Outside Konoha, deep within the vast forest, Shinobi armies from Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and Otogakure silently advanced toward Konoha.
Above, hidden within the clouds, a massive sky fortress floated, ready to launch an aerial assault on Konoha at any moment!
Inside Konoha, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and Otogakure's Shinobi, who had entered earlier with the participating teams, were now positioned at various street corners, as well as important facilities such as the Academy and the hospital. Once the signal was given, they would start causing chaos and panic!
...
Konoha Cemetery.
Obito stood silently before Nohara Rin's grave. His lone eye stared into the distance, as if recalling the glory days of the past. After some time, he sighed and said softly, "Rin, wait for me. I will soon create a world without war, a peaceful ideal world... a world with you in it!"
...
In the venue of Chunin Exams' finals.
With the high-pitched cheers of the audience in the stands, the battle between Naruto and Gaara also reached its climax.
On the rock wall, Naruto was panting heavily as he dodged the attacks from two enormous, menacing sand hands, looking quite battered and exhausted.
Meanwhile, Gaara was surrounded by three hundred shadow clones, each wielding a Rasengan. The sound of Rasengan filled the air as they relentlessly attacked him.
Gaara stood in place with his arms crossed, a shield of sand forming a sealed sphere around him, defending against the Rasengan from all directions.
Inside the pitch-black sphere, Gaara can only vaguely see the spiraling patterns on the surface, appearing and disappearing repeatedly.
The dark environment and constant attacks gradually brought a twisted, almost hysterical expression to Gaara's face, like fear, anger, and madness…
"Isn't it done yet?"
On the rock wall, Naruto got time to look down and looked surprised. After all, with Rasengan's destructive power, even a steel plate should be pierced by now!
"Naruto, be careful. Gaara is already tapping into the power of that tanuki." Kyubi's voice suddenly echoed, tinged with excitement.
'If that tanuki comes out, I will also have a just and honorable reason to come out, and I can even use that tanuki to create panic and confusion, and then take the opportunity to escape!'
However, when he sensed Minato and Kanpū in the main stand, Kyubi reconsidered his thought. He felt that it was not appropriate to abduct Naruto in front of his parent and teachers, 'It seems that I would have to wait for Naruto to follow Tenzo on a mission outside the village.'
Meanwhile…
The two giant sand hands protruding from the desert in the arena suddenly turned into yellow sand and collapsed. Before Naruto could breathe a sigh of relief, he sensed a terrifying aura emanating from the center of the 'desert'!
Immediately after, countless sharp sand spikes erupted from the desert, instantly destroying his three hundred shadow clones again!
With the immediate threat gone, the sand shielding Gaara retreated into his gourd, revealing his increasingly distorted figure.
At the railing of the stands.
Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, Kurenai and Tenzo's faces sank.
"This presence…" Tenzo looked at Gaara in the center of the desert in disbelief.
"Biju… Is that kid a Jinchuriki?" Unease crept into Kakashi's heart.
'If a Biju went berserk…' Just then, a sudden realization flashed in Kakashi's mind, but he was interrupted by a groan.
Looking to the side, it was Sasuke who finally woke up.
"This is…" Sasuke struggled to get up from the ground, and the hazy scenes before falling unconscious flashed through his dizzy mind, and he was suddenly in a bad mood.
'I actually… lost?'
'That Lee, defeated me so easily?'
'After all the hardships I endured to master Chidori, it was useless against Lee?'
'Why?'
'Why is this happening?!'
Sasuke clenched his teeth, his veins bulging, and his face twisted with anger!
"Sasuke, don't move around. Once Naruto's match is over, I'll personally take you to the hospital for treatment," Tenzo said.
'Naruto?'
'Right, there's still Naruto!'
'If Naruto also loses, at least I won't be as embarrassed.'
'After all, losing together isn't as bad. If he wins and I lose miserably, doesn't that prove I'm a loser?'
Sasuke, with his immense pride, couldn't accept such a conclusion!
Suppressing his feelings of anguish and resentment, Sasuke looked down at the arena.
As the terrifying aura grew stronger, the spectators in the stands sensed something amiss. They fell silent, staring in disbelief at Gaara at the center of the arena.
On the main stand, whether it is Minato, Gonbee or 'Rasa', they all sat quietly, showing no concern for the developments below.
"Roar!!!"
With a beastly roar, Gaara charged at Naruto on the rock wall, "Die, die, die, die…"
Naruto's pupils shrank, and without hesitation, he created another three hundred shadow clones.
However, Gaara has liberated the power of Shukaku at this time. The Chakra imbued with Shukaku's will surged through Gaara's body, and finally gathered in his right transforming it into a massive tanuki-like hand.
Boom!
The tanuki hand swung left and right, swatting away the incoming shadow clones like flies!
"Damn it!"
Naruto cursed under his breath, and created another three hundred shadow clones. After the three-person group readied Rasengan, they all jumped down at Gaara.
Boom, boom, boom…
The shadow clones rushed to death and slammed their Rasengan onto the tanuki arm fiercely, creating fist-sized craters.
Yet, the flowing sand within quickly restored the damage!
"Naruto, it's useless, you can only defeat Gaara by borrowing more power from me." Kyubi seized the opportunity to bewitched Naruto.
He had it all planned out. When Naruto borrowed his power, he would secretly expand the seal's crack. Then, he would obediently return to the seal, leaving Minato and Kanpū with 'Kyubi sure is trustworthy' impression, thus lowering their guard!
After that, once Naruto was on a mission outside the village, he would seize the chance to break free from the seal and gained his freedom!
'This plan is simply perfect!'
Kyubi is elated!
Faced with the temptation from Kyubi, Naruto did not immediately agree. He continued running along the rock wall, dodging the tanuki hand while sending out more shadow clones to exhaust Gaara.
But at this time Gaara's body was almost entirely controlled by Shukaku's Chakra, so he chased Naruto madly as if his life depended on it.
After running for a while, Naruto noticed that Gaara was still energetically chasing him, while his own stamina was nearly depleted!
In a moment of despair, Naruto couldn't help but glance at the main stand.
Minato and Kanpū sat and stood respectively, watching his battle with calm expressions.
"Naruto, what are you still hesitating for?" Kyubi called, "Your teacher can hear my voice. If he isn't stopping me, it means he approves!"
Hearing this, Naruto was shocked, 'That's right, Kanpū-sensei can hear Kurama's words!'
'In that case…'
"Kurama, what should I do?" Naruto asked.
To be honest, he was also curious to see just how powerful Kyubi really was.
"It's simple, fist bump with me!" Kyubi chuckled cunningly.
As soon as the words fell, Naruto found himself in the deepest part of the seal world.