Begin! Genma's hand lowered in a flash.
Sand moved.
At first, nobody understood what Gaara was doing.
Grains poured from his gourd and spread across the arena floor in branching rivers. Instead of immediately attacking Sasuke, the sand continued gathering, swallowing more and more of the battlefield beneath a shifting layer of tan.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun.
Gaara raised one hand.
The sand answered.
A massive shape began rising behind him.
The crowd quieted.
Sand twisted together in thick ropes, compacting until an enormous arm slowly formed above the battlefield. Five gigantic fingers curled inward, each large enough to crush a man in its palm.
Sasuke lowered his stance.
Gaara smiled.
Thousands leaned forward.
Nobody breathed.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
Something was wrong.
Gaara was staring directly at Sasuke.
But the enormous arm wasn't facing him anymore.
It was turning.
Toward the stands.
Naruto shot upright.
"GET DOWN!"
The Kage box exploded.
KRA-KOOOOOM!
Fire and shattered stone erupted from the highest section of the stadium.
The ceremonial canopy vanished.
ANBU were thrown across the rooftop as smoke swallowed the entire structure.
Then Gaara's hand dropped.
"Sand Burial."
The massive hand crashed toward the spectators.
BOOOOOOM!
Screaming consumed the stadium.
Hiashi Hyūga was already moving.
"HYŪGA!"
His Byakugan flared.
Chakra exploded from his body.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
A huge dome of rotating chakra formed over his section.
The sand hand struck it.
Hiashi's feet cracked the stone beneath him as thousands of pounds of compressed sand ground against the Rotation.
Branch and Main Family shinobi moved instantly.
Palms flashed.
Chunks of sand and falling stone were smashed away before they could reach the civilians behind them.
"Evacuate!"
Hiashi's voice thundered.
"NOW!"
Across the stadium, three enormous slabs of shattered stone fell toward another section.
Shikaku Nara looked up.
"Chōza."
"Got it."
Expansion Jutsu!
Chōza Akimichi exploded upward.
His massive body towered above the stands.
One arm covered hundreds of civilians.
BOOM!
The first slab smashed against him.
The second shattered against his shoulder.
Chōza grunted as the third crashed into his palm.
"That all you got?!"
Shikaku grinned below him.
"Don't ask."
Shikaku's hands came together.
His shadow expanded.
Darkness spread beneath several infiltrators moving toward the civilians.
Six Sand shinobi froze simultaneously.
Their bodies locked.
Shikaku looked up.
"Now."
Chōza's enormous fist descended.
BOOM!
The attackers disappeared beneath it.
Inoichi Yamanaka planted his hands against two nearby Konoha shinobi.
His chakra surged.
Then his voice reached dozens of minds at once.
All Konoha forces. Civilians first. Secure evacuation routes. Clan heads establish defensive sectors. Genin guide civilians away from the fighting.
Orders spread almost instantly.
The panic didn't disappear.
But Konoha began moving.
"Kiba!"
Kurenai landed beside Team Eight.
Kiba turned.
"Get Akamaru moving. Track the clearest route out."
Akamaru barked.
"Hinata, Byakugan. Find trapped civilians."
Hinata activated it instantly.
"Shino, cover them."
A black cloud erupted from Shino's sleeves.
Kurenai's eyes hardened.
"Team Eight. Evacuation pattern."
They moved.
Asuma landed near Team Ten.
Choji was already clearing debris from a stairwell.
Ino was dragging civilians away from the fighting.
Shikamaru leaned against the wall nearby, still pale from his match.
Asuma looked at him.
"You awake?"
"Barely."
"Good enough."
Shikamaru sighed.
"Of course."
Asuma pointed toward the lower concourse.
"Shikamaru, organize routes."
"Ino, help coordinate civilians."
"Choji—"
Choji's arm expanded and ripped an entire collapsed section of railing out of the stairs.
Asuma paused.
"Keep doing that."
"Okay."
Naruto jumped onto the railing.
Sound and Sand shinobi were appearing everywhere.
Several wore stolen Konoha uniforms.
Others didn't bother hiding anymore.
A Sound shinobi threw a spread of kunai toward a group of fleeing civilians.
Naruto formed hand seals.
"Wind Release: Cyclone!"
Wind screamed.
A spinning column erupted between the civilians and the projectiles.
Kunai disappeared into the vortex.
So did shattered wood, dust, loose stone, and two enemy shinobi who had been stupid enough to charge through it.
The Cyclone hurled them across the seats.
Naruto landed.
"KEEP MOVING!"
Three more attackers rushed from below.
Naruto inhaled.
"Water Release: Tidal Wave!"
Water exploded outward.
Not toward the civilians.
Across the empty stairwell beneath the attackers.
The surge smashed all three off their feet and carried them backward through the corridor.
They hit the wall hard.
Naruto moved with the water.
One tried standing.
Naruto reached him first.
A kunai flashed.
The man collapsed.
PING!
Enemy Combatant Killed!
+10 SP
Naruto froze for half a heartbeat.
The notification felt wrong.
Too clean.
The man beneath him wasn't.
Another Sand shinobi climbed from the water.
He raised a blade toward a civilian.
Seals flashed in rapid succession, Naruto's hand snapped forward.
Wind compressed around his fingers.
"Wind Release: Gale Pierce!"
FWOOSH!
The concentrated blast punched through the man's chest.
He dropped instantly.
PING!
Enemy Combatant Killed!
+10 SP
Naruto's jaw tightened.
He dismissed the window.
No time.
A scream came from above.
Naruto looked.
A civilian had fallen between rows of seats.
Two Sound shinobi were closing on her.
Naruto threw three sealing tags.
They struck the stone around the attackers.
"Activate!"
A barrier snapped into existence behind them.
A gravity formula flashed against its surface.
Both men were ripped backward.
CRACK!
They slammed into the barrier.
Naruto's clone grabbed the civilian.
The original turned away.
"NEXT!"
Nearby, Gai appeared in a green blur.
His heel smashed a Sound shinobi through a concrete railing.
"Dynamic Entry!"
Kakashi materialized behind another.
A kunai crossed the man's throat.
Gai landed beside him.
"KAKASHI!"
"Gai."
"Our flames of youth shall defend this village!"
Kakashi looked toward the twenty enemy shinobi rushing them.
"Sure."
Then they disappeared.
The next few seconds became incomprehensible.
Gai tore through the attackers with raw speed, bodies flying from punches and kicks that shattered stone beneath their feet. Kakashi moved behind him like a shadow, finishing openings Gai created and redirecting enemies directly into his partner's path.
One attacker flew toward Kakashi.
Kakashi ducked.
Gai's fist met him.
BOOM!
Kakashi looked sideways.
"Little excessive."
"THE ENEMY THREATENED OUR YOUTH!"
"Right."
More attackers arrived.
Kakashi lifted his forehead protector.
The Sharingan opened.
Gai cracked his knuckles.
"Race?"
"No."
"Winner defeats the most enemies!"
"No."
Gai disappeared.
Kakashi sighed.
Then followed.
A Sand shinobi landed among fleeing civilians.
Sakura saw him first.
The man's kunai came down toward a little boy.
Sakura tackled the child aside.
The blade cut across her shoulder.
Pain exploded through her.
Anko's training answered immediately.
Don't freeze.
Sakura kicked the man's knee sideways.
It broke.
He screamed.
She caught his knife arm.
Twisted.
The kunai fell.
Sakura caught it.
The attacker lunged anyway.
She stabbed him.
The blade sank into his chest.
Sakura's eyes widened.
The man's body sagged against her.
She shoved him away.
He didn't move.
Naruto's head turned from twenty feet away.
Their eyes met.
Neither said anything.
Sakura grabbed the child.
"Come on!"
She ran.
In the arena, Sasuke hadn't left Gaara.
His Sharingan spun.
"You wanted me."
Gaara smiled.
Sasuke lowered himself.
"Then stop attacking everyone else."
He disappeared.
BOOM!
His kick slammed into Gaara's automatic defense.
Sand shattered.
Sasuke rotated.
Punch.
Elbow.
Sweep.
Another kick.
Gaara's defense barely kept pace.
Sasuke appeared behind him.
His heel smashed into Gaara's back.
Gaara flew across the arena.
Gaara slowly rose to his feet and stared.
Then started laughing.
Sand crawled up his arm.
It compressed.
Expanded.
Changed.
A monstrous claw formed where his hand had been.
Purple markings spread across it.
Sasuke's Sharingan widened.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Gaara attacked.
The claw smashed downward.
Sasuke dodged.
The battlefield cratered.
Sand erupted beneath him.
His ankle disappeared.
Then his waist.
Then his chest.
Gaara tightened his fist.
Sasuke's ribs screamed.
He couldn't breathe.
Gaara walked closer.
"Bleed for me."
Something burned across Sasuke's neck.
Three tomoe.
The curse mark.
Power flooded him.
Black markings raced across Sasuke's skin.
The sand prison cracked.
Anger followed.
Cold.
Violent.
Easy.
Kill him.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
For a moment, Gaara became the only thing he saw.
Then another voice surfaced.
Kakashi.
Breathe.
Sasuke shut his eyes for one heartbeat.
Control first.
Power second.
The curse mark pulsed.
Then something else answered.
Warm chakra spread beneath Sasuke's clothing.
Lines hidden around the curse mark began glowing.
Naruto's regulation seal.
The pressure inside Sasuke changed.
The curse mark was still there.
Still furious.
Still offering him everything.
But it no longer felt like it owned the decision.
Sasuke opened his eyes.
"No."
The markings stopped spreading.
Gaara frowned.
Sasuke flexed his hand.
"I decide."
He exploded from the sand.
BOOM!
Sasuke's curse-enhanced punch tore straight through Gaara's defense.
Gaara flew.
Sasuke pursued.
But more sand answered.
Then more.
His transformed arm enlarged.
Half his face disappeared beneath sand.
Something huge was pushing through.
Sasuke attacked anyway.
Again.
Again.
Again.
He landed hits.
Not enough.
Gaara kept growing.
The sand around him became thicker.
Heavier.
Sasuke's breathing turned ragged.
Gaara's claw caught him.
BOOM!
Sasuke flew across the arena.
He hit the ground hard.
Rolled twice.
Stopped.
He pushed himself onto one knee, kunai in hand in a cross guard covering his chin.
Gaara was still coming.
Sasuke understood.
Finally.
He couldn't handle this alone.
His curse mark pulsed.
Use more.
Sasuke refused.
A scream from the stands pulled Naruto's attention away.
Two civilians fell.
A Sound shinobi moved toward a third.
Naruto's hands flashed.
"Wind Release: Cyclone!"
A smaller vortex tore through the aisle.
The attacker was lifted clean from the ground.
Naruto followed by throwing a newly created clone at his side.
The clone grappled with the enemy midair, shoving a kunai into his neck while simultaneously being stabbed itself.
PING!
Enemy Combatant Killed!
+10 SP
Another notification immediately appeared.
Multiple enemy combatants neutralized during defense of allied civilians.
Bonus Objective Progress Increased!
Naruto dismissed both.
His breathing was heavier now.
Not from chakra.
From anger.
Bodies were appearing between the seats.
Civilians.
Konoha shinobi.
Enemies.
People who had come here expecting a tournament.
Naruto recognized one dead man from a food stall near the Academy.
His face went still.
Red chakra stirred somewhere deep inside him.
Not yet.
Naruto forced it down.
He needed control.
Water.
Wind.
Clones.
Seals.
Things he could control.
He formed another seal.
Twenty Shadow Clones appeared.
Naruto pointed in different directions.
"Five on evacuation!"
"Five help Team Eight!"
"Five clear the lower corridors!"
One clone looked around.
"What about the last five?"
Naruto pointed toward the enemy.
"Hit everything wearing Sound or Sand."
The clones grinned.
"FINALLY!"
Then another explosion shook the stadium.
Naruto looked up.
Smoke tore away from the Kage box.
A figure landed on the rooftop.
Hiruzen.
Alive.
Naruto's shoulders loosened.
"Hokage-jiji..."
Then someone landed beside him.
Jiraiya.
Naruto blinked.
The old Sannin stood beside Hiruzen with his white hair blowing through the smoke.
Across from them—
The Kazekage straightened.
Then removed the disguise.
A pale face appeared beneath.
Long black hair.
Golden eyes.
Jiraiya's face became something Naruto had never seen.
No grin.
No laziness.
No stupidity.
Only recognition.
"Orochimaru."
Naruto's stomach dropped.
Four shinobi appeared around the rooftop.
They slammed their hands down.
"Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Purple fire erupted.
Four walls of flame sealed the rooftop.
Hiruzen.
Jiraiya.
Orochimaru.
All trapped inside.
Naruto took one step toward them.
"JIRAIYA-SENSEI!"
The barrier rose higher.
His voice vanished beneath the fighting.
Naruto stared upward.
Jiraiya looked toward the stadium for one brief moment.
Their eyes met across the chaos.
Then Jiraiya turned back toward Orochimaru.
Behind Naruto—
Gaara roared.
The arena shook.
Naruto looked back.
Sasuke stood alone between Gaara and the nearest civilians.
His curse mark crawled across one side of his body.
But his eyes were clear.
Sakura landed beside Naruto.
Blood covered one hand.
Kakashi and Gai continued tearing through enemy shinobi farther up the stands.
Asuma and Kurenai were gathering their Genin below.
Konoha was fighting everywhere.
A crimson window appeared.
PING!
EMERGENCY QUEST UPDATED! THE KONOHA INVASION
Confirmed Hostile Forces: Sunagakure / Otogakure
Confirmed High-Level Hostile: Orochimaru
Civilian casualties detected.
Enemy combatants killed by Naruto Uzumaki: 3
Current Kill Reward: +30 SP
Naruto's fists tightened.
The number bothered him.
Three.
The System reduced them to three.
Naruto looked toward the dead civilians.
They didn't get numbers.
He dismissed the window.
Sasuke stumbled.
Gaara advanced.
Naruto started toward the arena.
Sakura followed.
Above them, purple fire burned around the rooftop.
Inside it—
The Third Hokage and Jiraiya faced Orochimaru.
Below it—
Konoha burned.
Naruto disappeared.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Experienced Genin
Stats
Strength: 84
Agility: 106
Endurance: 99 (+20%)
Intelligence: 100
Charisma: 68
Luck: 12
System Points: 475
Trap Making – LVL 5 (27/50) → LVL 5 (32/50)
Basic Toad Fist – LVL 2 (2/20) → LVL 2 (16/20)
Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu – LVL 3 (8/30) → LVL 3 (18/30)
Advanced Fuinjutsu – LVL 4 (17/40) → LVL 4 (19/40)
Wind Release: Cyclone – LVL 6 (0/60) → LVL 6 (16/60)
Wind Release: Gale Pierce – LVL 6 (1/60) → LVL 6 (7/60)
Water Release: Tidal Wave – LVL 4 (29/40) → LVL 4 (33/50)