In the audience, Kankuro and Temari panicked when they saw the arm.
"DID HE TRANSFORM INTO HIS COMPLETE FORM?" Kankuro exclaimed.
"I DON'T KNOW," Temari's voice was tense, "IT SEEMS HE'S BEEN INJURED... THAT HAS NEVER..."
The sand arm retracted into the cocoon of sand. Sasuke's gaze pierced the hole with his Sharingan, a sense of dread washing over him. With a resounding crack, the cocoon shattered. Gaara emerged, no longer concealed, his right arm clasping his bleeding shoulder in pain. The mysterious arm was nowhere to be seen.
"I knew it! A wound! The cocoon was broken while he was still incomplete!" Temari exclaimed to Kankuro, who was equally shocked at the turn of events.
Gaara stared at Sasuke with the utmost hatred. "No, it wasn't those eyes... What was that... thing that was looking right at me?" Sasuke, now with his Sharingan inactive, stared back at the beast before him, his survival instinct firing off at full force.
White feathers drifted down from the sky, surrounding the stadium. Experienced ninja, such as Kakashi and Guy, noticed the anomaly and swiftly reacted. They formed a tiger hand seal and disrupted their chakra, shouting, "KAI!". Without Naruto's notice, the falling feathers triggered a genjutsu, ensnaring him in its illusion. Fortunately, Ash broke free from its grasp and swiftly released Naruto.
In the Hokage's seating area, the two Hokage slowly turned their heads to face each other. As their eyes met, two ninja rushed forward to the side of the Kazekage. One of them removed the pin from a smoke bomb, and it activated, creating a smoke cloud that shocked everyone who remained awake. One thought ran through every Sand Ninja's mind: "Operation start!"
All over the village, chaos ensued as the hidden leaf was under attack. *Foom* Outside the village walls, a towering three-headed titan of a snake was summoned, its menacing form tearing through the barrier and rampaging within. Mysterious figures silently moved through the turmoil, their intentions shrouded in secrecy.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from within the smoke shrouding the Kage's seating area. As the figure landed on the roof, it was revealed to be the Kazekage Rasa holding the Hokage as a hostage, a kunai held up to his neck. The four Sand Shinobi that were with Rasa removed their cloaks and the bandages concealing their appearance. They jumped onto the roof. The two Kages were surrounded by them on four sides, fading away from them, clasping their hands together.
When he arrived outside the barrier, Naruto saw something he never could have foreseen. The Kazekage reached his hand to his face and ripped it off, revealing that it was just a mask and that he was never the Kazekage, but Orochimaru. Ash arrived next to Naruto and saw the same scene, a man he had never seen before was speaking to the Hokage, feeling Naruto's distress he taps into their bond and synched with Naruto's memory of the man and he immediately understood the danger the Hokage was in.
"OROCHIMARUUU!!!" Naruto was about to charge, but Ash grabbed his shoulder stopping his advance. Naruto understood, ripped off a tile from the roof with a kunai, and tossed it into the barrier. Upon contact with the wall, the tile was set aflame by the purple barrier. Naruto was glad he was held back, otherwise it would have been him who burned instead. Naruto couldn't do a thing but watch, his frustration growing every second.
---
*Same time on the stage*
"Abort the mission," Gaara was experiencing a heavy backlash from his interrupted transformation. "You guys take Gaara and retreat," Baki, the Sand Jonin, had no option but to call for their retreat.
"What about you?" Temari asked Baki.
"I'll join the battle. Now go," Baki replied.
Temari took one last glance at Baki. "Y-yeah."
Kankuro carried Gaara and left with Temari, leaving Baki behind.
Genma, standing across from Baki, asked, "Is the leader of this party Orochimaru?"
"Who knows? Let's just join the fun."
"HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON?" Sasuke, taking a knee on the ground behind Genma, demanded answers.
"Sorry, but the Chunin exams are over. You go pursue Gaara and the others," Genma said.
Sasuke was about to speak when Genma interrupted him, "You're already at Chunin level. If you're a Leaf Shinobi, make yourself useful."
Sasuke closed his mouth. "Damn, what is this?"
Sasuke quickly trailed after the Sand trio.
---
*Kage Platform's Roof*
Naruto could only watch, tightening his fist as Hiruzen took off his cloak, standing a few meters in front of Orochimaru, who did the same. The Hokage threw a shuriken at Orochimaru. The two began weaving hand signs faster than the eye could see. As they finished, the Hokage cast the jutsu "Shuriken Shadow Clones Jutsu" that caught Naruto's eye.
"Is there more to the Shadow Clone jutsu? How did he do that?" The multiplying shurikens flew towards Orochimaru. In front of Orochimaru, caskets began to rise from the ground, stopping the incoming shuriken. "Summoning Worldly Resurrection."
As the first one rose, it was followed by another. The Hokage weaved more hand signs and managed to stop the third from being summoned. "What in the world is going on? What are those jutsu?" Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. The caskets slowly cracked open, revealing the hidden secrets within.