Konoha Village.
The annual Chunin Exams were approaching, and the entire Konoha Village was buzzing with excitement.
Due to the victory in the war against the Land of Lightning, Konoha's reputation had soared, sweeping away the gloom left by the previous Nine-Tails Incident.
For this Chunin Exams, Konoha Village had even invited their ally, the Hidden Sand Village, as well as various surrounding small nations. Of course, they wouldn't dare pull the tiger's whiskers at a time like this; even the Land of Wind's ally, the Land of Birds, had symbolically sent a team to participate.
Merchants from various countries naturally wouldn't miss this grand event in the Ninja World, and they poured into Konoha. Now, long queues formed at the gates of Konoha every day, and the two gatekeepers were swamped.
The streets were packed with Ninjas from various Villages. Headbands of different colors shimmered in the crowd. The sounds of footsteps, laughter, and vendors hawking their wares blended together—noisy, yet extraordinarily vivid.
Aoki Yoru was strolling through the commercial district. Just like during his last Chunin Exams, the commercial district was now filled with stalls from merchants of various countries. The difference was that this time it was even livelier, with more people arriving; after all, Konoha was beginning to show its prominence.
At this moment, he saw that the health product stall in the center of the commercial district was still packed with people, all crowding around and picking through items.
Aoki Yoru looked at this familiar scene with a black line on his face. 'Was it really necessary? It's not like they aren't available elsewhere. Are they all too embarrassed to buy them alone? Do they need to follow the crowd to buy this kind of thing?'
However, there was a stall even more exaggerated this time; it was a literal sea of people.
Curious, Aoki Yoru walked up. Looking at the introduction, it was a book stall. 'Could some master have released a new book?'
"Hey, boss, why is this book five times more expensive than in the bookstore!"
"If you think it's too expensive, don't buy it, give it back! This is Jiraiya-sama's new book, and it's in short supply. I went to great lengths to get it from the publisher's boss's wife's male best friend."
"Of course I want it, this book is mine!" That customer stuffed the book into his chest and paid promptly.
At this moment, Aoki Yoru had a black line on his face. The cover clearly had the four big characters "Young Married Woman Bai Jie" printed on it.
'So you guys don't buy pornographic books secretly? You're doing it so openly, like haggling for vegetables in a wet market.'
'But this boss is also a genius for sniffing out this business opportunity.'
'The royalties for the next installment should be quite substantial!'
Aoki Yoru drooled as he fantasized; he was really short on money.
Subsequently, he shook off those unrealistic thoughts. He would know how much the royalties were soon enough; anyway, Jiraiya would be back soon, so he continued his stroll.
When he looked up again, he was already standing on a street in the west of Konoha Village, far away from the commercial district.
Suddenly, a commotion came from afar, and he walked over out of curiosity.
"Hmm?"
"So it's this famous scene! Speaking of which, when did Nao and Chino start hanging out with Konohamaru?"
He saw Kankuro in the distance grabbing Konohamaru by the collar, lifting him into mid-air, while Konohamaru kicked his legs wildly in the air.
Kankuro looked at Naruto, who had been knocked to the ground, and mocked, "Is this all Konoha's Genin are capable of?"
Moegi and Ise Udon in the arena were trembling, hiding behind Sakura, while Chino and Nao glared angrily at Kankuro.
The subsequent events were the same as the original work. Sasuke and Gaara appeared one after another, and finally, the conflict ended in a dramatic way.
Aoki Yoru watched this scene with relish. Although he had watched it over a dozen times in his previous life, the feeling of real-life performance was completely different from flat animation.
He immediately walked up to greet them: "Nao, Chino, you two are here!"
"Big Brother Yoru!!" Seeing Aoki Yoru, the two of them pounced on him with surprise.
Gaara, who was about to turn and leave, turned around abruptly. Bloodthirsty fanaticism surged in the depths of his eyes, and a cruel smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. The air around him turned bone-chilling due to his suddenly soaring killing intent.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Konoha's Qilin. Your reputation is very loud, and you are also very strong, worth killing."
Temari immediately stepped forward to stop him, pleading with him: "Gaara, let's not cause trouble, let's go back."
She also recognized Aoki Yoru; this person was very famous in the Ninja World. If the Ichibi was exposed in the end, the Village's plan would be ruined.
"Get lost. If you block my path, even if you are my own sister, I will kill you without hesitation." Gaara glanced at her, as if looking at an ant.
Temari was so frightened by his killing intent that she backed away repeatedly; she felt that Gaara would really kill her.
"Oh!"
Aoki Yoru looked at him with interest. Gaara at this time was very unruly, his mind nearly collapsed from the torture of the Ichibi, wanting to destroy every valuable target.
At this moment, Naruto and Konohamaru were looking at everything in the arena, stunned, not knowing how it had turned into this.
"Hey, little Chino, who is that?" Sakura asked in a low voice.
"He is Big Brother Yoru, a hero of Konoha!" Chino said proudly.
Hearing this, Sakura was immediately incredulous. "Eh! Really? He doesn't look much older than us."
Team 7 and Konohamaru were all shocked; they had thought a hero of Konoha should be quite old.
At this moment, Aoki Yoru saw Gaara's sand spreading out, ready to move. Immediately, his mental energy exploded, intertwining with the wisps of Natural Energy around him, pressing down on Gaara like an invisible mountain.
That force was like a mountain pressing down on his head. Caught off guard, it slammed into Gaara, causing him to stagger and kneel to the ground, his hands supporting the ground tightly.
His bones emitted unbearable creaking sounds, his teeth chattered, blue veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat dripped crazily down his cheeks.
For the first time, extreme horror welled up in his previously unruly eyes.
Looking at Gaara who was still holding on, Aoki Yoru wrapped another wisp of Natural Energy and pressed it down.
The majestic pressure instantly crushed over. Gaara's arms supporting him on the ground could no longer hold up, and his whole body was pressed firmly into the ground. His limbs were pinned by an invisible force, leaving him no room to struggle.
His face was pressed against the cold ground, his nose and mouth choked with dust. His Armor of Sand crumbled inch by inch under this absolute power, and fine sand grains peeled off, revealing his pale and ferocious face.
"Ahhh!!!"
Gaara struggled desperately, trying to stand up, but it was to no avail. His whole body felt as if it were being pressed by a huge mountain, making it difficult even to move.
For someone as unruly as him, this was endless humiliation.
Suddenly, a change occurred!
Gaara's body distorted abruptly, and half a ferocious beast's body actually grew out from his body.
Sandy flesh and skin spread wildly along his spine and limbs. Sharp claws broke through the ground, and half his face completely transformed into the ferocious beast appearance of Shukaku. The character "Love" on his forehead flickered scarlet under the sand armor.
He was pinned to the sand in a crawling posture, emitting a deafening roar, as if a fierce beast had broken out of its shell. The sand under his feet rose and cracked due to this force.
At this moment, he felt the energy in his body bubbling out continuously, and he struggled to stand up and laughed.
"Hahaha! Power is bubbling out continuously."
He then looked at Aoki Yoru, raging hatred surging in his scarlet eyes: "I will definitely tear you into pieces!"
"Is that so!" As soon as the voice fell, Aoki Yoru disappeared before his eyes.
Gaara was immediately terrified. Before he could react, a voice sounded in his ear.
"You should just sleep for a while."