The appearance of Susanoo immediately caused an uproar.
Because the vast majority of ninja had never seen Susanoo before.
Not seeing it before wasn't the issue—what mattered was that Susanoo looked both evil and overwhelmingly powerful.
Uchiha Fugaku suppressed the urge to burst out laughing. Under the gaze of Hyuga Hiashi and the others, he gave a brief explanation of what Susanoo was.
They had already heard Jiraiya talk about the Mangekyō Sharingan before. Now that Susanoo was added on top of that, they were completely stunned.
The Uchiha clan's Sharingan was just absurd.
Hyuga Hiashi, in particular, didn't feel good about it.
Why didn't the Hyuga clan's Byakugan have an advanced form?
The Hyuga and the Uchiha were supposed to be equals in fame.
Kitazawa shook his head.
With Uchiha Sasuke's strength, he could have beaten Inuzuka Kiba even without using Susanoo.
He was probably using Susanoo to steal the spotlight.
After all, Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, and Yakumo Kurama had all performed really well earlier, and he didn't want to be outshone.
Using Susanoo would let him defeat Kiba quickly and cause a sensation.
There was no doubt Sasuke's plan worked—when he left the arena, he was swaggering like crazy.
"Second round, match five."
After drawing the lots, Kitazawa announced, "Uzumaki Naruto versus Aburame Shino!"
Shino Aburame instinctively pushed up his glasses.
No question—this was a fight he had no chance of winning.
"Shino, you're unlucky like me."
Inuzuka Kiba patted his shoulder.
"Woof woof woof!"
Akamaru barked in agreement.
In their last fight, he hadn't even processed what happened before Susanoo pinned him down so hard he couldn't get up—leaving a psychological scar on his dog life.
"Winning or losing doesn't matter—what matters is going all-out youth!"
Uzumaki Naruto grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
Shino nodded.
He really didn't care much about winning or losing.
The two stepped into the arena.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto formed seals with both hands, and in an instant, over a thousand shadow clones filled the field.
The crowd immediately erupted in shocked cries.
Some people had seen it before, but every time they saw it, they were still stunned by Naruto's sheer chakra reserves.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Shino summoned a queen bee.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken!"
Naruto shouted, and every clone pulled out shuriken.
A fierce wind howled as the sky instantly filled with shuriken.
It was even more spectacular than Tenten's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
Shino shook his head helplessly.
He had the queen bee throw out a beehive to block in front of him.
But the next second, the beehive was pierced through by shuriken coated in Wind Style chakra, riddled with holes.
"Secret Technique: Insect Wall!"
By the skin of his teeth, Shino commanded his kikaichū to form a thick wall around him.
The moment the wall appeared, it met a dense storm of shuriken head-on.
In the blink of an eye, the wall began to wobble, on the verge of collapse.
Seeing this, Shino immediately leapt up. The queen bee carried him into the air.
He formed seals, looking down.
"Honey Technique!"
A huge swarm of bees poured downward in a slanting torrent.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
After a quick glance, Naruto shouted at once.
His shadow clones formed seals and blasted fierce gales into the sky.
Shino's heart sank.
He'd intended to use beeswax to stick Naruto in place—but who would've thought Naruto would instantly switch from Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken to Wind Style: Gale Palm?
The bees were blown apart midair by the gale.
Golden beeswax sprayed everywhere—but instead of dropping down, it blew back upward, aiming straight at Shino.
Shino hurriedly had the queen bee dodge aside.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken!"
Naruto and his clones hurled more shuriken.
The queen bee was fast, but there were simply too many Wind Style shuriken—it could only evade some of them.
Most of the rest Shino had to block with Insect Wall.
But it was the same problem: there were just too many.
"I surrender!"
After holding out for a moment, Shino said decisively.
Naruto, still wanting more, dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"Naruto's getting scarier and scarier…"
Kiba complained.
"Even without using tailed-beast power, Naruto still ranks top three in the Advanced Class."
Shikamaru Nara said calmly.
"Yeah."
Ino Yamanaka agreed.
Sakura Haruno and the others nodded as well.
Uchiha Sasuke thought it was a shame.
Shino had jōnin-level strength, but in front of Naruto, it still wasn't enough.
From start to finish, he never forced out Naruto's true strength.
"Second round, match six."
After declaring Naruto the winner, Kitazawa continued, "Hyuga Hinata versus Kaguya Kimimaro!"
Kimimaro's gaze sharpened.
For him, this would be a brutal fight.
His Shikotsumyaku countered taijutsu fighters, but Hinata wasn't a pure taijutsu specialist—she was also skilled in secret bow techniques.
The more Kimimaro thought about it, the more troublesome it felt.
But at this point, he could only meet it head-on.
He wasn't going to surrender.
"Kimimaro, be careful."
Jūgo reminded him.
"Hinata, you've got this!"
Ino smiled at Hinata.
Even though Hinata was stronger overall, beating Kimimaro wouldn't be easy.
Hyuga Neji, on the other hand, was calm.
Because both he and Hinata had learned Yin Release Chakra Mode.
He didn't believe Kimimaro could win.
Hinata and Kimimaro entered the arena.
"This fight is definitely going to be amazing."
Shikaku Nara said, watching them.
"Shikotsumyaku and the Byakugan are both famous kekkei genkai in the ninja world."
Jiraiya chuckled. "If I remember right, the Hyuga and the Kaguya clans are even related."
"Before the Kaguya clan was wiped out, we did have ties with them."
Hiashi admitted.
Among Konoha's upper ranks, this wasn't exactly a secret.
"Who do you think will win?"
Shibi Aburame asked curiously.
"Based on prior performances, Hinata has a slight edge."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then said, "But today is hard to say. A lot of students have been full of surprises."
"Old man, let's make a bet. I think Hinata will win."
Tsunade's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Forget it. Whoever wins is fine."
Hiruzen refused without hesitation.
In truth, he also thought Hinata would win.
"Begin!"
Kitazawa's words cut off their conversation.
Everyone looked to the arena.
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Kimimaro raised his hand, and ten finger bones shot out.
At the same time, he burst forward toward Hinata.
"Multiple Arrow!"
Hinata immediately released her bowstring.
A Yin Release arrow flew out and instantly split into ten Yin Release arrows.
After knocking away the ten finger bones, the arrows sealed off Kimimaro's surroundings.
Kimimaro had no choice but to stop.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis!"
He pulled out a bone blade and cleaved through the Yin Release arrow in front of him.
"Burst Arrow!"
Just as Kimimaro tried to close the distance again, another Yin Release arrow came at him.
Before it even reached him, it detonated.
An invisible mental shockwave spread outward.
Kimimaro froze in place, his head spinning.
But his reaction was fast.
"Curse Mark of Earth: Level Two!"
He immediately shook off the effects of the Burst Arrow and in the same instant appeared in front of Hinata.
A white flash of blade-light appeared.
In a single moment, his bone blade slashed dozens of times.
Clang!
Hinata blocked with the Moonchaser Bow.
"Spiral Arrow!"
She hurriedly drew the bowstring.
Kimimaro's heart jolted.
At this range, even if he blocked the arrow with bone, it would still hurt badly.
"Body Flicker!"
Kimimaro darted left.
A spinning Yin Release arrow flew past, grazing him.
"Multiple Arrow!"
Hinata drew again.
Nine Yin Release arrows flew out.
Kimimaro frowned.
No matter where he landed, he couldn't escape the coverage.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!"
Kimimaro made a snap decision—dozens of white bones erupted from his body.
He stopped, then turned back toward Hinata.
All nine Yin Release arrows struck him, but were blocked by the dense bone armor covering him.
"Spiral Arrow!"
Hinata's heart tightened, and another spinning Yin Release arrow flew out.
Boom!
Kimimaro's speed faltered, his whole body trembling twice.
But even the terrifying Spiral Arrow still failed to do anything to his bones.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Seeing this, Hinata put away the Moonchaser Bow and struck with both palms.
But the moment the first palm landed on Kimimaro's bones, she felt something was wrong.
A powerful rebound force hit back, numbing her arm.
Kimimaro relaxed slightly and immediately swung his bone blade at her.
Hinata was forced to pull out the Moonchaser Bow again.
With a tremor through her body, she retreated rapidly.
Kimimaro pressed the attack, pursuing her.
"Is Hinata going to lose?"
Sakura's face filled with disbelief.
"These bones are insanely hard."
Ino instantly understood the key.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch was, without question, the bane of all taijutsu fighters.
Kimimaro had used it in the first round too, but because his opponent was Karin, the crowd hadn't been as shaken.
Now that it was against Hinata Hyuga—normally top five in the Advanced Class year after year—they finally understood how terrifying Dance of the Larch truly was.
"Shikotsumyaku counters taijutsu way too hard."
Shikamaru analyzed. "And Hinata's bow techniques can't break its defense, which is why things have turned out like this."
"I didn't expect Kimimaro to get this much stronger too."
Kiba sighed.
"Can Hinata still win?"
Tenten asked, watching Hinata fall behind.
"Given the situation right now, it's difficult."
Shino adjusted his glasses. "Unless Hinata's been hiding her strength too—or she learned some new secret technique."
"As if that would—"
Sakura stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening.
A gloomy, oppressive aura shot skyward.
Even Sasuke, who'd been expressionless, raised an eyebrow.
He instinctively looked toward the source—Hinata.
A terrifying surge of Yin Release power poured out from the Moonchaser Bow in her hand.
Kimimaro's breath caught, and the temperature around them seemed to drop.
That Yin Release power rapidly enveloped Hinata.
Streams of air formed around her and began to spiral.
Her blue-black short hair swept backward—and at a certain moment, turned black and grew long.
The Yin Release currents didn't fade. Instead, they manifested over her body like a hazy veil of gauze.
In an instant, Hinata went from a short-haired girl to a long-haired, mature beauty, her entire presence radiating something mysterious and icy.
The entire Konoha arena fell silent.
"So Hinata really was hiding her strength?"
Ino stared at Hinata's transformed aura, amazed.
Sakura reflexively covered her mouth.
"Hinata looks really strong right now."
Karin couldn't help saying.
Normally, Hinata felt gentle to her. Right now, Hinata felt overwhelming.
"This is honestly hopeless."
Kiba complained. "How are all of you getting this strong?!"
"That's Yin Release Chakra Mode."
Neji spoke up. "Simply put, it's a partial tailed-beast transformation."
"Partial tailed-beast transformation?"
Shikamaru's eyes shifted. "So she's using Satori—the one sealed inside the Moonchaser Bow—as a tailed beast?"
"Doesn't that mean you learned Yin Release Chakra Mode too?"
Tenten asked curiously.
"Yeah."
Neji nodded.
Sasuke frowned slightly.
This Yin Release Chakra Mode made him feel a faint sense of threat.
He knew exactly how powerful partial tailed-beast transformation could be.
Though Naruto's would obviously be different—since the Nine-Tails was inside him.
In the stands, after a brief silence, the crowd burst into chatter.
"What jutsu is that?"
Hiashi asked instinctively.
"You don't know?"
Fugaku shot back.
"… "
Hiashi fell silent.
By all logic, Hinata was his daughter—he should've known.
But this technique clearly wasn't from the Hyuga clan; it was taught by Kitazawa.
"It does look like a partial tailed-beast transformation."
Jiraiya studied her for a moment.
Everyone froze, then it clicked.
"As expected of Kitazawa."
Hiruzen praised.
In theory, Satori sealed in the Moonchaser Bow could be treated like a tailed beast—but it wasn't a real tailed beast.
A normal ninja would have a hard time adapting that concept, let alone making it usable as partial tailed-beast transformation for Hinata.
Tsunade chuckled softly at that, but didn't add anything.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, suddenly thought of the Child of Prophecy.
If the Great Toad Sage hadn't said the Child of Prophecy was his student, Jiraiya would've started suspecting Kitazawa was the one.
Hiashi was thrilled inside.
If Hinata could do partial tailed-beast transformation, then Neji could too.
With their talent, plus partial tailed-beast transformation, it was very possible both of them would reach Kage-level strength in the future.
In that case, the Hyuga clan's future would be limitless.
The fight continued.
Kimimaro snapped back to his senses and attacked again without hesitation.
With a bone blade in each hand, plus bones covering his body, he lunged at Hinata like a porcupine.
Hinata put away the Moonchaser Bow.
She lifted her hand and flicked it.
Nine Yin Release arrows appeared out of thin air.
Just like before, Kimimaro charged straight into them.
But the moment he collided, his expression changed dramatically.
A terrifying force erupted from the Yin Release arrows.
He was forced to stumble backward.
Hinata flicked her hand again.
Visible Yin Release power formed in front of her.
Air currents surged, then condensed into a massive Rasengan-like sphere.
"A Rasengan?"
Kimimaro froze for a beat, then hurriedly dodged.
The sphere smashed into the ground and blasted out a deep crater.
"What the heck—when did Hinata learn Rasengan?"
Kiba was completely baffled.
"That's not Rasengan."
Naruto shook his head. "It just looks like Rasengan."
"Hinata's whole body is Yin Release right now."
Sasuke followed up. "This is Yin Release—creating form from nothing."
"Basically, imitation and creation."
Yakumo added. "It's kind of like my Genjutsu: True Illusion."
"This is just unfair."
Ino sighed.
Even if it was imitation, brute force could solve everything—if the Yin Release power was strong enough, it might even hit harder than the original.
"Wait, she can even do Wood Release too?!"
Kiba's eyes bulged.
After dodging the bootleg Rasengan, Kimimaro accelerated, stabbing both bone blades toward Hinata.
Hinata slapped her hands together, and a massive tree sprang up in front of her.
The tree trembled slightly, branches spreading out to grab at Kimimaro.
Kimimaro reacted quickly.
His bone blades chopped the branches into pieces in a flash.
Hinata casually waved her hand.
"Burst Arrow!"
Four Yin Release arrows appeared out of nowhere and detonated immediately.
Kimimaro stiffened, dizzy and disoriented.
Hinata didn't press in. Instead, she raised both hands.
She drew out most of the Yin Release power inside her.
The wind howled. The enormous surge of Yin Release poured out, and in the blink of an eye, it formed a wooden dragon.
"What?!"
Kimimaro had only just recovered when he saw a familiar wooden dragon right in his face.
His first thought was that Hinata had learned Kitazawa's Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique.
But on closer look, it wasn't that technique—it was simply Yin Release power stacked into the shape.
Even so, it was trouble enough.
With a thunderous crash, Kimimaro was slammed into the air by the dragon.
Thankfully, his bones cushioned the impact, so he wasn't seriously hurt.
Kimimaro scrambled up and bolted.
Hinata stood in place, expressionless, directing the wooden dragon.
The dragon chased him like the grim reaper, refusing to let go.
"This won't work!"
Kimimaro glanced around, gritted his teeth, and used a technique he still wasn't very proficient with: Dance of the Clematis: Flower.
He bent forward, his spine shooting out like a chain, aiming to bind Hinata.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
Hinata spun, knocking the spine away.
And because Kimimaro paused while using Flower, the wooden dragon immediately wrapped around him.
He struggled desperately, but it was useless.
"I surrender."
Feeling the tightening, increasingly terrifying restraint, Kimimaro spoke.
His bones were hard, but he was still flesh and blood.
"Winner: Hyuga Hinata!"
Kitazawa announced at once.
"Hinata is terrifyingly strong now!"
Sakura stared in a daze.
"She really is impressive."
Yakumo nodded.
After activating Yin Release Chakra Mode, Hinata's overall strength was no longer below hers.
Of course, that was only in terms of Yin Release power—chakra quantity, essentially.
Yakumo still had a genjutsu kekkei genkai, which gave her an advantage.
"I'm so glad I'm graduating soon. If I stay in the Advanced Class any longer, I'll lose every bit of confidence I have."
Kiba sighed.
Tayuya bit her lip.
She'd thought getting the Curse Mark would boost her ranking in the class, but reality was the opposite.
Forget moving up—staying in place would already be a blessing.
Sasuke's wariness rose.
From Hinata's performance, if he didn't go all-out, beating her wouldn't be so easy.
Still, while she was a threat, she hadn't reached the point where he felt truly cornered.
"And this is only the second round."
Sakura said with painful self-awareness. "Looks like the third round probably has nothing to do with me."
Six matches into the second round, only three people hadn't fought yet:
Her, Rock Lee, and Hyuga Neji.
Rock Lee had the Eight Gates.
Neji had Yin Release Chakra Mode.
She'd learned super strength, but it still wouldn't save her.
"It's fine."
Ino comforted her. "I made it to the third round, but it's basically the same as not making it."
In terms of strength, she was in the weaker tier among the third-round students.
"Second round, match seven: Hyuga Neji versus Haruno Sakura!"
Kitazawa paused, then said, "Rock Lee gets a bye!"
"What's coming will come."
Sakura said, dead inside.
Sasuke glanced at her, not knowing what to say.
Can't win means can't win—nothing he said would change the outcome.
"You're a medical ninja."
Ino smiled. "Losing is fine."
"That's true."
Sakura pulled herself together and walked into the arena.
Neji stood opposite her, taking out the Fatefeather Bow.
As soon as the fight began, Sakura was dragged into a brutal struggle.
She couldn't get close.
Even when she tried to counter with Water Style, Neji dodged easily.
After all, he had the Byakugan.
Unless Sakura was extremely fast, he'd always be able to react.
After a short exchange, Sakura surrendered, ending the second round.
"The students advancing to the third round are: Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, Yakumo Kurama, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."
Standing in the arena, Kitazawa read out slowly, "Hyuga Hinata, Hyuga Neji, and Rock Lee."
"All eight of these students have at least jōnin-level strength."
Hiruzen sighed with emotion. "Since Konoha was founded, this has never happened."
"It really is astonishing."
Jiraiya agreed.
"Their future achievements will definitely surpass ours."
Inoichi Yamanaka said with quiet pride.
After all, his daughter Ino was among them.
She wasn't as outstanding as some of the others, but she still surpassed the vast majority of her peers.
"That's Kitazawa's accomplishment."
Tsunade reminded them.
Everyone paused, then nodded in agreement.
And there was no jealousy.
First, this was indeed the situation Kitazawa had created.
Second, Kitazawa was about to become the Sixth Hokage anyway.
~~~
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