Konoha

The group from Sunagakure for the chunin exam left the village on the appointed day and spent a week traveling before arriving in Konoha, where the rest of the teams had been gathering over the past few days.

For this, they used a puppet that Takara made to transport some things during a mission when he ran out of sealing scrolls and didn't have materials to make more as Maki taught him, the centipede carriage, inspired by the one used in the Re:Monster series.

(By then, Takara still hadn't created Nakime yet.)

It's just that instead of bones, it used many wooden legs that provided perfect smooth movement either in the desert or on the dirt paths of the forest. It consumes chakra depending on the speed at which it moves and the weight it carries, so with the whole group contributing their chakra in turns, it was quite comfortable.

Takara wasn't going to waste his reserves or the toxins on others.

The leader of the group was Baki, the jonin and at the same time the sensei who was supposed to escort Temari's team to the exam. When he learned that Takara would join the exam, although a little surprised because he knew Rasa's attitude toward the genin, he did not question the orders like a professional ninja.

That, and the look of the old lady Chiyo telling him to shut up and get out of here. That old witch can be very expressive with her eyes...

Of course, he wasn't clueless about the old lady's attitude towards Takara, he suspected like many others like him that Chiyo saw the shadow of her grandson in the genin and didn't want to repeat the same mistakes of the past.

Between that and the possible guilt for not preventing Maki from taking the Kazekage's mission...

Yes, many knew that the mission Maki received was essentially a death sentence disguised. They just can't understand why, nor could they interfere in the Kazekage's plans without suffering consequences.

"It's so unfair that Konoha has so many resources around it," Kankuro complained as he continued examining his transportation not very discreetly. "Just imagine any of the forests on the way, how many puppets could I make with so much wood?"

"It feels good that the air isn't hot, carrying the scent of green grass and water from the rivers," Temari sighed as she reclined on the centipede carriage's cushions. "It's relaxing."

Gaara was with his arms crossed and his eyes closed in silence.

Since the toxins entered his life, sleep has become more frequent and his self-control has improved, so if he has nothing to do, he will go to sleep to have peace.

Takara fully supported that mindset, the more times Gaara slept, the faster he collected the Shukaku's chakra.

"I must admit that this puppet is much more practical than horse-drawn carriages, give it enough chakra and it can move day and night without stopping to rest," Baki commented as he watched Takara control the vehicle. "We will stop when we are nearing Konoha's area of influence and continue the rest of the way on foot."

They continued until Baki ordered them to stop, and after storing the puppet, Takara took out the Ram and Rem puppets, did a quick check, and when he confirmed that there were no defects, they went jumping between the branches of the trees until they arrived in Konoha.

After passing through the gate and being led to the residence Konoha had prepared for them, Baki made a gesture to Takara and he released several toxins to inspect the surroundings.

"Two listening seals and a chakra monitoring seal," Takara gestured to inform everyone.

"Can you neutralize them?" Baki asked with hand gestures.

Takara's head tilted slightly as his toxins settled on the seals and drained the chakra they contained, leaving them as just pieces of ordinary paper and ink.

"Right, sometimes I forget that your puppets do that..." Baki thought without words.

Thinking back, his question was a bit stupid.

Kankuro, on the other hand, was biting his thumb nail, trying to figure out how the hell Takara managed to have the puppets suck in the chakra without exploding in the process.

Gaara looked at Baki, asking with his gaze if they were done and he could go back to sleep.

"You can move freely for now; remember that we will undoubtedly be watched by Konoha, so don't give them excuses to cause us trouble," Baki said as he walked towards the door. "Leaving aside the plan, try to perform as best as possible and try to gather some information on your possible competitors."

"If the opportunity arises during the exam, do we eliminate them?" Takara asked.

Baki considered it for a moment, weighing whether it could jeopardize the attack on Konoha.

"Only when you are sure you won't leave any traces," Baki nodded, Konoha's talents had been emerging non-stop and eliminating some could be beneficial for the future. "Remember that they have clans like the Aburame and Inuzuka, so make sure to take all necessary measures."

Everyone nodded, and Baki left, leaving the four alone with the Ram and Rem puppets.

"It's still early, do you want to take a stroll around the village to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings?" Temari suggested, feeling a desire to explore the place with her own eyes.

"No," Gaara already took out the toxin and lay down on the bed, ready to return to his dreams.

"Come on, I want to see if there's anything useful," Kankuro agreed.

"Takara?" Temari turned to look at the only member who wasn't part of her family in the room.

"I'll go on my own with my 'teammates'," Takara replied as he pointed with his thumb to Ram and Rem. "I need to act a little to make them more realistic."

He wasn't going to say that he wanted to map out the important parts of the village. He needed to know where some places he was interested in were, like the cemetery, the forges, the hospital, etc.

How else was he going to know where to steal while everyone was busy with the attack?

Sure, maybe later he should give a lot of stuff as loot to the village, to console them and at the same time prove that he did his part, but that wasn't what interested him the most.

And that's exactly what he did, he took a tourist brochure from the village at one of the tourist stands and played the role while Ram and Rem accompanied him, acting as a human would.

He even stopped at a street stand to buy some takoyakis for them along with a drink, making them eat them and pretend they were too hot to stick out their tongues, quickly taking a sip to cool them down.

Takara was debating whether to pass by Ichiraku Ramen or not, but remembering his mask, he shook his head. Unless they had private rooms like in some barbecue places (and he knew they didn't have those), he wouldn't eat out.

By the time the day ended, he returned to Sunagakure team's quarters knowing all the places he wanted, having convinced the Anbu who were watching him of the truth of his companions and adjusting in his mind the plans for the exam.

"Mmm?" Takara saw that Kankuro was in a better mood than when he left. "Did something interesting happen?"

"We beat up a pesky kid who bumped into me and a group of idiots who tried to help him," Kankuro boasted, as if hitting a smaller child were some kind of achievement. "These Konoha genins are too spoiled; they've probably never killed before."

Takara fell silent, turned his head to see Gaara still sleeping and nodded. In fact, he didn't remember anyone from Konoha's generation having killed before the chunin exams.

Pretty stupid of their jonins, since it would be better to do it for the first time in a controlled environment than in a critical moment for real.

But he won't complain, this will play in his favor.

The night came, and Takara had no choice but to sleep in the facilities with the rest. Ideally, he would prefer to sleep in his hideout after calling Nakime, but he couldn't just disappear and reappear the next morning.

Not without the Anbu searching for him all night, so he had to use Ram and Rem to do "guard shifts" while he slept. It might seem like a paranoid distrustful act, but that was better than looking like an easy target to eliminate.