*Chapter 127: Pakura's Request, The Third Hokage Loves Danzo*

Sakura, in utter despair, hugged Sasuke tightly and began to cry loudly. As she sobbed, she shouted, "Naruto! Sasuke is in so much pain, please save him, Naruto!"

But how could Naruto, who had already lost consciousness, hear her?

Eventually, Sakura's crying came to a halt, and she stood there, overwhelmed and uncertain. Struggling to speak, she muttered, "W-what should I do..."

Pakura observed everything, her eyes revealing a hint of disdain — directed at Sakura.

She turned to Aizen and said, "Lord Aizen, I think I finally understand why you don't like this girl."

Aizen responded with a curious "Oh?" and asked, "Tell me."

Pakura spoke seriously, "When there's nothing going on, she treats this kid Naruto with utter disdain and obsessed with Itachi's brother. But when things get tough, all she can do is cry for Naruto... Naruto... over and over.

Both Naruto and Sasuke got hurt because of her, trying to protect her. Yet in the end, she only seems to care about Sasuke. Honestly, I feel sorry for Naruto."

"Right on point. But this has nothing to do with us. Let's go, we're heading to the central tower," Aizen said as he stood up, leaving that remark behind and disappearing into the trees. Pakura quickly followed.

Only Itachi remained, watching the suffering Sasuke with a conflicted look in his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he created a shadow clone to secretly keep an eye on things before chasing after Aizen.

On their way to the central tower, Aizen deliberately changed their route, heading in Hinata's direction.

"Lord Aizen, aren't we going to the central tower?" Pakura glanced at Itachi, who had caught up, and asked with some confusion.

"There's no rush. We have another mission to gather intelligence on the Jinchuriki, and it just so happens that the One-Tail Jinchuriki I sensed is nearby. We can check it out," Aizen made up an excuse. Of course, he wouldn't admit that he just wanted to check on little Hinata.

Soon, the three of them reached their destination, arriving just in time to witness the scene where Gaara, for the first time, brutally displayed his power by slaughtering three Rain Ninja.

Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru were hiding in the bushes, trembling in fear from Gaara's terrifying abilities.

"Lord Aizen, those seem to be from the Rain Village. What do you think, should we save them?" Pakura looked at the middle-aged Rain Ninja who was already being enveloped by Gaara's sand, slowly rising into the air, and asked hesitantly.

This was the guy who, in the original story, was the first victim of Gaara's Sand Burial, crushed into a bloody pulp.

"Do you want to save them?" Aizen thought for a moment, removed his shadow clone that was secretly protecting Hinata, and threw the question back to Pakura.

"I..." Pakura hesitated briefly before nodding, "After all, they're from our leader's village. I can see that Miss Konan cares deeply about the villagers. If it's possible..."

"Then save them. After this exam, we're going to be exposed anyway," Aizen said before disappearing from sight.

Just as Gaara opened his umbrella and prepared to clench his fist to perform the "Sand Burial" on the middle-aged Rain Ninja, Aizen suddenly appeared, grabbing Gaara's right hand.

His speed was so fast that even the sand controlled by Gaara's mother couldn't react in time.

The sand binding the Rain Ninja lost Gaara's control and crumbled, causing the Rain Ninja to fall to the ground.

The middle-aged Rain Ninja, who narrowly escaped death, was pale and collapsed on the ground, gasping for air with a vacant look, staring at Aizen, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"When did he..." Temari and Kankuro, who were behind Gaara, were shocked. It was the first time they had seen someone touch Gaara.

"Who are you?" Gaara, finally feeling the burning pain in his wrist, noticed Aizen, who had suddenly appeared. Although he was startled, his face remained expressionless, and he asked coldly, "Who are you?"

"Just an ordinary Genin," Aizen replied with narrowed eyes.

"Are you trying to save them?" Gaara's gaze shifted toward the three Rain Ninja, his eyes growing colder.

"It's not that I want to save them. Someone else doesn't want to see them die. What do you think, panda-eyed boy? How about doing me a favor? Let them leave the scroll, and you let them go," Aizen suggested with a hint of negotiation.

Instead of replying, Gaara controlled his sand to attack Aizen.

Aizen released Gaara's hand and easily dodged the attack.

A twisted, maniacal grin appeared on Gaara's young face as he manipulated the sand that had previously bound the Rain Ninja to sneakily surround Aizen from behind.

Seeing Aizen wrapped in sand, Temari and Kankuro both breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves, "As expected, Gaara is still stronger."

Meanwhile, Akamaru, who had been trembling in Kiba's arms, let out a small whimper.

"Kiba, what's wrong with Akamaru?" Hinata asked in a small voice, trying to suppress her fear.

"It seems like he's saying that the bandaged guy who appeared earlier is even more dangerous than the one using the sand," Kiba replied, his voice shaking with fear.

Upon hearing this, Shino's expression became serious as he looked at Aizen, who was now completely encased in Gaara's sand.

Gaara, growing impatient, opened his umbrella again, preparing to pull Aizen into the air and crush him with his sand, only to find that no matter how hard he tried, the sand wouldn't lift.

Furious, he clenched his fist and unleashed his Sand Burial directly on the ground.

However, the expected explosion of blood didn't happen. Instead, from within the pile of sand, Aizen's calm voice rang out, "Is this your ninjutsu? It's kind of interesting."

As his words fell, a powerful surge of chakra erupted from within the sand, instantly dispersing it.

Aizen stood there, in the same spot, unharmed and composed as ever.

"How is that possible? He scattered Gaara's sand using just his chakra..." Kankuro, unable to contain his emotions, shouted in shock.

"Well, panda-eyed boy, my offer still stands. Also, that blonde girl and the puppet master behind you — if we keep fighting, all three of you might die today," Aizen warned them casually with a harmless smile.

"Who... what kind of person is this guy..." Kankuro thought, a drop of cold sweat running down his forehead, as he began to urge Gaara to reconsider.

But Gaara, of course, ignored him.

In the end, it was Temari who spoke up, and only then did Gaara reluctantly agree. However, his gaze at Aizen was filled with even more murderous intent.

It was clear that Aizen had just made it to the top of Gaara's hit list, surpassing even Sasuke.

Without paying attention to Gaara's murderous stare, Aizen glanced at the three terrified Rain Ninja, who quickly handed over their scroll in fear.

Aizen didn't even look at it. He took the scroll and casually tossed it to Gaara's team.

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