https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-328-The-Astonishing-Power-of-Thunder-Flash-7k-/12558432/
Chapter 327: Might of the Blazing Iron Mountain
Chapter 327: Might of the Blazing Iron Mountain
Upon hearing the names of the examinees, many spectators immediately became alert and turned their attention to the center of the arena.
After the first round of battles, the audience had a good understanding of the candidates' strengths and could discern which ones were more formidable.
After all, while ordinary people might not comprehend the intricacies of nature-altering ninjutsu, they could still gauge the examinees' prowess based on the scale of their techniques and the speed at which they dispatched their opponents.
Kakashi, who had once spewed a vast sea of flames in his fight against Asuma, was clearly a force to be reckoned with. Similarly, Mei Terumi had effortlessly eliminated her adversaries, indicating her formidable abilities.
Moreover, with one being a ninja from Kirigakure and the other from Konoha, this match promised to be captivating.
"Last time, I lost to you due to my lack of stamina. This time, I'll show you my true strength," Obito declared confidently.
He was still rankled by his defeat in the Death Forest, especially since he had become stronger and could easily defeat his peers, with the exception of Mu Yue's other disciples.
"That's a nice thought, but do you think I was using my full strength in our previous match?" Mei retorted, refusing to back down from his bravado. Anyone could talk tough.
"Begin!" declared Hiruzen as soon as the two contestants took their positions.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito immediately focused his breathing, formed the necessary hand seals, and unleashed a massive fireball toward Mei.
While he knew that this technique was unlikely to defeat her, he couldn't think of a more suitable opening fire jutsu.
"Water Style: Water Pillar Jutsu!"
Mei, remaining in her spot, performed the necessary hand seals and unleashed her own ninjutsu. The water sphere she spat out was three times larger than Obito's fireball. When the two elements clashed, his fireball was instantly extinguished, and the water sphere continued advancing toward him.
While such a large water sphere couldn't inflict significant damage, Obito was aware of Mei's trick of directly converting it into a water dragon bullet. Thus, he swiftly moved away from the path of the water sphere.
"I shouldn't have made my move back then. I revealed some of my capabilities to him," Mei lamented inwardly.
Seeing that she couldn't outmaneuver Obito, Mei cut off the chakra supply to her Water Pillar Jutsu. This technique actually required continuous chakra maintenance to enable the direct conversion of the water sphere into a water dragon bullet without the need for hand seals. It was essentially an application of chakra nature transformation.
The unwieldy large water sphere lacked the ability to pursue its target and crashed to the ground, causing water to splash everywhere.
Obito watched Mei with a casual expression. He was biding his time, knowing that engaging in a direct fire jutsu confrontation with Mei's water jutsu wasn't a wise strategy.
He wasn't foolish; he had lost their previous encounter precisely because of such a head-on clash. This time, he intended to employ a different tactic.
Mei also refrained from making any hasty moves. While her water jutsu countered Obito's fire jutsu, she was aware that his taijutsu was considerably more formidable than hers.
Of course, their inaction didn't mean they remained stationary.
Mei swiftly scanned the entire arena. Initially, there had been numerous trees, but after so many battles, they had either been knocked down or burned, leaving only open ground and a small pond.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" Mei dodged the shuriken that Obito threw at her and swiftly performed the necessary hand seals to execute another ninjutsu.
As Obito noticed the water dragon seemed to be herding him toward the small pond, he unleashed his chakra, using the Body Flicker Technique to create distance and dash toward the edge of the arena, running along the perimeter wall.
He was aware that water jutsu became more potent when used near a body of water, even if it was just a small pond. It could still provide Mei with some advantage.
"Fire Style: Blaze Chakra Mode!"
Obito enhanced his breathing, entering the Blaze Chakra Mode and further augmenting his physical capabilities. He then activated his Sharingan to enhance his insight, using agile footwork to perfectly evade the water dragon bullet, causing it to smash into the wall behind him.
Simultaneously, Obito reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out a shuriken, and infused it with fire-attribute chakra before hurling it at Mei.
"Lava Style: Lava Monster Jutsu!"
Mei concentrated chakra in her mouth, performing a water and earth nature transformation to combine them into lava-style chakra. Finally, she spat out a substantial amount of yellow viscous liquid.
The yellow liquid possessed strong corrosive and adhesive properties. Through his Sharingan, Obito clearly saw that the moment his shuriken made contact with the liquid, it fused with it, and there seemed to be some subtle changes occurring on the metal surface.
Although the changes were minor due to the brief contact, the Sharingan's powerful insight allowed Obito to perceive this detail.
"What kind of jutsu is this? It doesn't seem like a water jutsu, and it's incredibly powerful," Obito thought, recalling Mei's words before the battle.
Apparently, Mei hadn't been bluffing; she truly had hidden capabilities.
Just as Obito contemplated testing her with a fire jutsu, Mei spat out another two mouthfuls of the yellow liquid.
Out of caution, Obito didn't counter with a jutsu but instead dodged nimbly.
Perhaps there was some drawback to this technique, as Obito found it relatively easy to evade.
However, at that moment, Obito suddenly realized that the initial batch of viscous liquid had solidified into a gray wall.
Recalling how effortlessly he had dodged the previous attack, Obito instantly sensed that something was amiss.
He couldn't fathom Mei's intentions, but he was certain that she wouldn't make meaningless moves. She was, after all, a formidable opponent who had bested him once.
"Fire Fist!"
Obito compressed a large amount of chakra into his fist and, in an instant, converted it all into fire-attribute chakra. He then violently slammed his fist into the gray wall beside him.
Boom!!
The formidable force of the punch, coupled with the fierce flames, immediately blasted a hole through the gray wall. Obito strode through the opening and headed toward the center of the arena.
"It's still not enough, huh? It's troublesome when my tactics are exposed," Mei remarked, feeling the battle becoming more challenging.
From the moment she had used the water dragon bullet, her objective hadn't been to attack Obito directly or even drive him toward the pond. Instead, she had aimed to guide him toward the perimeter wall of the arena.
This way, she could use her lava jutsu to create a wall, crafting a semi-enclosed space to amplify the might of her steam jutsu.
While steam jutsu was more destructive than lava jutsu, it had one drawback: its power diminished significantly in such an open space.
Mei couldn't create a fully enclosed space in the middle of the open arena, and Obito wouldn't be foolish enough to fight her within a confined area. Thus, she opted for a step-by-step approach to forge a semi-enclosed space.
However, Obito's reaction was swifter than she had anticipated. He had immediately deduced her plan upon witnessing her use of steam jutsu in the Death Forest.
Having expended chakra on multiple jutsu without achieving any tangible results, Mei felt a sense of crisis. She swiftly made her way toward the pond, intending to reduce the chakra consumption of her water jutsu.
But Obito wasn't about to let Mei reach the pond so easily. After being pursued for so long, the flames in his heart raged fiercely.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"
Obito spat out numerous small fireballs toward Mei. While the fireballs weren't particularly large, their quantity was impressive, resulting in an overall strike range that surpassed that of the fireball jutsu.
Although Obito's Blaze Chakra Mode was not yet complete and couldn't be directly released without hand seals, it allowed him to simplify the necessary hand seals, making his ninjutsu faster.
After spitting out over ten fireballs, Obito immediately stopped releasing them and, with a burst of chakra from his feet, rushed towards Mei.
"Fire Style: Leaf Whirlwind!"
When the flaming whirlwind kick made contact with the water shield, the shield that had blocked several fireballs instantly shattered, and Mei was sent flying.
"Water Style: Water Column Jutsu!"
Mei didn't have time to get up. Still half-lying on the ground, she started forming hand seals at incredible speed, gathering a large amount of chakra and spitting out an enormous ball of water—three times the size of her initial water sphere! The massive water ball instantly enveloped Obito as he rushed towards her.
But Obito was prepared. Holding his breath, he erupted with all his breathing power, pushing his Blaze Chakra Mode to its limit. His entire body's chakra ignited, fueling his strength.
Without time for further thought, Mei immediately manipulated the water sphere as she saw Obito swiftly moving within it.
She intended to transform the water column into a water dragon bullet, just as she had done previously, to defeat Obito.
Unfortunately, the Obito before her now was slightly different from the one she had faced in the Death Forest.
Obito's Blaze Chakra Mode had transformed during his intense battle with Ajisai, and his strength in this limit state had greatly increased.
Mei moved swiftly, and the water sphere was rapidly changing form, but Obito was faster. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance to just three meters away from her.
Mei decisively abandoned control over most of the water flow and instantly completed the transformation into a water dragon bullet.
A not-so-thick water dragon bullet rushed towards Obito.
She dared not gamble on whether she could finish the transformation before Obito reached her, because if she lost that bet, her journey in the Chunin Exams would end, and her path to becoming the Mizukage would be affected.
While a weaker water dragon bullet might not be able to defeat Obito, it should be enough to repel him.
"Fire Style: Blazing Collision!"
Obito activated the power of his Blaze Chakra Mode, his entire body igniting with orange flames. Chakra gathered at his shoulders as he crashed into Mei's hastily formed water dragon bullet with an iron mountain's force.
Mei's water dragon bullet, transformed from the water column, didn't require hand seals, and Obito's fire-style ninjutsu also needed none.
Boom!!
The moment Obito's shoulder collided with the water dragon, the flames on his body burned even more fiercely. The powerful impact, coupled with the intense heat of the Blaze Chakra Mode, caused the not-so-thick water dragon bullet to shatter.
The rapidly changing battle situation amazed the spectators.
Just moments ago, Mei had seemed to have the upper hand, and now, in less than a minute, the tables had turned.
"This Uchiha Obito is impressive," thought the officials from the Fire Country, believing that Obito might be the strongest candidate in the Chunin Exams.
Obito's stance, engulfed in flames, subconsciously made them feel that he was stronger, which was far more startling to ordinary people than simply spitting out a fireball.
"This guy still had a trump card up his sleeve when I fought him," Asuma said, shocked, watching Obito enveloped in flames.
He had thought that even though he lost, he had forced Obito to use all his tricks.
"How did he do that? Why wasn't he harmed by the flames?" Moegi felt her knowledge of ninjutsu being challenged.
How could there be a fire-style ninjutsu body technique? That's not what a ninja does.
"He finally learned his lesson after taking so many hits," Kakashi thought, nodding inwardly as he watched Obito's impending victory.
When he saw Obito being lured to the edge of the arena, Kakashi wanted to jump in and take control, but thankfully, Obito figured it out in time.
With her ninjutsu disrupted, Mei also stopped channeling chakra. She stood there, stunned, as Obito, still engulfed in flames, approached her.
"I told you, I would win this time," Obito said, his flaming palm aimed at Mei, who was half-lying on the ground.
If this were a real battlefield, he could instantly release the flames and kill her.
"You win," Mei said, lowering her head in disappointment.
She could accept defeat, but this outcome left her feeling terrible.
Although she had shown her full strength, she didn't know if losing in the second round would still impress the village's higher-ups.
She had initially prepared a bunch of strategies for fighting Maito Gai and Kakashi, but now they were useless.
"Uchiha Obito wins!" declared the referee, Bihiru, announcing the victor to the entire arena.
The supporters of Konoha cheered loudly. Maito Gai had won the previous match, and now Obito had won, too—two consecutive wins, and this was only the second round!
"Did Konoha also send young Chunin to participate in the exams?" Yuan Shi wondered.
Kirigakure had specifically chosen several young Chunin and some powerful Genin to suppress Konoha in these Chunin Exams, but the results were not as expected. Yuan Shi couldn't help but suspect that Konoha had done the same thing.
How could you call Maito Gai's taijutsu, Uchiha Obito's fire jutsu, and Kakashi's speed 'Genin' level?
After winning, Obito didn't immediately return to the waiting room. He deactivated his breathing technique but kept his Sharingan active, using its enhanced vision to spot Haruno Ino, who was smiling and seemed happy about his victory.
"Hehe," Obito smiled in satisfaction. Although he knew Ino couldn't hear him, he still waved and mouthed a 'thank you.'
Upon returning to the waiting room, Obito immediately confronted Kakashi, enthusiastically recounting all the clever decisions he had made during the battle.
In summary, it was all due to his brilliant intellect that he achieved victory; it had nothing to do with strength but everything to do with skill.
"If you reverse the content, it wouldn't be a problem," Kakashi commented.
"Momochi Zabuza versus Hatake Kakashi!"
Bihiru's voice once again announced the next match.
"Pfft, I'll see what earth-shattering wisdom your battle will showcase," Obito scoffed.
Kakashi didn't argue and strode into the arena at a relaxed pace.
Indeed, this battle wouldn't showcase any profound wisdom because the opponent's strength was average.
Even before his training with Pakura, Kakashi could have defeated Momochi Zabuza without much difficulty, let alone now, after awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan and receiving special training.
(End of Chapter)
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