Although Furina's casual strike didn't have much power, it still left several thin black lines on Gaara's body, with bits of sand falling from them, giving off a rather eerie appearance.
Even with the protection of his Sand Armor, some pain was unavoidable. Though it wasn't intense, it constantly stimulated Gaara's nerves, while also making his killing intent grow denser and denser.
"Stay back." Ignoring Temari and Kankuro, who had rushed over to check on him, Gaara pressed his hands together. Sand continuously poured out from the gourd on his back. Clearly, after taking that hit just now, he had no intention of letting things end here.
Just as Gaara was about to make his move, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist, stopping his next action.
"Baki?" Furina recognized the person who had suddenly appeared. He was one of the few well-known high-level shinobi from Sunagakure, and also the teacher of Gaara and his two siblings.
And now that he had shown up, it was likely the fight wouldn't continue. After all, they had come to Konoha with a mission there was no way they would let Gaara run wild right now.
Just as Furina had expected, after Baki whispered a few words to Gaara, Gaara turned and returned to Temari and Kankuro's side. Although his expression still looked unpleasant, he indeed didn't continue attacking.
After calming Gaara down, as their team leader and jōnin, Baki naturally couldn't just stand by without saying anything. Sure, Sunagakure might be a bit weaker, but they were still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages they had their pride too.
"Is this how Konoha treats its guests? We traveled all this way to participate in your genin exams, only to receive this kind of treatment. Truly disappointing."
Hearing Baki's righteous-sounding speech, Furina almost couldn't hold back her laughter. This old guy was really good at twisting black and white guess there was a reason he could participate in this plan.
"To this gentleman whose name I don't know: although you've covered one eye, that doesn't mean you can turn a blind eye to the facts. Besides, you still have one eye uncovered. Please get clear on who started the trouble before saying things like that."
"One eye? Hahahaha! Did you hear that, Sasuke? Furina described it so perfectly!"
Naruto didn't care at all about Baki's displeased expression and burst out laughing loudly. In his view, Baki and the guy who had just bullied Konohamaru were in cahoots. Now that he had a chance to get revenge, of course he wouldn't let it pass.
"Heh, you can't exactly say that. Maybe the eye he covered has some special ability like Kakashi-sensei, who only uses it at critical moments."
Baki's earlier words had clearly been directed at Naruto and Furina. As teammates from the same squad, Sasuke naturally wouldn't stay silent.
After his dead-serious analysis, Baki's already ugly expression became even worse.
Did he have any special ability? Of course not he knew that himself. The name "Sharingan Kakashi" was famous far and wide; how could he possibly be compared to that guy? This was obviously sarcasm aimed right at him. Special ability? Maybe glaucoma was more like it.
"Wow, so that's how it is! Sasuke, you're so thoughtful. I was wondering who in their right mind would go around putting on a real-life performance of 'turning a blind eye' for no reason~"
"Heh." Watching the two of them echoing each other from a distance, Baki's expression grew colder and colder. He hadn't expected them to give him zero face. In that case, a small punishment probably wouldn't be a problem.
However, to avoid escalating things too much, Baki naturally wouldn't make a move himself. Instead, he used his chakra and killing intent to apply pressure. In his view, dealing with a few kids like this was more than enough.
After all, he was a veteran jōnin. And though Furina had managed to send Gaara flying, in his eyes she had only taken advantage of a surprise attack. In a proper fight, she wouldn't get that kind of opening.
Was Baki's pressure effective? It was but not by much. In Furina's opinion, the other's level was roughly on par with Zabuza's, or perhaps even a bit inferior.
And right now she was considerably stronger than when she had fought Zabuza. With one side gaining and the other losing, Baki's pressure felt to her like nothing more than a light breeze at most a bit chilly.
Though it had little effect on her, it still had a significant impact on Naruto, Sakura, and the others beside her. Their conditions weren't great and that didn't even include the not-yet-graduated Konohamaru and the rest.
Originally, Furina had planned to see how long Baki's monkey show could last. But after noticing that the others were also being affected, she had no choice but to drop the idea of watching the drama. She stepped forward and unleashed her own chakra to clash directly against Baki's.
Once the two forces collided and canceled each other out, the pressure on everyone else vanished instantly. They all looked toward Furina with gratitude if she hadn't acted just now, they probably would have embarrassed themselves in another moment.
"Hm!"
Meanwhile, Baki upon discovering that Furina's chakra could actually match his own couldn't hide the shock on his face. A genin who had only recently graduated from the academy was already this strong? What terrifying talent.
"Damn it." Realizing how gifted Furina was, Baki immediately judged that if she didn't die, she would surely become a major threat to Sunagakure in the future. His mind began calculating how to eliminate her during this plan while he had the chance.
"As expected of Konoha always producing geniuses. But the shinobi of Sunagakure aren't just for show either. In the upcoming Chūnin Exams, we will definitely defeat you."
Though he had already resolved to kill her in his heart, Baki showed no trace of it on the surface. Instead, he acted like someone who looked forward to fair competition looking quite upright and proper.
"This old bastard." Watching Baki lead Gaara and the others away, Furina couldn't help sneering inwardly. Thanks to the live stream, she understood his true thoughts all too clearly.
Though Baki hadn't shown a single flaw in his performance, the stream content had exposed his intentions completely. No matter how great his acting was, it was useless.
"Damn, that one-eyed guy is really asking for it. Scared the kids might win so the old man steps in personally? I bet he doesn't live past this chapter."
"Looks like someone's going to cause trouble in this Chūnin Exam. Otherwise, if it was just a normal exam, he definitely wouldn't have a chance to act. And this guy seems to know a lot he's probably one of the masterminds behind it."