Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Zongxian answered calmly.

"Sure?"

"Both of the previous Hokage were truly intelligent people."

You mean?

“Everything we do is to make the village better. We Uchiha are not like those nameless and baseless trash like Sarutobi and Mitomon. We don’t need to leech off the village. All we need is a relatively open and fair stage. So as long as we do our job properly, we won’t have any trouble.”

Zongxian was genuinely not worried that two dead people could cause any trouble.

Times change,

Konoha today is not the same Konoha it was decades ago.

Even assuming the two previous Hokage were truly dissatisfied with his actions, what could they do? Would they join forces to kill him, the Sixth Hokage? Or would they rally the rebels to overthrow him? Neither option was feasible.

Even if the two previous Hokage weren't at their peak, they combined wouldn't have dared to defeat Sogen with just one hand.

As for rallying a group of elderly men and women... forget it! What good would it do to gather a bunch of old folks?

"Don't worry about such trivial matters. There are people in the Anbu watching the two former Hokage's every move. Instead of worrying about this, you should focus on the Chunin Exams. The second round of exams ends tomorrow at noon, and the third round of preliminary rounds will be held immediately afterward... Are you all ready?"

Uchiha Arashiyama was relieved. He trusted Sogen's judgment. Since Sogen had said so, there must be no problem.

Then, he focused his attention on the Chunin Exams. "The equipment needed for the third round of preliminary rounds has already been tested and will be tested again tomorrow. The backup plan is ready to be used at any time. To be honest, there's not much to prepare for a one-on-one match like this. The venue needs regular maintenance anyway, so there's no need to do anything extra."

"What's the situation over there now? It's been four days already, so the candidates for the qualifiers should be mostly decided by now, right?"

Zongxian took out a crystal ball from the drawer as he spoke.

Because of the interruption from the uninvited guest, and being busy with official duties and other confidential matters these past few days, I haven't had time to pay attention to the Chunin Exams, and I don't know what's going on with my sister and disciples.

But with their skills, they should have passed the second round of testing long ago, right?

“There’s progress. Most of the seeded players have passed the test, but…” Uchiha Arashiyama hesitated for two seconds before continuing, “but the Yakumo team is still entangled with someone.”

"Ok?"

Zongxian raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting. Let me see what Yakumo and the others are up to this time." He reached out and tapped the transparent crystal ball. In the next instant, the figures of three girls—Kurama Yakumo, Uchiha Fujika, and Tsuchigumo Hotaru—appeared on the crystal ball. And the one entangled with the girls was none other than—

"As expected, Gaara from Sunagakure... among the genin from other villages, he's the only one who can give Yakumo a tough time."

Zongxian smiled gently.

Although it was a low-probability event, the situation was still within his control.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Training Ground No. 44, also known as the 'Death Forest'.

The blizzard subsided a few days ago, and the fierce competition that had been hampered by the snowstorm at the training grounds resumed. Genin from various countries and villages in the ninja world fought selflessly here, carrying their own desires and the honor of their villages.

"You bastard with dark circles under your eyes, how long are you going to keep bothering me?"

The wisteria flower was so angry it jumped up and down.

Two days ago, the Yakumo Squad encountered this maverick Sunagakure Squad while hunting another hunting party. Clearly, they were both after the same prey. In this Death Forest, there are no rules about who comes first or last; fists are the only rule.

The conflict thus naturally erupted.

However, to the surprise of Fujika and Hotaru,

Despite Yakumo's all-out effort, they were unable to quickly defeat the opposing Sand Ninja team. Instead, they were locked in a stalemate where neither side could gain the upper hand. This stalemate lasted for two days, and with the final deadline approaching at noon the next day, the outcome remained undecided.

"You little brat from the Uchiha clan, you really don't learn your lesson at all!"

Accompanied by the woman's cold shout,

A whistling wind blade, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud, hurtled towards them.

Temari went all out. At first, she was worried that if she hurt the Uchiha girls, it might bring unnecessary trouble to the village. But after suffering a loss at Fujika's hands and almost having her head cut off, she dared not think about things outside of the battle anymore.

This is an opponent she should take seriously and give it her all.

To be distracted in the face of such an opponent is to be asking for a beating.

of course,

This principle can also be applied in reverse.

She seized the opportunity when Fujika was distracted by the battlefield nearby, and thus, she naturally used the most powerful Wind Release technique she currently knew—[Wind Release: Vacuum Wave]. She waved her three-star fan, and the wind blades, which resembled a weasel, drew irregular trajectories in the air, as if to catch Fujika off guard.

"Aren't you the same? The blonde older sister? Trying to use Wind Release in front of the Uchiha? Didn't the Ninja Academy teach you the principle that fire counters wind?"

The vine flower reacts extremely quickly.

While they were bickering, the small katana in her hand was already burning with intense flames, and two jet-black tomoe swirled in her scarlet eyes. With these eyes, she predicted the attack point of the elusive wind blade and slashed directly at it.

This is—

【Uchiha Style: Great Fire Sword】

As a signature technique that Sogen often used and loved to employ, and having traversed countless corpses of Mist Ninja to establish the formidable reputation of the [Flame Demon], Fujika's sword technique, although far from Sogen's level, was still at least somewhat at the beginner level, and when used, it had a certain amount of style and spirit.

The flowing fire shattered the wind blade.

And with that momentum, the fierce wind surged and rushed back towards Temari. The principle of fire overcoming wind is not to be underestimated. Temari's vacuum wave not only did not hinder Fujika in any way, but was instead swallowed up by Fujika's great fire sword, which boosted its own power.

The scorching flames rushed in.

Temari couldn't help but grind her teeth.

This little Uchiha girl seems to have gotten stronger again. She was clearly at a disadvantage when she first faced her, but as expected of the Uchiha clan, breaking through in battle seems to be a talent of this clan. Those two-tomoe Sharingan were upgraded during the battle with her.

up to now,

Even their own attempts to launch a surprise attack when they had the chance failed to succeed.

"Wind Release: Kamaitachi Technique!"

Temari, caught off guard by the counterattack, had no choice but to unleash her most powerful move, wielding her Three Star Fan to create a massive storm. She skillfully guided the collision of the air currents, creating a fleeting vacuum, but that instant was enough to extinguish the counterattack of the Blazing Sword.

It was another round of evenly matched contest.

Fujika, carrying a small katana, was slightly out of breath and didn't rush to pursue. Temari, leaning on her three-star fan, also remained still. In the dead of winter, beads of sweat could be seen sliding down her temples, making it clear to anyone that they were both exhausted, too tired to even kill their opponent.

They are not those inexhaustible monsters; chakra depletion is an unavoidable problem for them.

After all, there's a limit to how much chakra these soldier pills can extract.

Since their comrades weren't showing any obvious signs of weakness in the battle, neither of them dared to recklessly consume soldier pills to stimulate their chakra. If consuming the pills could lead to a swift victory, they might try a desperate gamble, quickly defeating their opponent before assisting their teammates, continuously building momentum until they achieved a decisive victory…

But this is the ideal situation.

In fact.

The most likely scenario is that even after taking the "soldier's ration pills," you won't be able to quickly defeat your opponent. When the side effects of the pills kick in, you'll become a burden that drags down your teammates.

To avoid this situation,

These past two days, they haven't taken any soldier pills. Instead, they've been taking short breaks like this, waiting for their strength to recover slightly before engaging in another evenly matched battle... The reason for doing this isn't just because they're afraid of the side effects of taking soldier pills.

Another, more important reason is that the final outcome between the two teams cannot be determined by accumulating winning momentum.

Instead, it depends on which team's leader is stronger.

In the end, the winner takes all, and the loser gets nothing.

On the other side, Hotaru and Kankuro, who were also running low on chakra, stopped to rest and recover earlier than the others. The battles between Fujika and Temari, and Hotaru and Kankuro, were more about keeping an eye on each other and preventing their opponents from interfering with or hindering Yakumo (Gaara)!

Meanwhile, on the battlefield a little further away, Yakumo and Gaara continued their fierce battle that had lasted for two days and two nights.

Unlike wisteria,

Yakumo was born with a vast reserve of spiritual energy that amazed Sogen.

Gaara is the Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast in Sunagakure.

These two are the kind of 'monsters' that inspire envy and jealousy, who don't know the meaning of conserving chakra. While Fujika and Temari are taking breaks from fighting, the battle between Yakumo and Gaara has been going on for the past two days, and there is no sign of it stopping or ending anytime soon.

Yakumo stood on the shattered land.

He stared at Gaara across from him.

Trying again and again to pull the other person into the illusion.

However, the previously invincible control of the five senses failed Gaara, the extremely unstable Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast. It was not difficult at all to pull Gaara, who had not slept for who knows how long, into the illusion. At the very first moment of the battle, Gaara's consciousness was pulled into a state of slumber.

The problem is,

One of them popped out.

Because Gaara did not intentionally fall into a state of slumber, the One-Tailed Beast was unable to gain full control of Gaara's body. However, the One-Tailed Beast, which could not fully transform into a tailed beast, was already extremely difficult to deal with, making it impossible for Yakumo to achieve a quick victory.

It should be noted that,

The bloodline limit of five senses control is indeed comparable to the genjutsu of the Sharingan.

The problem is that the Sharingan's power originates from the Divine Tree and is inextricably linked to the Tailed Beasts, thus enabling it to manipulate and control them. The Kurama clan, however, lacks this innate hardware configuration for their five senses, making it impossible for them to command the Tailed Beasts like the Uchiha clan.

No matter how many times Yakumo tries, he can only pull the Eight-Tailed Beast into the illusion for a second or two at most, and then the Eight-Tailed Beast will break free.

Another frustrating thing is that...

One or two seconds is not enough time to break through the sand that spontaneously protects Gaara. Even if the technique of "Transformation into Reality" is used, it cannot directly shatter and kill Gaara. The attack, which transforms from illusion to reality, still has to pass through the sand's defense to harm Gaara.

Just like that, inexplicably

This resulted in a stalemate between Yakumo and the One-Tailed Beast, who could only unleash a portion of its power.

However, Yakumo couldn't just abandon the matter. If she chose to withdraw, it would mean the One-Tail would go berserk. Without her suppression, the One-Tail could fully transform into a tailed beast in a short time, and the Chunin Exams might have to be suspended. In Yakumo's view, this was the Chunin Exams that her master had decided to hold, and she would not allow such an unpleasant accident to happen during this Chunin Exam.

If you don't know, that's fine.

But since we've already intervened, we might as well wait and see.

Anyway—

"The scrolls have all been collected. I just need to get to the central tower before noon tomorrow. Time... there's still time," Yakumo muttered to himself.

In her 'vision', a mighty gale, dazzling lightning, raging fire, and falling meteors rushed towards Gaara, but none of these attacks could penetrate the layer of sand defense in those brief one or two seconds.

Once Yiwei struggles to wake up from the illusion, the almost endless sand created by pulverizing the soil will immediately surge up from the ground, sweeping away the attack that almost succeeded, and launching wave after wave of fierce counterattacks.

Large tracts of trees around Yakumo were broken.