I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

"This kid has a good chance of becoming a Chunin," Ye Lan said after watching the match.

"Huh? Didn't Shikamaru lose?" Ino complained a little when she saw Shikamaru forfeit.

"Didn't the Hokage say that winning or losing wouldn't affect the judges' judgment of the contestants? Shikamaru's judgment is something that other genin don't have. His battle intelligence also adds a lot to his score. This is stronger than Naruto and Neji before. Although his raw strength is a bit lacking, it's enough for him to become a chunin," Ye Lan analyzed.

"No way, Shikamaru would become a Chunin?" Ino still couldn't believe it.

"Everyone's here!" At this moment, Kai led Xiao Li, who was using a cane, to the group.

"Teacher Kai! Xiao Li! You're here too! The first round of the competition is about to end," Xiao Ying said with delight upon seeing the two of them.

"Has Sasuke come on yet? We came here specifically to watch his match!" Guy flashed his gleaming front teeth, after all, Sasuke was Kakashi's student and his lifelong rival.

"No, I don't know why Sasuke hasn't arrived yet, but Naruto defeated Neji. I never expected Naruto to win!" Sakura told them about Naruto's victory.

Naruto actually beat Neji? I never imagined Naruto had grown to this level. Rock Lee was utterly astonished. As Neji's teammate, he knew perfectly well how strong Neji was; he simply couldn't fathom how Naruto could have defeated him.

Just as the venue was filled with noise because Sasuke hadn't arrived yet, a whirlwind swept through the venue, and Sasuke and Kakashi, whom the audience had been waiting for, finally arrived.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino shouted, standing up abruptly from her seat upon seeing Sasuke.

"Just as Brother Ye Lan said, Kakashi-sensei will arrive at the most crucial moment." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Although Ye Lan had explained, she was still worried about whether Sasuke would arrive in time.

"Kakashi seems to have arrived in a hurry. Sasuke's hair has grown quite a bit in just one month." Ye Lan frowned slightly as he looked at Sasuke's slightly longer hair, noting that the hairstyle was somewhat detracting from Sasuke's good looks.

"Hey everyone, sorry for being late," Kakashi said with a smile as he approached Ye Lan and the others.

"Kakashi-sensei always makes people wait; you really need to change that habit," Sakura complained.

"Sorry, sorry. Actually, there's a reason we're late. We've been rushing here as fast as we can."

"What's the reason?" Sakura thought to herself, "Is it another case of getting lost on the road of life?"

"You'll see when you watch the match; Sasuke will definitely surprise you," Kakashi said mysteriously.

Then the final match of the first round began. Sasuke immediately attacked Gaara with lightning-fast taijutsu. Sasuke's speed left Gaara's sand with no time to defend. What was even more surprising was that his taijutsu was exactly the same as the moves that Rock Lee used against Gaara.

"Sasuke has mastered taijutsu to this level in just one month. Kakashi is truly a genius, just like you." Guy was also taken aback. He knew how much hardship Lee had endured and how many years he had trained to reach this speed, while Sasuke had only taken a month. The difference was truly unacceptable.

“No, I admit Sasuke has some talent, but a month of physical training alone is not enough to reach this level.” Ye Lan had trained Sasuke and knew what his talent was like. “Kakashi, you taught Sasuke the method of stimulating the body with lightning chakra, right?”

"As expected of Ye Lan, she easily saw through my training method. That's right, Sasuke is a similar type of ninja to me in some aspects. I taught him to use Lightning Release to stimulate his muscles, which greatly improved his taijutsu." Kakashi didn't expect Ye Lan to analyze Sasuke's training method so quickly.

"So...you taught him that technique too?" Ye Lan could tell that besides the Uchiha clan's Fire Release, Sasuke had a good talent for Lightning Release.

“That’s right, I taught him that technique.” Kakashi and Ye Lan exchanged cryptic remarks.

Ino looked left and right, wondering what they were talking about, and asked curiously, "What kind of technique is it?"

"Chidori." Ye Lan pointed it out directly. "I was right, Kakashi. That's the ninjutsu you made famous after becoming a Jonin. But after you taught it to Sasuke, it will probably take him a while to master it."

"Kakashi, you actually taught Chidori to Sasuke! How could you do something so dangerous!" Kai knew Kakashi best; he was well aware of the dangers of Chidori. He never expected Kakashi's special training to be so dangerous.

"You can't criticize me for this, right, Lee?" Kakashi bent down and said to Lee. Guy taught Lee the Eight Gates, so neither of them should say anything against the other.

Ye Lan did not express an opinion. The advantages and disadvantages of Chidori are obvious. It is not as good as Kakashi's perfected Lightning Blade. Chidori is a high-speed dash attack that cannot change direction midway. It is not easy to hit the target against some ninjas with good reaction. Although the power is good, the way of attacking is too rigid.

"Kakashi-sensei! Stop Sasuke's match right now! Gaara is a ruthless and dangerous killer!" Naruto and Shikamaru, who had already passed the first round, rushed over.

"Naruto, don't worry. With us Jonin here, Sasuke will be fine," Kakashi reassured Naruto.

While everyone was talking, Gaara had already wrapped himself in a sand ball, thus completely blocking Sasuke's attack. After seeing Gaara standing still, Sasuke took the initiative to increase the distance between them, and a ball of bright lightning appeared in his hand as he formed a hand seal.

Chirp chirp chirp—

As if a thousand birds were chirping, Sasuke sprinted forward, leaving marks on the ground destroyed by the Chidori. Finally, he pierced the sand sphere with the Chidori, successfully breaking the sand sphere that had been leaving Sasuke helpless. Sasuke smiled as he felt the Chidori piercing his flesh.

Before he could rejoice for long, a miserable scream came from the sand sphere. Then Sasuke felt a tremendous force grab his hand that was using Chidori. Sasuke screamed and frantically pulled his hand out of the sand sphere.

"Kakashi!" Ye Lan stood up. He had already activated his Sharingan, and his perception just now was definitely that of a tailed beast's chakra.

Kakashi's expression turned serious. He knew that Ye Lan's mission was to keep an eye on the Jinchuriki of Sunagakure, and he also sensed that evil chakra. Even Jonin couldn't usually deal with Tailed Beasts, so the only option was to interrupt the exam.

Just as Kakashi was about to step in and stop the exam, it seemed as if an unusually large number of feathers were falling from the sky. All the spectators who saw the feathers fell asleep. Kakashi immediately realized it was a genjutsu. All the Jonin and Anbu present broke the genjutsu. At this moment, the Sound Ninja, who had transformed into spectators, appeared in the stands. Suddenly, a violent explosion occurred in the Hokage and Kazekage's stands.

When Ye Lan looked again, the Hokage and the Kazekage were already inside a square purple barrier.

"Have the Sound Ninja and the Sand Village teamed up? It seems they came prepared this time." Kakashi picked up a kunai, while Ye Lan and Guy gathered around the unconscious genin.

"Kakashi, it seems Sasuke has gone after Gaara. Genma blocked that Sand Village Jonin. Sasuke doesn't know the danger of Jinchuriki, so he can't handle it. Orochimaru hasn't appeared yet, and I'm afraid he'll target Sasuke later," Ye Lan said to Kakashi.

"What are you planning to do?" Kakashi looked at the busy Sound Ninja in the venue. All the Anbu had just gone to support the Hokage, leaving only the three of them here.

"Cover me up. I'll take Sakura and Naruto and break through to find Sasuke and subdue the Sand Village's Jinchuriki. If the Jinchuriki completely unleashes their power in the village, many people will die," Ye Lan said, offering his opinion.

Kakashi and Guy nodded, knowing the dangers of Jinchuriki. Kakashi told Sakura, who had broken the genjutsu, to wake Naruto so they could deal with some of the Sound Ninja first.

"Orochimaru!" Just as Ye Lan and the others were dealing with the Sound Ninja, they discovered that the person trapped in the barrier with Hiruzen Sarutobi was none other than Orochimaru, who was impersonating the Kazekage. The master and disciple immediately started with a B-rank ninjutsu upon meeting. After being bombarded by several powerful ninjutsu from the Hokage, Orochimaru quickly formed hand seals and finally shouted, "Summoning, Impure World Reincarnation!"

Ye Lan had been observing the fight between Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi. After Orochimaru used the Impure World Reincarnation technique, two coffins emerged, and the first and second Hokage walked out of them. They even greeted Hiruzen Sarutobi, as if they had a sliver of their own consciousness.

There's even a technique that can revive the dead! Ye Lan's eyes gleamed; he had never heard of such a ninjutsu before.

Chapter 22 Breaking the Army

"Shikamaru, you weren't under a genjutsu!" Sakura's voice pulled Ye Lan out of his thoughts. Shikamaru could have seen through the genjutsu with his abilities, but he pretended to be under it because he didn't want the trouble.

"I pretended to faint because I was afraid of encountering this kind of trouble." He said helplessly, knowing he couldn't keep up the act any longer after being woken up by Sakura.

"What exactly happened to Sakura?" Naruto rubbed his eyes, still half asleep.

"Ye Lan!" Guy punched a Sound Ninja into the wall, creating spiderweb-like cracks. With a roar, Guy punched a large hole in the already cracked wall. Ye Lan seized the opportunity to come to the hole and called to Sakura, "Let's go, Sakura, Naruto!"

After saying that, he jumped down from the cave entrance, and Sakura grabbed Naruto and Shikamaru and followed Ye Lan down as well.

"Why are you dragging me along?! Did you even call my name?!" Shikamaru felt that with Yoruichi around, it didn't matter whether he went or not.

"Seeing how listless you are, I'll find you something to do!" The speed of her descent caused Sakura's hair to bounce upwards, and the whooshing sound made Shikamaru unable to hear what Sakura said clearly.

"Summoning Technique, Swift Falcon!" As Ye Lan descended, he formed a hand seal, and a huge falcon appeared beneath his feet. The falcon was light blue all over, with snow-white feathers on its wings, a wisp of black hair in the middle of its head, and sharp eyes that seemed to possess human emotions.

The first time it was summoned, it looked around Konoha and actually spoke in human language: "Ye Lan, is this the village you've always wanted to return to? It doesn't seem very good. The natural abilities here are pitifully few. When will you be able to master what I'm teaching you?"

"This isn't the time for such talk. I need your help, I need your help." This Swift Falcon was the one Ye Lan encountered after being caught in a storm and drifting to the island. Initially, the falcon mistook Ye Lan for an intruder and gave him a good beating, thankfully sparing his life. However, the Swift Falcon, capable of human speech, learned of Ye Lan's ordeal and allowed him to stay on the island. Ye Lan wanted the Swift Falcon to take him back to the mainland, but it refused, citing its inability to leave its ancestral home. Only after Ye Lan's strength increased and he successfully defeated the Swift Falcon did it agree to become his summoning beast.

Naruto and the others landed on the back of the giant falcon, looking at the enormous summoning beast in amazement. Only then did they realize that Ye Lan possessed such a huge summoning beast.

"Its name is Po Jun, but it has a bad temper, so you'd better hurry." Ye Lan said, closing his eyes and forming hand seals. He was going to use the Chakra Sensing Technique to find Sasuke's presence. His mastery of this technique was not as good as that of the Second Hokage back then, but Ye Lan could now sense the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

The village already has quite a few Sand Village ninjas and some giant summoning snakes, but the Hokage's arrangements have successfully blocked the enemy's invasion, so there's no need to worry too much. We've found Sasuke's location! Ye Lan opened his eyes, pointed in a direction, and said, "In the direction of Po Jun, there's one of my clansmen. His chakra is somewhat similar to mine."

"Leave it to me!" Po Jun flapped its wings, instantly reaching its maximum speed. Xiao Ying and the others immediately clung to its back, the strong airflow preventing them from even lifting their heads.

Po Jun streaked across the sky like a bolt of lightning, hurtling towards Sasuke's direction. The Sound Ninja, who were rushing to pursue him, were dumbfounded. Seeing such a ferocious summoning beast, they even doubted whether their invasion could succeed.

Sasuke stared intently at Gaara and the others ahead. Gaara's chakra had just made him very concerned. He never expected that Gaara would instill fear in him. He was determined to defeat Gaara and avenge himself.

"That's enough, you lot!" Sasuke finally caught up with Gaara and the others.

"Kankuro, take Gaara and run! I'll hold him off!" Temari, the older sister, said, picking up her three-star fan.

"Temari, you..."

"Stop talking nonsense and let's go!"

Just then, a whooshing sound came from above their heads, and a huge shadow blocked out the sunlight. Several figures jumped down from the shadow.

"None of you will escape. Just surrender obediently." The shadows passed, and the blinding sunlight reappeared. Only then did Temari see clearly who it was: Uchiha Yoru.

"Even if you are an examiner, you are only about the same age as us. I don't believe you are that strong!" Kankuro said this without having seen Ye Lan's strength.

"Is that so?" Ye Lan's figure flashed, rushing towards Temari and the others like a ghost. His speed was so fast that no one could react.

"Don't underestimate me!" Temari waved her three-star fan to release wind jutsu, but she couldn't find Ye Lan at all.

Where is she? Ye Lan suddenly disappeared from Temari's sight.

"Temari! Behind you!" Kankuro's voice came from behind, and Temari turned around in a panic to see a pair of Sharingan with three tomoe.

Uchiha? This was Temari's last thought when she regained consciousness; she fell asleep as soon as she met the Sharingan's gaze.

“The first one…” Ye Lan murmured, continuing to rush towards Kankuro without stopping.

"Oh no! Use the crow!" Kankuro was about to control the crow to defend himself, but before he could even make a move, he was punched in the abdomen by Ye Lan. His stomach churned instantly, and he collapsed to his knees, powerless.

"Wow, amazing! She's only a little older than us and she's this strong! If I were her, I couldn't defeat her no matter what tricks I used." Shikamaru watched as Ye Lan easily dealt with Temari and the other two, while he himself, having exhausted all his chakra, couldn't help but compare the two.

"Tch, Ye Lan is no match for me!" Sasuke shouted when he saw Ye Lan was about to attack Gaara.

"Hmm? Are you sure you can handle this guy?" Ye Lan turned around, revealing Gaara's current form. Half of his body had completely transformed into a tailed beast, one eye had become the pupil of a tailed beast, saliva was constantly dripping from the corner of his mouth, and he was emitting a beast-like roar.

"What is that?" Sakura had never seen such a monster before and covered her mouth.

That's the monster hiding inside Gaara, just like me. Naruto couldn't help but think of the Nine-Tails inside him.

"Sakura, Shikamaru, tie up these two Sunagakure genin. They're our bargaining chips in negotiations with Sunagakure after the war." Ye Lan pressed his fingers on his wrist guard, summoning a lightning sword in his hand.

"I'll kill you!" Gaara, in his half-tailed beast form, charged at Ye Lan. What Sasuke considered incredibly fast was easily dodged by Ye Lan. Gaara's right hand had transformed into a giant claw, and with a single attack, it destroyed several thick trees.

Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire

A thick fire dragon burst from Ye Lan's mouth. The burning fire dragon seemed capable of destroying everything and struck Gaara, who hadn't even reacted yet. Gaara, standing in the flames, let out a miserable cry. His body accelerated the process of transforming into a tailed beast. Surrounded by tailed beast chakra, Gaara withstood the attack. The flames dissipated, and he was completely unharmed.

"To be hit by such a terrifying fire jutsu and still remain unharmed, what kind of monster is this?" Sasuke wondered, watching Gaara fight Yelan.

Ye Lan continued to attack Gaara with his ninja sword, but Gaara blocked it with his claws. When Ye Lan tried to get up and create distance, he found that the ninja sword had been absorbed into Gaara's tailed beast-transformed right hand and could not be pulled out.

"Is that all you've got? Is that all you're capable of?" Gaara's voice was unrecognizable.

"Hmph~" A slight smile appeared on Ye Lan's lips. Illusion technique, Sharingan.

Ye Lan used her Sharingan to enter Gaara's inner world, where she saw a little boy sitting on the ground crying, who looked like Gaara when he was a child. Then a giant tanuki appeared next to Gaara.

"I'm going out! Kid, let me out! I'm going to go on a killing spree!"

This is the first tail. Ye Lan stepped forward to observe Shukaku.

"Who are you, kid? How did you get in here!" Shukaku shouted in a shrill voice.

"If you don't want to die, you'd better behave yourself!" The three tomoe in Ye Lan's eyes slowly rotated into a cross shape, and his body erupted with dark chakra no less than that of a tailed beast.

Shukaku's movements stopped, his expression became blank, and his eyes changed to look like Yelan's.

Just as Ye Lan was about to leave this inner world, she suddenly felt her clothes being tugged. Turning around, she saw it was little Gaara.