The remaining four black-clad Ninja finally noticed the person sitting on the tip of the ferocious head. It was the bounty target from the portrait.
"You... you are Chiaki Setsuna?"
Setsuna nodded. "That's me. Any last words?"
The lead Ninja's vision darkened. In that instant, he mentally cursed the task issuer's ancestors for eighteen generations, 'Was this kind of absurd monster something we could possibly defeat?'
"Run!" The lead Ninja ethically reminded his teammates before preparing to form hand seals to escape into the sand.
But he still underestimated Titan's ferocity. Titan opened its massive maw and swallowed the entire patch of desert in one gulp.
Setsuna tapped Titan's head. Titan snorted and spat out all the examinees who had been 'accidentally' consumed.
"I'm... alive?" Mizuki touched his body in disbelief, feeling as if his soul had undergone a redemption.
There is great terror between life and death. Compared to life, all those desires are worthless.
"Setsuna-san, is this your summon?" Guy, having broken free from the net, asked in amazement.
"Yes, his name is Titan," Setsuna felt he was getting a bit carried away now. With Don Slime as his trump card, he didn't mind revealing some of his uniqueness.
Although his physique couldn't bear much of Don Slime's power, if pushed to the extreme, even at the cost of his body collapsing to summon Don Slime for just 0.01 seconds, he could take down an Otsutsuki with him.
"So impressive! This is the first time I've seen such an amazing summon!" Guy danced excitedly, then suddenly thought of his own Ningame and silently shed a tear.
Compared to Setsuna's majestic giant serpent, his Ningame seemed useless except for providing a temporary foothold mid-air.
"This is his summon? Then what are we even competing for?" The Genin from the other four villages stared blankly, 'What was the point of this exam? They might as well just declare him the winner.'
'With our attack power, we could probably stab with kunai for half a day without piercing this giant snake's scales.'
An Iwagakure's Ninja promptly surrendered, taking out his scroll and offering it, "This is our team's Heaven Scroll. Please accept it."
Shizune said, "Our team also has a Heaven Scroll."
"You can keep yours and give it to another Konoha's team. I don't want to compete anymore. I just beg to follow behind you and leave this desert safely," The Iwagakure Ninja, Gantetsu, pleaded.
His words jolted everyone awake. They quickly took out their scrolls.
"We quit too. We just want to follow you."
"I'll retire after going back. Being an ordinary person is just fine."
Clearly, their experiences on this first day had collectively broken their spirits.
Setsuna couldn't help but mourn for them silently, 'Experiencing such an impact at the Genin stage was indeed torturous.'
"Since you all say so, you can follow behind us."
...
In a sunken sand pit, three examinees from Sunagakure were surrounded by eleven black-clad Ninja.
Not far away, behind a sand dune, Baki's team was secretly observing.
"Baki-san, who are those black-clad people? I haven't seen them before," One underling asked.
"I don't know. It seems outsiders have broken into this Chunin Exam," Baki frowned, assessing the strength of the black-clad group.
"Those three are also from our Sunagakure. Should we try to save them?" The other underling asked.
Just then, the lead black-clad Ninja praised, "Surrounded by us, yet not a trace of panic on your face. It seems you are a talented Ninja from Sunagakure."
"Pity. Even a genius will die young here," Another black-clad Ninja showed a cruel smile, "We have eight Chunin and three Jonin here. Scared now?"
"What?" One of Baki's underlings exclaimed, quickly covering his mouth.
But his voice was noticed. The lead black-clad Ninja said coldly, "It seems there are little mice eavesdropping. Number Three, Number Four, you go-"
At that moment, the three surrounded individuals finally spoke. "Do you know what art is?"
The black-clad Ninja were stunned, then burst into laughter.
"Art? You're talking to us about art?" The lead black-clad Ninja laughed heartily. "Killing is art."
"It seems you don't know. Don't worry, you will soon become art," Sasori lifted his head, his fingers moving like a pianist's.
The next moment, his two companions soared into the air, their arms spreading out like scythes of death, instantly harvesting two heads.
"Puppets! His two companions are both puppets!" The lead black-clad Ninja couldn't believe it. A Jonin had been instantly killed without even reacting.
"Don't be afraid! We have the numbers advantage!"
Sasori calmly took out a scroll, lightly brushed his right hand over it, and instantly summoned ten puppets.
Black-clad Leader: "???"
…
"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Asuma and Obito coordinated their Jutsu. Their other teammates were also fighting desperately. But when they saw the black-clad Ninja watching from the sidelines, their hearts sank further.
Just three of the enemies were enough to suppress them, making it hard to breathe. And there were five more such enemies observing from the side.
"Taking so long to deal with a few brats? You should change professions soon."
"Stop making sarcastic remarks! These Konoha brats aren't weak!"
"Stop wasting time. Capture the one who claims to be the Hokage's son alive. Kill all the others," The leader issued the command.
"Yes!"
Just as they were about to all attack, a giant red-brown hound with three heads launched a surprise attack.
"What monster is that?" A black-clad Ninja instinctively threw a kunai.
The struck Hellhound instantly split into two. One bit the attacking black-clad Ninja in half, while the other pounced on the remaining black-clad Ninja.
The other black-clad Ninja's expressions changed drastically, and they quickly formed hand seals to use ninjutsu.
The Hellhounds were engulfed by various Fire and Earth Release Ninjutsu. But the next moment, over a dozen Hellhounds charged out of the fiery sea.
"Are these monsters unkillable? They even multiply the more we kill them?"
"What kind of monsters are we even fighting?"
The black-clad Ninja screamed and scattered in disorganized flight. They didn't even know who their real enemy was.
…
"They're all dead." Within the Demon Desert, Kakuzu's eyes were blank.
He had left black tendrils from his Earth Grudge Fear on a few of the assassins to locate the target faster.
But in less than half a day, every assassin who had entered the Demon Desert besides him was dead.
'Did Sunagakure react and dispatch a rescue team overnight?'
Kakuzu pondered seriously but quickly dismissed the possibility. 'Impossible. Even if Sunagakure reacted extremely quickly, they should still be on the road right now.'
'It seems a terrifying change is occurring within this demonic desert,' Kakuzu gazed at the ink-black sea under the night sky. Even with his temperament, an inexplicable fear of the unknown sprouted in his heart.