Toroi did not give a direct response regarding whether to protest to Konoha. Instead, he looked at his subordinate with a serious expression and commanded, "Tell me everything again—every single detail. Don't leave anything out."
Although the Cloud ninja delivering the report was clearly anxious, he dared not disobey the order.
When he described how Aoshi was able to fend off Killer Bee's attacks while simultaneously performing Water Release jutsu with one hand, even Toroi was visibly stunned.
Such skill, displayed by someone officially listed as a Genin, was truly outrageous. But sometimes, when something is too outrageous, that's precisely what proves it's real.
After all, even if Konoha wanted to disguise a higher-ranked ninja as a Genin, they wouldn't send someone that blatantly suspicious.
"Immediately begin investigating all information on this Hirakawa Aoshi." In the end, that was the order Toroi issued.
As for protesting? If Konoha dared to make such an arrangement, then a protest would surely be meaningless. He had never actually considered it a viable option.
Once the Cloud ninja departed, Toroi began contemplating whether he could use this incident as an excuse to initiate cooperation with Sunagakure.
From the beginning, his true mission in Konoha had been to kidnap Kushina Uzumaki. The outcome of the Chūnin Exams didn't matter.
Of course, he didn't want to partner with Sunagakure to carry out the kidnapping itself. Rather, he intended to have Sunagakure assassinate Hirakawa Aoshi, the mysterious new threat from the Leaf.
Although Aoshi had been unknown prior to this, his strength now left no room for doubt—he was clearly poised to become one of Konoha's future powerhouses.
Possibly even the next Hokage.
If Sunagakure could eliminate a future Hokage before he rose to power, they'd surely be interested. And with Sunagakure creating a diversion, the success rate of the kidnapping would significantly increase.
Meanwhile, in Sunagakure's rest chamber—
Rasa and Pakura had also learned of the events unfolding in the Forest of Death.
Like Toroi, Rasa found it difficult to believe. Unlike the Cloud Village, which had known nothing of Aoshi beforehand, Rasa had actually arranged several days of special training for Masaki due to Pakura's earlier defeat.
The goal had been for Masaki to defeat Aoshi during the Chūnin Exams and restore the honor of Sunagakure. Yet Masaki had not only failed—he had lost even when teamed up with Killer Bee from the Cloud.
"With Aoshi's strength, doing something like that is only natural," Pakura commented indifferently.
After all, this was the person who had defeated her. How could someone capable of that lose to two ordinary Genin?
She had known the moment Aoshi's name appeared on the Chūnin Exam list that no one would be able to stop him. But to Rasa, her reaction only fueled his anger.
From his perspective, when Pakura first realized just how powerful Aoshi was—and that he was still only a Genin—she should have killed him without hesitation.
Konoha was far too powerful and occupied the best strategic location in the entire ninja world. Even if Sunagakure could only chip away at their strength, every blow counted.
If they didn't work to weaken Konoha at every opportunity, Sunagakure would never rise to prominence.
Scoffing inwardly at Pakura's shortsightedness, Rasa couldn't help but wonder why the Third Kazekage had been so adamant about not sending their strongest asset—Sasori—to the exams.
With Sasori's power, Sunagakure's reputation would have remained intact.
Although Rasa believed Masaki to be the strongest Genin in this exam, he also knew that Masaki wasn't the strongest Genin in the village.
That title belonged to Sasori, a true prodigy in puppet mastery.
After all, Sunagakure was renowned throughout the ninja world for its Wind Release techniques and puppet jutsu.
That's why Rasa couldn't understand why the Third Kazekage had repeatedly rejected Sasori's application to participate—even when Sasori volunteered.
Back in the Forest of Death—
Near the central tower.
After defeating both Killer Bee's team and Masaki's squad, Aoshi and Kushina rushed forward at full speed and soon arrived near the tower.
"Finally! We made it! We must be the first to arrive, right?" Seeing the tower just ahead, Kushina couldn't help but feel excited and exhilarated.
But before she could finish speaking, several kunai with explosive tags attached suddenly shot out from the shadows.
Their targets were none other than Aoshi and Kushina, who had just arrived. Clearly, another ninja squad had reached the central tower ahead of them—and had laid an ambush.
Kushina had carelessly triggered the trap, which activated the barrage of kunai. Aoshi, however, was unfazed.
After all, the rules of the second exam only stated that one needed to collect both the Heaven and Earth scrolls and reach the tower within five days.
Beyond that, anything was fair game.
A less prepared ninja squad might have fallen for such a trap. But Aoshi remained calm—he formed a one-handed seal and unleashed Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, instantly blasting the incoming kunai away.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The scattered explosive tags detonated one after another, but none of them managed to harm Aoshi or Kushina.
At the same time, Kushina got ready for combat.
Soon after, the ambushing ninja revealed themselves. What surprised Kushina was the sheer number of them—by rough count, there were more than twenty.
But only 89 ninjas had entered the second exam altogether. How could so many of them be cooperating in a single ambush?
Wait—this isn't right! This is genjutsu!
Realizing something was wrong, Kushina immediately recognized she was under a genjutsu.
Fortunately, she had already learned how to dispel illusions. The moment she broke free of the illusion, she was shocked to find that one of the attackers had already closed in on her, ready to launch a sneak attack.
Had she been just a second slower in breaking the genjutsu, she would've been hit.
The attacker, surprised that Kushina escaped the illusion so quickly, believed it wouldn't make a difference—she wouldn't have time to react.
The outcome was decided, he thought.
WHAM! In the very next instant, the attacker's expression froze and twisted in pain—Kushina had struck him directly in the gut with a heavy punch.
With no time to hold back, Kushina had put her full strength into that blow.
The man coughed up blood immediately, feeling as if all his internal organs had been crushed. The impact was so powerful, it sent him flying like he'd been rammed by a beast. He only stopped when he slammed into a large tree.
By the time he hit the ground, deep cracks had already spread across the trunk. That one punch showed just how terrifying Kushina's strength really was.
After taking down her opponent, Kushina turned to check on Aoshi.
Sure enough, Aoshi had just finished dealing with another enemy. Only now did Kushina clearly see that the attackers were from Takigakure, the Village Hidden by Waterfalls.
Takigakure was considered a minor village, but unlike other small shinobi nations, it was the only one in the ninja world known to possess a Tailed Beast.
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