Chapter 126: Terrible Lost one after another...

Karin listened and nodded seriously. If the opponent can simply use a Tailed Beast's power, that's no big deal.

But if the opponent is a ninja who has insanely farmed missions to the point of having such severe dark circles, then he must be taken seriously.

Other people might not understand how much a ninja can improve by furiously completing missions, but she has been at Senshi's side all along and knows better than anyone how much progress that kind of training brings!

When a very serious look appeared on Karin's adorable little face, Senshi, who was watching through Mantra, nearly burst out laughing.

All he could say was that Raimon Hayate—who combined the worst personality traits of the Warring States' twin legends, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara—was really something else.

That wild analysis just now totally fooled Karin.

In truth, Gaara's dark circles are obviously because the Tailed Beast in his heart went out of control, so he's afraid to sleep.

Still, Senshi was a bit curious about how Karin, once she got serious, would fare in a fight with Gaara.

Once Karin learned that Gaara might be a powerful ninja who had grown quickly by "farming missions," she "abandoned sportsmanship" and gave the kill order, preparing to crush Gaara!

At the same time, her hidden Susanoo immediately began to change.

On the pink Susanoo skeleton, flesh appeared in an instant; then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, two arms emerged.

That wasn't all—armor appeared on the giant's body, and a great sword materialized in its hand!

Obviously, Karin was taking Gaara very seriously and went straight to the fourth stage of Susanoo!

When a pink "mecha" appeared in the Forest of Death, the powerful ninja spectators scattered throughout the forest—as well as the Five Kage—were all astonished.

Especially the many ninja from Konoha, who were momentarily stunned.

They all recognized it as the unique jutsu of the once-prestigious Uchiha Clan of Konoha.

Nowadays, even though Konoha still has one surviving Uchiha, he can't possibly pull off a technique of this caliber.

Gaara was rather surprised by Karin's jutsu.

He had only encountered genin who started a fight by throwing shuriken at him, so how did it suddenly escalate to "firing up a giant mecha" once he got to Karin?

Not only that—he was now getting an intense sense of danger from her.

Hurriedly, he tossed aside the gourd tool on his back.

Meanwhile, not far away, "Killer Queen" pressed the second knuckle of her right-hand index finger, detonating an explosive!

A moment earlier, when Karin activated the fourth stage of Susanoo, Killer Queen had snuck behind Gaara and touched his gourd tool, turning it into a bomb.

So, when Gaara threw his gourd tool, Temari and Kankuro were confused—did Gaara learn some new technique?

Boom!

The next moment, the gourd tool Gaara had tossed exploded violently!

Temari and Kankuro were utterly bewildered. Did their little brother really learn some new jutsu?

But they quickly dismissed that idea because Gaara, while carefully surveying the area, said icily: "That kid has a very unusual jutsu that seems to be able to detonate ninja tools. Step back. I may have to release that monster."

Both Temari and Kankuro were shocked.

By "that monster," Gaara obviously meant the One-Tailed Shukaku of Sunagakure.

They had never thought that even Gaara would be forced to bring out the Tailed Beast when facing Karin.

After some thought, Temari still gave Gaara a warning: "That person is a very dangerous ninja. Try not to kill Uzumaki Karin, or it could cause trouble."

Although some distance separated them, Karin had Mind's Eye of the Kagura and heard Temari's conversation with Gaara.

Karin: (O_O)???

Hearing Temari urge Gaara not to kill her made Karin suck in a breath of cold air.

The adorable look on her little face grew even more serious. Her bright eyes also revealed a trace of fear.

As expected of Gaara—just like Senshi, he gained power so quickly through mission farming that he's as terrifying as "sith" himself!

If that's the case, she can't afford to hold back.

Seated in the brow of Susanoo, Karin quietly put away Susanoo's sword and then used its trump card—Kamui Shuriken!

Opposite her, Gaara wasted no time. He directly used his "Fake Sleep Technique" to awaken the One-Tailed Shukaku.

The other side had already summoned a "mecha" to fight him; of course, he wouldn't just use normal ninjutsu.

Just a few minutes earlier, Shukaku, Matatabi (the Two-Tails), and Saiken (the Six-Tails) were having a meeting in the Tailed Beast space.

Shukaku boasted loudly, "Number Two, Number Six, you two losers—I've run into that red-haired bastard you told me about!"

Hearing this, Matatabi giggled. "Shukaku, which red-haired bastard did you meet? The big one, or the little one?"

Shukaku replied without hesitation, "Right now I'm dealing with the little red-haired bastard. But don't worry—once your lord Shukaku has that brat crying for his mom, I'll go take care of the bigger one!"

Saiken, lifting a paw in salute, said, "Shukaku, I, Saiken, salute you as the bravest!"

Too lazy to listen to the flattery, Shukaku said, "Enough nonsense. I'm going out to handle that little red-haired brat!"

Shukaku's roar reverberated in the Tailed Beast space!

Then came a rumbling crash.

In the Forest of Death, a giant Tailed Beast with a sandy-brown body resembling a tanuki suddenly appeared. Its size was like a small mountain; even the tall forest trees looked tiny next to it.

Shukaku glanced at the fourth-stage Susanoo across from it, totally unconcerned. He was about to fire a Wind Bullet to warm up.

He had no clue how serious the situation really was, because Kamui Shuriken could slice off even the arm of a Tailed Beast-transformed Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Faced off in the Forest of Death, the massive Tailed Beast and the pink Susanoo immediately drew everyone's attention.

All around, people were astonished that such a high-level clash was happening so soon after the Forest of Death trial began.

Plus, is this really the kind of battle that should occur among genin? When did genin become this strong?

Back in the forest, Shukaku took one look at Karin in the brow of the Susanoo giant, sneered, and opened his jaws wide.

A white Wind Bullet rapidly gathered in its mouth. At first, it was only the size of a washbasin, but within moments, it swelled to dozens of times that size.

Inside the pink Susanoo, Karin had no idea what was going on with Gaara using the "Fake Sleep Technique."

Still, she had already brought out Susanoo's special weapons and complementary ninjutsu.

Under her control, the Susanoo giant crossed its arms in front of its body. Each hand wielded a shuriken with a distinctive shape.

In the next instant, both Shukaku and Karin attacked almost simultaneously—

"Wind Bullet!"

"Kamui Shuriken!"

A number of powerful ninja from various factions were watching, so they all witnessed a jaw-dropping sight.

Whish!

The two Kamui Shuriken hurled by the Susanoo giant shot through the air, colliding head-on with Shukaku's Wind Bullet.

In a flash, the Wind Bullet was shredded like rotting wood.

Then, without losing momentum, the shuriken slashed right across Shukaku's colossal body.

"ROOAAAR—!"

Shukaku bellowed in agony, his roar shaking the heavens and the earth.

Wherever the Kamui Shuriken swept through, the part of his chakra body they touched vanished completely.

After just that one exchange, Shukaku looked up toward Karin in the Susanoo's brow.

Eye contact was made, and Shukaku recognized at once that he was up against someone he couldn't beat.

"Aroo! Aroo!"

Even as he howled, Karin flung two more Kamui Shuriken.

They terrified Shukaku. His prized Wind Bullet was worthless against them, and his Tailed Beast form offered no protection.

He wasn't weak; he was just totally countered by her. There was no way to keep fighting that red-haired menace.

Shukaku turned and ran without hesitation.

Karin blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected the Tailed Beast to flee after such a brief exchange.

She didn't waste time, though. She summoned the giant sword again and took off after Shukaku.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: (O_O)???

Rasa: (O_O)???

Mei Terumi: (O_O)???

Onoki: (O_O)???

A: (O_O)???

Even the Five Kage watching from different parts of the Forest of Death froze in shock.

They could understand if Karin could use Susanoo to stand her ground against a Tailed Beast and its jinchūriki.

But for her to chase after them and lay into them with Susanoo was downright hair-raising.

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, looked extremely grim at that moment.

Sunagakure and Konohagakure had co-hosted this Chūnin Exam hoping to show off, not to be humiliated.

Yet here was their Tailed Beast and jinchūriki being chased and beaten by an Ame ninja. What a disgrace!

Meanwhile, Karin pursued Shukaku a short distance, then stopped.

She grabbed an enormous boulder, moved it in front of Killer Queen for a touch, and then hurled it toward Shukaku.

Because Killer Queen's touch had turned it into a bomb, it exploded spectacularly once it landed.

Boom!

A thunderous blast echoed, and a massive fireball shot into the sky.

Shukaku howled in pain once again.

That fight with Karin had finally shut him down.

All over the Forest of Death, elite ninja who saw this happen were left speechless.

The Tailed Beast and its jinchūriki from Sunagakure got beaten up by a ninja from Ame…!

At the same time, in the Tailed Beast space, Matatabi and Saiken were waiting for Shukaku to reappear.

After a bit, Matatabi couldn't help asking, "Number Six, it's about time, isn't it? Why isn't Shukaku back yet?"

Saiken thought for a moment. "I don't know if that little red-haired brat can handle Shukaku, but if Shukaku beat that brat, he'd definitely provoke the bigger one to show up. Maybe Shukaku's in the middle of that right now."

Matatabi nodded. "I guess it won't be long before he comes to hang out with us."

"Hahahaha!" Matatabi's words made Saiken laugh wildly, filling the Tailed Beast space with a cheerful atmosphere.

Soon, Saiken started calling for him: "Hey, Shukaku! Didn't you say you'd make the little red-haired brat scream for mercy? Why so quiet now?"

Matatabi joined in. "Shukaku, come on out. Don't pretend you can't hear us!"

Shukaku, of course, could hear them perfectly, but he refused to show up.

He had talked a big game but got smacked down by Karin, losing all dignity.

It wasn't that he was weak; it was simply a terrible matchup!

Back in the Forest of Death, the rumblings of Karin's fight with Shukaku drew attention from many ninjas in the exam—including Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke gazed toward the area where Karin's Susanoo had vanished, feeling a bit uneasy.

He now knew that if his Three Tomoe Sharingan advanced further, he would also be able to wield power like that.

Recalling how his Single Tomoe Sharingan had reached Three Tomoe, Sasuke realized that evolving a Sharingan by normal means was difficult. But if he completed enough missions, maybe he could earn a reward from Senshi that would let him evolve his Sharingan again!

With this in mind, Sasuke was eager for the Chūnin Exam to end so he could go back to doing missions.

Right at that moment, however, a ninja Sasuke recognized from the village appeared nearby—a bushy-browed, bowl-cut fellow in a green leotard.

This was Rock Lee.

After learning that Naruto and Sasuke were prodigies who'd graduated early from the Ninja Academy, Lee had been longing to challenge them.

He couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu; all he had was taijutsu and effort.

But he wanted to prove that with enough dedication, even someone who can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu can surpass geniuses like Naruto and Sasuke.

Originally, he planned to challenge them before the written exam.

However, Naruto and Sasuke arrived almost at the last second to the test venue (because they were busy "farming"), so Lee never got the chance to fight them.

Once inside the Forest of Death, he'd been searching everywhere for them. At last, persistence paid off—he found one of the two geniuses.

Seeing Sasuke, Lee couldn't stop himself from asking, "Sasuke, why did you and Naruto wait until right before the written exam started to appear in the testing hall?"

Sasuke replied carelessly, "What does that have to do with you?"

Lee answered earnestly, "It has everything to do with me! I want to defeat you two geniuses who graduated early, to prove that I'm the strongest genin in Konoha!"

When Lee finished, Sasuke just sneered, "How boring."

He felt that certain aspects of Lee were similar to Naruto—both had a sense of self-importance and thought they could beat him.

At the moment, Sasuke didn't want to waste time fighting Lee. He intended to leave and meet up with Naruto.

"Wait, aren't you brave enough to accept my challenge?" Lee asked in disappointment, seeing that Sasuke was leaving.

Sasuke looked away and said, "I have other things to do. I'm not interested in a pointless duel."

But Lee wasn't about to let Sasuke leave.

Whoosh!

In a flash, he used his excellent taijutsu skills to launch an attack on Sasuke.

He was fast, but Sasuke was no slouch either.

When Lee's punch came flying at him, Sasuke used the Body Flicker Technique to evade and quickly put some distance between them.

Sasuke eyed him coldly. Lee's initial strike had been swift, catching him by surprise.

"This guy is so fast. Among my peers in Konoha, besides Naruto, he's the quickest I've seen," Sasuke mused.

Lee, having tested Sasuke's skills, continued, "As I said, I want to challenge you and Naruto."

Sasuke just scoffed. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother doing something so masochistic."

Lee bristled. "Then why don't you defeat me first before talking big?"

As soon as he said this, Lee rushed in even faster.

Though Sasuke was impressed by Lee's speed, he wasn't overly concerned.

Thanks to Senshi's Wood Clone training, Sasuke had also mastered "nintaijutsu." Lee couldn't possibly be faster than Lightning Release–enhanced taijutsu.

Bzzzt… bzzzt…!

Lightning crackled around Sasuke, arcing across his body in anticipation.

"Leaf Whirlwind!"

As Lee dashed in, he delivered a fierce kick aimed at Sasuke's head.

Whoosh!

In a flash of lightning, Sasuke vanished from Lee's sight.

"He's gone?" Lee cried. Sasuke's speed amazed him, but he responded quickly, preparing another strike.

"Leaf Gale!"

He ducked low, trying to evade Sasuke's counterattack while also sweeping Sasuke's legs to break his balance—then he could use Leaf Rising Wind to kick Sasuke high into the air.

But halfway through his move, Lee took a sudden blow.

Sasuke kicked him with lightning-backed force, sending him flying sideways.

Lee flipped backward several times, dispersing the impact and opening the gap between them again.

Now watching Sasuke with a serious expression, Lee thought, "As expected of a genius who graduated early. He's incredibly fast and has amazing combat instincts! But that's what makes this a real expression of youth!"

Revved up, Lee considered getting more serious.

Then he recalled what Guy-sensei had told him: he must not use the Eight Gates lightly.

That left him conflicted. If he opened the Eight Gates, he was sure he could defeat Sasuke.

But this was still just the preliminary, not to mention the final round. He should keep his trump card under wraps for now, just as Guy-sensei advised.

So Lee said to Sasuke, "You really are strong. If I don't give it my all, I won't be able to beat you. But I'll save that for the finals! In the end, I'm going to prove that with enough hard work, anyone can surpass a genius!"

With that, he vanished in an instant, leaving Sasuke behind.

Watching Lee's departure, Sasuke muttered, "What a waste of time."

He remembered that Senshi always told him that hiding your strength is the surest route to victory.

In that brief fight, he hadn't used plenty of techniques that would've shut down Lee's "hard work beats genius" delusions on the spot.

"Sasuke, what're you doing over here?"

Naruto's voice rang out as he and Kabuto arrived.

Seeing them, Sasuke replied casually, "I just had a pointless little fight."

Surprised, Naruto asked, "So you ran into somebody?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah—someone we've seen around the village before. That ninja with the green training suit."

Recognizing the person, Kabuto felt a bit uneasy. Naruto and Sasuke never did things by the book, and the Forest of Death is normally a trial that hinges on teamwork.

Yet these two had gone off on their own immediately, and Sasuke had even gotten into a fight.

Confirming Sasuke was okay, Kabuto said, "All right. From now on, no more operating alone."

He turned to Naruto. "Hand me the Earth Scroll you grabbed earlier, and we can head straight out of the Forest of Death."

Naruto nodded, but as he reached for it, he was stunned to find the Earth Scroll missing.

Kabuto wasn't worried at first, but after seeing Naruto rummage around and come up empty-handed, he was struck dumb.

They had snagged that Earth Scroll just ten minutes ago. How in the world had Naruto lost it so fast?!

Naruto fumbled a bit more, then scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Heh, Kabuto-senpai… I can't find it. I must've dropped it on our way here. Let's head back and look for it."

Kabuto felt dizzy. Naruto had truly outdone himself this time—he'd lost the scroll in under ten minutes?!

He was grateful he'd taken the team's Heaven Scroll from Naruto right at the start. Otherwise, Naruto might have lost that, too, and they would have had to scramble to steal another pair of scrolls.

With no choice, they retraced their steps and tried to find Naruto's lost Earth Scroll.

But it was nowhere to be found.

They did, however, run into Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

Gaara had been roughed up by Karin not long ago and was still injured, which left him in a horrible mood. When he saw Naruto's group, his voice was icy: "Hand over your scrolls if you don't want to die."

Naruto shot back, "It's you who should be handing over your scrolls!"

Naruto and Sasuke didn't know much about Gaara's background, but Kabuto knew exactly who he was dealing with.

Realizing they had stumbled into the Sand's jinchūriki, Kabuto quickly tried to pull them away: "He's a top-tier ninja from Sunagakure. We shouldn't try to fight them head-on. Let's retreat and find an easier team to rob."

It was sensible advice, but Naruto and Sasuke weren't going to listen.

Gaara also wasted no time—he attacked immediately.

"Sand Binding Coffin!"

With a wave of Gaara's hand, waves of sand swirled toward Naruto's team, hoping to entomb them.

But all three avoided it with ease, leaving Gaara's jutsu grasping at air.

Seeing Gaara go on the offensive, Naruto and Sasuke fought back without hesitation.

Temari and Kankuro were startled; they stepped in to help Gaara.

Naruto and Sasuke, both quite brash, rushed headlong at Gaara. Kabuto cursed silently—he wanted nothing to do with a direct confrontation against Suna's jinchūriki.

But since Naruto and Sasuke refused to withdraw, and Gaara showed no sign of letting up, Kabuto had little choice but to engage Temari and Kankuro to keep them off the two hotheads.

To the siblings' shock, Naruto and Sasuke weren't at a disadvantage against Gaara at all. Temari and Kankuro realized that Gaara, despite his earlier loss to Karin, should still have had enough strength to handle almost any other genin.

Yet Naruto and Sasuke were coming on strong.

Before long, Sasuke made quick work of Temari, and Kabuto dispatched Kankuro.

Gaara struggled just holding off Naruto. Seeing that Sasuke and Kabuto were now free to join in, he quickly lost ground.

Naruto, annoyed that his fight with Gaara hadn't ended sooner, gathered a pitch-black orb in front of him.

"Aura Sphere!"

Sasuke saw Naruto forming the Aura Sphere and gathered crackling blue electricity in his own hand.

"Thunder Punch!"

Sensing danger, Gaara frantically raised both arms and moved the surrounding sand to form a barrier.

"Sand Shield!"

The swirling sand converged around him, blocking Naruto's Aura Sphere with difficulty, but cracking under the impact.

Before Gaara could generate more sand, Sasuke's Thunder Punch shattered the already-damaged barrier. He landed a direct hit, but Gaara's Sand Armor prevented any real injury, leaving just cracks on the armor's surface.

Still, facing both Naruto and Sasuke at once was clearly too much for Gaara right now—especially with Kabuto eyeing him as well.

With no other choice, Gaara used his sand to grab Temari and Kankuro, then pulled back.

"Hand over your scroll first!" Naruto shouted, not wanting to let them escape.

Gaara responded by creating a giant claw of sand that took a swipe at Naruto.

"Aura Sphere!"

Naruto blasted the claw to pieces, but it bought Gaara just enough time to retreat with his siblings.

Some distance away, Gaara halted.

Temari, still shaken, asked worriedly, "Are you all right, Gaara?"

Kankuro was also anxiously watching him.

Gaara was panting heavily. His previous fight with Karin had already taken a toll, and though he hadn't sustained fresh injuries here, the back-to-back battles had drained his chakra.

Most of all, losing twice in a row left him deeply frustrated.

Early on, this Forest of Death trial had gone well enough, but then, without warning, they ran into two terrifying teams in a row.

Gaara's voice was grim: "We'll rest a bit and then move on."

Temari nodded and, after a moment's hesitation, tried to advise him, "We only need to pass the trial, right? Let's not go out of our way to pick fights. All five Great Nations have sent strong candidates. There are bound to be other tough opponents out there."

But Gaara cut her off with a cold glare, ending the conversation.

After half an hour of rest, the three moved on again. Temari and Kankuro were still hesitant, wanting to find an easy target and breeze through the Forest of Death.

But to their surprise, Gaara suddenly said, "I've changed my mind. There's no need to keep fighting everyone here. Once the prelims and finals start, I can kill to my heart's content."

Though Gaara's desire to "kill to his heart's content" still made them nervous, at least they'd get out of this forest mess for now.

They continued onward until stopping yet again.

The three figures facing them this time made Temari and Kankuro tense up.

Temari whispered, "Careful. Another three wearing those black cloaks with red clouds, probably elite ninja from Ame."

Kankuro nodded. "Let's find another target. Ame is different now."

Yet Gaara refused to back down. He might have lost to Karin and to Naruto plus Sasuke, but surely he could beat these three nobodies.

He refused to believe that as a One-Tail jinchūriki in the Chūnin Exam, he'd keep getting thrashed!

Gaara glared at the three Rain ninja—Uzumaki Musen, Lanyu, and Lanwu—and said icily, "Hand over your scrolls and get lost if you don't want to die!"

Musen: (O_O)???

Lanyu: (O_O)???

Lanwu: (O_O)???

~~~

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