The month necessary for the start of the final phase of the exam passed quickly as shops prepared to raise prices in anticipation of the influx of tourists, and Konoha ninjas continuously reinforced the village's security.
"Hey," Temari called out as she punched her brother's shoulder, more heavily made-up than even her. "Don't you think Dad's been acting strange since he arrived?"
"Nah, maybe he's just more constipated than usual," Kankuro replied, dismissing the matter, not very interested in dedicating his thoughts to their inept father.
He couldn't even remember the last time they all ate together.
Temari rubbed her hair, feeling that something was wrong but unable to pinpoint what it was.
"The last part of the exam is about to begin," Baki commented as he approached them while they waited for the spectators to take their seats in the stadium. "Do you have the entire plan clear? Temari will fight, Kankuro will withdraw, and..." he turned his head to see the silent twin puppets, "...just don't kill anyone before the Kazekage gives the signal, okay?"
Takara nodded, having already deployed several hidden puppets in different parts of Konoha, and when the strike begins, he will send a signal for them to set off and loot while all the attention will be focused on this area.
The chakra consumption will not be small, especially when Nakime has to open the gates to collect them all, but over the past month, those revived by the Edo Tensei have provided him with more than enough chakra for the task.
Although it was quite annoying how the Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyuga clans "discreetly" spied on them during this time, probably trying to figure out where their missing members were.
Takara kept a strict eye on Hinata's Byakugan, ensuring that it remains in the best condition and considering stealing Kakashi's eye.
He wouldn't mind having a Byakugan and a Sharingan in each eye.
As for Sasuke, he wasn't fully developed; there was Itachi's revenge and Orochimaru's disgust. Too many troubles to deal with.
"Let's welcome the first participants!" Genma Shiranui announced as he took over the role of referee. "Kankuro from Sunagakure against Neji Hyuga from Konoha."
Kankuro stood up and prepared to walk to the arena.
"Although you must surrender, try to fight a little first to make it more believable," Baki reminded him.
There was also the issue that since it was the first fight, surrendering without putting up a good fight wouldn't give Suna a good image. Although he selectively ignored that the subsequent strike would also influence...
Kankuro waved his hand, knowing he had to conserve strength for the later strike and couldn't repeat the puppet switch trick. Not against a Hyuga, at least.
Takara would snort if he heard Kankuro's thoughts; his puppets didn't have that problem due to a very simple solution, creating artificial tenketsus using chakra-conducting threads to deceive the Byakugan.
How else, after being spied on by the Hyuga clan, didn't they notice the anomalies of Ram and Rem?
Takara took deceiving others with his puppets very seriously; Rem and Ram had a female body odor distilled from samples he obtained from Temari after using a bit of elemental chemistry.
They also had connections in the tear ducts to flow salted distilled water when feigning pain or sadness.
They even had internal plates to regulate the heat emitted by their skin if necessary!
It must be said that Nox's template skills are truly comprehensive because even if they lean more towards mechanics and temporal energy, two hundred years of research covers many fields.
Human synthetic skin was already used by ninjas, but the one Takara used for his puppets was simply on a higher level. The sensors only needed to capture a certain temperature, and they would start "sweating" naturally.
Gaara was restless sitting on the sidelines. Since he needed to use Shukaku later, he couldn't use noxines to sleep well that night and fell back into a state of irritation.
Especially because he now appreciated the peace of his dreams more and removing it wasn't easy.
So when he had to delay his confrontation because Sasuke hadn't shown up yet, he wasn't happy. Not one bit.
Takara raised an eyebrow beneath his mask when he saw that the next randomly scheduled match was Ram vs. Rem.
Even Orochimaru, disguised as Rasa next to Sarutobi, had to turn to look at his sensei.
"The draw is made with a machine, and the options are limited; they just had bad luck," the Third Hokage commented without blinking, showing that his face was even harder than Hokage Rock.
"Naturally..." replied Orochimaru with Rasa's voice, while he was laughing condescendingly inside, seeing how low his sensei had fallen, although it wouldn't last long. One more fight, and enough time will have passed for all his minions to take positions.
The Konoha audience was mostly bewildered when two twin maids descended into the arena and stood in their respective positions, acting practically as a reflection of each other.
"Are you ready?" Genma asked, secretly wondering how these two girls could have such smooth skin growing up in a desert environment.
Both puppets nodded as they adopted similar postures.
Takara looked at Temari, leaving the question in the air without wasting efforts.
"Put up a good fight, as much as possible," Temari said as she leaned in to whisper in his ear, causing the other participants to alternate their gazes between the two, secretly wondering about their relationship. "Baki needs a few minutes to position everyone without drawing attention, and I don't know how long I'll be fighting later."
"You just want to avoid having to drag things out, as long as I can do it, right?" Takara asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Temari turned her head, looking with infinite interest at both puppets in the arena.
Even after all this time, she was still amazed that she didn't need to use chakra threads to control such creations.