Afterthe Kazegake (definitely not Orochimaru) convinced Hiruzen to wait until Sasuke arrives, the next match was moved up.
The next match was Kankuro vs Shino!
But Kankuro instantlywithdrew, since he thought, revealing hispuppets hidden mechanism might jeopardize their plan later on.
So it was now Shikamaru's and Temari's turn.
Naruto pushed the hesitating Shikamaru down and the match began!
Of course, Shikamaru forfeited at the end, which made Temari the winner, like in the original timeline.
Naruto then jumped down to the stage to shout angrily at Shikamaru.
While Naruto berated an annoyed Shikamaru, it was decided that they would continue to postpone Sasuke's match.
There was only one more match they could move up though, and it was Gaara vs Eiji!
"Gaara, I doubt I need to tell you this, but you can't lose until you face Sasuke in the later rounds, or it will be problematic for our plan..." - Kankuro
"..." - Gaara remained silent and appeared at the stage.
Eiji walked nonchalantly down, while Shikamaru and Naruto were still at the stage conversing there.
Then Naruto suddenly turnedtowards Eiji "Hey, you! Don't you dare lose to this creepy guy!" - Naruto
Eiji just shrugged his shoulders and ignored him.
"ARE YOU IGNORING ME?! JUSTYOU WAIT UNTIL YOU FACE ME!!"
"Calm down and let's go already. People are waiting for the match to start..." - Shikamaru took Naruto with him to leave the stage and recalled worryingly their scary encounter with Gaara not so long ago.
Meanwhile, on the spectatorstage, Tenten had a worried expression: 'So this is really you, Eiji? What happened to you after disappearing for 2 weeks without any word?'
Eiji and Gaara faced each other, but before Genma could start the match Eiji asked Gaara: "You know, I wanted to ask you for some time now...what's up with your black eye-rings? Do you want to rebel against society or something?"
"..." - Gaara
"To shy to answer? Whatever..." - Eiji picked his nose and looked towards Genma.
Genma then started thematch.
But Eiji didn't move, instead,he was in a thinking pose while continuingto pick his nose: 'Hmm, should I just defeat him? But will they even start their plan then? I think it would be best to just stall for time at least until Sasuke arrives and then just go with the flow...'
Gaara of course didn't wait like Eiji and emptied his sand gourd.
The sand transformed a giant sand arm and moved it towards the still contemplating Eiji.
'Hm?' - Eiji looked briefly at the sand arm, but he just continued to stand there.
But when the arm was about to him, it suddenly split in two and landed in two parts with Eiji standing between.
"!" - Gaara
"What was that speed? I couldn't even see any movement..." - Lee
"What? How is he able to cut Gaara's sand? This is impossible..." - Kankuro
Hmm, it sure feels weird being able to use my other hand without problems again...' - Eiji
His hand was actually healed, because of the self-healing ability he got from the Power of the White Snake.
Gaara was shocked for a moment before he got excited and had a scary expression and whispered something with mother.
"Shit, this is not good, it already started and he already forgot our plan..." Kankuro to Temari
"I thought only Sasuke would be able to get him this excited..." - Temari
"Fortunately it looks like it seems to have settled down." - Baki
Somehow Gaara was able tocalm down, so he manipulated the sand whichwas next to Eiji after his failed attack, to attackhim.
The two sand masses rushed towards Eiji at the same time and were about to crush him.
Eiji glanced at the sand masses before just vanishing.
He then appeared behind him and moved his arm.
"!" - Gaara's body cried out that he was in danger, so he recalled the sand to form a shield instantly.
But Eiji's movement was actually intended to just snap his booger towards Gaara.
The booger was blocked by the sand shield.
"Hm, you know, being over hygienic isn't really good for your health." - Eiji
"What is this guy, he is just playing with Gaara at this point..." - Kankuro
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Sasuke arrived at the spectator seats.
"SASUKE!!" - a worried Sakura rushed towards him, while Kakashi was berated by Guy: "You finally arrived? This time it was really close. What would you have done if your pupil got disqualified?"
"Well, looks like we still made it in time, so no reason to complain, right?" -Kakashi
"Humph!" - Guy
Meanwhile, Eiji, who for the whole time was splitting some of his attention to his surroundings, was smiling slightly: "'Looks like they finally arrived. So how about increasing the pressure and force the enemy to make a move? Meanwhile, I can use the time until they start acting, to try out using Sage Mode in an actual fight."
Somewhere far away in the Konoha woods, a Shadow Clone which gathered natural energy was dispelled.
While Gaara was shielding himself, he used a portion of his sand to move stealthily towards Eiji.
Eiji was right now focused on dispersing his Shadow Clone, so he didn't notice the sand until it was too late.
"It's over. Gaara's opponent got conceited and didn't pay enough attention. And now, since he is in contact with Gaara's sand, Gaara can just finish him off no matter what he tries to do..." - Kankuro
Eiji looked at the sand wrapped around his arm, which started to crush his bones while the rest of the sand was about to spread further to his body: 'Hmm I didn't want to try this, since I still feel pain, but whatever.'
He just cut his arm off and then jumped away from his position."
"THIS MADMAN!!... But considering the situation, it was the right choi-" - Kankuro stopped speaking when he saw something unbelievable.
Small white snakes gathered around the place where Eiji's arm was and transformed into a new one.
But this wasn't all.
Eiji looked different now, his skin looked like the scales of a snake, and purple pigmentation formed around his eyes, letting him look even more snake-like.
"Oh man, I'm so glad I already lost and don't need to fight against creepy snake or sand dudes..." - Shikamaru
"Yeah, normally I would say something about your lack of motivations, but this time I actually agree..." - Ino
"(Sad potato chip eating noises)" - 'Sasuke really arrived...' - Choji
"Hey Arina, I thought Eiji changed his look to clown around but...doesn't he look creepy now?" - Kotaru
"I'm just glad that he actually showed up, after disappearing without a word." - Arina
"Yeah, but you too thought that he just wanted some more time alone after...you know. But it looks like he underwent some kind of training...but it still looks creepy in my opinion..." - Kotaru
"Don't tell me..." - Orochimaru's happiness about finding someone interesting turned now into concern.
In his eyes, if Eiji was really able to enter sage mode, it would mean that there would be someone on Sannin level on Konoha's side right now, which would be dangerous for his plan.
Hiruzen who was next to him noticed the peculiarity of the "Kazekage's" behavior and asked: "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, I was just surprised that there would be someone else except for the Uchiha in Konoha, whose talent you need to look out for."
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Ugh, somehow this reminds me of that Orochimaru guy..." - Naruto already joined up with Sasuke and Kakashi at the spectator seats.
"Hmm, maybe...but if he uses what I think he is, then at least in one aspect he would be ahead of Orochimaru..."
"What do you mean?" - Sasuke had a grim expression as he recalled how strong Orochimaru was.
"Have you ever heard of sages?"
"Sages?" - Sakura
"Wait Kakashi, do you really mean that this kid here can -"
'Sages?' - Naruto had the image of some old and wise looking grandpa telling some stories at a bonfire in his head.
"I heard how there was a commotion not long ago, that a Genin in our village disappeared when he was attempting the Summoning Jutsu. The Hokage concluded then, that he ended up being stranded in one of the big three unexplored sage regions. Many who knew of this, thought that he wouldn't return, but he not only returned but actually learned Sage Mode..." - Kakashi
"..." - Guy had a serious expression and didn't know how to reply.
Tenten who heard that, made a gloomy face: 'Eiji you idiot...why do you always rush into dangerous situations...why don't you ever think about the people who are concerned about you?"
She remembers how he injured his hand when they were still little.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Lee who asked: "Guy sensei, what's the big deal about this sage thing?"
"Explaining would be difficult, so just watch and you will know."
Lee gulped, hearing Guy's serious town: 'What can this possibly be, for Guy-sensei to act like that?'
Eiji looked at his recovered arm: 'Yep, this still hurts...anyway it's my turn now'
He smiled towards Gaara who looked at him with shock through a hole in his shield: "You think you are cool being able to manipulate sand? Well, you are not the only one."
Next Eiji touched the ground and infused natural energy into it.
He was going to "breath" life into the earth.
While Sages of Mount Myoboku can use Frog Kata to use natural energy as extensions of their body to increase the range, Sages of Ryuchyi Cave can use: Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!
The ground shook violently, like a strong earthquake!
While Eiji was fighting in the arena, a shinobi rushed home as fast as he could.
Kimiko looked at a picture of her son Eiji and sighed.
The Hokage told her what happened, and that they should be prepared for the worst.
But suddenly Satoshi slammed the door open and rushed in.
"Dear, what's wrong, don't you have guard duty right now?"
He tried to say something, but he couldn't since he was out of breath from rushing home as fast as he could.
After a few tries, he managed to say those 3 words: "Eiji...he...returned!!"
Out of shock, she let the picture fall on the ground, where it broke.
"WHERE IS HE?!" - she recovered from her shock and shouted with a panicked voice.
"He...he...didn't want...to be late...for his chunin exam...so he" - without letting him finish, she grabbed her husband by the arm and rushed with him towards the arena.
'I'm gonna die from running...and my hangover is killing me as well...' - the poor Satoshi was sure he would collapse.
"Oh my..." - Sakura couldn't believe her eyes.
The arena looked completely different now.
The ground was a huge deep hole with a dozen huge large spikes coming out of this deep hole.
She was sure, that they were hole so deep, that if you fell into it, you would end up as meat paste!
But the place where Eiji was standing, was like an "island" in this vast hole with spikes.
The same was for Genma, Eiji left for him a small "island" as well.
Genma looked at the arena and thought: 'I really wanna go home...'
Gaara saved himself from turning into meat paste through falling, by flying on his sand.
'Hmm, when the old Snake Sage, told me about this, I kinda was uninterested to be honest, since I originally wanted to learn Sage Mode only to buff my kenjutsu. But it looks like to be quite useful...'
Orochimaru couldn't believe it!
Not because of Eiji's move, in fact, Orochimaru can do more damage without less effort in various ways, but because it is genuine Sage Mode!
Back then, when he discovered Ryuchi Cave, even though he gained the ability to mold natural Senjutsu chakra, because of all his body modifications, his body was too weak to use Sage Transformation to enter Sage Mode.
This was what Kakashi, meant when he said in one aspect Eiji was ahead of Orochimaru.
Anyway, Orochimaru knew, that since Gaara was a crucial part of his plan, he needed to act now or else his plan might fail!
"WHAT THE HELL, KAKASHI SENSEI?! WHAT DID HE DO?!" - Naruto
"I can't really tell you, since not much is known about Sage Mode..."
Naruto tightened his fist, while Sasuke had a dark expression: 'So this is the power of this Sage Mode?'
"This guy...this guy is a monster like Gaara, except for the fact that he is somewhat mentally stable..." - Kankuro
"He is really like an entirely different person when he fights..." - Temari
'What about our plan? What should I do now? ' - Baki
"Akamaru, calm down. Even though he looks creepy and is super strong, he is on our side...I hope..." - Kiba
'Scary...' - Hinata
'Hmm, with this strength, shouldn't he already easily finished his opponent? Isn't he just trying to show off? Really...this guy is so shameless.' - Shino
'Hmm, I had 2 more things I wanted to try...but looks like I'm about to run out of natural energy...but isn't it about time for them to make a move anyway?' - Eiji
Meanwhile, Gaara was flying in the air.
His situation was, to put it mildly, pretty fucked.
He needed his sand to fly, so he couldn't attack.
Also, his defense was way weaker now, since a portion of the sand he could use to defend, was needed to fly.
So he was in a complete passive state, where he can only fly around and wait for his opponent to attack.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Gaara started to lose it, and his transformation began.
"Coincidentally", right at the same time Gaara's transformation started, some shadowy figures in the spectator seats started to take action and used Genjutsu.