While the Ninja Clans harbored their own thoughts, the situation at the Chunin Exams venue took another turn.
The One-Tail Shukaku was simply too strong at this time. Orochimaru had amplified the beast's inherent ferocity, and once it entered its complete form, it became unstoppable, killing anyone who stood in its way. This was why Ino had discreetly retreated—it was too strong; they couldn't win.
The Ichibi attracted the attacks of a large number of Konoha Ninja. Shuriken, Kunai, and various Ninjutsu rained down on it. It roared continuously, using Wind Release to destroy nearby buildings. This was a complete replica of the Nine-Tailed Demon Foxs Attack.
Naruto created a thousand Shadow Clones to rescue people, earning widespread recognition.
Asuma and Yuhi led a portion of Jonin to resist the Sand Ninja, while Jonin like Shiranui Genma attacked the Tailed Beast, attempting to lure the massive creature out of the Village. Regardless, the battle could not take place within the Village; the losses would be too great.
The appearance of the Ichibi and the subsequent widespread slaughter partially diverted the Third Hokage's attention.
The fifty-year-old woman gave a sinister laugh, first expressing her dissatisfaction with him, the Village's elder in power. 'Why can't I be the Village leader? It's my choice if I don't want to, but you can't just not ask me! I'm not satisfied with you choosing a youngster to be the Village leader!' She erected two coffins, intending to summon the deceased First Hokage and Second Hokage to arbitrate!
The Third Hokage's attention was partly drawn by the Tailed Beast, and it being afternoon, his age and declining energy made his reaction a half-beat slower. As a result, not only did the First Hokage and Second Hokage emerge from their coffins, but even the Fourth Kazekage from the neighboring Village was summoned to 'arbitrate.'
This made things lively. The First Hokage, who planted trees, the Second Hokage, who watered them, and the Fourth Kazekage from the neighboring Village, who dug sand and collected scrap, all three ganged up on the Third Hokage.
The fifty-year-old woman stood far away, watching and laughing, seemingly wanting to see him die.
Upon hearing that Orochimaru had used Edo Tensei to resurrect the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage, the Jonin of the Ino–Shika–Choji clans gasped in alarm. These two Hokage were truly terrifying to Konoha Ninja, and the Fourth Kazekage was also a generational prodigy. Shikaku, who had originally felt the time was right and was preparing to lead his clan members to provide support, immediately vetoed the previous decision. This wasn't cowardice; it was caution.
The enemy's strength was even greater than anticipated. Shikaku had long ago noticed that the previous 'Fourth Kazekage' had problems and had reported it to the Third Hokage.
Orochimaru appeared at the Chunin Exams venue, and this year, Hidden Sand Village sent a Jinchuriki with an unstable mental state. With various pieces of information converging, the enemy's plot had already been partially exposed. However, the Third Hokage, for reasons unknown, did not respond to Shikaku's warning.
Shikaku had no choice but to rely on the Yamanaka Clan's intelligence network to contact some Sand Ninja. He planned to expose Orochimaru's murder of the Fourth Kazekage when Orochimaru made his move, thereby uniting them against a common enemy and drawing a portion of the Sand Ninja to their side.
Having Sand Ninja kill Sand Ninja—this was the method of a brilliant strategist.
Now Orochimaru had used Edo Tensei to resurrect the Fourth Kazekage. You say the Fourth Kazekage is dead? Then who is that using Magnet Release right now?
Things suddenly became unclear, and the original plan had to be abandoned.
Shikaku was pondering countermeasures.
At this moment, bad news for the Third Hokage kept pouring in.
'The Third Hokage summoned his Summoning Beast, but the Summoning Beast was trapped by the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust.'
'The Second Hokage's Water Severing Wave shattered the Third Hokage's Earth Flow Wall.'
'The First Hokage shattered the Third Hokage's Great Dragon Fire Technique with a single punch.'
The scales of victory quickly tipped. The First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage teamed up. Although due to the Edo Tensei, they couldn't unleash their full power, and Orochimaru's control was very cautious—powerful figures like the First and Second Hokage probably couldn't even utilize a tenth of their strength—with three against one, the Third Hokage's situation became increasingly dire.
Shikaku was very calm. He detached himself from the current situation to analyze the problem and quickly found the key to breaking the deadlock.
Is the Third Hokage important? Of course, he is important, but if he's not important, then he's truly not important.
He looked at Ino and asked, 'If we use the Shadow Imitation Technique to control the Ichibi, can you use your Secret Technique to awaken the child named Gaara? Or seal the Tailed Beast again?'
Everyone present knew that Orochimaru had impersonated the Fourth Kazekage, and now that he had used Edo Tensei to resurrect the Fourth Kazekage, he definitely had a blood feud with Gaara.
The problem now was that the characteristics of Edo Tensei were not obvious. Furthermore, they were too far away and separated by a barrier, so the Sand Ninja were completely in the dark. The Sand Ninja contacted by the Yamanaka Clan earlier were of lower status, and without concrete evidence, their words would lack credibility. Shikaku planned to open up the situation through Gaara, and among them, Ino had the most contact with Gaara.
If Ino had to fight the Tailed Beast alone, she definitely wouldn't do it, but if dozens or hundreds of Ninja swarmed it, with more than ten large Akimichi Clan members at the front, she felt there would be no problem.
It was no secret among the three clans that her family's Secret Technique cultivation now surpassed Inoichi's.
She thought for a moment: 'Actually, Gaara had already broken free from that violent mental state before. I don't know why he's like this again. If we can control the Tailed Beast's movements, I'm confident I can awaken his consciousness. As for sealing the Tailed Beast...'
She hesitated: 'I can seal it in Jinchuriki state, but I don't know about Tailed Beast state. The One-Tail Shukaku itself is a Tailed Beast very skilled in Sealing Technique. I'm not confident.'
Shikaku immediately made up his mind: 'We attack! The Ninja of the Village, the talents of the Village, are the foundation of Konoha Village. As long as we stop the Tailed Beast, this battle is ours to win.'
He didn't even mention the Third Hokage's situation.
According to his plan, they would control the Tailed Beast, awaken Gaara, and then use Gaara as a symbol to bring over the Sand Ninja. With the two great Ninja Villages allied, Orochimaru and the Hidden Sound Village Ninja wouldn't be able to cause trouble for long. As for the Third Hokage, he would have to fend for himself.
'Naruto! Don't overdo it!' Sasuke whispered a warning.
His dead-last companion now had a solemn expression, seemingly tireless, constantly using Shadow Clones to commit suicide to attract the One-Tail Shukaku's attention.
Gaara's plight resonated with him, and he was truly giving his all to free Gaara from his suffering.
Along the way, Ninja and civilians died continuously, and countless buildings were destroyed.
Just as he was wondering whether he should use the Summoning Technique to call Gamabunta for help, the large Akimichi Clan members arrived.
Akimichi Choza used his clan's Multi-Size Technique, transforming into a giant over twenty meters tall. Wielding a long staff, he let out a roar, and the staff smashed into the Tailed Beast's left cheek.
Shukaku was enraged and spat a wind-natured Chakra sphere at Choza.
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