*Chapter 129: Farewell to the Sarutobi Father and Son*

Ahead of the examinees stood the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, smoking his pipe and speaking eloquently.

To the left of the Hokage:

There was Morino Ibiki, the proctor of the first exam, along with Iruka Umino, a Chunin who had volunteered to guide the Konoha 12.

To the right:

There stood Gekkou Hayate, who had died before Shippuden, alongside Anko Mitarashi, the proctor of the second exam.

Behind Hiruzen Sarutobi stood several Jonin, both from Konoha and elsewhere, including Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Baki, and Orochimaru disguised as a Jonin from Otogakure.

Aizen stood at the front of the line of examinees, his gaze sweeping over the group ahead of him with great interest.

When he looked at Kurenai Yuhi, she happened to glance back at him. From her eyes, Aizen noticed a faint hint of concern, but he returned a reassuring look.

Finally, his gaze landed on the Sarutobi father and son—Hiruzen and Asuma.

Compared to the night of the clan's massacre five years ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi had aged considerably. His face was covered in wrinkles, like the weathered marks on a wall, leaving visible traces of time. His skin even bore signs of decay.

As for Asuma Sarutobi, he hadn't changed much. His long black hair remained, and he wore his black combat uniform with the green Jonin armor over it. His shoulders and back bore the red emblem of the Anbu, and his waist was marked with the symbol of the Land of Fire. A cigarette dangled from his mouth, as always.

The only noticeable difference was that his signature goatee was gone, possibly because Aizen had both humiliated him and fed him water from the "Letter River." Due to the surge of estrogen in his body, Asuma's appearance had become more feminine—his skin paler, with a light layer of makeup applied, and his lips colored with heavy Barbie pink lipstick.

Anyone who didn’t know better might mistake him for a transvestite, a sight that nearly made Aizen vomit.

After a lengthy speech, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally finished. As in the original story, the third round’s proctor, Gekkou Hayate, explained the rules of the upcoming matches. However, Kabuto, wanting to observe Aizen’s motives, did not withdraw as he had in the original, despite fearing exposure.

The third round of the Chunin Exam preliminaries began.

The wall above the arena slowly opened, revealing a large screen. On this screen, two names would appear at random, signaling the pair of contestants who would duel for the chance to advance to the next round.

Unlike in the original story, where Sasuke faced Yoroi Akado in the first match, the inclusion of Aizen’s group and Kabuto altered the course of events. Instead, the first match was Yamanaka Ino versus Aizen, who was disguised as "DuoYu."

Suddenly, most of the examinees breathed a sigh of relief, though many couldn’t help but cast pitying and mocking glances toward Ino.

Anyone with a bit of awareness could tell that Aizen was the most dangerous of the examinees and someone you wouldn’t want to mess with.

“Ah, I’m safe!” Choji Akimichi couldn’t control his excitement and shouted in relief. Just moments before, Ino had almost been replaced by him. He felt lucky to have dodged a bullet.

It was close—he had witnessed Aizen’s terrifying strength firsthand. If Aizen were to target him, he figured it would only take a single kunai strike to finish him off.

Compared to the near-death experience Choji had just survived, Ino’s situation was far worse. She punched Choji on the head, on the verge of tears. “Idiot! You’re safe, but I’m doomed!”

“Such a drag,” Shikamaru murmured, casting a serious glance at Aizen. He patted Ino’s shoulder and quietly warned, “Ino, this guy is extremely dangerous. Whatever you do, don’t show any killing intent toward him, or you’ll die.”

“No kidding!” Ino replied tearfully, eyes wide with fear.

“You don’t get what I mean,” Shikamaru shook his head, recalling Aizen’s conversation with Pakura, his face grim. “What I mean is, as long as you don’t show him killing intent, he won’t go all out against you.”

Ino’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Shikamaru nodded emphatically.

Aizen overheard Shikamaru’s conversation with Ino from a distance and couldn’t help but smile. Even he had to admit Shikamaru was smart, able to assess the situation after only a few encounters.

Meanwhile, Kiba Inuzuka let out a sigh of relief. “Phew, now I just need to avoid the guy with the gourd from the Sand Village, and I’m set.”

Similarly, both Neji Hyuga and Sakura Haruno relaxed a little.

Neji thought to himself, This guy...with chakra like that, he can’t possibly be just a Genin. I need to keep a close eye on him.

Sakura, on the other hand, cast an admiring glance at Sasuke and stammered, “S-Sasuke, we’re so lucky! Ino said that Rain ninja took out three Genin in an instant. We’re lucky not to be up against him.”

“Is that so? I was hoping I’d run into him,” Sasuke boasted.

Unfortunately, his cool demeanor didn’t last long. A moment later, the curse mark flared up in pain, forcing him to gasp. His face contorted with agony.

“Sasuke!” Sakura cried out, rushing to his side to help him, only to be pushed away.

“Don’t come near me!” Sasuke snapped, clearly more concerned with his pain than Sakura’s feelings.

Sakura, thinking Sasuke was rejecting her because she looked ugly, teared up. “Sasuke, I...”

But Sasuke, in so much pain that he could barely stand, was far beyond caring about Sakura’s tears. He threatened, “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you. And instead of crying, you should be worrying about your next match. Out of everyone here, you’re the weakest.”

“Sasuke, I...” Unable to hold it in anymore, Sakura hung her head, tears silently falling from her eyes.

Sasuke had rejected her.

At the same time, the Sand Village team was on the verge of an eruption. More accurately, Gaara was on the verge of exploding.

“That guy’s name isn’t ‘Sandaime Aidanzo’ at all; it’s ‘DuoYu.’ He tricked me!” Gaara’s bloodshot eyes glared, half his face shadowed in rage.

Suddenly, the air filled with a chilling aura.

Kankuro exchanged a worried glance with Temari, both of them feeling helpless fear. They knew Gaara was furious.

“Gaara, don’t get mad. It’s not worth hurting yourself over that guy,” Kankuro cautiously tried to calm him down.

“Shut up, or I’ll kill you,” Gaara threatened, his voice dripping with menace. The warning sent a shiver down Kankuro’s spine, and he shot a pleading look at Temari.

After a moment’s thought, Temari tried to reason with him, “Gaara, there’s still the final exam, right? That guy’s strong enough to pass the preliminaries, so you’ll probably face him then.”