Chapter 985

Though she greatly disliked the other's demeanor, Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng still carefully observed and analyzed their skill level, quickly reaching a conclusion based on their several skilled cooperations and mastery of ninjutsu.

"I suspect their goal is to kill as many people as possible in this round."

Even if the Konoha proctors spot them, it doesn't matter—the rules clearly state that once the exam begins, casualties are inevitable; you've already been given a life-signaling flare. If you didn't pull it, it means you want to ~ persist.

"They destroyed the signal flare in the fan-wielding kunoichi's tool pouch right away—clearly they didn't want anyone to call for help." These Rain ninja clearly weren't doing this for the first time; as the well-coordinated ambushers appeared one after another, there were ultimately nine of them—half of all Rain ninja participating in the second exam.

Gaara was urgently trying to put distance between himself and the menace behind him when, while weaving through the jungle with Kankuro and Temari, he was suddenly ambushed by Rain ninja who attacked from directly ahead.

The sand around him automatically swirled up to block every needle, while the poison smoke bombs were buried beneath a flood of yellow sand before they could even explode, making not a single sound.

Kankuro, who had been mindlessly dragged along by Gaara's escape, was already seething with rage—and these sudden attackers gave him the perfect outlet.

"They're underestimating us. It's not Samehada's poison—do you really think we'll be poisoned, you pathetic Rain ninja?" Kankuro was ready to unstrap his puppet "Crow" and turn every one of these audacious ambushers into human stumps.

"Get out of my way!"

Gaara's voice brimmed with irritation and unease; as if in response, a blinding torrent of yellow sand erupted instantly from the gourd on his back, completely burying the unprepared Rain ninja.

"Sand Storm Great Burial!"

Several Rain ninja ambushers were wiped out simultaneously!

"Would you like some dumplings? They're very sweet."

Only one day had passed since the second exam began, and for Anko Mitarashi, it was far too dull—so she turned her attention to Young Yuanzi.

She knew perfectly well why Anko Mitarashi chose this moment to speak to her—many were waiting for results, and this was no coincidence.

Was it the overwhelming momentum of the plot? Even though so much had changed, Anko Mitarashi still became Orochimaru's disciple, still idolized and adored him—so was her sudden, unnecessary fixation on her simply inevitable?

"Eating too many sweets will make you fat." Perhaps because she'd eaten plenty of sweets in this life, Young Yuanzi actually didn't dislike these cloying dumplings.

But seeing the enormous plate of dumplings in Anko Mitarashi's hands, wasn't that an absurd quantity?

If she kept eating like that, no matter how good her figure, she'd never maintain it.

Anko Mitarashi calmly retracted her hand and shoved the dumplings into her mouth, swallowing the entire skewer in one snake-like gulp.

"Mmmggh—I could never get fat. Orochimaru… cough, that person said, 'Snakes are never bloated by their own greed.'"

"Did she ever say something so irresponsible? When?" Young Yuanzi couldn't picture Orochimaru saying such a thing—could there really be something so amusing about him?

· ·······Requesting flowers····· ·····

It seemed her understanding of Orochimaru was still far from complete.

"Of course, when she was fighting me for the dumplings, waaah!" Perhaps because she'd discovered something new about Orochimaru, Anko Mitarashi's mood improved greatly from the dull exam, and she finally turned her focus back to watching the matches.

Images transmitted via airborne ninja beasts were streamed in real time to the inverted crystal ball at the center of Gao Ta; even as a panoramic view, one could faintly see every location where conflict occurred.

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"Whoa, what's that? A huge yellow patch?" A small patch of jungle suddenly caught Anko Mitarashi's eye, and her exclamation drew Young Yuanzi's attention as well.

There was no mistaking it—it was yellow sand.

Young Yuanzi frowned. Only a Sand Village jinchūriki—Gaara—could conjure a desert out of nowhere in a vast rainforest. What had happened to him that he was taking this so seriously?

From Young Yuanzi's knowledge, she knew the Sand Village's sealing of the One-Tail was incomplete, causing Gaara, as its jinchūriki, to easily be influenced by leaking tailed beast chakra and lose emotional control—a situation that had brought tragedy to him more than once during his growth.

To prevent heartbreak from recurring, Gaara constantly forced himself to suppress his emotions; he feared the monster inside him would hurt those around him.

Yet at the same time, he hated those around him—even his own father had wanted to kill him.