Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

He made a quick decision in his mind.

"Desert Wave".

Gaara manipulated the sand to shrink back to his side, condensing into an airtight sphere, hiding himself inside. He observed the situation outside the sphere through a 'third eye' formed from the condensed sand, thus making himself invincible.

invincible position,

That's not an exaggeration.

This sphere, without any gaps or loopholes, possessed astonishing defensive power. Hozuki Suigetsu's all-out Water Gun Technique had no effect other than leaving a small crater in the sphere. Facing this tortoise shell... Hozuki Suigetsu tried several different methods, but none of them could break through this sphere.

in contrast,

Now that Gaara is inside the sphere, he no longer needs to worry about his safety and can focus on controlling the quicksand to launch a counterattack against Hozuki Suigetsu. Even though the sand has become heavier after being wet by the water, making it more chakra-intensive to control and reducing his movement speed, he only needs to unleash a wide-range offensive ninjutsu.

quicksand,

Like surging waves crashing in all directions, Hozuki Suigetsu and his water clones were completely destroyed. Although Hozuki Suigetsu, who had mastered the Water Transformation Technique, was not afraid of such physical attacks, destroying the water clones would consume chakra, just as using the Water Transformation Technique would also consume chakra.

From the moment Gaara hid inside the sphere

The situation on the field suddenly reversed. Hozuki Suigetsu, who had originally sent Gaara flying, was now on the defensive. Even though Gaara couldn't defeat him in a few moves, his body was repeatedly shattered, and he turned into water to dodge attacks. It was clear that he was at a disadvantage.

"This is······"

Mei Terumi frowned.

Behind her, Hozuki Mangetsu, who was acting as her guard, couldn't help but widen his eyes.

On the surface, Gaara held the upper hand for a second, but the situation immediately reversed when Gaara hid inside the sphere. Hozuki Suigetsu was now on the defensive and taking the hits. During this time, Terumi Mei also realized the true meaning of Chakrado's words.

It needs to be understood that

Unless they are descendants of the Senju and Uzumaki clans, the amount of chakra of ninjas from other clans in the ninja world can be calculated using common sense. It is not surprising that a young man like Gaara, who inherited the Magnet Release bloodline limit, has chakra far exceeding that of ordinary peers.

But Gaara is, after all, still just a teenager whose body is still developing.

His physical energy had not yet reached its peak, and even with a lot of chakra, there should be a limit. However, in this match, Hozuki Suigetsu was already panting heavily, but Gaara, hiding in the sphere... could not see the specific situation, but just by looking at the quicksand that was not scattered, one could tell that his condition was definitely very good.

So much chakra,

Perhaps it can already rival monsters like the Thousand Hands or the Uzumaki.

"Pity."

Zongxian sighed with regret at this moment.

"It's a real shame."

The one who echoed Zongxuan was none other than the Fourth Raikage, A.

"The Hozuki kid is quite strong. If he had encountered any other opponent... he probably would have won long ago. But he happened to encounter the One-Tailed Jinchuriki of Sunagakure. Fighting a Jinchuriki in a war of attrition is a losing battle unless it's Senju or Uzumaki."

"The Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast?"

Terumi Mei lost her voice.

He stared at the sphere of sand for a few seconds, then felt so annoyed he wanted to punch himself. How could he be so blind? It was truly shameful!

"Kage, that's quite a move! Sending a Jinchuriki to the Chunin Exams, are you planning... something big?"

Onoki said with malice.

After realizing that Gaara was the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, the anger that had been directed at Aokiji and the other genin for their incompetence diminished considerably. Encountering a Jinchuriki was something that could not be helped. One could curse the Sand Village for being a shameless bunch who dragged the Jinchuriki out to participate in the Chunin Exams, or one could curse Konoha for secretly sabotaging the village and deliberately using the Sand Village's Jinchuriki to eliminate the Iwagakure genin.

However, it's best not to criticize Qingjin and the others for being incompetent anymore.

Even if they are young Jinchūriki, they are still Jinchūriki! They are not people like Aokiji who can deal with them.

It can only be said that Konoha and Sand Village are too shameless!

Therefore,

Onoki started trying to sow discord between the Kazekage and the Kazekage.

I tried to sow discord between Konoha and Sunagakure, even if the chances of success were slim, it wouldn't stop me from making those two annoying young people, the Kazekage and the Hokage, miserable.

Just

"Oh? Lord Kazekage, what are you planning to do by having the One-Tailed Jinchuriki participate in the Chunin Exams?" Sogen suddenly turned his head and stared at Rasa. His attitude... it wasn't exactly accusatory, but it still gave off a sense of rudeness.

Onoki raised his eyebrows.

They looked at Zongxian and Luosha with surprise and uncertainty.

He hadn't expected the Sixth Hokage to take the bait so easily; it was almost as if he couldn't wait.

"...It's just to give my Sand Village some exposure. Isn't that the purpose of the Joint Chunin Exams?"

Luo Sha felt increasingly uneasy, but his face remained unchanged, showing no sign of wavering.

That's true.

Zongxian nodded, acknowledging Rasa's explanation, but the next second, he changed the subject, "However, as the Hokage... I cannot remain indifferent to this. Kazekage, I apologize, but in order to ensure the smooth conduct of the upcoming Chunin Exams, the One-Tailed Jinchuriki... must be temporarily detained by us."

"This is impossible!"

Luo Sha was filled with shock and anger.

A deep rage finally surfaced on that expressionless face, which had been as still as a stone statue. "Gaara will never be handed over to you. The One-Tail belongs to my Sand Village. If Konoha dares to lay a hand on the One-Tail, we will fight the Fourth Shinobi World War without hesitation."

He wasn't stupid; by this point, he already understood that Konoha's goal might be the One-Tailed Beast inside Gaara.

At this time,

Reasoning with them is pointless.

All he could do was demonstrate his resolve, prepare to take action, and try to rally the other three Kage to fight against Konoha's atrocities.

"Tsuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage, are you just going to stand by and watch Konoha forcibly take away the One-Tailed Beast from our village? Hokage, did you hold this Chunin Exams just to take advantage of the Five Kage gathering to plunder the tailed beasts from each village?"

[Chapter 466 Swords and Shadows Among Five Figures]

Will they start fighting in the next second?

This question wasn't just lingering in one person's mind; it had appeared in the minds of many, especially Maki and Yura standing behind the Kazekage, their muscles tense, ready to fight at any moment. Maki's eyes darted around, pondering a way to escort the Kazekage to safety...

However, looking at it from the left and right,

There's no way to escape!

"The Fourth Shinobi World War?" Zongxian said softly, and couldn't help but laugh out loud. "That's too exaggerated, Kazekage. Do you think the Shinobi World War is something you can get just by wanting it? You're too arrogant, aren't you? When did the First Shinobi World War start? It started after the First Hokage died. [1] So why didn't the Shinobi World War start when he was alive?"

Killing intent

They locked onto Luo Sha firmly.

What horrified the Fourth Kazekage was not the overwhelming killing intent that rushed towards him like a tsunami without affecting the third person, but the fact that he found himself unable to move. His body was stiff and motionless; he couldn't even lift a finger.

Is it an illusion?

But he was very careful and didn't look into the Sixth Hokage's eyes at all. Moreover, the Sixth Hokage's consciousness was clear and his senses were not confused, so it didn't seem like he was under a genjutsu.

"Are you guessing if this is an illusion?"

The sound echoed in his mind, but his ears heard nothing.

This filled Luo Sha with immense fear.

"How should I put it? This is the most primitive form of illusion. I simply relied on my superior mental power to suppress your will, making you unable to control your body, and directly making my appearance in your consciousness... This is not a clever method; rather, it is purely about overwhelming someone with force, and there is absolutely no skill involved."

"Next time, just keep your distance. Don't get so close and you won't be so easily suppressed. Yes, don't worry about me killing you here. I have no interest in taking down a Kazekage. Whether you like it or not, the One-Tailed Beast is not leaving Konoha. If you're not satisfied, you can go back to Sunagakure and see if you can trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War!"

"Alright, our brief heart-to-heart talk is coming to an end. I hope that Lord Kazekage will not do anything impolite. I will not allow anyone to ruin the Chunin Exams that I am holding. Please abide by my rules, otherwise... you will lose even the chance to try to start the Fourth Shinobi World War here."

"Feng Ying?"

Seeing that Luo Sha was standing there motionless,

Sensing something was amiss, Onoki couldn't help but call out. At the same time, the old man stared warily at Sogen's hands on the armrest. Rasa's words earlier weren't entirely useless; Onoki had clearly taken a liking to them.

Ai also had a knot between her brows.

Jinchuriki are their lifeblood, or at least one of their most important assets. Despite their repeated attempts to abduct the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, they will not let anyone who dares to touch their Jinchuriki get away with it.

only--

They underestimated Zong Xian after all.

Completely unaware of the battle between Zongxian and Luosha... cough cough, that's not quite accurate. It should be said that Zongxian launched a one-sided, overwhelming attack on Luosha. Luosha didn't even have the slightest chance to fight back and was easily crushed by Zongxian.

"I'm fine."

Rasa blinked, snapping out of his daze. He waved his hand lightly and said, "Maki, Yura, stand properly. This is Konoha. Don't embarrass our Sunagakure."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Maki and Yura exchanged a glance. Although they found it strange that the Kazekage was so easy to talk to today, even non-professional sensory ninjas could sense that Rasa's chakra circulation had not been broken at such close range, which meant that Rasa should not have been affected by genjutsu.

Of course, such a judgment is somewhat arbitrary.

after all,

The Uchiha clan's genjutsu is not the same as genjutsu in the ordinary sense. Sometimes you can't use common sense to speculate. What if the Uchiha clan has extremely powerful eye techniques that can silently invade other people's consciousness... But such considerations are meaningless to them.

If they think that way, they might even start to doubt whether they are really themselves.

Therefore,

Upon hearing Rasa's order, Maki and Yura ceased their preparations and stood still like statues.

"Naruto".

Onoki's old face was serious. "The One-Tail belongs to Sunagakure. It's true that it's not appropriate for Rasa to let the One-Tail Jinchuriki participate in the Chunin Exams, but... it's also not appropriate to leave the One-Tail in Konoha. The distribution of the Tailed Beasts was decided by the First Hokage."

Despite the old man's previous anger at Sunagakure for their lack of martial ethics, their use of Jinchuriki to crush the Iwagakure ninja, and their failure to even reach the finals with a single genin, and his attempts to sow discord between Konoha and Sunagakure, he immediately and decisively sided with Sunagakure when it came to the extremely sensitive issue of the ownership of the Tailed Beasts.

"Indeed, the One-Tailed Beast is..."

"Lord Raikage, the Tsuchikage, the Kazekage, and the Mizukage can all say that, but please refrain from saying it. Do you think Konoha has forgotten that the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was almost kidnapped?"

Zongxian interrupted Ai's speech.

His gaze then fell on Onoki and Ai to his right.