i am kimimaro

Orochimaru's attack on Sasuke exposed his presence.

Anko rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, but she was no match for him.

In the end, her incomplete Cursed Seal activated, forcing her to retreat helplessly.

Once again, she was abandoned by Orochimaru, not even given the chance to die together with him.

However, the news of the S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru's return reached the Third Hokage.

"Orochimaru, did you come back just for Sasuke?"

Under the moonlight, the Third Hokage smoked his pipe, lost in thought.

His intuition told him that Orochimaru's return this time wouldn't be so simple.

If it was just for Sasuke, he would have taken Sasuke away by now.

But Sasuke was still there, only branded with the Cursed Seal.

Orochimaru seemed to be playing a game of chess, but the Third Hokage couldn't see through the moves.

At this moment, he wasn't playing against Orochimaru, but more like a chess piece.

The Third Hokage slowly exhaled a smoke ring, his mind heavy with worries.

"Hiruzen."

A raspy voice suddenly sounded, and a bandaged old man appeared behind the Third Hokage.

It was the root of all evil in Konoha - Danzo Shimura.

The Third Hokage turned around and looked at his old friend.

"Orochimaru's return at this time definitely has other motives. This time, we won't let him leave alive."

A hint of killing intent flashed in Danzo's eyes.

Orochimaru's defection back then had a lot to do with Danzo.

Danzo provided a lot of support for Orochimaru's research to proceed so smoothly, but in the end, he turned his back on him and exposed the truth, forcing Orochimaru to leave.

After that, the transactions between him and Orochimaru ceased.

Danzo was wary of Orochimaru.

If given the chance, he wouldn't mind eliminating this obstacle.

"I understand. Have your Root ninja mobilize as well. It's the Chunin Exams period, we can't have any other mishaps. Otherwise, if the Daimyo blames us, next year's funding will be drastically reduced."

The Third Hokage turned and left, ignoring Danzo.

Danzo narrowed his eyes, his cold gaze restrained.

"Hmph, still the same as ever."

In the night, both Konoha's Anbu and Root ninja were on the move.

Konoha's alert level was raised to the highest.

The name Orochimaru forced them to take it seriously.

The Tower.

Kimimaro had recovered the chakra he had expended in the Forest of Death.

The battle hadn't consumed much of his chakra, but when he copied Hinata's Hyuga bloodline, he almost used up all his available chakra.

"Almost done."

Kimimaro looked at Suigetsu and Jugo not far away, both of whom had fallen asleep.

Having just recovered, he felt quite refreshed.

Not feeling sleepy at the moment, he left the room, planning to take a walk outside.

This tower was quite large, not just a place for them to rest.

The activity area was a spacious garden, perfect for someone like him who couldn't sleep to wander around.

Kimimaro stretched, suddenly noticing a gaze fixed on him.

He turned his head and saw a person sitting on top of the tower.

It was the boy carrying the gourd, Gaara!

"Hey, what a coincidence, you can't sleep either?"

Kimimaro waved and greeted him.

"Kimimaro of the Sound..."

Gaara's voice was slightly hoarse, his emerald eyes filled with bloodshot veins, looking like he wasn't in a good mood.

The jinchuriki possessed by Shukaku couldn't get a good night's sleep.

Because Shukaku would erode their will while they slept.

Over time, the jinchuriki would lose their sense of self and become Shukaku's puppet.

Therefore, every late night was the most difficult time for the One-Tailed jinchuriki.

Unless the jinchuriki could reach an understanding with Shukaku, this situation could be alleviated.

And the current Gaara clearly wasn't familiar with Shukaku.

Every time he couldn't sleep, Gaara's bloodlust would surge.

Sand surged, flying directly out of the gourd on Gaara's back!

Sand Control!

Kimimaro frowned. Gaara attacked without warning, even though he had just greeted him.

Truly an emotionally unstable time bomb.

"Sand Drizzle!"

Sand gathered above Kimimaro's head, then the grains turned into a rain of sand, pouring down!

This kind of impact, if it landed on an ordinary person, would surely turn them into a sieve.

"Binding Spell Thirty-Nine, Round Shield!" (Reward from taking a photo with Toushirou Hitsugaya)

A golden light condensed above Kimimaro's head, forming a golden circular shield.

The sand rain fell on the golden circular shield, making a clanging sound, and the attack was completely blocked.

The Round Shield shattered.

Gaara didn't expect his attack to be blocked so easily.

Ordinary Genin couldn't do this.

After a brief moment of surprise, a bloodthirsty and excited expression appeared on Gaara's face.

"Hehe, you're worth killing!"

Gaara stood up, controlling the sand with both hands.

The scattered sand rain gathered again, rapidly flying towards Kimimaro!

"Sand Binding Coffin!"

The sand was about to climb up Kimimaro's legs, but in the next moment, he disappeared.

Flash Step!

Gaara's pupils shrank, his eyes searching for Kimimaro's figure.

"Are you looking for me?"

The voice came from behind him, and Gaara was shocked, quickly turning his head.

What greeted him was Kimimaro's charged fist.

But just as the fist was about to hit, the sand moved on its own, directly blocking Kimimaro's fist.

"Is this the so-called absolute defense?"

Kimimaro was quite envious when he saw this.

Such a technique, regardless of its power, was at least very impressive.

However, even the most powerful technique was closely related to the user's strength.

Although Gaara's absolute defense was left to him by his mother, Karura, its speed and power were related to Gaara's own strength.

Gaara's current absolute defense couldn't stop Kimimaro yet.

"Strength!"

The originally blocked fist suddenly burst out with even greater power.

Crack!

The sand that had just blocked was shattered by Kimimaro's fist!

The next moment, the punch landed squarely on Gaara's face.

Bang!

Gaara's face contorted, then his entire body was sent flying straight into the garden.

Boom!

A large crater appeared on the ground.

Sand grains gradually fell from Gaara's face.

Kimimaro's attack not only broke his absolute defense but also shattered his Sand Armor.

Gaara was stunned.

This was the first time he had suffered such a heavy blow.

"I'm going to... kill you!"

After being injured, the violent energy within Gaara was almost uncontrollable.

Kimimaro shook his head slightly, not intending to fight Gaara to the death here.

With such a commotion, Konoha ninja would probably arrive soon.

He extended his right hand, drawing a golden triangle in the air.

"Binding Spell Thirty, Tri-Beam!"

Golden triangles with beak-like protrusions appeared at each point.

Kimimaro flashed, appearing in front of Gaara.

The golden triangle moved with him, directly shooting at Gaara who was lying on the ground.

Tri-Beam!

The astonishing speed made it impossible for the absolute defense to keep up.

Gaara's wrists and waist were immediately bound by three golden, beak-shaped beams of light.

For a moment, Gaara couldn't move.

"This way, you should be able to calm down a bit."

(End of Chapter)