A massive cloud of smoke spread across a one-kilometer radius.
When the smoke cleared—
countless Narutos stood in every corner.
At that moment, not only Temari and Kankurō, but even Shikamaru and the others' eyes widened in shock.
On the ground.
In the trees.
On the branches.
Everywhere—
Naruto.
With numbers like this, there were at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand.
Temari and Kankurō's minds went completely blank.
For a moment, they even wondered if they had fallen into a genjutsu.
What kind of human could create this many clones?
Just as Temari stood there stunned, an arm suddenly appeared in front of her.
She jolted in surprise and looked over.
It was the red-haired girl—Karin.
"Take a bite."
"Huh?" Temari blinked, confused.
Karin frowned.
If this woman hadn't risked her life to protect her earlier, she wouldn't have offered this at all.
Sure, she could use the Mystical Palm Technique, but in the current situation, healing with medical ninjutsu was too slow.
A bite worked much faster.
Seeing Temari still frozen, Karin simply shoved her arm into Temari's mouth.
Instinctively, Temari bit down.
In the next instant, warm healing chakra surged into her body.
Her injuries and chakra reserves recovered at astonishing speed.
Temari stared at Karin in disbelief.
Her brain truly stopped working.
What kind of monsters did Konoha even have?
Healing like this?
Karin pulled her arm back immediately, then took out disinfectant wipes and wiped the saliva off her arm with visible disgust.
Monitoring Room
"Holy—!"
The youngest present, Kurotsuchi, blurted out a curse the moment she saw Naruto's clones filling the screen.
Even A, Ōnoki, and Rasa were stunned.
They had already realized from the tailed-beast cloak that Naruto was a Jinchūriki—
but this number of Shadow Clones was simply absurd.
Ōnoki leaned against the table, pupils trembling violently.
He understood immediately:
this match could not continue.
If Gaara were defeated here, how could the Sand Village ever save face against Konoha again?
He cleared his throat and turned to Minato.
"Hokage, I believe this farce has gone on long enough.
If two Jinchūriki continue fighting, the other examinees may be caught in the crossfire."
Minato's expression remained calm.
He also knew the situation had to end.
The later rounds of the Chūnin Exams would be broadcast across the shinobi world.
Before that, Konoha needed to demonstrate fairness, restraint, and overwhelming strength.
That was how they would attract merchants and civilians—
and drive the village's prosperity.
Minato smiled slightly.
"Agreed."
Then he turned to Wen Lan.
"I'll have to trouble you to step in."
"Alright," Wen Lan said, rising to his feet.
His body transformed into lightning—
and shot out instantly.
Back on the battlefield, Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara were still fighting.
Half of Gaara's body had already transformed into the tanuki form.
If this continued, a full tailed-beast transformation would soon follow.
Naruto and Sasuke attacked simultaneously from both sides.
Naruto had created countless clones—
but most were merely distractions, shattering upon contact.
Gaara's Sand Shower continued raining down, destroying clone after clone with ease.
Only Naruto's real body, empowered by Kurama's chakra, could stand against him directly.
Sasuke, with his Sharingan activated, precisely predicted the trajectory of the sand attacks.
From the side, he used the piercing speed of Chidori to keep Gaara constantly on the defensive.
He repeatedly tried to trap Gaara in a genjutsu—
but Gaara never allowed their eyes to meet.
For a time, neither side could win.
But neither side could lose either.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate—
a bolt of lightning tore through the sky.
It descended directly into the center of the battlefield.
"Enough."
Wen Lan stood there with arms crossed, his gaze sharp as lightning sweeping across the three of them.
Naruto stopped, breathing heavily.
Sasuke also halted.
But Gaara, his face twisted with rage, roared:
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"
A massive sand hand rose into the air, violent chakra tearing cracks through the atmosphere.
Wen Lan's eyes sharpened.
A powerful repulsive force erupted instantly, slamming the raging sand wave back into the ground.
A shockwave spread outward from him, fracturing the earth into spiderweb patterns.
"I said—
enough."
His voice thundered like a storm.
Gaara's body trembled violently.
His sand armor shattered piece by piece.
The berserk chakra froze in place.
The transformation halted.
He collapsed to his knees, the blood-red madness fading from his eyes as clarity slowly returned.
But inside him, Shukaku was far from satisfied.
[Kill him! Kill them for me! Kill them all!]
Wen Lan glanced calmly toward Gaara's abdomen and spoke coldly:
"Shukaku.
If you don't behave, I'll turn you into a mindless puppet."
As he spoke, his eyes shifted instantly into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Suddenly, Naruto's body trembled—
and another voice spoke through him.
"That damn tanuki—
even I can't fight him head-on. Don't be stupid."
It was Kurama.
Gaara's expression twisted again.
"You filthy fox!
Filthy fox! Filthy fox!"
His voice rose to a shriek.
"I'm going to kill you!
I'm the strongest tailed beast!"
Kurama, controlling Naruto's expression, responded with a smug grin:
"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing.
Still ended up sealed inside a human, didn't you?"
"AAAAAH!
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
Gaara's body shook violently, sand spinning wildly around him.
"I'm warning you one last time.
That's enough."
This time, Wen Lan's roar carried explosive natural energy.
The force slammed down on Gaara, driving him to his knees again.
Inside the sealed space, Shukaku panicked and retreated deeper into the seal.
Moments later, Gaara's body collapsed completely.
He had passed out.
Shukaku might be violent—
but he wasn't stupid.
The Sharingan's ability to control tailed beasts was no secret.
After all, the legendary battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End was known throughout the shinobi world—
including Madara's control of the Nine-Tails.
And Shukaku knew this because Gaara's previous host, Bunpuku, had told him.
More importantly—
the pure natural energy Wen Lan had just unleashed was no joke.
Tailed beasts were powerful.
But they relied on chakra.
Natural energy operated on an entirely different level.
"Advisor-sama!"
"Lord Wen Lan!"
"Big Brother Wen Lan!"
"Senior!"
People rushed toward him all at once, their faces filled with relief and excitement after surviving the crisis.
Wen Lan smiled.
"You all did well.
Protecting your comrades will always be a shinobi's first duty."
Temari and Kankurō stared at him in stunned silence.
They had never seen anyone suppress a rampaging tailed beast so effortlessly—
let alone intimidate Shukaku alone.
Even their own father had struggled greatly to reseal a berserk tailed beast.
But this man—
had only raised his voice a few times.
And the beast had retreated in fear.
The overwhelming gap in power was suffocating.
Temari murmured under her breath:
"So this is…
the strength of Golden Lightning Flame Wen Lan."
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