As Takeshi thought to himself, 'Huh, fortunately, I managed to return back just in time through summoning,' Rin hugged him tightly, worried about his safety.
To ensure they didn't get caught by the Sasori, Rin ran as far away as possible in a short duration before forming hand seals and using the summoning jutsu.
Fortunately, Takeshi was summoned on time. After Rin checked him properly, she was relieved not to find any wounds. However, "What's that smell?" she asked.
"Maybe it's some kind of poisonous gas from Sasori. I think it's better to be cautious," Guy and Obito muttered in unison.
Takeshi, exhausted from the ordeal, fell asleep, otherwise, he would have given them a piece of his mind.
"Don't make such a fuss, it's not poison...it doesn't seem like Sasori is still chasing him," Rin said, running a few steps before looking behind her to check. The Sasori didn't chase them, but instead, continued to get further and further away.
At that moment, a snake jumped out of the tree. Guy almost kicked it, but Obito stopped him - because the snake spoke. "You did a good job. Leave the rest to us. You go along this path to the exit and finish the second exam."
"Orochimaru-sama!" Guy was startled, and immediately became respectful, replying together with Rin and Obito, "Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
"Well, come on, I'll wait for you over there for the third exam," the snake said after finishing, spitting out a scroll from his mouth.
The scroll was a map leading to the third examination location, but there was some snake saliva on it, which made the trio feel disgusted.
Obito accepted it but didn't dare to wipe off the saliva immediately. The snake disappeared. Obito breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the map on a piece of cloth before throwing the cloth away, then opened it. "Great, let's go to the finish line quickly."
"It's best to avoid the place where Sasori might be passing through. He may set up a trap. Takeshi is now unconscious after running out of chakra. We can't afford to take risks anymore," Rin cautioned, lest these two reckless guys go all the way.
Exposed to the battlefield earlier and without Kakashi following her, Rin's progress in planning and decision-making was much greater than before.
Since Sasori's whereabouts were revealed, the examination location was quite chaotic.
Becoming chunin was never the first goal of many strong 'Genin' who participated anyway - eliminating the potential future threats was their top priority.
Of course, Rin's Team didn't need to continue being part of the current stage of the exam. Their mission was to complete the second exam and go to the third exam location, then wait for the third exam.
This was not difficult with the map in hand, and they had already completed the collection of the required forehead protector targets.
Normally, they should have collected all the pieces of the map before completing it and proceeding accordingly, but now Orochimaru cheated directly to let them pass, which saved them a lot of trouble and possible dangers.
Sasori was not caught in the end. He was well-prepared and escaped quickly. Even though the Hyuga clan member was tracking him, he could not catch up with Sasori.
Along with that, the ninjas of Sunagakure Village "helped in the pursuit"... Basically, Ebizo was also afraid of taking the blame.
No matter what Sasori did, he couldn't be caught, so in the end, the matter was left as it was. But when Konoha settles the score, Sunagakure Village may have to pay a huge price.
But pursuing escaped Sasori is another matter, and the exam continues as usual. Since many people died in the second exam, there were not many qualified candidates in the third exam, so the final assessment could be started directly without any further preliminary exams.
Takeshi fell into a deep sleep due to chakra exhaustion and did not wake up until the third exam started.
When he woke up after chakra depletion he felt quite uncomfortable, as if he had stayed up for three nights without sleeping. When he woke up, his body felt weak, and his head was suffering from a migraine.
No wonder Kakashi has a pair of dead eyes like a walking corpse in the anime. No one can get used to this. He stood up and hid in a corner while the three in front were watching the battle.
He looked at the points panel... Yay! It was increased by more than 1,200! It was only a little less than the time when Jiraiya was caught peeking and was frightened by him. It seemed that Sasori was really pissed off.
Takeshi allowed himself to feel content for a couple of minutes, and then bought two packets of special cat foods.
Just when he was about to eat... hiss! He was finding it difficult to swallow. Guess recovering from Chakra exhaustion would take a bit longer.
After strengthening his will, he gradually ate the two packs of special cat foods and discarded the empty containers. Only then did he feel that his strength was gradually recovering.
Just as he finished eating, the message for the next battle came from below - "Next match, Uchiha Obito vs Maito Guy!"
"Oh, so it's already reached this stage... Ah, why is it Obito?"
"I'm quite eager for this. Let's have a 1v1 contest between men! Let's burn and display our Youth!" Guy said with passion, with Obito nodding along.
After this declaration, the two boys, each wearing green tights, landed on different sides of the field and formed a Seal of Confrontation with each other.
After the examiner announced the start, they immediately started fighting fiercely with fists and kicks, displaying their taijutsu, which they've honed with time, effort, and sweat. Takeshi, having regained some strength, leaned in closer to watch.
When Obito didn't use the Sharingan, Guy was obviously more powerful than Obito. Regardless of whether Obito used ninjutsu or taijutsu, he was beaten, but after using his sharingan, they were basically evenly matched.
After watching it for a while, Takeshi lost interest in continuing to watch. A fight between rookies smashing at each other is boring.
Since he had this time, he might as well think about how to use his Explosion Release ninjutsu more effectively.
The explosion strength is quite strong, and the "dust" flying all over makes even Takeshi tremble... Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is best to use it sparingly, otherwise, such a reputation will spread, which would badly affect the surprise element when using this attack.
'I'll think more about it afterwards. As of now, I'd better take some rest. If it's Rin's turn later, I can at least help her out.' Takeshi thought for a moment and laid down on Rin's lap to rest....
In the Land of Wind, Sasori fled back in a hurry, but did not return to the village immediately.
Instead, he made human puppets in a base outside the village throughout the night, when a figure came quietly. "What are you doing?"
"Kazekage-sama, please sit down. When I finish making this puppet, I will talk to you in detail about my great creation." Sasori's face and body were covered with blood, and he was standing in an extremely gory environment.
Various corpses are displayed in the cave. The Third Kazekage glanced around coldly, feeling quite sad in his heart. Sasori was the genius and pride of Sand Hidden Village, and he once thought that he could train Sasori to become the next Kazekage.
So when he secretly tracked down some clues and learned about Sasori's actions during the chunin exam, he did not say anything about it.
He kept staring at Sasori with a blank expression, he had sent a ninja to contact Sasori and sneak him into the Village safely. Sure enough, that ninja's body is also here. "Why do you do this?"
"For art, for the eternal beauty that my mind craves, for elevating my puppetry to a higher level... Never mind, how can I make you understand my pursuit if you are not a puppet master." Sasori said lazily.
'Eternal beauty, puppetry?' The Third Kazekage frowned and looked at the corpses around him. He had a bad feeling in his mind - Could it be that the "art" mentioned by Sasori refers to human puppets?
"Human Puppets... Sasori, give up this pursuit. This is a forbidden path. It has been a field that has not been allowed to be developed since the creation of puppets arts. If you insist on doing this, then I have to... forcefully put a stop to this for the safety of Sunagakure!"
"Hahaha, why do you think I would spend time chatting with you? Great Third Kazekage, you will also become a part of my eternal art and become one of my collection forever!"
As soon as the Third Kazekage had entered the cave, he started secretly releasing a colourless poisonous mist, and now the poison should have finally accumulated to a desired extent.
Sasori is in a giddy mood at this time, and his long-cherished desire is finally coming true.
The despite being poisoned, the Third Kazekage is still a powerful kage, but around him, the puppets started "resurrecting" and surrounding him. They are all Kekkei Genkai users and possess extraordinary power.
What makes Sasori regretful is that the Sharingan couldn't be taken, as it was destroyed by the Uchiha clan member before he died. Although he got the body, he lost one of the stronger Kekkei Genkai.
But it doesn't matter, relying on the puppets available is enough to defeat the poisoned Third Kazekage.
The battle began.
The Third Kazekage, despite being poisoned, was a dangerous enemy, not just anyone can be qualified to be considered a Kage, and he had a scornful look in his face as he observed the many human puppets around him, but the poison was running its course, and its effects were accumulating.
He utilized Iron Sand: Black Iron Wings jutsu to push away all the puppets surrounding him. But sadly, he currently couldn't handle such chakra-intensive techniques for longer, otherwise, he would have utilized it for returning to the village and sending Jonin teams to hunt down Sasori.
If he hadn't been as powerful as he is, he would have already died when the poison accumulated to the current level.
He ferociously fought till his death, and almost all of Sasori's puppets were destroyed by his Iron Sand World Method Jutsu of Magnet Release as a last ditch effort, while on the brink of death.
Unfortunately, Sasori had long since been prepared for this fight, in order to deal with the Third Kazekage, Sasori's weapons were made of special alloys that were not magnetic, while being constantly attacked from various angles the Third Kazekage couldn't entirely focus on Sasori, yet still landed a couple of strong blows on him.
Alas, sadly for him, most of Sasori's body had been transformed into a puppet by himself, so it didn't matter if some non-essential parts of his body were destroyed.
So whenever an attack was about to land, Sasori used non-essential and replaceable body parts for defending and taking the attack.
Though these series of planning and preparation, the strongest Kazekage finally died in regret. The cave was destroyed, but it was quite far away from the village.
The Third Kazekage wanted to save Sasori secretly and hide him away, so no one knew that he left the village alone and for what purpose...
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