Chapter 41: Orochimaru Excutes His Plan
Fortunately, we caught up. We're not late, are we?
As the wind gust swept the fallen leaves, two blurry figures instantly appeared in the square.
Kakashi looked at Genma Shiranui. Genma's eyes remained calm and unfazed by the sight, and he asked with a smile, "In a few seconds, your student would have been eliminated."
Genma Shiranui, who was familiar with Kakashi, responded bluntly, "That means we're not late."
Kakashi closed the book and addressed the confident Sasuke, saying, "Don't let me down, Sasuke."
"Don't worry, I'll win," Sasuke smirked as he observed Gaara emerging from the player tunnel.
Sasuke, who had never witnessed the battle between Rock Lee and Gaara, had acquired Rock Lee's high-speed movement and physical skills, activated Lightning Style Chakra to enhance his cells, and even mastered the A-level Lightning Style Chidori within a month (taught by Kakashi). His confidence and arrogance were unmatched.
With Kakashi leaving and Gaara's arrival, the main battle officially commenced.
Sato didn't expect Rock Lee's skills to be copied, even though he hadn't even crossed paths with Team 7.
Seeing Kakashi copying and teaching Uchiha Sasuke the speed and skills that Rock Lee had learned through months of hard work, sweat, and even blood, Rock Lee's heart, which believed that hard work could surpass natural talent, shattered.
It turned out that surpassing genius through hard work was nothing but a delusion of my own.
Watching Uchiha Sasuke effortlessly achieve the results of two years of arduous training in just one month, Rock Lee, who was observing the match from the audience, couldn't help but clench his fists tightly, causing blood to seep from his bandaged arms.
Unfortunately, Sato didn't witness this scene. Otherwise, he would surely sigh, "When I first crossed over, I took things more seriously than you did."
Rock Lee, unaware of the harsh reality of the world, had at least made an effort and mastered one of the three legendary techniques in the Hokage world.
In the future, he might even be able to unlock the Eight Inner Gates formation, just like his master, and earn recognition as a powerhouse on par with the Six Paths.
However, Sato, who knew the harsh reality of the world, couldn't find even a glimmer of hope.
In a world where the final battles were fought by Ōtsutsuki family members and where only mastering senjutsu and the three legendary techniques could provide a slight chance of survival, Kage-level was merely high-level cannon fodder.
For ordinary individuals, becoming Kage-level or acquiring the three legendary techniques was almost impossible.
If it weren't for the mysterious bead that granted him unlimited devouring abilities, Sato would have been low-level cannon fodder his whole life.
In this world, bloodlines were supreme.
The scene shifted back to the battlefield. Uchiha Sasuke replicated Rock Lee's speed and skills from the preliminary rounds, gaining the upper hand.
Gaara, who didn't want to be passively beaten like in the preliminaries, employed the desert wave, enveloping his entire body. Using his third eye, he concealed himself within the wave and manipulated the sand to attack Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke failed to break through the desert wave with Fire Style. However, he remained unfazed, smiling confidently as he dashed towards the towering wall of the square.
Scaling the wave and reaching the top, Sasuke formed hand seals. His right palm emitted a sharp chirping sound, followed by a burst of blue lightning.
In a swooping motion, Sasuke created a deep groove on the wall with his arms and charged towards the ball formed by the desert wave.
As Sasuke's thunderous arm pierced through the desert wave, a scream resounded from within the sandy sphere.
Kabuto, concealed behind the auditorium, immediately formed hand seals and cast an A-level group illusion: "Temple of Nirvana Technique!"
In an instant, a multitude of white feathers floated down from the sky like falling snow.
The audience, who had just been applauding Sasuke's Chidori, felt their eyelids grow heavy and gradually fell asleep.
Soon, all the civilians were asleep.
Even some ninjas succumbed to the sudden exhaustion and drifted into slumber.
"Dispel--"
Only the ninjas with strong Yin Release Chakra or exceptional reflexes managed to form hand seals, disrupting the flow of Chakra within their bodies and dispelling the encroaching fatigue.
Among them were Sato, Shikamaru, Shino, Ino, who had mastered the art of illusions, and Hinata, who possessed the ability to break free from illusions.
Among Teams 8 and 10, only Akimichi Chōji fell asleep without any resistance.
Oh, and not far away, there was Naruto from Team 7.
Swish, swish...
The five individuals who had just dispelled the illusion noticed that Temari and Kankuro had vanished from a short distance away. They reappeared beside Gaara, who had dispelled the desert wave, providing aid to their younger brother.
Simultaneously, a large number of spectators in the auditorium removed their disguises, revealing that they were ninja spies in different ninja suits and forehead protectors displaying various village symbols. They materialized instantaneously.
The forehead protectors bore the symbols of Sunagakure and Otogakure.
On the other side of the VIP section, the Fourth Kazekage, seated beside the Third Hokage, also emerged behind the Third Hokage in an instant. With one hand gripping the Third Hokage's neck and the other holding a kunai close to the Third Hokage's head, he took on the appearance of a hostage, putting the Third Hokage's life in jeopardy.
Observing this scene, Sato and the others exchanged glances, their eyes seemingly communicating through the window of their souls: "Something went wrong!"
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Sato leaped backward, forming hand seals with one hand. Three clouds of white smoke materialized, concealing his body within them.
In the next second, the three Satos transformed into afterimages, rushing out of the white mist. They swiftly departed from the player area, moving at a speed faster than even Jōnin, and within a few seconds, they vanished from the rooftop of the square.
"I sent a Shadow Clone outside to observe the situation in the village."
After the white mist dissipated, the real Sato explained to Shikamaru and the others. He then wore a serious expression as he reminded them, "I can sense numerous Chakra fluctuations outside. Let's not leave the square. Proceed to meet Teacher Kakashi and the others and wait for further orders from the Jōnin."
"Understood," Shikamaru and the others nodded with solemn expressions.
The scene shifted to the exterior of the square.
As the white mist enveloped the air, Sato, having switched places with the Shadow Clone using the Body Flicker Technique, swiftly returned to his residence.
Inside the living room, a feral cat crouched next to a scroll.
Upon seeing Sato's return from the balcony, the feline transformed into a cloud of white mist and disappeared.
This wild cat was one of the Shadow Clones created by Sato within the player area.
Picking up the scroll from the ground, Sato entered the room, closed the curtains, opened the storage scroll, and retrieved its contents.
Contained within the storage scroll was a corpse.
If Shikamaru and the others were present, they would undoubtedly recognize the body as that of Hayate Gekkō, who had served as the chief examiner for the qualifiers a month ago.
At this point in time, Hayate Gekkō had already been killed and laid to rest in the cemetery.
So, why did Sato instruct his Shadow Clone to steal the body of Hayate Gekkō instead of other significant figures?
The answer can be summed up in one word: caution.