https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-323-Might-Guy-s-Terrifying-Strength-5-2k-/12558427/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-325-Kakashi-s-White-Fang-Makes-an-Appearance-4-6k-/12558429/
Chapter 324: The Weight on the Son of the Fire Shadow (4k)
Chapter 324: The Weight on the Son of the Fire Shadow (4k)
"This should be our Fire Country's genius ninja." Seeing Might Guy instantly kill the Kirigakure ninja, the official from the Land of Fire smiled.
Although Kisame Hoshigaki had also won easily, there was no doubt that Might Guy's one-hit kill was more impressive.
"As expected, the ninja from Konoha is a cut above the rest. He's probably the strongest among all the participants," a spectator marveled.
From the perspective of ordinary people, Might Guy had just rushed in and taken out his opponent in an instant. They didn't even realize how quickly Might Guy had reached in front of Nobuhiko Noguchi, his speed was just too fast.
Undoubtedly, with such a dominant performance, Might Guy was considered the strongest in this exam.
"The son of that eternal genin is actually this strong?" Some ninjas who knew Might Guy rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Although they didn't understand why Might Guy, an eternal genin, had been promoted to a chunin, those who had looked down on him before continued to do so. In this situation, they naturally couldn't fathom that Might Guy would be so powerful.
However, their baseless speculation was about to be proven wrong. Might Guy used his strength to show them that he was incredibly strong, a super strong ninja who could finish his opponent in under half a minute.
The smile on Yuan Shi's face vanished. Nobuhiko Noguchi had lost too quickly, not even able to block a single move, which was truly embarrassing for Kirigakure.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi merely smiled slightly without saying anything.
Looking at the excited green figure in the audience, Might Guy closed the Eight Inner Gates and his breathing technique, responding with a brilliant smile.
Today, he would make his father proud.
"Fourth match, Heizei versus Inuzuka Midori. Please enter the field promptly."
After Might Guy returned to the waiting room, Hiruko announced the names of the next combatants.
"Midori is our last hope now. Good luck!" Inuzuka Midori cheered herself on inwardly.
Aburame Shinya had fallen in the preliminaries, and Nara Shio had lost to Nohara Rin in the second match. Now, she was the only remaining candidate on the team.
She had also fought against Heizei and knew that this Kirigakure ninja was tricky. But Inuzuka Midori didn't want to fall here. Since the two of them had made it this far, at least one of them should advance to the second round; otherwise, it would seem like they were too weak if they all lost in the top sixteen.
Heizei stood up calmly and walked towards the exit of the field, not paying too much attention to this match.
After all, he wasn't a true genin, and aside from monsters like Kisame Hoshigaki and Might Guy among the examinees, Heizei didn't think he would lose to anyone else.
"Go for it, Midori!" Obito, who had fought alongside her, also cheered for Inuzuka Midori.
"Call me either Inuzuka or Midori. 'Little Midori' sounds terrible," Inuzuka Midori retorted as she turned her head.
"Okay, Little Midori," Obito replied subconsciously.
If she hadn't been weaker than him, Inuzuka Midori would have really wanted to punch Obito.
Without correcting Obito further, Inuzuka Midori quickened her steps and arrived at the battlefield.
"Why don't you just surrender? You'll only end up injured, and the outcome is already clear," Heizei said calmly, trying to persuade her to give up.
Hearing Heizei's words, Inuzuka Midori clenched her teeth and glared at him furiously. Including their previous grudge from the Forest of Death, Inuzuka Midori's anger reached its peak at this moment, and she swore to herself that even if she couldn't win, she would at least bite off a chunk of Heizei's flesh.
The white puppy, Shiromaru, on Inuzuka Midori's shoulder seemed to sense her anger and barked menacingly at Heizei.
"The battle begins!"
As soon as Hiruko finished speaking, Inuzuka Midori immediately used her Beast Mimicry Jutsu, crouching on all fours on the ground, while Shiromaru transformed into a copy of Inuzuka Midori and jumped onto her back.
"A futile struggle," Heizei remarked, seeing that Inuzuka Midori had no intention of surrendering. He began forming hand seals.
"Mist Concealment Jutsu!"
Thick fog suddenly enveloped the entire venue, obscuring Heizei and Inuzuka Midori from view.
Many spectators were left bewildered, their vision completely obscured by the mist.
"Let's play a guessing game. Heart, thigh, head, or arm—which part do you think I'll attack first?" Heizei's voice echoed eerily through the mist.
Although she couldn't see Heizei, Inuzuka Midori remained calm. Others might fear this jutsu, but her clan's secret technique happened to be the perfect counter to it!
"Attack me? You wish! Take this!" Inuzuka Midori sniffed with her nose, quickly locating Heizei's position, and then charged forward with Shiromaru, both in their transformed states, to launch an attack.
Boom! Boom!
Despite facing two opponents, the experienced Heizei calmly received the attack.
"What's going on? Is it a coincidence, or...?" Heizei was surprised that Inuzuka Midori could find his position so quickly and accurately.
To test his theory, Heizei tried using the Body Flicker Technique to move to another spot, but Inuzuka Midori immediately located him again.
Heizei then engaged in close-quarters combat with Midori, utilizing his water-style jutsu and swordsmanship.
Although Midori was the strongest in her team for one-on-one battles, she was clearly outmatched by Heizei, a chunin who had chosen to take the chunin exams.
Midori's body was gradually marked with wounds, but she refused to admit defeat. She had vowed that even if she lost, she wouldn't make it easy for Heizei.
Midori adopted a reckless fighting style, no longer dodging Heizei's attacks. Instead, she chose to counter-attack whenever Heizei struck.
Despite Heizei's caution, he ultimately sustained injuries due to Midori's relentless offense.
Midori grabbed Heizei's sword with her hand, and Shiromaru seized the opportunity to use his 'Nipping Fang' technique, wounding Heizei's right leg.
Seeing Heizei injured, Midori fell to the ground, satisfied.
If her strength allowed it, she would have wanted to do better, but this was the best she could do for now.
"The winner is Heizei!" Hiruko promptly announced the result of the battle.
Heizei glared at Midori but did not dare to make another move.
"What a nuisance. I have to fight a monster like that in the second round." Victory did not bring excitement to Heizei; there was no glory in a chunin defeating a genin.
Instead of rejoicing in his current victory, he contemplated how to minimize his injuries in the next round, as his opponent would be Might Guy.
Severely injured, Midori was quickly taken away by medical ninjas, while Heizei also left to receive treatment in the area designated for examinee care.
Seeing Heizei win the battle, Yuan Shi's expression softened slightly.
Currently, there had been three battles between Konoha and Kirigakure, with Kirigakure winning two of them, so they still had the upper hand.
"The fifth match, Uchiha Obito versus Sarutobi Asuma!"
"Sarutobi Asuma, isn't he the son of the Third Hokage? He's already at the age to participate in the Chunin Exams."
"Uchiha Obito, I haven't heard of this name before. The son of the Third Hokage should win, right?"
The majority of the spectators favored Asuma, not because they knew of his abilities or jutsu, but simply because he was the son of the Third Hokage.
As the son of the Third Hokage, Asuma was expected to win; losing would be abnormal.
"How dare they underestimate our Uchiha clan." Uchiha Inabi disapproved of these remarks.
Having lost to Obito himself, he was well aware of Obito's formidable strength. Obito wasn't just strong among genin; he was among the strongest even among chunin.
"It's fine. Obito will prove the excellence of the Uchiha clan with his strength," Uchiha Hachiro said calmly.
In his opinion, Obito might not be able to defeat Kisame or Might Guy, as they were monsters, but defeating Asuma shouldn't be a problem.
The reason was simple: if Asuma possessed such formidable strength, his fame as a genius would have spread throughout Konoha, given his status as the son of the Hokage.
Uchiha Inabi nodded and turned his attention to the center of the arena, ready to focus on the upcoming battle.
It was difficult to hear the discussions in the audience from the battlefield, especially for ninjas with keen senses.
Although Asuma couldn't make out the words, he had a good idea of what the spectators above were talking about.
They were probably discussing how he, as the son of the Hokage, should win, and how it would be a disgrace if he lost. He was all too familiar with these expectations, having heard them since he was young.
Winning was taken for granted, as it was what the son of the Hokage ought to do. Losing would mean that he hadn't trained hard enough, and it would reflect poorly on the Hokage's family.
"It's easy for them to say, but Obito is not an easy opponent," Asuma thought as he watched Obito waving cheerfully to the audience.
Asuma was unsure of the outcome of the fight against Obito. The fire-style jutsu Obito had used during the preliminaries had left a deep impression on him, and he wondered what new techniques Obito might have picked up in the past month.
Losing to Obito wouldn't make Asuma sad; in fact, he might even feel secretly pleased.
However, Asuma wouldn't deliberately lose because there was someone in the audience he cared about.
Asuma didn't want Mu Yue to see him lose easily and think that her teachings had been in vain. He also wanted to prove himself to Hiruzen Sarutobi and show his strength.
Asuma looked up at the audience. Although it was difficult to distinguish faces from such a distance, he imagined that among them was a golden-haired figure, smiling gently down at him.
"That boy's going to get crushed by Uchiha Obito," Tsunade remarked upon hearing Asuma's name.
"Why?" Mu Yue turned to Tsunade and asked.
"However, going by Asuma's age, I think..." Jiraiya trailed off as he saw Tsunade's fist slowly rising, and he decided to swallow the rest of his words. Tsunade's punches were notoriously heavy.
"Begin the battle!"
As Biriu's voice rang out across the venue, Mu Yue turned her attention back to the arena, watching the fight unfold.
"Breath of Flames, Full Concentration Breath!" Obito swiftly entered the Full Concentration Breath state, enhancing the speed of his Fire Release chakra nature transformation.
However, he did not immediately activate the Breath of Flames chakra mode, as it was too taxing. Instead, he wanted to test Asuma's capabilities first before deciding whether to use it.
Asuma, too, entered the basic breathing state to augment his abilities.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!!!
Asuma withdrew three kunai from his ninja tool pouch and imbued them with Wind Release, enhancing them with wind-attribute chakra before hurling them at Obito.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito concentrated his chakra and swiftly performed a nature transformation in his throat, spewing forth a massive fireball.
The fireball engulfed the incoming shuriken, causing them to crash to the ground.
Asuma chose not to confront the attack directly and instead dodged with a swift movement.
Obito had not expected the Fireball Jutsu to hit Asuma, so he immediately burst forth with his chakra and closed the distance.
While Asuma lagged behind Obito in terms of breathing techniques and physical attributes, the past month had not been in vain. In addition to mastering the basic breathing technique, Asuma had deepened his understanding of Wind Release and, under Mu Yue's guidance, learned to use Wind Style to accelerate his movements.
With the boost in speed from Wind Style, Asuma managed to hold his ground, and the battle appeared evenly matched on the surface, with both ninjas trading blows.
Of course, this was only on the surface.
"Obito's physical strength is so much greater than mine. When did he get so good at taijutsu?" Asuma wondered, having expected to gain the upper hand with his new techniques.
Having a rough idea of Asuma's capabilities, Obito activated his Sharingan, causing his eyes to turn crimson with two tomoe spinning within.
With the Sharingan, Obito's insight soared, and he could now see the flaws in Asuma's attacks.
Asuma, already at a disadvantage, quickly fell into a more inferior position and was forced to retreat by Obito's relentless assault.
Some of the guards saw Asuma's plight and instinctively glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, his expression remained similar to how it had been during the previous fights, not showing much change.
"He's actually suppressing the Fire Shadow's son. This Uchiha Obito is strong."
"Could he win?"
No ninja would dare to belittle the Fire Shadow's son in such a grand setting. At most, they might grumble about it to themselves or with close friends after the fact.
Ordinary people's opinions might not matter to the Fire Shadow, but as a ninja, one should be aware of the repercussions. Moreover, even if the Fire Shadow didn't mind, his subordinates would be eager to 'express' their displeasure.
Fugaku Uchiha, observing Obito's steady advance and gaining the upper hand, nodded slightly. In his eyes, Obito was set to pass the exam and become a chunin.
"With the rank of chunin, he can directly join the Police Force. If he were to join, he would undoubtedly receive the best guidance," said Uchiha Hachiro, regretting Obito's previous refusal to join their clan's forces.
He believed that the Uchiha should teach their own, as no one understood the Uchiha better than themselves.
Seeing that his taijutsu was ineffective, Asuma had no choice but to change strategies. He maximized the use of Wind Release, suddenly surging forward with increased speed to create distance.
Although he lacked confidence in his ninjutsu, Asuma had no other option at this point. If he didn't use Wind Style ninjutsu, he would be struck down by Obito's taijutsu.
"Those people must be thinking that I haven't trained hard enough and am all talk," Asuma thought to himself as he formed hand seals. "They don't know how strong my opponent is."
"He's so fast. I guess it's time for ninjutsu, then." Sensing that he couldn't catch up to Asuma and that continuing the chase would only result in taking a face full of Wind Style, Obito also began forming hand seals to use Fire Style ninjutsu.
Today, I wrote 9.2k words, making up for a bit of yesterday's shortfall. I'll continue to work hard tomorrow. Also, this isn't intentional writer's block; it's just too late, and before I knew it, it was one in the morning. I'm exhausted!
(End of Chapter)
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