Seeing Guy and Shizune charging towards them, Ebisu was touched but still shouted a warning, "Guy! Shizune! Don't come closer! Run away!"
"I'm here to save you! Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy, has arrived!" Guy performed a cool mid-air spin before landing, then flashed his bright white teeth.
The five fleeing teams stopped in their tracks, stunned, feeling an inexplicable sense of awkwardness that made them want to scratch themselves all over.
Even the pursuing sand scorpions halted abruptly, their large eyes filled with confusion, as if wondering: 'Will eating this guy make us stupid?'
"Green Chakra... he can already open the Gate of Opening?" Setsuna watched from a distance, surprised by Guy's progress, but not overly so.
The first three Gates of the Eight Gates were the safe zone. Guy being able to reach the third gate so quickly was just him reaping the rewards of his previous accumulation. Progressing to the fourth gate and beyond would require new accumulation.
It was the same for him. His previous foundation allowed him to quickly master the first five gates. But starting from the sixth gate, even he couldn't take shortcuts.
After the strange pause, the sand scorpions became enraged, as if they had encountered a target with a built-in 'taunt' ability. They abandoned the other examinees and charged towards Guy.
"Perfect timing! Witness my Konoha Shinryu!" Guy was delighted instead of alarmed. He whipped up a massive tornado that swallowed the sand scorpions.
Then, sand scorpions were continuously flung out of the tornado, twitching a few times before falling still.
"Darn it, that jerk Guy didn't leave even one for me," Shizune grumbled, then looked at the petrified group. "Are you all okay? Is anyone injured?"
Ebisu was physically fine, but his pride was wounded. "You've got to be kidding me. Is that really Guy?"
In their first year at the Academy, Guy was seen as a dead-last type. Although he miraculously graduated in just two years later, everyone still thought it was a fluke.
But what was this scene before them? Those terrifying giant sand scorpions were actually taken down by Guy alone.
Mizuki was practically green with envy, 'Why couldn't I be the one showing off like that?'
If even they felt this way, the Ninja from the other villages didn't need mentioning.
"So powerful! Is this the strength of Konoha's Ninja?" The Kunoichi from Hoshigakure was astonished. She was hailed as a once-in-a-century genius by her village's Jonin, but a Konoha boy, who looked much younger than her, could actually defeat those terrifying giant beasts single-handedly.
"He's too strong! Is he your Konoha's strongest Genin?" The Iwagakure's Ninja, Gantetsu, nudged Ebisu with his elbow.
Although they were from opposing sides, their shared experience of fleeing for their lives had forged a bond. Moreover, after witnessing Guy's strength, they had given up hope of passing the Chunin Exams, so they had no psychological barriers to peaceful conversation.
"Maybe?" Ebisu wasn't sure either. His interactions with Guy weren't that frequent.
'But judging by Guy's performance, even Asuma probably wasn't a match for Guy, right?'
The last sand scorpion was flung out. Guy landed stylishly again. "Everyone, let's move these sand scorpions together! These giant scorpions are super delicious!"
The group hesitated, 'Could these monsters really be eaten?'
Just then, the Hoshigakure's Kunoichi suddenly exclaimed, "Everyone, be careful! The danger isn't completely over! The sand scorpions our team encountered were deliberately driven towards us! Those people are definitely not examinees in this exam!"
"So the scorpions you encountered were also driven towards you? I thought Sunagakure was deliberately trying to kill us!"
"No way! We were chased by scorpions too!"
Alerted by the Hoshigakure's Kunoichi named 'Natsuhi', everyone instantly became vigilant.
At that moment, a large net suddenly erupted from beneath the sand, trapping Guy tightly.
"Damn it! Who's there?" Guy struggled violently, but the net was extremely flexible. The more he struggled, the tighter it constricted.
Seven Ninjas in black outfits jumped out from under the sand. The leader laughed, "Struggling is useless. This is a specially made capture net designed to deal with Taijutsu specialists like you. The client specifically reminded us to bring this. I thought he was overreacting, but I didn't expect there really would be such a troublesome individual among the Genin."
"Who are you? Why are you appearing in the Chunin Exams?" Shizune assumed a defensive stance, but she wasn't panicked internally. With Setsuna backing them up, she knew these black-clad Ninjas were undoubtedly seeking their own doom.
One of them said, "It doesn't hurt to tell you. We just took on a bounty to kill someone during this Chunin Exam. Of course, sabotaging the exam is also part of the client's task requirements. Consider it an appetizer before the main course."
Another shook his head. "We were hoping to see if you had any means of communication among yourselves, to see if we could lure the target here..."
The leader in black said sternly, "Stop wasting time talking to them. Kill them quickly. Finding that Chiaki Setsuna is the real priority."
Hearing the black-clad ninja's conversation, Shizune's expression turned strange, 'These guys are actually after Setsuna-san? Do they have a death wish?'
Suddenly, Shizune's eyes widened, and her breathing became rapid. The examinees behind her felt their vision darken and collapsed to the ground.
Seeing their pathetic state, one black-clad Ninja frowned. "The Genin these days are getting worse with each generation. They don't even have the courage for a fight to the death. Just the mention of killing them scares them like this."
"Let's finish them off quickly. I heard that legendary figure in the assassination world, the senior who once attempted to assassinate the First Hokage, also took on this mission. We need to hurry."
Suddenly, they heard a terrifying rustling sound behind them. Turning around, they were horrified to see dozens of sand scorpions charging towards them. Among the insect horde were also giant ants over ten meters long and terrifying worms with mouthparts full of sharp teeth.
"Dammit! What is going on with this desert? Why are there so many monsters?" The lead Ninja's face changed color. With their team's coordination, dealing with a few sand scorpions wasn't a big problem. But a swarm of insects on this scale? Even hiding underground wouldn't be safe.
"Did one of you spill pheromones or something?"
"Wait, boss! Those insects... they seem to be fleeing!"
"Fleeing?" The lead Ninja looked closely and finally saw that behind the dust cloud kicked up by the insects was a colossal, mountain-ridge-sized head towering in the night sky, blocking out the moonlight.
The giant serpent was ferocious and cruel, swallowing over a dozen giant insects in a single bite.
"A snake! It's an impossibly large snake! How can such a monster exist?" The lead Ninja's legs went weak, and he even lost the courage to escape.
The examinees didn't fare much better.
"I quit the exam! I want to go home!"
"Haha, illusions... it must all be illusions!"
The mountain-ridge-like head leaned closer. Setsuna looked down from above.
"Weren't you looking for me?"
Setsuna had only just discovered that there was an ancient ruin right beneath where they were barbecuing, with many large insect monsters nesting there.
He had punched and collapsed the underground palace, driving all these insects out, just in time for Titan to have a feast.
Actually, before returning to the Naruto World, he had specifically made sure Titan was well-fed.
The larger the snake species, the longer they can fast after a full meal.
In Titan's case, it could go without food for a year after being full.
But since such an opportunity presented itself, he couldn't let Titan go hungry.
As for these black-clad Ninja, considering Jiro taught him that lives taken shouldn't be wasted and should be turned into food if possible... he didn't want to do such disgusting things, so it was better to let Titan eat them all.