Sasuke stood blankly in the arena. Even after the referee announced his victory, he still hadn't fully snapped out of it.
He had trained desperately under Jie, endured unimaginable pain, and carefully prepared for this moment according to Jie's instructions. Yet he never expected the battle to end like this.
'What a complete scam!'
'Is this the foreign ninja's killer move Brother Jie warned me about? Dying in front of me just to scare me with a corpse?'
Sasuke roared inwardly, a deep sense of powerlessness washing over him. With this level of strength, he would've been better off fighting two students from the Konoha Ninja Academy. They probably would've lasted longer than this Kirigakure ninja.
As Sasuke left the arena in disappointment, Mei Terumi's face turned an ugly shade of green.
She could accept Sasuke being powerful, but what she couldn't accept was her subordinate dying in a single exchange. She had clearly heard the ninja's final two words.
Sasuke's speed had been so terrifyingly fast that the Kirigakure ninja hadn't even managed to finish begging for mercy.
This level of strength had likely already surpassed elite Jonin. If someone told her Sasuke was a Jonin right now, she would believe it without hesitation.
Yet Jie had actually brought such a monster to participate in the Genin Exams. Was he trying to show the other hidden villages what true slaughter looked like?
And the worst part was that the remaining two Konoha Genin were probably just as terrifying.
Thinking about that, Mei couldn't help cursing inwardly.
Konoha was practically a nest of monsters.
Having Jie alone was already outrageous, yet now there were these terrifyingly talented brats too. If they were allowed to grow up, how were the other villages supposed to survive?
Suddenly, she remembered that Sasuke was Jie's biological brother. Even worse, Itachi from the Akatsuki was Jie's twin brother.
Three monsters from one family, this was the true terror of the legendary Uchiha clan.
'I just hope the Akatsuki leader has a way to deal with Jie. Otherwise, stepping into this mess will become a huge loss for Kirigakure,' Mei thought silently.
The other Kage shared similar thoughts, silently praying that their own Genin wouldn't run into Konoha's remaining monsters.
Two matches later, Naruto's name was called.
Coincidentally, his opponent was also a Kirigakure ninja who he had already defeated. There was no helping it.
While collecting point scrolls, Naruto's team had relied on Hinata's Byakugan to track down and beat every participating team.
Almost everyone present had already been defeated by them once.
The moment the Kirigakure ninja saw Naruto walk onto the field, his face instantly lost all color, and his legs started trembling violently.
And as soon as the referee announced the start of the match, the ninja shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I surrender!"
His speed and decisiveness made Mei's face turn green again. Still, she quickly accepted it. Losing face was better than having all her subordinates slaughtered by Konoha's Genin.
While Mei accepted it easily, Naruto was incredibly depressed.
Even if Sasuke's battle had been completely one-sided, he still got to use a jutsu and defeat an enemy ninja, taking another step toward becoming a true ninja. So why did his opponent have to surrender so quickly?
The Kumogakure referee fully understood the Kirigakure ninja's decision and immediately announced Naruto's victory.
Muttering curses under his breath, Naruto left the arena with a gloomy face. He walked over to Sasuke and Hinata before slumping down in frustration.
The Kirigakure ninja's surrender was only a small interlude. Soon, the next round of matches began.
...
Meanwhile, even with the thick mist generated by the Hidden Mist Jutsu acting as cover, the increasing death toll finally made Kumogakure sense something was wrong.
In an instant, the entire village plunged into chaotic slaughter.
The disturbance inside the village quickly drew the attention of the Kage in the arena. Watching the scene unfold, a faint smile appeared on Jie's face.
'The show has begun.'
As the thought flashed through his mind, Jie watched Mei with great interest, curious to see how she would play her part.
"What is happening in the village?" Yugito asked, her voice heavy. "Mabui, send a few Kumogakure ninjas to investigate the situation."
Just then, Mei stood. A sly, triumphant smile graced her lips as she looked at Yugito.
"Let the subordinates handle the matters of subordinates," Mei said smoothly. "I advise the Raikage to stay right here and watch the rest of the exams in peace. Why add to your own troubles?"
Hearing that, Yugito's expression instantly turned cold.
"You are behind this?" she demanded. "What exactly is Kirigakure's goal?"
Mei chuckled, a cold sneer replacing her smile.
"Behind this? Kirigakure isn't the one pulling the strings. It was your Kumogakure people who begged us to come. As for our goal, you will find out once the dust settles."
Yugito's expression shifted drastically.
Someone in Kumogakure had colluded with a foreign enemy? Who could it be?
But this was no time for investigations; the immediate priority was ensuring Kumogakure survived the crisis.
At that moment, Onoki spoke up, his voice grim.
"The Land of Water and the Land of Lightning are separated by a vast distance. How did your Kirigakure forces evade everyone's sight?"
"How did you bypass Kumogakure's network, slip past the layers of spies in the Land of Lightning, and arrive at the village completely undetected?"
He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Someone must have been helping you from the shadows. Otherwise, Kirigakure alone could never pull off something like this."
Having served as Tsuchikage for decades, Onoki instantly recognized the true terror of Kirigakure's operation.
The Land of Water and the Land of Lightning were separated by a massive ocean. Concealing such a large force at sea was practically impossible.
And the border guards of the Land of Lightning weren't idiots either. They would never casually allow Kirigakure ninja to enter.
Even if Kirigakure had assassinated the border patrols before any information could spread, there was still a huge distance between the border and Kumogakure itself.
That entire area was filled with Kumogakure ninja.
Moving through all of it silently and surrounding the village without being discovered was unimaginably difficult.
If Kirigakure truly possessed such terrifying infiltration abilities, then every ninja village would need to stay on constant alert.
Otherwise, they might wake up one day only to find their village surrounded and themselves taken prisoner.
Hearing Onoki's deduction, Mei sneered. She had no intention of hiding it.
"A helper? You could say it's more of a partner."
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