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Chapter 136 - 136. Chūnin Exams (2)

"What?!"

Undoubtedly, Hinata's harsh decision stunned both Temari and Kankurō. While they certainly looked down on these Konoha Genin who clearly just graduated this year, they absolutely had no intention of fighting them. At most, they just wanted to gain a verbal advantage. But they never expected Hinata to completely deviate from the norm, uttering bloody and coercive words like "kill without mercy" right from the start.

"You damned brats! Give you an inch and you take a mile?! If you want to fight, come on!"

After the initial shock, Kankurō's words instantly filled with intense anger. He had originally only intended to disdain these Konoha Genin, like throwing a small pebble to deliberately annoy them, then reveal his identity as a Hidden Sand Village envoy to enjoy their stifled frustration.

But Hinata's reaction was like she deftly caught his thrown pebble, then simply slapped an explosive tag onto his face.

"Wait! We have no ill will! But if you bully us too much, we won't let you!"

Temari also felt a slight indignation. Although her personality was indeed more rational than Kankurō's, Hinata's impolite attitude undoubtedly stimulated her pride. So the brush-headed beauty, halfway through her sentence, angrily changed her tone, determined to uphold her village's dignity with her actions.

"Hmph~ Fools, do you really think you can resist?"

Hinata sneered and stood up. Almost simultaneously, Temari and Kankurō, who were poised for battle, froze and then stared with disbelief. The reason was simple: they found their bodies unable to move.

"Honestly~ At least when you're in someone else's village, be a little kinder with your attitude and words."

Shikamaru, forming hand seals, looked at Kankurō and Temari rather boredly. In such a confined indoor environment, Shadow Imitation Technique was simply the most suitable insidious trick. Temari and Kankurō didn't even have time to notice the shadows beneath their feet before they were caught red-handed.

"Damn it... What did you do?! Let me go if you dare, let's fight honorably!"

Struggling hard but finding it futile, Kankurō couldn't help but feel a little alarmed. He had only thought that these were a bunch of freshly graduated Genin, just like the little brats in Hidden Sand Village who had just left school and never seen blood, which was why he dared to provoke them. But... from the current situation...

Damn it! That idiot Kankurō! Did he directly provoke a Konoha Village secret jutsu clan?!

Temari, also sweating profusely, couldn't help but complain about Kankurō's 'good luck.' Every village had some strange secret jutsu clans. These ninja were basically the elites among their respective villages' ninja. Some relied on their unique Kekkei Genkai, while others relied on unique inherited secret techniques, like the puppeteers of Hidden Sand Village belonging to the latter. Although both Temari and Kankurō had the desire to observe Konoha's secret jutsu, it certainly didn't mean they wished to see them in this state.

"You said, honorably?? Don't make me laugh, you idiot~!"

Hinata walked rudely in front of Temari and Kankurō, looking at Kankurō with contempt: "You, a puppeteer who secretly injures people with puppets, are talking about fighting honorably with me?? Are you perhaps taking everyone for a fool? Or is the average intelligence level of Hidden Sand Village so low that you have the illusion that everyone is easy to trick?"

It must be said, Hinata's words were exceptionally venomous. Even Naruto, who was used to her harsh remarks, couldn't help but get goosebumps. As for Kankurō and Temari, who were caught by the Shadow Imitation Technique, they were even more so. It wasn't hard to tell from their clenched jaws that Hinata's words had completely ignited their fury, and for a ninja, losing emotional control in battle is itself a defeat.

"You damned Byakugan monster! Let me go if you dare! I'll fight you honorably!"

Gritting her teeth and looking at Hinata in front of her, Temari's eyes flashed with substantial anger. Even though her self-control was better than Kankurō's, this didn't mean she could tolerate Hinata's insult to the entire Hidden Sand Village.

"I have no interest in fighting a little wildcat in a cage. After all, I'm very fond of small animals. Speaking of which... Boss."

Raising her head, Hinata's casual call made the stunned restaurant owner quickly respond: "Hai~ Do you have any orders, Hinata-sama?"

"You leave here first. After this, you will be compensated for the damages to the establishment."

Veins pulsed on both sides of Hinata's face, and her Byakugan was activated. The restaurant owner subconsciously paused, then realizing something, he frantically ran towards the side door, then pulled a few bewildered shop assistants and left the inside of the establishment. Anyway, Hinata had already said she would compensate for the shop's damages, so as an ordinary person, the boss rationally understood that if he didn't want to pay for personal medical treatment, it was better to leave obediently.

Almost simultaneously with the restaurant owner's departure, accompanied by a rapid whistling sound, a large expanse of yellow sand, as if possessing its own consciousness, rushed directly in from the shop entrance, targeting Hinata, who was in the direct path. The affected shop door and kitchen counter were instantly crushed and fractured by the yellow sand, proving that this was absolutely not a genjutsu, but truly gravel with immense mass!!

This kind of gravel was clearly something that couldn't be effectively defended against. Like Water Release and Earth Release, it didn't rely on elemental damage like Lightning Release or Fire Release, but on physical damage generated by its own mass combined with inertia. Even if blocked, one would still suffer its powerful inertial destructive force.

"Sandstorm!"

However, this large expanse of yellow sand didn't reach Hinata. Accompanied by Naruto's low roar, two opposing hurricanes roared out, directly blowing the sand that had rushed indoors back out!

This... Are they kidding?!

Kankurō, seeing this scene, turned pale with shock. He had clearly seen that the 'person' standing outside the door was undoubtedly controlling the sand that rushed in, and the power that easily shattered the shop door truly demonstrated how terrifying the impact of that sand was. But, that golden-haired short guy among this group actually blew the sand directly back out?!

One must know, this destructive power wasn't just on par with the sand, but directly exceeded the sand's power by two times! First, it nullified the force of the sand rushing in, and then it blew it away at the same speed!!

How is that possible?? The one using Sand Coffin is a monster from Hidden Sand Village!! How could that golden-haired short guy have power stronger than that monster?!

Temari was undoubtedly also greatly alarmed. Although she and Kankurō were indeed captured before, she was not convinced in her heart, at most only thinking she had been careless. However, seeing that these people not only didn't evade the surging Sand Coffin, but even directly used force against force to repel it, it meant that even if she were released, she didn't have much confidence in being able to defeat these people.

The swirling yellow sand was violently swept out of the shop door by the force of the Sandstorm, and then these sands strangely tumbled in the air, then miraculously paused in place, revealing a figure with folded arms.

Undoubtedly, that was the last person Shino had mentioned, grouped with Temari and Kankurō. Unlike Temari and Kankurō, the figure who appeared there was undoubtedly dressed and appeared vastly different. A head of short red hair couldn't conceal his gloomy eyes, and a dazzling red 'Love' tattoo was emblazoned on the upper left side of his forehead, making his overall image exceptionally striking.

"Huh? What, it's a short red-haired guy~"

Naruto couldn't help but feel very proud, while Kiba on the side reminded him unhappily: "Hey, hey, in terms of height, I don't think you have any room to mock him, do you?"

"Shorty, you have the guts to openly make a scene in Konoha village, in front of us. It seems you're quite bold. State your identity."

Calmly raising her hand and tightening the gauntlets on her wrists, Hinata was indeed very interested in accepting this development.

As the core team for this Hidden Sand Village operation, Temari's squad was undoubtedly an important part of the plan. So, since they knew they had ill intentions, there was no harm in dealing with them thoroughly beforehand.

Most importantly, Hinata intended to use this joint external incident to maximize the unity of the current three squads of the Hinata group. And the opponent at least had a Jinchūriki, who was undoubtedly absolutely qualified as a punching bag BOSS.

"...Gaara of the Desert. We three are Hidden Sand Village Genin sent to Konoha to participate in this Chūnin Exams. If you continue to be unreasonable, we will not sit idly by."

After a silence of about a few seconds, Gaara still spoke these words in a low voice. Clearly, even at this point, he was still an Asura lost in chuunibyou, but basic rationality and intelligence still existed, and he wouldn't immediately confront and attack upon meeting.

"Is that so? You do sound polite, but... the problem is, do you know who you've provoked? I am Hyuga Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, not some ordinary commoner who can be offended without consequence."

Shamelessly displaying her malice and status, Hinata turned to look at Kankurō and Temari on the side. The Byakugan girl's tone was exceptionally unpleasant: "In that case, as punishment for your disrespectful words to me, cut off both their tongues! That will settle this matter. Otherwise, you probably won't need to participate in this Chūnin Exams!"

With these words, Hinata suddenly acted, striking the Shōmon acupoints on Temari and Kankurō's sides. The two, who were about to speak, instinctively screamed and then both fell to the ground. Their important acupoints had been struck by Hinata's heavy-handed technique, so they would likely be unable to freely use chakra for several hours.

"..."

Gaara's expression showed no change, but the sand swirling around him suddenly sped up its rotation. Clearly, his actions were about to provide an answer.

And the others surrounding Hinata also raised their guard. Gaara's killing intent was quite dense, already enough to make them feel the seriousness of the situation.

However, just as Gaara's killing intent swirled upwards to near its peak, his momentum suddenly dropped. The red-haired Asura standing in place spoke faintly: "...We are not commoners. The current Fourth Kazekage is our father... Would such an identity allow you to overlook this matter?"

"Cough... Gaara..."

Temari, lying on the ground, gasped with difficulty. Undoubtedly, she clearly understood what a psychological struggle it must have been for him to say such words.

"The Fourth Kazekage's children?! So that means..."

Ino on the side spoke in surprise. Clearly, the identity Gaara reported indeed carried significant weight. In terms of status, it was certainly no less than Hinata's position as the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan.

"Is that so... Then, I'm truly sorry, because that loud-mouthed young man's boisterous attitude indeed makes one doubt whether he truly received the Kazekage-sama's education."

Smiling, Hinata stepped back. She was indeed quite surprised. Originally, her goal was indeed to thoroughly humiliate Hidden Sand Village here, and if she could truly provoke Gaara into a rampage, then the Konoha Crush plan could be declared aborted. Konoha, upon realizing Gaara's Jinchūriki status, would definitely take some necessary measures.

However, it now seems... the reason this red-haired 'little panda' was able to become the Kazekage later on is directly related to his innate self-control and rationality. Even though he's still a chuunibyou kid now, he's still able to prioritize missions, unlike an emotional ninja like Naruto who loses control and goes berserk with just a slight provocation.

Waving her hand slightly, Hinata signaled for Naruto and Sasuke to step aside. Clearly, they also sensed Gaara's uniqueness. Having experienced Zabuza's killing intent, they too noticed the dense, bloody aura emanating from Gaara, a stark difference from Temari and Kankurō.

Struggling to their feet, Temari and Kankurō supported each other as they left the barbecue restaurant. From their resentful gazes, it was clear they felt immense humiliation and anger from this incident. Moreover, being struck by Hinata in the Shōmon acupoint, not to mention the temporary pain and numbness, their chakra flow was undoubtedly affected, meaning their overall attributes would conservatively drop by about 40% for the next several hours.

"Since it was a misunderstanding, then we eagerly anticipate the Hidden Sand Village ninja making a brilliant showing in the exam. After all, the Fourth Kazekage's children should possess abilities matching their father's renown, right?"

Watching Kankurō and Temari's disheveled retreat, Hinata maliciously twisted the knife. There was no need to be polite to those who came with murderous intent.

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Check out my other fanfiction. It's main character is Light Yagami.

It's a crossover between chainsaw man, Death note and another one I can't remember the name of right now. It's done brilliantly.

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