Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

As the sun sets, the evening wind howls past.

Completely driven mad, Gaara could no longer suppress his murderous intent. The sandstorm hidden underground suddenly rose up, surging like waves and engulfing Asuma's figure.

呲!
In the evening breeze, choking smoke was accompanied by a flickering orange-red flame, like sparks flying as a blacksmith hammers a steel billet.

Gaara's murderous gaze paused, and the surging waves of sand also stopped simultaneously, as if the sand grains were alive, rapidly rubbing against each other to protect them.

Boom!

The scorching dust roared in without warning, like an angry dragon, crashing hard into the golden sand shield in front of Gaara. The terrifying heat distorted the surrounding air.

The golden sand grains were stained dark black; the extreme heat instantly baked the sand grains, which have a very low specific heat capacity, to scalding hot.

In front.

Surrounded by sand and dust, Sarutobi Asuma spewed black smoke from his mouth. Without the top-tier defensive technique, Thousand Hands Slash, he could only resort to an attack against an attack.

The ninjutsu he used was the signature fire jutsu of the Sarutobi clan: Ash Pile Burning!

It originates from the advanced fire escaping technique of the ape race, simulating volcanic ash ejected during a volcanic eruption.

The high-temperature dust not only blurs vision but also has a continuous burning effect. If you accidentally inhale it into your lungs, your internal organs will be burned away. Moreover, this technique has an even more powerful second-stage burst.

As the yellow sand swirled and churned wildly, shielding Gaara's slender figure within, Sarutobi Asuma's breath steamed continuously as his eyes followed the movement of the still-unlanding spark.

呲呲!

The evening breeze made the embers on the cigarette butt flicker, and the burning cigarette butt slid through the air, landing directly on the billowing black smoke.

"burst!"

All of a sudden.

The dark volcanic ash was quickly ignited by the cigarette butt.

In the dim woods, everyone watching suddenly felt a bright light in their eyes.

A terrifying burst of flames, accompanied by a shockwave, engulfed Gaara's figure. Immediately afterwards, countless hot sand grains shot out in all directions like projectiles!

"careful!"

"Run!"

The ninjas watching immediately changed their expressions and scattered, using various defensive techniques to block the sand and dust as if they were free.

Red Earth had somehow produced a flat, shield-like clay figure. Han stood motionless, protecting his face with one hand, his scarlet armor clanging. Black Earth, on the other hand, was completely covered, not even a single hair could be seen.

Hozuki Suigetsu stood at the front of the group, his body riddled with holes from the sand, yet not a drop of blood flowed from within. Instead, he used his body to intercept all the bullet-like sand particles.

The four Darui drew their swords, and the lightning-infused blades flashed like crescent moons, clattering and clanging as they intercepted all the sand and dust that filled the sky.

Boom!

Countless trees were uprooted by the shockwave, sand and gravel flew everywhere, and leaves and branches were scattered and broken like honeycomb.

It's too late to say.

The battle that broke out happened in the blink of an eye, and it was only then that the Konoha Chunin on the alert line came to their senses.

"Lord Asuma!"

The Konoha ninja on guard immediately roared, and a ninja wearing a headscarf standing at the top of a tree pulled out a steel whistle and blew it with a cold look in his eyes!
"Enemy attack!!"

Beep beep! ! !

A piercing alarm whistle rang out in the woods.

Almost simultaneously, sentry posts, both visible and hidden, hidden throughout the forest sounded their horns, the piercing whistles stretching for miles like rolling waves.

Before the people resisting the aftermath of the battle could react...

A rustling sound began in the dark woods. It wasn't the cool evening breeze; there were throngs of people all around, as if a hornet's nest had been stirred up!
If someone were to look down from the sky at this moment:
In the silent forest, hundreds of flea-like black shadows were leaping wildly through the trees and gathering towards Sarutobi Asuma and his companions at an exaggerated speed.

The first line of defense could not possibly consist of only the dozen or so people led by Sarutobi Asuma.

The number of external missions that come to the Hokage Building each day is ultimately small, not enough to support the huge ninja population of over 20,000 in Konoha Village, let alone afford the extremely high cost of living in the village.

The only place in the ninja villages that can provide the most jobs is actually the Konoha cordon, which has a huge demand for manpower.

There are two warning lines, one inner and one outer.

The outermost first line of defense has several thousand ninjas, mostly chunin and genin, with a very small number of special jonin. The innermost second line of defense also has over a thousand people, the vast majority of whom are chunin, with over a hundred special jonin. They are all there to protect the core area of ​​Konoha and prevent foreign invasion.

Similar to a rotational military system, over 70% of Konoha's ninjas have served on the front lines.

"Damn it! Konoha's security system has been triggered!"

"So many people..."

"This is Konoha's headquarters, do you think...?"

Seeing the Konoha ninjas gathering in the forest, the Kusagakure genin were terrified, feeling that the dark forest was filled with murderous intent from all sides.

The Hidden Mist Village follows an elite policy, and the ninjas of the Blood Mist Village fight each other to the death; they've never seen so many ninjas before.

Chojuro and his two companions stood back to back, their eyes darting left and right, dazzled by the crowd.

Ao formed a hand seal, his Byakugan reflecting countless chakra points in the forest like faintly lit stars in the sky, his expression remaining relatively calm.

The trouble caused by Sunagakure has nothing to do with Kirigakure.

Hiss!

The high-temperature sand and gravel were charred black, constantly emitting heat, and in some places on the surface, dark crystalline blocks appeared.

Karala!

As if an eggshell were shattering, cracks appeared on the hemispherical black crystal, and dirt kept falling from Gaara's face, who was directly behind it.

Maki and the others, who were hiding behind Gaara, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Gaara unharmed in front of them.

Although Gaara's physical skills are not strong, his combined use of Sand Release and Sand Armor makes him extremely resistant to attacks. This is an 'absolute defense' honed by the Fourth Kazekage's years of assassination attempts.

Temari slowly walked forward and gently comforted the irritable Gaara, trying to get the plan back on track. Faced with her sister's comfort, Gaara forcibly controlled his murderous intent, and the irritable Gaara also became much more docile.

At this moment, Sarutobi Asuma also saw that the other party was not injured. He raised his eyebrows and was even more surprised when he saw the ninjutsu and small actions of the ninjas from various villages.

Excluding the ninjas from the Grass Village, none of the ninjas from these four great ninja villages were weaker than special jonin. Shikamaru and his group were only at an average level in this exam.

Susu!

More and more Konoha ninjas gathered, completely surrounding the Shikoku ninjas. Sarutobi Asuma quickly retreated back into the crowd.

"Lord Asuma, are you alright?"

Yamashiro Aoba and Namishita Raisou flew down from the treetop.

Even though it was dusk and the light was dim, Yamashiro Aoba was still wearing sunglasses, his hand forming a hand seal, with crows standing on either side of his shoulder. Namiya Raido held a long, black sword, and a burn-like scar covered his left cheek; the two stood beside Asuma like his two protectors.

"It's alright. How's the village? Any news?" Even though he had just escaped death, Asuma remained calm and composed. The personal experiences of every elite Jonin in the ninja world could fill a novel, so the enemy's surprise attack was nothing more than a minor incident for him.

"The village is unharmed."

"quack!"

Yamashiro Aoba patted the crow's head on his left shoulder, and the crow immediately cawed in response, as if to prove that what he said was true.

After the gray light disappeared, he immediately sent ninja crows back to Konoha to scout. They found that there were no casualties in the village, but before he could pass on the good news to his other companions, he heard a whistle calling him. That's when he and Namiashi Raido rushed over to provide support.

"Are the enemies these ninjas from other villages?"

Holding his sword horizontally in front of him, Raito scanned the various outlying ninjas, waiting for Asuma's command to charge forward.

The numerous Konoha ninjas surrounding the village were equally murderous. The safety of their families in the village was still unknown, and now these ninjas from other villages were attacking the village. Everyone was filled with resentment!

"Wait a minute, fellow ninjas of Konoha, this has nothing to do with us!"

The pragmatic leader of the Kusagakure team, a Jonin, raised his hands above his head and led the group forward slowly: "Our Kusagakure has absolutely no intention of attacking Konoha. We are only here to participate in the Chunin Exams. Please do not harm us!"

Seeing this, Asuma nodded, not paying much attention to these Kusagakure ninjas, and loudly addressed the numerous outlying ninjas: "Everyone, hand over your weapons and submit to inspection!"

"Alright, cooperate with Konoha's examination quickly!"

Without hesitation, the Grass Village Jonin pulled out his ninja tool backpack from his pocket and threw it on the ground. He then ordered the Genin behind him to cooperate.

Although many genin were resentful, the situation forced them to act against their will. They quickly pulled out their ninja tools and threw them on the ground, creating a continuous clanging sound. Karin, who was the healer, didn't have any ninja tools. Facing the suspicious gazes of Konoha, she became somewhat anxious and simply turned her pockets inside out.

"Okay, let's go!"

A Konoha Chunin, seeing Karin's pockets were even cleaner than her face, immediately let her pass with a look of disgust. But when he saw two fully clothed female ninjas, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Where are your ninja tools?"

Orochimaru and Danzo exchanged a glance, then casually pulled out two ninja tools and threw them on the ground before quickly leaving the encirclement by blending into the grass village.

"What do we do?" Seeing that the Grass Village had quickly passed the inspection, the ninjas from the other four major ninja villages became somewhat anxious.

"I'm not handing over my ninja sword anyway!"

"Me too."

"The trouble caused by Sunagakure has nothing to do with us. If you want me to hand over my weapons, you'll have to step over my dead body!"

The swordsmen from Kumogakure and Kirigakure had no idea of ​​surrendering their weapons. Darui's blade, with lightning crackling around it, made the Konoha ninjas around him even more vigilant.

The man from Iwagakure glanced at the Jinchūriki teetering on the edge of going berserk, and then, thinking of his own identity, hot steam began to emanate from his armor.

The last Sand Village ninja, feeling guilty, dared not lay down their weapons for Konoha to inspect, and for a time, apart from the Grass Village ninja, no one moved.

"How to do?"

Seeing that these ninjas from other villages were not cooperating, Yamashiro Aoba couldn't help but look at Sarutobi Asuma.

Asma clicked his tongue, feeling equally that it was a difficult situation.

If the fighting results in the death of a genin from another village, it would be an extremely serious diplomatic incident. Given his special status, there would be no way for him to deny it.

Moreover, although they had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, the other side was no small fry either.

The four elite Jonin could already negate part of the numerical disadvantage, and the others were all at least Special Grade. His "Welcome: Thousand Hands Slash" inexplicably became unusable, putting them at a significant disadvantage in a contest of high-level combat power…

This is really difficult!

Realizing the difficulties of being a decision-maker, Sarutobi Asuma suddenly understood his father's hardships and secretly regretted his past rebellion.

For a moment, the atmosphere was tense, and no one spoke. Heavy breathing echoed in the forest. Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, ready to start a small war if anyone made any move.

at this time.

The afterglow was reduced to a thin layer of white light, like chalk dust smeared across the horizon.

As the light in the forest grew dimmer, the increasingly blurred vision and the heavier breathing caused everyone's adrenaline to surge wildly. Their fingers rubbed the rough knife handles, their palms already drenched in sweat.

Deng!
A pebble rolled smoothly on the ground, instantly distracting the tense crowd, whose eyes unconsciously followed its movement.

When everything around us is still, the only moving object will attract more attention; this is a physiological instinct that humans cannot overcome.

beep, beep...

The pebble rolled rapidly, from the middle of the crowd all the way to the dark forest on the left, and finally disappeared completely from everyone's sight.

what?
A question arose in everyone's mind at the same time: why would a stone that no one touched roll by itself?

Among them, Qing was the most surprised. His Byakugan was always open, but there was no chakra reaction on the stone, as if he had just been kicked invisibly.

But before anyone could even think about it...

Suddenly, several pebbles began to tremble, and then rolled towards the forest on the right to everyone's astonishment.

a long time……

Boom! ! !
A sudden roar erupted from the depths of the earth, as if a sleeping behemoth had been abruptly awakened.

The jungle trembled, towering ancient trees shook wildly, and gnarled roots were torn from the soil by a terrifying force, making a teeth-grinding cracking sound.

"This is……"

"It's an earthquake!!"

The terrified cries were indistinguishable from those of ninjas from Konoha or other villages. The ground trembled like a trampoline, and chakra light suddenly shone beneath everyone's feet, pinning them to the spot as if they were nails.

Boom!

The earth cracked like a fragile eggshell, and a deep crevice spread out at an alarming speed through the crowd. The ninjas caught in the crevice hurriedly jumped to either side.

The forest was already dimly lit, and under the threat of a terrifying natural disaster, the ninjas from different villages were mixed together, making it impossible to tell who was who.

The crevice in the ground grew wider and wider, and soil and gravel fell into the bottomless darkness.

The ninjas stood on both sides, but found that the distance between them was widening. The dark green forests on both sides were rapidly receding and shifting, and the crack in the ground was gradually turning into a ravine and an abyss, as if a god was wielding a giant sword to split the earth in two!
And it's not over yet.

Within the deep chasm, a smooth and wide road slowly rose up to the astonishment of everyone, until it completely filled the abyss.

"Hey...you...look..."

"That is……"

Trembling voices drifted through the crowd, following the people who were divided in two and looking northwards, and gasps of breath were heard.

The deep, sprawling forest, stretching for countless kilometers, is neatly separated, and the extremely wide black dirt road is as straight as a ruler.

At the end of that wide road, hundreds of thousands of lights, as dazzling as starlight, shone brightly!
Orochimaru, Danzo, Sarutobi Asuma, and all the Konoha ninjas narrowed their eyes as they recognized the true nature of that starlight.

That was Konoha, twenty kilometers from the first warning line! (End of Chapter)