A streak of blue lightning flashed across the arena, followed by a dull thud.
"Boom!"
Gaara felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as his body was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into the arena wall.
A massive crater, several meters wide, appeared on the wall where he landed. Gaara lay in the pit, his body trembling.
"Ugh—!"
As he struggled to get up, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Sasuke's previous attack had been devastating, strong enough to injure his internal organs.
At this moment, Gaara was in intense pain. His outer shell began to crack, chunks of hardened sand falling off his body and turning back into fine grains as they hit the ground.
"S-So strong..."
"This... This is the power of the Uchiha Clan!?"
"Just a single strike, and Gaara ended up like this... He probably didn't even have time to react!"
"As expected of the Uchiha prodigy. He must be the strongest among this year's Chunin Exam participants!"
The audience erupted into thunderous cheers, all shouting Sasuke's name in excitement. The battle was simply too exhilarating.
This was the kind of ninja showdown they had been waiting for. While the previous matches were entertaining, they now seemed like mere child's play in comparison.
For a moment, the entire crowd was focused on Sasuke, eager to learn more about him. He had become a star in an instant—his opening move had been too shocking.
But it wasn't just the audience that was astonished. Many of the ninja watching from the stands were also stunned by Sasuke's performance.
Even Genma Shiranui, the proctor standing at the edge of the arena, was left speechless.
"Uchiha Sasuke... As expected of the Uchiha Clan. His strength is already far beyond others at his level."
"And he hasn't even activated his Sharingan yet... Without the Sharingan, he already has the speed and power of a Jonin."
"It looks like the village will soon gain another Jonin."
For any village, adding a Jonin to their ranks was a huge advantage. But this wasn't just any Jonin—this was an Uchiha Jonin.
Sasuke's future wouldn't stop at Jonin. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he reached Kage level.
Genma had no doubt about that.
In the stands, Guy turned to Kakashi beside him.
"Kakashi, you taught him that taijutsu, didn't you?"
Kakashi's expression remained calm. He had already known about Sasuke's strength, so this wasn't surprising to him.
"Yeah, I incorporated some of your taijutsu into his training."
Guy chuckled.
"No wonder it looked so serious."
"Naruto probably taught Sasuke some taijutsu as well, didn't he?"
Kakashi nodded.
"They exchanged techniques."
Unlike in the original timeline, Sasuke wasn't as arrogant or extreme this time. He was willing to listen to advice, and when Yoruha encouraged him to improve his taijutsu, he took it seriously.
As a result, he didn't just learn from Kakashi—he also picked up many of Guy's taijutsu techniques from Naruto.
Guy continued,
"His speed is almost on par with Lee when he opens the Eight Gates."
In the original timeline, Sasuke's speed at this stage was equal to Lee's when he removed his training weights. But now, Sasuke was even stronger than his original counterpart.
His current speed was close to Lee's when he opened the Third Gate.
With the addition of the Lightning Release Body Flicker, Sasuke's speed had already reached the level of Lee when he opened the Eight Gates at this stage.
Guy sighed in amazement.
"As expected of the Uchiha Clan… What took Lee years to achieve, Sasuke reached in just a few months."
Kakashi, however, wasn't surprised.
Lee's talent lay in his sheer hard work, but Sasuke was able to catch up to Lee's years of taijutsu training within mere months. If taijutsu had been Sasuke's main focus, he might have already surpassed Lee.
Even in the original timeline, at this stage, Guy had been impressed by Sasuke's astonishing talent—marveling at how he had achieved in months what took Lee years.
The gap between a genius and an ordinary person was simply that vast. And this was when taijutsu wasn't even Sasuke's primary field.
Still, Guy couldn't help but feel excited.
"Kakashi, have you considered letting me train Sasuke for a bit?"
Kakashi glanced at him and replied flatly,
"He isn't focused solely on taijutsu. Are you planning to teach him the Eight Gates?"
Guy grinned.
"Why not? I think Sasuke could learn it quite easily."
"If he wanted to, he'd come to you himself. Taijutsu is just a support skill for him—I doubt he has any real interest in the Eight Gates."
Guy sighed in disappointment.
He knew Sasuke was a genius in every aspect and would never devote himself solely to taijutsu. But he still felt that Sasuke's talent surpassed even Lee's. Unfortunately, Sasuke would probably never choose to master the Eight Gates.
Not just Sasuke—even among the shinobi who could use ninjutsu, very few would willingly focus on taijutsu alone.
For example, in Guy's own team, only Lee practiced the Eight Gates.
Guy had previously wanted to teach it to Neji and Tenten, but both refused.
Tenten felt she didn't have the talent for it, while Neji—who certainly did—was simply uninterested, as he already had the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's viewing area, Orochimaru was growing increasingly excited as he observed Sasuke's performance.
He could barely suppress the smirk threatening to creep onto his face.
"This must be Konoha's finest genius, huh? Hokage, your village is truly fortunate."
Hiruzen smiled slightly, feeling deeply gratified.
Sasuke's strength had exceeded his expectations.
Initially, he had thought Sasuke was only around Chunin level at this stage, but now, Sasuke was already displaying Jonin-level abilities—even if it was only in speed and taijutsu.
And Hiruzen knew that Sasuke also had Chidori.
With his current speed, combined with the Sharingan and Chidori, Sasuke was undoubtedly at Jonin level.
Adding in Yoruha, Konoha now had one new Jonin and one Kage-level powerhouse.
Hiruzen, who had previously worried about Konoha's future, finally felt a sense of relief.
"Even if Orochimaru attacks the village, as long as Yoruha, Sasuke, and Naruto are fine, Konoha's foundation will remain strong."
"Even if I fall in battle, with them here, Konoha's future won't be in jeopardy."
Hiruzen was certain that Orochimaru would attack during the exams.
He just didn't know exactly when or from where.
That was why he had already donned his battle armor, waiting for Orochimaru to make his move.
Now, he had no more concerns—he was fully prepared for Orochimaru's assault.
What Hiruzen didn't realize, however, was that the Orochimaru he was waiting for had been sitting beside him all along.
After all, he had never expected Orochimaru to have killed the Fourth Kazekage and brazenly taken his place, sitting right next to him.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Baki was completely stunned upon seeing Gaara cough up blood.
"That guy actually made Gaara cough up blood? What kind of joke is this!?"
Temari and Kankuro were also in shock.
"He's really strong… He actually made Gaara cough up blood. But if that's the case… can we still proceed with the attack as planned?"