Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

but--

Not everyone is afraid of being the first to stick their neck out.

A yellow sand cloud soared into the sky in full view of everyone. Gaara, carrying his gourd, rode the sand cloud as if no one else was there, flying towards the center of the training ground. Kankuro and Temari, looking helpless, followed at a distance.

Then--

As expected,

The surrounding genin realized that Gaara was a formidable enemy. After all, the ability to fly was extremely rare in the ninja world. Even though ninjas had the destructive power to reshape the land and sea environment, only a very few could escape Mother Earth's gravity and soar freely in the sky.

Every ninja who can fly freely in this sky is, without exception, an extraordinary figure or one who is destined to become extraordinary.

"Whoosh whoosh!!!"

Shuriken and kunai shot into the sky like a storm.

Centered on Gaara, more than half of the nearby genin chose to attack, trying to knock down this dangerous enemy. However, their attacks were ineffective; neither shuriken nor kunai could penetrate the thick cloud of sand beneath Gaara's feet.

Naturally, there was no question of it causing any harm to Gaara.

On the contrary,

Gaara, standing atop the sand cloud, coldly glanced at the miscellaneous fish below. With a flick of his finger, more sand flew out from the gourd behind him, condensing in mid-air into nearly a hundred fist-sized sand bullets. Then, these sand bullets rained down upon him like a storm.

In an instant,

The land was filled with cries of despair.

Heart-wrenching screams echoed through the air above Exercise Field No. 15.

Below, about thirty genin were hit by the sand bullets. Half of them were unfortunately hit in vital areas and died silently in the underworld. The other half were lucky enough to survive under the cover of the rock pillars, but they all suffered broken bones and tendons and lay on the blood-stained snow, howling in pain.

"And so...it begins!"

Kankuro swallowed.

Temari and Gaara exchanged a glance, both seeing the fear in each other's eyes. Luckily, they slowed down, otherwise... they weren't sure if Gaara would avoid his older brother and sister when he launched his counterattack.

"Kankuro, be careful and keep an eye on Gaara's condition. If necessary... abandon the exam and call the Konoha ninja for help."

Temari took a deep breath.

Watching the cloud of sand slowly drifting towards the center of the training ground, a deep worry appeared in her eyes. She didn't take the Chunin Exams seriously at all; what she feared was that if Gaara continued to slaughter his way through, he might... go berserk!

It wasn't just Temari and Kankuro who noticed this tragic scene;

The Chunin in charge of proctoring the exam were also taken aback. Although they knew that such a practical test would inevitably result in deaths, and that the Chunin Exams themselves allowed for injuries and fatalities, the fact that more than thirty people had died or been injured at the very beginning made them think that it would take a long time for the nearly six hundred Genin to be eliminated.

To avoid endless delays, the time limit is set at one hour.

But if it continues at this speed,

I'm afraid it won't even take an hour to finish, right? And... won't the elimination process be too brutal in the end, so that there's no need for a second round of elimination exams, and they go straight to the semi-finals to select the finalists for the performance-based final?

The proctor who was watching the area near Gaara immediately reported this scene to the chief examiner, Ibiki Morino, via radio.

only--

"As long as there are no violations, then there's no need to worry about it."

"But what if too many people die? Won't that damage the village's reputation? Besides, there are many of our village's genin among them."

"This is none of your business. Just do what you're supposed to do."

Ibiki Morino's reprimand immediately silenced his subordinates.

"Yes, sir, I was overthinking it."

"Just watch closely! It's true that the Sand Ninja brats are powerful... but we in Konoha also have geniuses. A mere Sand Ninja can't run rampant on Konoha's territory. Just do what you're supposed to do." Morino Ibiki gave his subordinates a little hint at the end.

In reality, he didn't say he possessed any secret intelligence.

Before this subordinate could even report Gaara's carnage, they had already received a report from the other side. Although the situation there wasn't as bloody as here, in some ways it was even more intense!

"As expected of the Hokage's disciple."

Morino Ibiki praised softly.

[417. Chapter 413 Death Has Only Just Arrived]

People can die during the Chunin Selection Exams!

The nature of the ninja profession dictates its high mortality rate. Even though this is just an exam, it is strictly conducted according to the prescribed standards. There was no rule against killing from the beginning. If you are capable, you can kill all your competitors.

Gaara's unrestrained killing merely flipped a rather bloody switch.

grim Reaper,

They have just arrived.

The shadow of death hanging over Exercise Field No. 15 will not dissipate until He is completely satisfied.

Gaara wasn't the only one displaying his prowess on this training ground; Yakumo, Fujika, and Hotaru were also unstoppable. Fujika was the most spirited, advancing at an astonishing speed, with flashes of lightning around her as she flew over the snow-covered stone forest.

If you look down at the entire training ground from a high vantage point, you'll find that the vines are the fastest advancing ones.

It needs to be explained that

The No. 15 training ground is perfectly circular. Although the candidates entered from different entrances, they were not far from the flag-planting spot in the center of the training ground. Even if there was a difference, it was far from enough to constitute any obvious advantage, so it could be ignored.

The wisteria blossoms are closest to the center of the training ground.

It's not that it occupied a good position, it's just because it was the fastest.

Another point is that as they continue to advance, the various teams will inevitably converge and eventually meet in the center of the training ground, where a bloody battle will ensue. It is precisely because of this situation that dozens of people gathered together to attack Gaara, only to be ruthlessly counter-killed by him.

Even Gaara, whose advance speed was not as fast as Fujika's, was attacked.

The wisteria blossoms along the way,

It's impossible for things to be completely free of any trouble.

To be precise, the conflict first broke out among them. Seeing Fujika charging ahead alone, some of the genin who were getting closer couldn't hold back and tried to attack Fujika, thinking that taking down a woman wouldn't take much effort and that eliminating one competitor was better than nothing.

only--

They underestimated us.

Just as they were itching to eliminate Fujika, their rival, Yakumo, slightly behind, was also thinking of clearing away any potential threats to Fujika and Hotaru. He silently conjured an illusion, and it must be said that their clan's illusionary magic, based on the "Five Senses Domination," was indeed ridiculously powerful.

Even the Uchiha clan's genjutsu requires eye contact to be successfully executed.

The Kurama clan's [Five Senses Domination] will naturally pull anyone within the caster's chakra interference range into an illusion. Unless one relies on extremely strong mental power to forcibly resist, there is no possibility of resistance!

That is,

In front of Yakumo,

Victory or defeat is just a matter of a moment; if you can't hold on, you're finished!

Unless Yakumo deliberately held back, there is no way that someone could be in a weak position and barely hold on against Yakumo. Although the fighting styles are completely different, the result is exactly the same as the Fourth Hokage's fighting tactics.

Unless it is a stronger opponent, or even one who is evenly matched.

otherwise,

No matter how many weak people there are, they are meaningless in front of Yakumo.

While not as shocking as the Fourth Hokage's massacre of the Jonin of Iwagakure and Kumogakure like a butcher slaughtering chickens, these Genin were no match for Yakumo.

There's no need to expend chakra to transform into reality and kill these enemies pulled into the illusion. They're just small fry anyway, their lives don't matter. Besides, the girl doesn't want to cause a bloodbath unless necessary, so... let's go to sleep!

then,

Under the horrified gazes of many genin further away, one genin after another was harvested and fell down like wheat straw in autumn, without any warning, silently collapsing to the ground, either lying on the snow at the top of the stone pillars or falling into the gaps between the stone pillars.

Such a scene,

To be honest, it may lack the bloodshed of the points system, but it has a more eerie and chilling feel to it.

Of course, the genin weren't stupid. Even the genin from the small ninja village knew what 'ninja body illusion' was. This kind of bizarre and unpredictable scene was most likely the power of illusion. However, what was even more terrifying was that they weren't even sure which of those women had cast such a powerful and terrifying illusion.

Including those genin who were hit,

He didn't understand who had knocked him out until he fell into a deep sleep.

······

In a corner of the training ground, there was a small team that didn't rush forward like the others to grab the colorful flags placed in the center of the training ground. Instead, they stopped after entering the training ground and eventually stopped altogether, no longer moving forward.

"Hiss! As expected of Yakumo."

Yamanaka Ino gasped and quickly recounted the terrifying results she had observed to her companions.

"Luckily we're far away."

Nara Shikamaru squatted on the stone pillar, frowning and sighing again.

Competing with monsters like Yakumo and Naruto is really too much pressure. And this time, it's not just Yakumo and Naruto, but also monsters from other villages. For example, along the way, they have already witnessed a team of genin from Kumogakure wipe out all the squads that came close to them.

corpse,

It's not completely cold yet!

While it's true that their decision to stop advancing was Shikamaru's strategy, a significant part of the reason was that they didn't want to confront that monster head-on. In a direct confrontation, although they wouldn't be completely powerless to fight back, there would likely be casualties.

Neither Ino nor Choji wanted anything bad to happen to either of their friends during the Chunin Exams.

His attitude was that he would rather give up the Chunin Exams than see that unspeakable thing happen. He knew that such thinking was very naive. Ninjas live by licking blood off the edge of a knife. Death is not something that can be avoided just by wanting to. There will always be situations that are beyond one's control.

But even so,

Shikamaru's attitude will not waver in the slightest. Let him be naive! He will not allow such a thing to happen within his power.

"Wait a moment, avoid Yakumo and Naruto. Ino, continue observing. Mark all the dangerous guys. We... need to find the weaker ones to pick on," Shikamaru said in a deep voice. After hearing the content of this first round of testing, he was already thinking about what to do.

Their team isn't like Yakumo and Naruto's; they don't have any monster-like players.

Fighting ordinary opponents shouldn't be a problem, but against those monster squads, it would be very difficult and even extremely dangerous. So after careful consideration, he decided not to rush to the front to compete with those monsters; his target was the lower-level squads.

Even though all the ninja villages in the entire ninja world participated in this Chunin Exam, monster teams like Yakumo and Naruto's are still very few and far between, at most no more than ten teams. As long as you avoid these monster teams, you can take the flag from the less powerful teams.

Shikamaru figured that with his, Choji's, and Ino's methods and teamwork, the chances of them taking the flag from those second-tier squads that had been through bloody battles were not low.

of course,