Chapter 308: The Sand Collapse Plan Begins!
"Gaara, you also agreed to hold the second exam in the Desert of Death."
After temporarily placating the Konoha party, Gaara convened a high-level meeting in the village.
The Sand Village's leadership gathered. Faced with the Kazekage's accusation, the high-ranking official in charge of the competition appeared very calm.
There are so many Konoha ninjas you can never kill them all. So what if a few Konoha Genin die now? Would they dare to violate the alliance and tear off all pretenses with us? What a joke! That's Konoha, the biggest coward in the ninja world!
Gaara's teacher, Baki, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, trying to save face for Gaara on one hand while attempting to muddle through the situation on the other.
"We have no experience hosting such a large-scale competition. The Desert of Death is indeed a bit dangerous for Genin. Konoha ninjas are not skilled at fighting in this environment; they have their own problems, but we also have a responsibility. We can take responsibility for paying the pensions to appease Konoha Village's dissatisfaction."
"In fact, let's be frank behind closed doors. Which Chunin Exam doesn't have casualties? All the Genin who participated in the second exam signed a consent form beforehand. Waterfall Village ninjas can die, Sound Village ninjas can die, so why can't Konoha ninjas die? We are ninjas. Since we've chosen this path, we should have the resolve to face death."
His attitude represented the thoughts of many neutral parties. Konoha has a large family and a large business; they are unwilling to fight. They won't tear off all pretenses with us. We'll give them some face, and the matter will be considered settled.
Gaara, unable to stand alone, waved his hand with a weary face, indicating that the matter was to end there.
Out of a team of sixty Genin, the Desert of Death had swallowed eighteen lives. Only nine were able to participate in the third exam.
Meanwhile, twenty-seven from the Sand Village advanced.
Hearing the number of Sand Village qualifiers, even Ino cursed, "What the hell!" The meaning of this black-box operation was too obvious!
"They will pay the price, I promise," Kakashi said in a low voice.
Kakashi was stoic about the loss of eighteen lives; he had seen plenty of death. But he was also very displeased. These people didn't have to die, but they had become sacrifices to the Sand Village's internal strife.
Ino was infected by his words and decided to focus on causing trouble. This time, she would definitely play a big one on the Sand Village!
The Sand Village chose the exact same dates as Konoha last year. The first match began on July 1st. On August 1st, daimyo, dignitaries, and wealthy merchants from various countries crossed the sea of sand to observe the third match in the Sand Village.
Jiraiya, wearing the Hokage's ceremonial robes and a conical hat, came to the scene as the Fifth Hokage to observe the competition.
Orochimaru didn't actually need to come, but he seemed to have an unusual passion for these "collapse plans" and strongly requested to participate. Jiraiya had him wear a mask and act as his guard, not allowing him to leave his side for a single step.
Tsunade also came.
"Oh my! You are...!" Ino looked at the cute little blonde loli in front of her, completely speechless.
It had to be said, after dodging so many creditors, Tsunade's transformation jutsu was really impressive.
Tsunade gestured for her to bend down, then asked in a low voice, "I heard even Kakashi got angry? What happened?"
Ino recounted the events of the Desert of Death. Tsunade was extremely furious, clenching her fists. She then had Ino point out which of the Sand's leadership were hostile to Konoha and which were neutral.
Ino had obtained a lot of information from Miss Maki and now pointed them out to Tsunade one by one.
Tsunade's eyes were filled with severity. "A bunch of cowards who don't dare to go to the battlefield. Have you found out where Chiyo lives?"
Ino nodded. "Chiyo and Ebizō should be in the small oasis north of the village. I heard from Temari that Gaara once wanted to invite them to watch the Chunin Exams, but Ebizō refused on the grounds that they no longer meddle in worldly affairs."
"Good. You'll act with me in a moment."
"Understood."
While the master and disciple were whispering, Jiraiya and Gaara on the high platform also exchanged a few pleasantries.
The age gap between the two was too large; one was a grandfather, the other a grandson. They really had no common topics.
Gaara was not good with words, and Jiraiya's mind was full of worries. Neither wanted to talk much, so they quickly announced the start of the competition!
Nearly fifty Genin from various hidden villages took the stage one by one to fight. During the seventh match, a Sand Village Genin injured his Sound Village opponent with a puppet and was about to deal a fatal blow when the supervising Jounin, Guren, intervened.
A layer of light red crystal enveloped the Sound Village ninja. Guren, her face full of anger, personally entered the arena to teach the Sand Village ninja an unforgettable lesson.
Realizing an emergency had occurred, Baki hurried forward to dissuade them. Both sides stuck to their guns, and the scene began to descend into chaos.
Tsunade and Ino exchanged glances. They quietly slipped into an unnoticed corner.
Since they were going to frame the Stone Village, they naturally had to make it look authentic. They had the jinchuriki; the signature ninjutsu was also essential.
Konoha Village had secretly collected many of the Stone Village's Earth Release ninjutsu, including the famous "Earth Release: Moving Earth Core." After screening them, it was decided that Ino and Tsunade would perform this jutsu together.
Konoha ninjas knew a variety of ninjutsu, but there were truly not many who were proficient in any one area.
Ino's Earth Release ninjutsu was already at the top tier of the ninja world.
Tsunade, barely passable, also knew Earth Release ninjutsu and could assist her.
In reality, Ino had learned this jutsu from Kurotsuchi long ago; now was just a matter of learning it again.
"Let's begin!" Tsunade returned to her normal size.
"Alright."
The master and disciple formed hand seals simultaneously.
With Ino as the main caster and Tsunade assisting her.
"Teacher, don't rush. Wait for me to find that guy... I should have buried him somewhere around here... Ah, found him!" Ino closed her eyes to sense, quickly locating the Four-Tails Jinchuriki she had buried underground in the Sand Village beforehand.
Tsunade coordinated with her, and the two remotely released the Five Elements Seal on the Four-Tails, Rōshi.
Then, their chakras, like a drill bit, intertwined and rushed downward.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth!"
"Earth Release: Rising Core!"
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
The earth's crust beneath everyone's feet trembled violently, colliding and fighting like two armies. After a stalemate of several seconds, the vibrational energy triggered the underground magma. When the pressure built to its maximum, it was drawn by the Earth Release chakra and erupted violently!
A volcano capable of changing the terrain rose from the ground!
A figure shot out from the scorching magma. It was the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, a raging gorilla over fifty meters tall, like a primeval beast!
The Four-Tails had been suppressed for a month, its chakra raging to the extreme. The moment the Five Elements Seal was released and the lava from the Moving Earth Core rained down on it, it immediately entered a berserk state!
The many Sand Village ninjas stared blankly at the rampaging Four-Tails Jinchuriki. This scene felt inexplicably familiar.
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