Central Tower Examination Arena
A massive boom echoed through the arena. Zaku unleashed a "Decapitating Airwaves" attack, and a powerful surge of air erupted from his elbows. His arms immediately dropped, useless, and he was unable to lift them.
Shino seized the opportunity, moving in swiftly to take Zaku down. Due to the injuries to his arms and the backlash from his own attack, Zaku offered no resistance as Shino felled him.
Hayate stepped forward to assess Zaku's condition, then announced, "The winner of the second round, Shino Aburame."
A wave of astonishment rippled through the stands. Shino's performance was no less impressive than Sasuke's, further intensifying the pressure on the other contestants.
"Sakura-chan... Shino... he really won," Naruto said in amazement, looking at Shino in the arena.
"Of course he did. I told you, your mouth is blessed. Whoever you cheer for wins," Sakura chuckled.
"........" Naruto ignored Sakura and rolled his eyes. He wasn't stupid enough to believe her nonsense.
"You could say that guy, Zaku, just had bad luck. Shino's ninjutsu countered his," Sasuke commented, his Sharingan activated.
"See? Even Sasuke noticed. Sakura-chan, are you an idiot or...?" Naruto started to say, but he quickly swallowed the rest of his words as he felt Sakura's murderous aura directed at him.
"So, Naruto, what did you notice?" Sakura asked, her expression blank.
"It looked like Shino's body was covered in those bugs he uses, and they were feeding on his chakra," Naruto replied cautiously. Although he didn't understand what Sasuke meant by a ninjutsu counter, he could sense the situation with Shino's chakra.
Sakura glanced at Naruto, surprised. Naruto's perception had indeed improved significantly. He might not be able to see the bugs, but he could sense Shino feeding his chakra to them. His chakra sensitivity had definitely grown.
The large screen in the arena began to flicker again, displaying the names for the third round...
Misumi Tsurugi VS Kankuro
Seeing the matchup, Sakura felt a wave of disinterest. One had modified his body to be malleable, the other used a puppet technique. If she faced the malleable one, she wouldn't let him get close. Most of her ninjutsu were mid- to long-range attacks; she wouldn't learn anything from that opponent. Besides, she already had a way to counter him.
As for Kankuro, she wouldn't learn much from him either, at most, just some strategies for dealing with puppeteers. But honestly, unless the puppeteer was like Sasori, who had turned himself into a human puppet, they weren't that difficult to handle.
Their fight didn't last long. Misumi was tricked by Kankuro's substitute puppet and immediately surrendered. Hayate declared Kankuro the victor.
Sakura tuned out Kakashi's explanation of puppetry to Naruto and turned her attention back to the screen. The names began to change again.
......The first name: Haruno Sakura.
When Sakura saw her own name, she looked at Ino. It was her turn so soon. It seemed she would be able to reach the finals this time; the current her was someone Ino couldn't handle.
Then, Sakura waited patiently for Ino's name to appear.
.......The second name: Gaara.
Haruno Sakura VS Gaara
!!!!
Sakura stared blankly at the names on the screen. It was supposed to be Ino, so why was it Gaara? This kid was a jinchuriki! How was she supposed to fight him?
Sakura instinctively glanced at the Third Hokage, only to find him already looking at her, giving her a nod.
A thousand curses ran through Sakura's mind. She instantly understood: this was the Third Hokage's arrangement. Thinking back, Sakura realized that this seemingly unfair matchup was of her own making.
She had informed the Third Hokage that the Sand Village might be involved in the Konoha Crush plan. Then, through surveillance, they observed Gaara's team completing the second exam in a record-breaking 97 minutes. The Third Hokage, as Hokage, knew that if the Sand Village intended to participate in the attack, they would need to bring a force capable of achieving a decisive victory.
If it were just Orochimaru and the Kazekage, they wouldn't be able to completely crush Konoha. The only other option was the ultimate power in the ninja world: a Tailed Beast. Observing Gaara through the surveillance footage, the Third Hokage naturally grew wary of the sand-manipulating genin. But he didn't have enough evidence to confirm he was a jinchuriki.
So, the Third Hokage's arrangement was probably to test whether Gaara was indeed a Tailed Beast. What did she need to do? Force Gaara to unleash his Tailed Beast power? Or... was she overthinking it?
The Third Hokage certainly thought highly of her, not even giving her a heads-up. What if Gaara went full Tailed Beast mode with so many rookies present? Oh, right, the Third Hokage had probably made preparations for that. She had mentioned the Sand Village's involvement; the Third Hokage wouldn't be unprepared... And there was also Jiraiya. Jiraiya should be in the village at this time. Sakura remembered that Jiraiya taught Naruto the Summoning Technique after the preliminaries.
Besides, the Forest of Death was far from Konoha. Even if a Tailed Beast went berserk, it wouldn't harm the village. As for the rookies present, the Third Hokage could simply arrange for their rescue and evacuation.
After much thought, Sakura concluded that this was the most likely scenario. However, the Third Hokage had probably overlooked one thing: Orochimaru was still here... Wait!! Where was Orochimaru? Sakura turned her head, but she couldn't see him.
Orochimaru... ran away? Did Orochimaru only come to watch Sasuke's match? Or did he discover the Third Hokage's plan and retreat beforehand...?
"Sakura-chan, do your best!" Naruto shouted his encouragement as soon as he saw Sakura's name.
Sakura turned to Naruto, giving him a wry smile. Even with his cheering, she wasn't sure she could win...
"Sakura, do your best. There's no shame in surrendering. This is the Third Hokage's will," Kakashi walked over to Sakura, patted her shoulder, and whispered to her.
So, she was the one kept in the dark. The Third Hokage had already made his arrangements. She just needed to push Gaara to reveal some of his Tailed Beast power, then forfeit. Someone would naturally step in to stop Gaara. If Gaara stopped, then they could confirm their target. If Gaara continued to rampage, there would be other plans in place.
Sakura didn't think the Third Hokage was being unnecessarily cautious. If a jinchuriki's status wasn't confirmed, they could unleash tremendous destructive power at any time and any place, and their own ninja might not be able to arrive in time to stop them. Confirming the jinchuriki's location allowed for appropriate measures to be taken, minimizing the damage.
But to use her for this test... sigh... Sakura had been planning to participate in the finals and become a chunin. It seemed that hope was dashed. No, after the exam, she would definitely demand an explanation from the old man... if he was still alive by then...
The fourth round begins...
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