Stepping onto the stage, Kanon finally felt an unusual sensation. She perceived a distinct, unfamiliar chakra watching her. While such chakra signatures were scattered throughout the stadium, she wondered why there were so many congregating just outside the venue.
At that moment, Otogakure and Sunagakure shinobi had already set numerous ambushes, closing in on Konohagakure step by step.
Inside the arena, Sasuke initiated the attack. With a flick of his wrist, he launched two shuriken spinning toward Gaara. Unsurprisingly, they were intercepted by Gaara's sand. The sand then coalesced into a clone of Gaara himself, before erupting into an overwhelming wave of yellow sand that surged toward Sasuke.
Sasuke reacted instantly, leaping into the air. After parrying the shuriken thrown by the sand clone, he delivered a sharp kick, dissipating the construct. But Sasuke wasn't finished. Pressing his hands against the ground, he forced his body into a rapid spin, launching another volley of kicks.
His attack speed was like a torrential gale, leaving the spectating shinobi breathless. However, could a wall of sand this vast truly be broken by Taijutsu alone? In the next breath, as Sasuke's fist struck the sand clone, the grains swirled and ensnared his arm.
"Tch, how annoying!"
Sasuke thrust his palm forward, completely blowing the sand clone apart.
"He's getting close!" Sakura exclaimed.
"No, not yet!" Ino observed more closely. At the very moment Sasuke punched, a veil of sand had risen to block him.
Sasuke looked at the sand shielding his opponent and smirked. In a flash, he vanished from his spot. Such speed left both Rock Lee in the stands and Gaara on the field stunned.
"See? My brother isn't weak at all!" Kanon said proudly to Naruto and Sakura beside her.
"Yeah, yeah, but I'm strong too!" Naruto pointed at himself.
"We'll see who's stronger based on who wins your next match," Kanon teased, already beginning to analyze Sasuke's potential future opponents.
At their age, only Rock Lee and Kanon were capable of such speed, yet Sasuke had now achieved it as well. This caused Might Guy, standing next to Kakashi, to knit his brows.
Gaara, unable to track Sasuke's movements, was sent flying by a punch. The "skin" of his face began to crack and peel away.
Perhaps this is what it means to be a genius... Lee practiced for years, yet Sasuke caught up to Lee's base speed in just one month of special training...
Might Guy thought bitterly, glancing at Rock Lee, whose fists were clenched so tightly they were bleeding—a physical manifestation of his frustration and loss.
On the field, Sasuke raised a hand, falling into a combat stance identical to Lee's.
"Is that the Shield of Sand?"
"Come at me."
Seeing Gaara merely staring at him, Sasuke said confidently, "If you won't attack, then I will."
In the next instant, Sasuke's silhouette blurred into an afterimage as he sprinted across the arena. He moved so fast the audience couldn't track him with the naked eye, seeing only a black blur. Gaara tried to guard his front with sand, but Sasuke pivoted on one foot, swerved downward, and vanished from Gaara's sight.
The back! Gaara thought, desperately manipulating his sand to counterattack.
But Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan was active. He found the opening in the sand's movement, spun past the defense, and connected a kick squarely to Gaara's chin. As Gaara went airborne again, Sasuke finally let out a satisfied smile.
"What's wrong? Is this all you've got?!"
After taking the kick, Gaara stood up and looked at Sasuke, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.
"That armor... let me peel it off you!"
Sasuke charged again, using an offensive style nearly identical to Rock Lee's, running at high speeds around the perimeter to draw Gaara's focus. The moment Gaara concentrated, Sasuke struck from an unexpected angle. With a front-flip heel drop, he kicked Gaara away, then grabbed his clothes and followed up with a knee strike!
Lee watched Gaara below with a sense of dejection. To see the speed he had worked years for replicated by Sasuke in a single month was a bitter pill to swallow.
"I had Sasuke use the Sharingan's copy ability to mimic Lee's Taijutsu during his 'hellish' training," Kakashi explained.
Just then, Gaara formed a hand seal. All the sand surrounding him wrapped together, forming a protective sphere. Sasuke knew he had to strike hard now; if the jutsu was completed, his hard-won momentum would vanish. He threw a punch toward the sphere but stopped himself just in time.
The moment he nearly touched it, blood dripped from his knuckles. Sharp spikes had jutted out from Gaara's barrier. Breathing heavily with his Sharingan active, Sasuke glared at the sphere in frustration. Before he could process his next move, a floating eyeball made of sand emerged from the mass.
"Is that eye for vision? If so, he needs to target that sand eye first," Kanon muttered.
"Right. That way Gaara can track Sasuke's movements even from inside the barrier," Sakura agreed, nodding. She turned to Kanon and asked softly, "Kanon, if it were you, how would you break this?"
Kanon pondered for a moment. "Generally, there are two ways. For me, I'd use Majestic Destroyer Flame to bake Gaara alive. The other way is to use a more powerful offensive to shatter all his defenses in one go."
Sure enough, after realizing his standard attacks were ineffective, Sasuke leaped back several times, channeled chakra into his feet, and came to a halt high on the arena wall.
After a series of hand seals, Sasuke crouched low, his right hand gripping his left wrist. A massive amount of chakra began to converge in his hand, crackling with Lightning Release energy. The surrounding air became filled with a cacophonous noise, like the chirping of a thousand birds.
Many in the audience turned to look at Kanon. She was the first one to show this technique to the Genin, and now Sasuke was using it too.
While everyone was reeling from the shock of the Chidori, Sasuke moved! Dragging the lightning behind him, he began a high-speed descent. The sheer power of the Chidori carved a deep trench into the arena floor as he ran.
"Is that jutsu really that powerful?!" Shikamaru scratched his head in surprise. In his memory, the version Kanon used didn't seem this destructive.
Kanon, sitting next to Sakura, explained quietly, "I actually intentionally suppressed the power of mine. This is a true killing blow. My brother isn't holding back the intensity at all, which is why it looks so overwhelming..."
The group was stunned. Kanon could actually control the output of the Chidori? Kakashi, overhearing this, felt his face go a bit pale. That's my original jutsu! You can even control the power level?!
As Sasuke streaked toward Gaara, he thrust his hand forward. In an instant, Sasuke pierced through Gaara's Absolute Defense.
"Chidori!!!"
His hand plunged into the sphere. A horrific sound echoed, followed by Sasuke's own confusion as he felt warm blood dripping onto his hand. Gaara let out a blood-curdling scream at the sight of his own blood. As he screamed, Sasuke realized his hand was stuck.
"No choice, I have to use Chidori again!" Sasuke roared as the terrifying lightning chakra erupted once more.
Finally, Sasuke yanked his hand out. What came out with it was a limb resembling that of a monster. Panic surged through Sasuke; cold sweat dripped from his brow as his two-tomoe Sharingan trembled. He had seen what was inside the sand shield.
The sand barrier crumbled, revealing Gaara clutching his chest, gasping frantically.
Suddenly, Kanon shouted to the crowd. She sensed a strange chakra sweeping through the entire stadium.
"Everyone, run!"
A mass-scale Genjutsu was washing over the arena, lulling almost everyone into a deep sleep.
Kanon quickly formed a seal, breaking the Genjutsu's hold on herself. She snapped her head toward the back and saw an Anbu member remove his mask, revealing a mocking smirk.
"It's you! Kabuto Yakushi!" Kanon frowned.
At that moment, the Sound and Sand shinobi stationed outside signaled their attack. The invasion of the Hidden Leaf had begun.
However, Konoha was not entirely unprepared. Many Anbu members hidden in the crowd sprang into action. Everything changed in an instant; what was a match between Sasuke and Gaara had transformed into a full-scale war!
Kanon was the most alert person in the stands. Seeing everyone slumped over, she realized only Sakura was still awake and rushed to her.
"Sakura, go help release the Genjutsu on the others! I'm going down to check on my brother!"
"Right! Kanon, be careful!" Sakura urged.
"Thanks, Sakura. I'm going!"
Near Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Kazekage's subordinate threw a smoke bomb! In the chaos, the Kazekage seized Hiruzen by the neck, held a kunai to his face, and leaped toward the roof. The subordinate who threw the smoke was instantly sliced in half by Anbu, blood splattering across the tiles.
On the other side, another Sand shinobi shed his disguise, splitting into four people. It was the Sound Four: Kidomaru, Sakon and Ukon, Jirobo, and Tayuya.
"Finally, our turn to take the stage."
The four retreated to the corners of the roof, forming hand seals in unison.
"Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Formation!"
A purple barrier erupted. An Anbu member who accidentally touched it was instantly engulfed in horrific flames and burned to death.
Amidst the pandemonium, Kanon finally reached the arena floor. Just as she got to Sasuke, she saw Temari and Kankuro carrying Gaara away.
"What's going on?!" A sense of foreboding washed over Kanon. She hurried to Sasuke's side.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?!" Kanon asked urgently.
"I'm not sure..."
Just then, the proctor, Genma Shiranui, spoke to them from behind. "Kanon, Sasuke. Sorry, but the Chunin Exams are over. You're already at the Chunin level. As shinobi of Konoha, do your duty for the village."
Sasuke, leaning on Kanon for support, looked at Genma with cold indifference. "Basically, I just need to beat that bastard Gaara, right? I'm continuing the fight."
Genma cautioned him, "Don't pursue them too deeply. From here on, it's not an exam... it's real war."
Kanon felt a knot in her stomach. Her usual lack of security made her want nothing more than to stay with Naruto or her brother right now.
"Nii-chan, maybe we should go back and prepare first?"
"No need. The task is the same either way! Kanon, I'm going!"
Sasuke forcefully brushed Kanon's hand away, ignoring her plea to stay, and took off in the direction Gaara had fled.
"Nii-chan!"
Kanon couldn't let him go alone. She quickly turned back to signal Sakura, released the Genjutsu on Naruto, and then sprinted after Sasuke.
Watching Sasuke and Kanon disappear into the distance, Kakashi's brow furrowed.
"Kanon... Sasuke..."
He, too, felt an omen of dread, a feeling that as these two chased after their target, one of them might never be seen again.