On the playground, the students swarmed around the eight arenas, completely enclosing them. The teachers acting as referees wasted no time and immediately announced the start of the matches.
The young students, driven by their youthful spirit, lacked the convoluted thinking of adults. Many of them immediately rushed onto the arenas. Only the first ones on stage were eligible to stay; the excess were intercepted by the teachers.
The Village Hidden in the Rain was also a village with a fierce and robust culture. The students all wielded real blades, and they would often pull out kunai and start with an exchange of projectiles. This kind of situation put the teachers' abilities to a great test; they had to protect the students on stage from dying while also shielding the students below from being hit by stray attacks.
After a few rounds, quite a few students had drawn blood, but fortunately, they were all superficial wounds and not life-threatening.
Half an hour passed quickly, and the rate at which students went on stage began to slow down. On one hand, it was because the ones currently holding the arenas were no pushovers, and those who knew their own limits wouldn't go looking for trouble. On the other hand, many were waiting for the last moment to swoop in and snatch a victory.
At this point, Konan and her two friends had not yet entered the fray. They were silently observing the techniques of the original Amegakure students, whom they had never encountered before. As for the people from the original sanctuary, they didn't pay them much mind.
"Their fighting style is very steady, mostly assassination-type moves," Momoka observed. "They always like to probe first, then look for an opportunity to win in a single move. Their taijutsu is strong, but their ninjutsu isn't anything too powerful. Konan, you have to be careful of their surprise attacks."
"Mm, you too," Konan said. "Your taijutsu might not give you an advantage. There are too many unexpected things that can happen in close combat."
"Don't worry, I still have a trump card I haven't used yet. One of these eight spots is reserved for me!"
"Is that so? That's good. I'll see you in the finals, then."
"Sigh," Momoka suddenly sighed. "If those two were here, all our efforts would probably be in vain, right? We wouldn't have this chance."
"..." Konan was silent for a moment before saying, "Maybe they're also working hard to get stronger right now, so we can't slack off either. The next time we meet them, we can't let them look down on us."
"Heh, since when did you become so competitive, Konan?"
"Because by getting stronger, I can be of help." Konan looked up at the figure on the podium and smiled.
Following Konan's gaze, Momoka seemed to understand something. She shrugged and said, "What a coincidence. I was thinking the same thing."
The two looked at each other, then turned and went their separate ways. They had to find suitable opponents.
Nono, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly sighed, chose a different direction from them, and also left.
Time ticked by, and soon only ten minutes remained. Konan, Momoka, and the other hidden powerhouses among the students stopped spectating and entered the arenas one after another.
On her stage, Konan faced a slender boy. The boy was relieved when he saw such a young opponent. I'll just play around with her and then decide the winner when the time is almost up. That way, I can advance.
Little did he know, Konan was thinking the exact same thing. The two, with a tacit understanding, began to stall, continuously using kunai and shuriken to waste time.
When only one minute was left, the slender boy's eyes narrowed. He suddenly formed hand seals at high speed, creating three water clones that charged at Konan together. "Sorry, but victory is mine!"
"That's my line. Paper Release: Dance of the Shikigami!" Konan clapped her hands together, and hundreds of small pieces of paper suddenly flew from her body, shooting out like a volley of ten thousand arrows.
Two of the water clones were instantly destroyed. The slender boy turned pale with fright and closed his eyes in resignation. The expected pain never came. He opened his eyes to find a teacher standing in front of him, and the pieces of paper were floating in the air, unmoving.
"The winner is Konan!"
Konan smiled and beckoned with her finger, recalling the paper.
"What kind of ninjutsu is that? I've never seen it before."
"Paper Release? Interesting, but the weakness is too obvious." Someone had noticed that the papers soaked by the water clones' water were no longer under Konan's control.
The eight victors stood on the arenas, receiving the gazes of the crowd. Konan turned her head to look at the others and, as expected, saw Momoka's figure. But there was one person who took her by surprise.
"Koyu? How did she get up here?"
Momoka also looked confused, not understanding why Nono, who usually never competed for anything, would participate in this selection. "Maybe Lord Kaito's charm is just too strong? But for someone who usually keeps to herself, she's quite skilled. It seems I underestimated her before."
However, Momoka had still underestimated Nono. After defeating one student, she was subsequently defeated at Nono's hands. With no other choice when her skills were inferior, Momoka shrugged nonchalantly and wished Nono well.
Having finished their matches early, they watched Konan's semi-final. This time, Konan met a tricky opponent who happened to be skilled in Water Style. Even though a student's chakra reserves wouldn't allow for many uses of Water Style, it had already caused Konan a great deal of trouble. In the end, Konan had to create wings from paper and fly into the air to "wear him out."
The final match was Konan versus Nono.
On the podium, Shiori, worried about her daughter, couldn't help but ask the Ice-Fire Clone, "Lord Kaito, who do you think will win?"
"Mmm, if there are no surprises, it should be Koyu. Konan is at a disadvantage because she's too young. After the previous battles, her chakra is nearly depleted, so she poses no threat to Koyu," the Ice-Fire Clone replied.
"Is that so." Shiori sighed. "That's fine too. Given the relationship between you and Konan, there's no need to add a master-disciple relationship on top of it."
"Sister Shiori, what kind of relationship do Konan and I have?" the Ice-Fire Clone asked with a smile.
"Aren't you Konan's older brother?"
"Oh, I thought it was... sigh, I must have misunderstood. My apologies, Sister Shiori."
"What are you talking about?" Shiori blushed, realizing his meaning, and stomped her foot, refusing to acknowledge him further.
In the subsequent final match, just as the Ice-Fire Clone had predicted, Konan, with little chakra left, was unable to launch any effective attacks and was easily defeated by Nono.
Nono Yakushi became the final victor.
When the Ice-Fire Clone announced this result, many people showed expressions of defiance, but the outcome was set in stone, and there was nothing they could do to change it.
"Congratulations, Koyu."
When the Ice-Fire Clone took Nono's hand to congratulate her, she just nodded silently. The Ice-Fire Clone didn't mind. He turned to Shiori and said, "Sister Shiori, I'll have to trouble you with the arrangements again later. Remember to notify me when it's time for dinner."
"Alright. Would you like to eat out or at home?"
"Let's just eat at home. Bring Koyu over then, too."
"Yes!"
"Well then, I'll see you later, Koyu."
"Okay." Nono waved goodbye to the Ice-Fire Clone, but her hands, at some point, had clenched into fists.
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