When Gaara arrived, he first glanced in Ino's direction, but couldn't find her at first glance. After searching carefully for a while, he finally saw her under Hinata's ample bosom. Good heavens, she was sleeping soundly!
He unintentionally looked in Naruto's direction, and their eyes met. They both saw the similarities in each other, a kind of subtle telepathy. They both knew that the person opposite them was just like themselves.
In the afternoon, most people were a bit listless.
Shikamaru had fought Hinata and Sasuke in the morning. Seeing that there was nothing for him in the afternoon's matches, he went straight home to sleep and didn't even come to the venue.
Choji and Kiba did come, but they were also in a dazed state.
Shino? Nobody knew where Shino was, and in fact, the entire Aburame Clan had a very low sense of presence. Danzo, the 'Pot King,' only remembered that the Yamanaka Clan supported him and would think of them for any good thing. As for the Aburame Clan? Do the Aburame Clan support me too?
Asuma and Yuhi went to see a movie after lunch and were not present at the venue.
The Chunin Exams were a bit like the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in Ino's previous life: the leader spoke in the morning, followed by a cultural performance (Chunin Exams) by new company employees. In the afternoon, they just clocked in, and those with nothing to do could go home. The busy ones were the leaders, the Genin performing their 'talents,' and the on-duty staff. Most of the remaining Ninja were not busy.
Sunagakure and Orochimaru seized this opportunity and formulated a series of plans.
Shiranui Genma also wanted to rest, but to perform well in front of the Third Hokage, despite being as tired as a mud monkey, he simply cleaned the dirt off himself and stood in the center of the arena, waiting.
The guests were also a bit tired, yawning one after another, looking very listless.
After all the dignitaries and guests had entered and the Third Hokage and the 'Fourth Kazekage' had taken their seats, Shiranui Genma then lightly pointed at Naruto and Gaara, signaling that it was their turn to fight.
The two stood firm, just about to say something, when the 'Fourth Kazekage' on the high platform stood up.
He said, "Hehe, Third Hokage, a Jinchuriki's battle is much more exciting when they can go all out."
The Third Hokage's cloudy eyes stared at him for a while. With the words so clear, he couldn't pretend to be confused anymore: "You are right, then I will..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the 'Fourth Kazekage': "No need. Our Village also knows a bit about Sealing Technique. Let me do it."
With a Body Flicker Technique, he moved from the high platform to the arena, standing in front of Gaara.
The blood ties between father and son cannot be faked. As a Jinchuriki, intuition is a very important attribute. Gaara immediately felt that something was wrong. Was this man in front of him really his father? Why did he feel so unfamiliar!
The 'Fourth Kazekage' didn't waste any words. He used the Five Elements Unseal to forcibly remove the seal on Gaara's stomach. If Ino could leave a backdoor, he naturally could too. He also took the opportunity to add a little 'ingredient' into the Ichibi Shukaku's seal, then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to the high platform with the Body Flicker Technique.
In less than a minute, Gaara, whose emotions had already calmed down, suddenly felt countless bursts of violence and madness surge in his heart. The Tailed Beast's rampant consciousness pushed him aside, forcibly taking over his body.
All of this happened too suddenly. Naruto hadn't even understood what was going on when he saw Gaara curled up like a large shrimp, lying behind his sand shield, his skin cracking and spewing black-brown blood with a pungent, fishy smell.
"Hahahahaha—that really hurts."
"It hurts so much! Yashamaru! Save me, I'm in so much pain!"
"Konoha Ninja! Get out of here! This monster is coming out... Where do you think you're going?! I'm going to kill you! All Konoha Ninja deserve to die!"
Gaara's sanity rapidly faded. His tone was sometimes frantic, sometimes weak, a mixture of emotions that sounded very eerie in the empty arena.
At this moment, Naruto felt a great resonance with Gaara. It was as if the constantly wailing boy was himself. Kakashi hadn't returned, so he couldn't help but look at Iruka-sensei in the stands.
Iruka, in turn, looked at the Third Hokage. The Third Hokage looked at the 'Fourth Kazekage' with a complex expression, but said nothing, seemingly unconcerned by the changes in Gaara.
Naruto stood at a distance and called out twice, but Gaara was already completely immersed in his inner world. Naruto? He was even forgetting his own name.
Naruto could only wave to the referee, Shiranui Genma, in the distance, signaling him to go and check.
Me go? Shiranui Genma thought about it and realized that in this situation, only he could go.
This referee of his was truly unfortunate. He braced himself and shuffled forward little by little with the gait of someone walking to the gallows.
When he reached about ten meters from Gaara, a surge of malevolent Chakra completely erupted.
A sandstorm rose to the sky, and countless grains of sand gathered towards the center of the arena. These sand particles completely enveloped Gaara, and his body began to swell. Countless cursed seal patterns appeared on his skin, and his human form quickly disappeared, replaced by thick arms, short lower limbs, a massive body, and a long, large tail. The deformed creature somewhat resembled a raccoon dog, but its size was countless times larger than a raccoon dog.
"Hmm?" Ino, who was sleeping soundly, noticed sand getting into her collar. She looked up, waking Hinata as well.
She looked at the arena not far away and saw the rather ferocious Ichibi Shukaku and a bewildered Naruto.
Ino was a bit distraught. Wasn't everything fine before? How did it suddenly turn into its full form? Was the hatred between the Ichibi and the Nine-Tailed really that high?
Before she could react, she saw a large number of white feathers falling from the sky. All the dignitaries, civilians, and Ninja who witnessed this scene felt dizzy and disoriented, as if they hadn't slept for three days and three nights.
People collapsed one after another; not just civilians, but many Ninja also fell into a hazy sleep.
"Such a large-scale genjutsu?" Shiranui Genma had high resistance to genjutsu, and facing a Tailed Beast directly put him under immense mental pressure, so he was relatively less affected by the genjutsu. At this moment, he looked around warily, trying to find the person who cast the genjutsu.
Ino also looked around. The Temple of Nirvana Technique? Had 'Brother Pot' still risen from the coffin?
At that moment, an explosion echoed from the high stands. Although it was more than half a day late, upon receiving the attack signal, the Sunagakure Ninja and Otogakure Ninja, who had long been hidden outside the Village, drew their Kunai and, in groups, charged towards the numerous outposts outside Konoha Village.
Sunagakure's summoning squad, aided by the summoning formation, formed groups of six and summoned the giant snakes given to them by Orochimaru to assist in the battle.
The Sound Four also removed their disguises. The four formed the Four Violet Flames Formation, trapping the Third Hokage and the 'Fourth Kazekage' within the formation.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!