clues."
"Therefore, please proceed with utmost caution in your actions."
Although Han didn't even mention the other party's name, cautiously using 'That Person' as a substitute.
However, all the Genin present still couldn't help but show serious, wary, and even fearful expressions.
They had already known before coming here.
Whether it was this large-scale Chunin Exams, the subtly unfolding war mobilization in various Villages, or these hand-picked Village geniuses with at least Chunin-level strength under the Genin title, all were for one purpose.
The strongest in the modern Ninja World, Second God of Shinobi, Konoha's Demon King—Sawara Kiri.
If the goal could be achieved as expected, this Akatsuchi Mountains where they were currently located would be his burial ground.
But, if they failed...
Upon thinking of that terrifying outcome, everyone present couldn't help but tense up.
Even Killer Bee, who had been looking nonchalant since the beginning, inadvertently sat up straight after recalling 'That Person's name in his mind, his gaze under his sunglasses becoming subtly sharp.
Kumogakure, one could say, became a stepping stone on Sawara Kiri's path to growth at the cost of the entire Village.
The number of Kumogakure powerhouses who died directly at his hands was no less than a thousand, including the strongest Raikage in Kumogakure's history, who forcibly merged with the Eight-Tails Tailed Beast and became the first Jinchuriki to serve as a Kage.
Besides that, there were also his parents...
"The Hatake Squad, leave them to me."
Killer Bee's voice was calm, and after his words fell, he gave no further indication, walking straight out of the cave hall.
Han noticed his movement and said nothing more, turning his gaze to Sunagakure's side.
"We'll go after the Third Hokage's son."
A hoarse, cold voice came from beneath Sasori's straw hat.
Han then continued: "Then the remaining three teams will be our Iwagakure's responsibility."
After arranging the division of labor, the once bustling cave immediately fell silent again.
No one noticed the faint trail left by Sasori's tail beneath his wide robes in the cave path, like a paintbrush, sweeping complex and regular patterns into the soil.
It wasn't until an unknown amount of time after the three parties separated that Maki, who had always followed by Sasori's side, cautiously spoke:
"Lord Sasori?"
"Can our plan truly work?"
"That Person, after all, has space-level defense…"
Unlike the other young Genin, Maki and Kankuro, who were with Sasori, had already learned the relevant details before the plan began, and some parts even required their cooperation.
Therefore, Maki had long understood that after luring Sawara Kiri into this geographically restricted rock cave, they would detonate an explosion of extraordinary yield.
However, Sawara Kiri's battle record was simply too solid, and his famous Ninjutsu had already spread throughout the Ninja World. The name 'Limitless' was already common knowledge in today's Ninja World and was no secret at all.
That infinitely divisible spatial distance represented the distance between hope and despair in the hearts of all Ninja from other countries.
If it was just an explosion...
At least, Maki felt it was not very reliable.
However, upon hearing his question, Sasori merely spoke coldly:
"Shut up."
"Yes!"
Maki immediately agreed, not daring to hesitate further.
Sasori said no more, continuing to advance while extending the massive Sealing Technique, which covered the entire interior of the mountain range, towards the further boundaries.
The problem that even Genin understood, how could the top leaders of these countries not know it?
However, many of the reasons could not be explained to them.
For example, what they were preparing now was not a huge explosion, but a short-term fusion power generation based on an explosion, to provide energy for another goal.
For example, the lives of these Genin geniuses were never put into the balance by the high-ranking officials of various countries from the very beginning.
All preparations were to delay, or even kill, Sawara Kiri in this set-up gladiatorial arena.
As for whether Sawara Kiri would, after detecting their irregular actions, disregard the young Genin just as they did, this point was also repeatedly simulated by the high-ranking officials of various countries.
The final result was quite optimistic.
The strong are often very confident.
And a monster like Sawara Kiri, that's no longer something that can be described as mere confidence.
His heart was incredibly arrogant.
That intense arrogance even reached the point where he simply didn't consider other Ninja Villages at all.
This, precisely, was their biggest trump card.
"Pfft!"
The moment the Kunai pierced into the neck and was pulled out, a faint whooshing sound filled the air.
The unrestrained blood immediately shot out like an arrow, hitting the nearby rock wall.
The Iwagakure Ninja lying on the ground tightly clutched his throat under the impulse of pain, but it was futile no matter what he did.
Finally, he could only gaze with gradually fading eyes at the corpses scattered on the ground, and Asuma and the other two standing nonchalantly nearby, his eyes seemingly filled with some confusion.
Until he lost consciousness.
However, his thoughts were clearly mistaken.
The Sarutobi Squad was not as relaxed as he had imagined.
"Captain Asuma."
Uchiha Shisui squatted on the ground, keeping his Sharingan activated, gently pressing and searching on several corpses as if disarming landmines, taking out items from their bodies one by one and categorizing them to the side.
Until a certain moment, he found a palm-sized, pager-like square device on the leading Iwagakure Ninja squad leader opposite him, and turned his head to look towards Asuma, speaking:
"This should be an Iwagakure imitation of our Village's small wireless radio pager, capable of searching for underground signals within about a hundred-meter radius."
"However, it requires Chakra authentication, so we probably won't be able to use it for a short time."
"Also, they all wore headphones."
"Clearly, it was premeditated."
Upon hearing Uchiha Shisui's conclusion, Asuma and Tokuma, who had held a glimmer of hope, felt their hearts sink.
Indeed.
Lord Sawara's judgment was correct.
However, even if these Iwagakure Ninja united and killed all the examinees from other Villages, what benefit would it be to them?
Asuma frowned deeply.
He truly didn't understand what meaning there was for Iwagakure to resort to such extreme methods, even at the cost of competing for the useless first place in the Chunin Exams.
In the end, wouldn't it just turn into the old story of various countries holding joint Chunin Exams, then you kill me and I kill you?
Genin aren't that valuable.
Behind this, there must be some consideration he was unaware of.
"Is there a map?" Asuma suddenly asked, as if he had thought of something.
"Didn't find it."
Uchiha Shisui was startled, subconsciously replying.
Asuma's expression immediately tightened a few degrees, and he immediately said: "Change position, quickly advance deeper! Increase the straight-line distance from the surrounding paths!"
"Huh?"
Asuma's expression became even more solemn: "No map, yet they managed to reach this rock path smoothly under a shielding barrier that even Tokuma couldn't see through. Their preparations are far more thorough than we imagined."
"Now, we absolutely cannot stay in one place for too long."
"Yes."
Hearing this, even Tokuma reacted.
That's right.
The group they had just encountered was not by chance, but intentional.
The three of them no longer bothered to organize the remaining Iwagakure Ninja equipment, and immediately, under the command of Hyuga Tokuma, advanced at the fastest speed towards the fork in the road ahead.
In reality, besides these conjectures, Asuma also had a more subtle consideration in his mind.
Judging from the words of that Iwagakure Ninja squad leader just now, the other party clearly intended to target their squad.
So, who is initiating actions against the Konoha squad now, is it Iwagakure, or…
Just the emergence of this brief thought made Asuma's heart grow heavier.
No wonder this mission was marked as S-rank by Lord Sawara.
"Captain Asuma, Chakra reactions are appearing at the fork ahead!"
Just as they were about to pass through the third fork, Hyuga Tokuma suddenly lowered his voice to warn, his expression very grave: "The Chakra reactions are very strong."
"It's Killer Bee of Kumogakure."
Hearing this, Asuma's expression, on the contrary, calmed down.
Blocked ahead, pursuers behind.
Now that things had come to this, there was nothing to do but face it.
Accompanied by rapid footsteps.
Three figures appeared in Asuma's line of sight.
"Oh?"
Looking at the three of them, Killer Bee, standing at the very front, scratched his head and feigned confusion as he asked the long-haired, flaxen-haired girl beside him: "Yugito, aren't we supposed to be looking for the Hatake Squad?"
"Shut up! Idiot Killer Bee!"
Yugito Nii crossed her arms, a look of disdain on her face: "You clearly ran this way on purpose, didn't you!"
"I can tell, you coward."
"Ah haha…"
Killer Bee, however, was completely unfazed by the girl's disdain beside him, and continued to turn his head to look at the three people in front, as if he didn't consider them human at all.
But Asuma, upon hearing their words, felt a surge of turbulent waves in his heart.
These three Villages, allied?!
"Let's finish the mission first."
Instead, it was the golden-haired girl, who appeared the most aloof among the three, who spoke calmly: "It would be bad if one got away."
"That's true."
Killer Bee still responded nonchalantly.
But the next moment, the surface of his dark skin was suddenly enveloped by a layer of fiercely surging lightning, making his originally tied-up short hair stand on end.
"Lightning Release: Lariat—!"
Suddenly, his body, which was huge compared to the small Ninja, instantly shot out at a super-high speed exceeding his size, the entire person seemingly transforming into a beam of light, the short blade in his hand tearing through the air at near-sonic speed, then merging with the flashing lightning, outlining a winding dark red arc in mid-air.
It directly slashed towards Asuma.
"Shisui!"
However, Asuma neither dodged nor retreated, quickly forming hand seals while shouting loudly.
Killer Bee's heart first felt a doubt.
However, before he could think clearly, he saw a short figure, appearing abruptly in front of his attack path with an illusory flash, a burst of soaring flames erupting from the short blade in his hand as he swung it.
"Sword Dance Flame!"
"Clang!"
A piercing metallic sound entered their ears.
In an instant, two figures, one blue and one red, clashed and retreated, the soles of their shoes scraping against the rocky ground, emitting a series of grating sounds and leaving deep gouged marks.
Killer Bee's eyes under his sunglasses couldn't help but widen, staring intently at the young Uchiha opposite him, a look of excitement inadvertently appearing on his face.
"You, you're actually much stronger than that Uchiha waste from before!"
"Truly, a pleasant surprise."
Facing his provocation, Uchiha Shisui still smiled gently, his slightly curved short blade held in a high bird-gate stance to the side of his cheek, the tip pointing diagonally forward.
"Is that so?"
"There's even more to surprise you."