It was light, like a needle.
It wasn't the kind of bloodthirsty, murderous hostility; it was something else.
Colder and more distant, as if examining an object.
Gaara narrowed his eyes.
Sand flowed out of his gourd, silent and soundless, creeping forward along the ground.
"Gaara?" Temari's voice carried a note of caution.
Watching Shinji's retreating figure, the corners of Gaara's mouth twitched.
It was a smile, very faint, carrying a hint of coldness.
Interesting.
"Gaara."
Temari's voice became more urgent, filled with warning: "The Konoha Ninja are looking over here. Do you want to start something here?"
In the distance, people at the edge of the training ground had already noticed them.
A few Konoha Ninja stood in the shade of the trees, looking this way.
One of them had already taken two steps toward them.
Gaara didn't look at them. He only stared at Shinji's back.
The sand stopped behind Shinji's shadow, not moving any further.
He was waiting.
Waiting for that person to turn around, show fear, and realize how close he was to death.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
But Shinji didn't turn around.
He just kept walking forward slowly, as if everything behind him had nothing to do with him.
Gaara suddenly smiled.
Then the sand retreated.
Silent and soundless, just as it had come, it retracted back into the gourd.
He turned around.
"Let's go."
Kankuro and Temari exchanged glances, said nothing, and followed.
The sound of their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
...
Time flew by.
The day of the Chunin Exams arrived.
The sunlight scorched the entire training field.
Shinji stood on the perimeter of the testing grounds, leaning against an old locust tree.
The area was crowded with people.
The Konoha Genin gathered in small groups, while the Sunagakure trio stood in the shadows not far away.
There were also candidates from other Villages, wearing various forehead protectors, sizing each other up like a pack of wild beasts about to be locked in the same cage.
"Why are there Ninja from the Hidden Mist Village here?"
Shinji looked around. He remembered that in the original story, this Chunin Exams should only have involved the two major Villages, Konoha and Sunagakure, along with a few smaller Villages like the Sound and Grass. Could he have remembered it wrong?
There was no need to dwell on this.
Shinji closed his eyes again.
His Sage Body felt slightly warm under the sunlight—not the uncomfortable kind of heat, but a comfortable warmth that made his bones feel soft.
"Shinji!"
Naruto's voice exploded from the crowd. That blonde head pushed through the throng, jogging over with Sakura and Sasuke following behind.
"You came too!"
Naruto leaned in close, his expression complex. Curious, yet carrying a hint of the awe left over from that day at the training ground: "That, that... when you fought that thick-browed guy the other day, you were really amazing!"
Sakura nodded from the side, her eyes looking a bit different now.
Sasuke didn't speak, just stood three steps away with his hands in his pockets, his gaze fixed on Shinji.
There was something in those eyes.
Whether it was caution or something else, Shinji couldn't tell.
"It's starting," he said.
The gates to the testing grounds slowly opened.
The candidates began to swarm inside.
Shinji stepped forward.
Just then, a hand rested on his shoulder.
"Yo, Shinji-kun, long time no see."
Shinji turned his head.
Yakushi Kabuto was standing there.
Grayish-white hair, round glasses, and that harmless, innocent smile on his face.
He was wearing a Konoha Ninja vest with his forehead protector tied on his forehead, looking like an ordinary, gentle upperclassman.
"You don't remember me, do you?"
Kabuto smiled: "We graduated in the same year, only I was assigned to a different class later. Come to think of it, since you were never assigned to a squad, I was actually quite worried about you. I didn't expect you to come to participate in the Chunin Exams this time."
His tone was very natural, like he was catching up with an old friend.
Shinji looked at that smiling face.
"I remember."
Yakushi Kabuto. Orochimaru's spy.
A pawn who had been lurking in Konoha for many years, possessing extremely strong intelligence capabilities, exquisite medical Ninjutsu, and strength that should be on par with an elite Jonin.
One of the bosses in the later stages.
"Is that so?"
Kabuto's smile faltered for a moment. It was very brief, so short it was almost imperceptible.
He pushed up his glasses: "That's truly an honor. I thought someone like me, a nobody, wouldn't be remembered by anyone."
He walked up to Shinji with familiar ease and walked alongside him.
"By the way, did you know that many big shots will be coming to watch this Chunin Exams?"
Shinji raised an eyebrow: "I really would like to know, isn't this Chunin Exams being co-hosted by Konoha and the Sunagakure? Why are there so many Hidden Mist Ninja appearing?"
Kabuto smiled and said: "The Hidden Mist Village Ninja are here because they have also joined this Chunin Exams, so they naturally have to make an appearance. And also..."
He paused, lowering his voice: "I heard the Fifth Mizukage is coming too."
"What did you say?!" Shinji's footsteps stopped, his pupils constricting sharply.
"The Mizukage? Mei Terumī!"
"Yes, the Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, Mei Terumī."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting light so his expression couldn't be seen: "This Mizukage is very young, but she is already a Kage-level powerhouse. She is also a holder of dual Kekkei Genkai abilities: Yōton and Boiling Release.
It's said she possesses an even more terrifying power, though no one knows exactly what it is.
In less than three years since taking office, she has cleaned up all the messes in the Hidden Mist Village, resolving every single problem left behind by the era of the Blood Mist one by one."
He paused, as if savoring something.
"And..."
He smiled: "It's said she is very beautiful. A true peerless beauty. For a place like the Hidden Mist Village to produce someone like that, it's quite miraculous."
Shinji didn't speak this time.
He just stood there; the crowd and the sunlight couldn't bring him a shred of warmth.
Kabuto glanced at him and continued: "Her coming here this time is said to be for discussing cooperation with Konoha. But I think..."
He lowered his voice: "There must be other reasons. A Kage coming personally to another Village just for 'alliance and opening'? Who would believe that? Besides, the Kazekage is also coming. To have two Kage appear in Konoha at the same time, tsk tsk, that's a sight you don't see often."
Shouts came from the distance; it was the proctors gathering the candidates.
Kabuto patted Shinji's shoulder: "Let's go, let's take the exam first. We can talk about these big shots after the exam is over."
He walked ahead first.
Shinji remained standing where he was.
The sunlight was intense, scorching his back.
He stood there, in the crowd, in the middle of the candidates surging into the testing grounds.
Are you kidding me?
Mei Terumī!
This name fell into his ears like a pebble cast into stagnant water.
Those images from the simulation began to spin in his mind. Not complete, coherent scenes, but fragments.
Standing on a high platform wearing a shiromuku, kneeling on the ground grabbing the corner of his clothes, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes, lying in ruins, dying.
And that final question.
Did you ever...
Shinji didn't answer.