Chapter 326: Tsunade's Discovery
"Rin, just do your best in the next fight. You did great in the first round. You are definitely Chunin material."
Obito thought for a moment before speaking.
The first match of the second round was Rin Nohara versus Kisame Hoshigaki.
They were opponents right now, but even Obito had to admit Kisame was a powerful ninja. Forget Rin, even he could not guarantee a win, because his Fire Release was completely countered by Kisame's Water Release.
"Mm. Honestly, I am already satisfied just making it to the second round."
Rin smiled and nodded.
Beating Nara Shiosui had already made her very happy. The battle in the Forest of Death had shown her clearly just how strong Kisame was. She knew her chances were slim.
The Water Release she had practiced for only a month could not be compared to Kisame's, and while her Strength of a Hundred Seal was powerful, it was not something Kisame could not deal with.
"Try to rely more on taijutsu and look for openings. Fight with everything you have so you will not regret it afterward." Kakashi added.
In his analysis, Rin's one slim path to victory lay in her Strength of a Hundred Seal.
"Second round, first match. Kisame Hoshigaki versus Rin Nohara."
Hiruko's voice echoed into the resting room.
"Thank you. I am going to take my exam."
Rin gave them a gentle smile, thanked Obito and Kakashi for their advice, and walked out.
At that moment, Obito wished he could switch places with her, but he knew that was impossible. Rin would never agree. He understood very well she was not the kind of girl who shrank back from hardship.
Kisame glanced once at Might Guy, who was doing handstand push ups, then stepped out of the resting room as well.
If he won here, his next opponent would be Might Guy. As for Kurosawa, Kisame had already written him off. In his mind, Kurosawa losing to Guy was a foregone conclusion.
"Begin."
Hiruko gave the signal and immediately retreated.
Rin entered Water Breathing at once and took the initiative, charging Kisame.
To close the distance, she concentrated chakra into her feet and used Body Flicker, appearing at Kisame's side in an instant.
"Strength of a Hundred Seal."
Rin clenched her fist. A massive surge of chakra burst from it as she drove an incredibly heavy punch straight at Kisame.
Her opening stunned many of the spectators. None of them had expected this seemingly delicate girl to choose to rush in and trade blows with the fierce looking Kisame.
After all, in the first round she had come across as a Water Release specialist who relied on Water Dragon Bullet for offense.
But what followed surprised them even more.
Faced with the charging girl, Kisame did not counterattack head on. Instead, he retreated at high speed, clearly unwilling to take the punch directly.
Boom.
Rin's fist hit the ground. The sheer force of it cracked the arena floor, sending shattered stone and dirt flying in all directions.
"This girl has quite a bit of your style, Tsunade."
Jiraiya laughed when he saw Rin's punching power.
Tsunade, who had not been paying much attention, glanced down at the arena after hearing that and frowned slightly. Rin's fighting style really did look familiar.
Kisame had already experienced Rin's punch once in the Forest of Death. He had no intention of trading blows with her again.
He only rushed in after she missed, closing the distance to land his own attacks.
Without drawing on her Strength of a Hundred Seal, Rin quickly fell behind. Several heavy punches landed on her body, making Obito clench his fists in the stands.
Rin did not lose heart. She deliberately showed an opening, trying to lure Kisame into another exchange of blows, but Kisame refused to take the bait, slipping just out of range again.
Her punch missed a second time.
Rin felt a surge of frustration. Her chakra reserves were not large, and the Strength of a Hundred Seal burned through them quickly. Every wasted punch further reduced her already slim chance of victory.
"Rin's combat experience is too shallow."
Watching from above, Kakashi suddenly noticed a fatal weakness.
Rin had never accumulated the same kind of experience they had. Their internships had "coincidentally" thrown them into battles with jonin squads and all sorts of unexpected battlefield situations.
Even that encounter with the Raikage's candidate had been different. The situation had been dangerous, but Minato had done almost all the actual fighting. The overall combat intensity, for them, had not been that high.
In the Forest of Death incident, Rin had also barely fought. Her main role had been healing.
Combat experience mattered.
Back then, Kakashi had easily crushed Obito largely because he exploited Obito's lack of experience.
Now, Kisame was doing the same thing to Rin.
In front of an experienced shinobi, Rin was practically fighting with her cards face up. Every intention was obvious.
Rin was not foolish. Realizing that her Strength of a Hundred Seal kept missing, she grew more cautious and stopped using it carelessly.
But caution alone could only delay defeat, not reverse it.
Kisame was in no rush to end things. The third stage of the Chunin Exams was fast paced. He wanted to avoid any unexpected accidents that might leave him in poor condition for Guy.
Wounds continued to build up on Rin's body, and her condition steadily worsened.
Even then, she refused to give up. She used Medical Ninjutsu again and again to keep her body intact, preventing her speed from dropping too much because of injuries.
"Her Medical Ninjutsu is quite good too. This girl, Rin Nohara, is interesting."
The more Tsunade watched, the more she felt Rin was being trained according to her own template.
"I am curious too. She is Minato's student, but he definitely did not teach her this."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. Minato had discussed his students with him before and had asked him for advice on teaching.
"As for Rin, she is actually my student too."
Mugetsu spoke up briefly. There was no need to hide that anymore.
Jiraiya gave him a surprised look. He had only known that Mugetsu was studying Medical Ninjutsu under Tsunade. He had not expected Mugetsu's Medical Ninjutsu to be advanced enough to train someone like Rin.
"So it was you. When did you learn my Strength of a Hundred Seal? Tonight you are making Beggar's Chicken and a plate of Spicy Chicken to make up for the loss."
Tsunade spoke with a straight face.
Mugetsu did not even bother pointing out the obvious. Did she really think her technique had been stolen? She was clearly just craving his cooking.
The Strength of a Hundred Seal was not a single ninjutsu in the usual sense. It was a chakra control method. That kind of thing could only be taught. Stealing it was nearly impossible.
"Cooking is no problem. But Rin really admires you, Tsunade. She may want to come along."
Mugetsu smiled as he agreed.
He had been considering leaving Rin with Tsunade for a while.
Tsunade might be slacking off now, but she was still the strongest Medical Ninja in the world. Mugetsu believed Rin needed to study further under her.
Tsunade nodded easily, even as she began wondering if she should have Shizune learn from Mugetsu as well. There was something special about the way he taught.
In the end, Rin lost. Her stamina and chakra were pushed past their limits, and she collapsed.
For the spectators from Konoha and the Land of Fire, it was another frustrating match.
Rin had forced Kisame to retreat at the start, but she had still been defeated.
This was the Chunin Exams, a stage to showcase strength. Losing meant standing one step lower than your opponent.
"Damn it. Guy, you better teach him a lesson later."
Flames burned in Obito's chest, but because of the bracket, he could not do anything. Kisame was set to face Guy in the third match. Obito was certain Guy would win, which meant he and Kisame were unlikely to even meet.
"Leave it to me."
Guy nodded seriously.
Rin was his comrade too. He would repay Kisame with his strongest kick.
"Second match, Might Guy versus Kurosawa."
When Hiruko's voice rang out, many in the audience straightened up.
They had seen Konoha lose again and again to Hidden Mist. They knew it was not because Konoha's ninja were weak. It was because Hidden Mist's strongest had not yet run into Konoha's strongest.
"Might Guy, go. Finish it with one kick like last time."
"Might Guy, use your full power!"
Hearing so many people cheering for his son, Might Duy burst into tears, jumping to his feet to shout Guy's name.
The arena buzzed.
From the battlefield, Guy could not make out the exact words, but he could clearly distinguish his name being chanted.
A grin tugged at his lips.
Winning here was another solid step toward becoming the greatest taijutsu user.
"This is going to be rough. How am I supposed to beat this guy?"
Kurosawa's mind whirled, trying to find a way to win.
He had been thinking about it ever since the lots were drawn, but even now he had no answer.
All Guy had shown so far was taijutsu. But this was not normal taijutsu. This was taijutsu that could send Kisame flying with one kick.
Saying he did not want to win would be a lie. The better he performed, the more rewards he would receive after returning to Hidden Mist.
The problem was that he simply could not see a path to victory.
"Begin."
"Eight Gates. Gate of Opening, open. Gate of Healing, open. Gate of Life, open."
Guy instantly opened three Gates and at the same time pushed his Breathing Technique to full power, entering Total Concentration.
As long as he ended things quickly, his stamina consumption would be manageable.
"Hidden Mist Technique."
Kurosawa immediately formed hand seals, filling the arena with dense mist. At the same time, he used Body Flicker to move from his starting position.
If he stayed there, he was afraid he would be knocked out by one kick before he could even react.
His caution was justified.
The moment he vacated his initial spot, the ground where he had been standing split open. Had he been even a fraction slower, it would not have been just the stone that shattered.
Seeing that, Kurosawa exhaled in relief. At least this proved Guy could not see clearly inside the mist. That meant he still had a chance.
He formed a Water Clone, planning to use it as a distraction while his real body attacked from another angle. Just as he finished, Guy moved.
Guy poured most of his strength into his leg. The chakra from the Eight Gates erupted, and he appeared in front of Kurosawa in an instant, delivering a vicious kick.
"Extreme Leaf Hurricane."
This was the strongest technique in Guy's Hurricane series, channeling extreme power into a Strong Whirlwind. Even thick stone could be shattered easily.
Boom.
The terrifyingly fast and heavy kick slammed into both Kurosawa and his Water Clone.
The clone burst like a water balloon pricked by a needle, scattering water everywhere. Kurosawa's real body shot into the wall like a cannonball, carving a new crater into the stone.
Without Kurosawa maintaining the mist, it quickly thinned and dispersed.
The audience saw Guy standing alone in the arena and Kurosawa embedded in the wall, bleeding.
With his mouth full of blood, Kurosawa stared at Guy with unwilling eyes. He wanted to ask how Guy had broken through the Hidden Mist Technique, but he could not get the words out.
As if reading his thoughts, Guy answered on his own.
"To defeat a certain person, I trained to fight with my eyes closed. I only need sound to find someone's position."
For a long time, Guy had been helpless against Shisui's Genjutsu. Shisui's illusions were too strong, and ordinary methods of dispelling them were not very effective.
So Guy had practiced fighting styles that did not rely on sight at all, in case he faced an enemy with Genjutsu as overwhelming as Shisui's one day.
His first kick had been based only on memory, so it had missed. The second had relied purely on sound, using the movements of Kurosawa's Water Clone to fix their location.
Kurosawa closed his eyes. He had no excuse. Guy was simply too difficult an opponent.
"Might Guy wins."
Hiruko declared the result.
Even if they had not seen clearly how Guy had broken through the mist, in a situation where Konoha had lost so many times to Hidden Mist, Guy's overwhelming victory stood out all the more.
Many spectators rose to their feet and cheered his name.
Guy released the Eight Gates and exited his Breathing Technique, walking back to the resting room with a confident smile.
He only needed to win one more match, and Kakashi needed two more. Then the two of them could face off in the final.
Although Obito had also been performing at an astonishing level, Guy had an inexplicable confidence in Kakashi.
He believed Kakashi could do it. Kakashi would defeat every opponent and meet him to fight for first place.
"Maybe this is the bond between best friends."
Guy's smile grew brighter as he stepped back into the room. He immediately threw Kakashi a thumbs up before heading to his seat to rest.
Kakashi had no idea what was going through Guy's mind, so he simply nodded back.
"As expected, Kakashi has accepted the challenge. This is our unspoken understanding."
Guy was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Third match, Uchiha Obito versus Mei Terumi."
"Use your head more. Do not get carried away." Kakashi reminded him.
Mei directly countered Obito's fighting style. This would not be a simple battle.
"You do not need to remind me. I always use my head."
Obito refused to accept Kakashi's view of him at all.
He felt his fights involved plenty of strategy. Every battle cost him a lot of brain cells.
"Just wait. I will defeat you in the next round."
With a confident smile, Obito declared war on Kakashi, then strode out of the resting room.
Zabuza, still sitting quietly inside, fell silent.
To simply assume he would lose was a bit much.
He had indeed lost once to Kakashi in the Forest of Death, but being written off so directly still stung.
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