The audience imdiately erupted in thunderous applause and cheers, their voices soaring to the heavens. It was clear that Natsuki's stunning performance had thoroughly captivated them.
The shopkeeper once again shouted at the top of his lungs, "That's my future son-in-law! That's my son-in-law!"
This only made those around him even more jealous, and they felt like beating him up.
The Fire Daimyo looked at the Wind Daimyo's dark, foul expression and almost wanted to dance from smugness.
This ti, they had truly stolen the show—it felt absolutely fantastic!
"Yay! Natsuki won!"
"Of course he did! Natsuki's so amazing!"
"Yeah, yeah! Natsuki even fought against Orochimaru—beating a re Sand genin is nothing for him!"
Their friends were all excited, Rinya and gumi wearing looks of pride, and Aoba even wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
Kakashi nodded. "Well, it was expected."
Guy, however, looked a bit regretful. "What a sha. Natsuki didn't even use the Hachimon Tonkō (Eight Gates Release Technique). But I suppose the enemy wasn't strong enough to warrant it."
Tenten didn't say a word—she simply smiled at Natsuki. This was her boyfriend's mont to shine.
In contrast to the Konoha ninjas' excitent, the Suna ninjas wore ugly expressions. Even though they had other intentions behind the scenes, seeing their jinchūriki so thoroughly defeated by a Konoha genin still stung.
Temari and Kankuro didn't care about pride—they imdiately leaped into the arena, rushing toward Gaara.
But before they could reach him, their expressions changed dramatically.
Natsuki, who hadn't left yet, also noticed sothing was wrong. He imdiately guessed what was happening and wasn't surprised. He simply turned, eyes wary, to face Gaara.
At that mont, Gaara's deanor was completely off.
He was muttering sothing under his breath, eyes filled with murderous intent. His chakra was surging wildly—clear signs of an impending transformation.
Genma quickly tried to intervene. "Gaara of the Desert! The match is over!"
"I don't care about that! I'll kill him! Gaara! Gaara! I'll kill you all!"
Gaara scread like a madman, his gaze turning feral. Half his face suddenly beca covered in sothing monstrous, his arm transforming into a huge, dirty-yellow beast's claw. His body also started morphing, taking on a beast-like shape.
Genma's expression changed. "What is this... a monster? No, it's a tailed beast?! Could it be... you're a jinchūriki?!"
Gaara didn't answer. He continued transforming, quickly becoming a half-human, half-beast form. His eyes were wild and bloodthirsty, and he let out a feral roar that sent shockwaves through the entire arena, startling the audience.
Hiruzen shot to his feet, shocked. "What's happening? What is that child?!"
His answer ca not in words, but in a kunai.
The Kazekage suddenly restrained Hiruzen, holding a kunai to his throat and leaping onto the rooftop with him.
The guards tried to intervene, but the Kazekage's bodyguards blocked their way.
Hiruzen demanded angrily, "Kazekage, are you breaking the alliance between our two nations?!"
The Kazekage's voice was raspy and sinister as he smirked. "Hehe... Even now, you still can't see the truth, Sarutobi-sensei."
"It's you! Orochimaru!"
Hiruzen's eyes widened in realization. No wonder the Kazekage had been acting so strangely—he was actually Orochimaru in disguise!
So that was it—Sunagakure had colluded with Orochimaru to attack Konoha!
And the answer quickly beca clear.
Feathers began to fall from the sky, and the entire audience soon fell unconscious.
It was a mass genjutsu. Ordinary people couldn't resist it, and even so genin succumbed to it—yes, that ans you, Naruto!
Soon, figures in the stands began stripping off their disguises, revealing their true identities. Each wore a forehead protector of Otogakure, and four particularly strong individuals moved to encircle Orochimaru and Hiruzen on the rooftop.
These four were the elite of Otogakure, known as the Sound Four: Kidomaru, Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, and Jirobo.
The four imdiately activated a formation.
"Ninpō: Shijū Kekkai! (Ninja Art: Four Violet Fla Formation!)"
In the next instant, a rectangular, purple barrier enveloped the rooftop, trapping Orochimaru and Hiruzen inside. The Anbu outside couldn't get in to save the Hokage.
"Now then, Sarutobi-sensei... it's ti for us to settle this once and for all!"
anwhile, Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai, and the other jōnin gathered together, preparing to fight the Otogakure ninja under Kabuto's command.
As for the rest—Naruto, Lee, Choji—they had all fallen victim to the genjutsu.
Tenten, Neji, and a few others had managed to dispel it just in ti and quickly woke up Naruto, Lee, Choji, and the others.
Shikamaru, who had been pretending to be unconscious, got kicked awake by Rinya.
At this point, with Natsuki absent, there were fourteen of the Konoha rookie genin left.
Faced with the sudden crisis, they didn't know what to do.
Tenten imdiately took charge. "Neji, you're the calst. Shikamaru, you're the smartest. We'll follow your lead—tell us what to do, quickly!"
Everyone nodded in agreent—they all supported Tenten's proposal.
Neji and Shikamaru exchanged a glance, neither declining. Even Shikamaru, despite his usual laziness, knew he had to take responsibility now.
The situation was clear—sothing was seriously wrong. As Konoha shinobi, they couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Even as genin, they had to act.
Especially since Natsuki was facing the transford Gaara. They couldn't just ignore it!
Neji imdiately said, "Natsuki's situation is the most urgent. I'll go, along with Sasuke, Tenten, and Shino, to assist him. The rest of you will follow Shikamaru's lead. Is that okay?"
Shikamaru nodded without hesitation. "Good. Go quickly—Natsuki needs backup!"
The four nodded and dashed off toward the arena.
Shikamaru wasted no ti giving orders.
"Sakura, gumi—you're the dical ninja. Be ready to treat anyone who's injured."
"Rinya, Ino, Hinata—you'll protect the dical ninja."
"Naruto, Kiba, Lee, Choji, and I will form a team. Our job is to help the jōnin hold back the weaker enemies. If we see any of our comrades injured, we'll bring them back to the dical team imdiately."
Naruto complained, "Why do Sasuke and the others get to go fight the monster while we're stuck fighting small fry?! That's not fair!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "If you had their level of skill, I'd send you too. Since we all agreed to follow my lead, you'd better listen and stop whining."
Everyone stared at Naruto. As proper shinobi, once a leader gave orders, you weren't supposed to complain or argue.
This wasn't the ti to act selfishly.
Feeling the weight of their gazes, Naruto finally shut up.
Shikamaru's plan was solid. While they had numbers, their strength wasn't enough to take on the real powerhouses. Rushing in would be suicide. It was better to focus on holding back weaker enemies and acting as battlefield dics—that was the most they could do.
(End of Chapter)
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