"Contestant Uchiha Itachi, please enter."
"Contestant Kazuya Anda, please enter."
The third battle soon began. Upon hearing the names of the contestants announced over the broadcast, many spectators immediately became alert, preparing to watch the match seriously.
"Just hearing the contestants' names makes me feel like we're about to see an exciting battle." Mabui smiled and sighed.
"Indeed." Kotetsu Hagane nodded. "After all, it's Uchiha Itachi. I estimate quite a few spectators came specifically for him."
"I heard that he received guidance from Nagasawa since childhood and possesses tremendous strength. At eight years old, he took first place in the first United Chunin Exams and became a Chunin, but for some reason, there seemed to be very little news about him afterward."
As Mabui introduced Itachi's background, she looked toward Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, seemingly hoping that the two ninjas from the same village would share some special information that the public did not know.
"Probably because Itachi is a relatively low-key person. However, his strength is definitely one of the biggest highlights of today's tournament." Izumo Kamizuki said.
In fact, although they were Konoha ninjas, they did not know much more about Itachi than Mabui, an outsider.
That was because before becoming the captain of the Special Combat Team, Itachi had spent most of his time traveling throughout the shinobi world to gain experience.
After becoming captain, apart from work, he also focused on cultivation and basically did not participate in any competitions. He was extremely low-key.
However, as the first-place winner of the first Shinobi World United Chunin Exams, a disciple of Nagasawa, and someone who had become a high-ranking member of a combat organization like the Special Combat Team, even if Itachi was as low-key as possible, he could not hide his brilliance.
The Special Combat Team was the result of the reform and upgrade of the Special Combat Class. It was hailed as the strongest military force in the shinobi world, with every member proficient in a Breathing Style, and every captain having mastered Breathing Style Senjutsu. The commander-in-chief was unquestionably the strongest person in the shinobi world.
Many people were curious whether Itachi had learned Nagasawa's invincible Sun Breathing Senjutsu.
After so much time had passed, Breathing Styles were no longer much of a secret in the shinobi world. Everyone knew that different Breathing Styles were not the same. Sun Breathing was the strongest among them and also the most difficult to cultivate. Only the most top-tier geniuses had any chance of learning it, while Sun Breathing Senjutsu was even more difficult.
Breathing Style Sage Mode had become extremely widespread throughout the shinobi world. Various Breathing Style Sage Modes had appeared one after another, and everyone had seen quite a few of them. The more common ones were Water, Fire, Lightning, and Wind, while the less common ones involved snakes, insects, and beasts. Only Sun Breathing Sage Mode was rarely seen because there were so few cultivators.
Mabui nodded, then smiled and said, "Contestant Kazuya Anda should not be underestimated either. Although he wasn't particularly famous before this, we can tell from the first two battles that there are no weak contestants in the finals. Simply making it to the finals is already proof of his strength."
As usual, Mabui gave the relatively unknown Kazuya Anda some praise.
However, because of the upsets in the first two battles, even without Mabui saying anything, the spectators would no longer underestimate these unfamiliar new faces. Mei had even used Sage Mode and still lost.
"Could Uchiha Itachi also suffer an upset? It feels like this year's Martial Arts Tournament is seriously unpredictable."
"Hard to say. After all, Uchiha Itachi doesn't have many notable achievements after turning eight."
Some comments had already begun doubting Uchiha Itachi.
"He'll definitely win. He's one of the most talented members of Konoha's younger generation. Those of you who didn't go to school with him have no idea how terrifying he is."
"Does anyone still not understand the value of the Special Combat Team? He's the youngest captain of the Special Combat Team. Every captain is proficient in Breathing Style Sage Mode. How could he possibly lose?"
"Your Breathing Style Senjutsu is certainly very powerful, but if, and I mean if, I use the final gate of the Eight Gates, how will you deal with it?"
Before the match had even begun, many comment-section experts had already started predicting the winner.
Uchiha Itachi and Kazuya Anda were not the type to dawdle. Almost immediately after the broadcast finished speaking, the two flashed onto the arena.
"So you're the young master of the Uchiha clan." Kazuya Anda licked his lips and looked at Itachi provocatively.
As a wandering ninja, the thing he had envied and resented the most throughout his life was clan members like this. They did not need to do anything to possess resources that wandering ninjas like them could never obtain even after working their entire lives. They were born superior to others.
After receiving divine revelation, those feelings of envy and jealousy had all transformed into contempt. He believed that having received divine revelation, he had already risen above all ninjas.
After all, even ninjas who knew Senjutsu had still lost to them, the divine-revelation users. Kazuya Anda felt that he had the capital to become a superior person.
Unfortunately, Itachi did not become enraged as Kazuya Anda had expected. Itachi's expression did not change in the slightest, as if he had not heard Kazuya Anda speaking at all.
"As expected of the Uchiha from a prestigious clan, you're truly arrogant. You probably rarely lose, right? I'll let you experience the taste of defeat very soon." Kazuya Anda was somewhat irritated by feeling ignored.
Originally, he had intended to provoke Itachi, then defeat him cleanly and mock him harshly. Instead, Itachi's reaction made him look like a clown.
"You didn't have a very satisfactory life before, did you?" Itachi finally spoke.
"You bastard!" Thinking that he was being mocked, veins bulged on Kazuya Anda's forehead.
"The shinobi world that made your life unsatisfactory does indeed have many shortcomings, but that should not be an excuse for you to become the way you are now." Itachi sighed softly.
He knew quite a few of the inside details. He knew that those so-called unknown powerhouses were basically wandering ninjas who had been deceived by the Otsutsuki. These people had one thing in common: their lives had been unsatisfactory. They were dissatisfied with the status quo and dissatisfied with the shinobi world.
Kazuya Anda became even angrier. He still felt that Itachi was mocking him.
"What does a young master like you know?" Kazuya Anda sneered.
What he did not know was that Itachi genuinely understood, because Itachi had already traveled throughout the shinobi world. Whether it was a poor small country or a developed and prosperous great country, he had visited them all, and as a result, he had thought deeply about many things.
Itachi did not answer Kazuya Anda again. He knew that saying more would be useless. His main task now was to thwart the Otsutsuki's scheme.
"Begin!"
The moment the referee's voice fell, Kazuya Anda instantly charged forward. He really wanted to punch this arrogant young master from a prestigious clan who had mocked him.
But Itachi, who had trained in Sun Breathing for many years, possessed a powerful physique. He instantly activated his Breathing Style and then used his Mangekyo Sharingan to capture Kazuya Anda's movements, easily grabbing Kazuya Anda's fist and knocking him back with a punch.
Kazuya Anda recalled the strength Itachi had just displayed and looked at Itachi in disbelief. He had not expected that Itachi, who looked neither muscular nor even particularly strong, would possess such tremendous strength.
Kazuya Anda did not dare to hold anything back. He instantly unleashed all his strength, and strange black tattoos crawled across his entire body.
"Wait, why does this guy's Secret Technique look so similar to Kusa's?" A spectator noticed something strange.
"They both have no achievements and no fame, and they even use the same Secret Technique. Could these people be from the same ninja organization?"
"What kind of ninja organization could be this powerful...?"
Sensing Kazuya Anda's aura rapidly becoming stronger, Itachi remained calm and used his current strongest form.
"Susanoo!" Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, and orange-red Chakra flames ignited around his body. A terrifying giant standing a hundred meters tall suddenly appeared on the arena.
"Hey, you're kidding, right? What is this thing? Won't it actually injure the spectators?" A spectator at the venue was dumbfounded upon seeing the hundred-meter-tall Susanoo.
It was not as if they had never seen Susanoo, but they had truly never seen such a terrifying Susanoo that was approaching its Complete Body form.
They even felt that simply swinging the sword in Susanoo's hand would be enough to flatten an entire mountain range.
However, this was not the end. Itachi immediately used the power of the Magma Fruit. Magma continuously seeped from the surface of Susanoo, rapidly forming flowing magma armor!
A spectator saw the magma dripping from the Magma Susanoo directly turn wherever it landed into a pit of fire, and he could not help but feel fortunate. Thankfully, this was no longer an era of war. Otherwise, if this Magma Susanoo were to enter the battlefield, just one swing of its hand would probably kill a large number of people.
Just when everyone thought that Itachi was already terrifying enough in his current state, a terrifying aura, resembling the scorching sun, suddenly erupted from within the giant.