In the arena.
Facing Natsuri's continuous Ninjutsu attacks, Chōjūrō couldn't even get close.
Although he managed to neutralize Natsuri's Ninjutsu one by one using HirameKarei, Chōjūrō's Chakra consumption was even greater than Natsuri's.
After batting away another Wind Release Ninjutsu, the HirameKarei in Chōjūrō's hand had already doubled in size, if not more.
Suddenly, the bandages wrapping HirameKarei reached their limit, tearing apart inch by inch, revealing the blade that had gathered a large amount of Chakra.
Two small holes on HirameKarei, like a steam engine, spewed out two powerful streams of air.
The blade glowed with a soft blue light, and even spectators without a Sharingan could clearly see the Chakra on it.
"HirameKarei: Release!"
Chōjūrō, using his own Chakra, finally completed the full release of HirameKarei.
"I knew it, I can do it. Now it's time to counterattack!"
Chōjūrō's eyes were filled with excitement. He glanced at Natsuri in the distance, and without moving a step, he swung HirameKarei in front of him.
A visible blade aura, like a flash of light, shot towards Natsuri.
Natsuri's Shadow Clone dissipated instantly, and Natsuri's main body was also cut in half. The blade aura didn't stop, flying towards the edge of the competition arena.
"Clang~"
The illuminated sealing barrier completely blocked the blade aura.
Chōjūrō's originally excited face suddenly filled with panic.
"I killed someone! I killed the opponent that Lady Mizukage repeatedly instructed me not to make lose too badly!"
Chōjūrō, who had been constantly hyping himself up during the battle, became more and more excited as the fight progressed, completely forgetting Mei Terumī's instructions.
In his endless panic, Chōjūrō fainted.
As Natsuri advanced, she saw the unconscious Chōjūrō and stopped. She cautiously approached, and after confirming he was completely unconscious, she looked at the referee's position with a puzzled expression.
"That Genjutsu just now clearly didn't have a hypnotic effect!"
Chōjūrō did indeed release HirameKarei by himself and swung an attack, but the direction was miles away from where Natsuri was standing.
Everything happened simply because Chōjūrō took an extra glance at Natsuri before swinging his sword!
Mei Terumī on the Presidential Platform looked at the unconscious Chōjūrō, her eyes shining with admiration. Although Chōjūrō lost, HirameKarei had a new owner.
It didn't seem like a loss at all, especially since he lost to the sister of that monster beside her, which was not unexpected.
In the stands, there was a moment of confusion, followed by a burst of enthusiastic cheers.
Natsuri's fighting style was clearly to the audience's taste; this was the path Tomoki had chosen for Natsuri.
Before Orochimaru figured out the truth, Tomoki didn't particularly want anyone else in the Uchiha Clan to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Natsuri's fighting style in the preliminaries was too reckless; she purely relied on her immense Chakra and the uniqueness of her own Chakra to win through brute force.
While the Uchiha Clan also values Taijutsu, Natsuri had a unique advantage, so why did she still fight hand-to-hand with people?
Wouldn't it be better to leverage the advantage of that miraculous Chakra and simply overwhelm enemies with damage?
The only time Tomoki fought purely with Taijutsu was when he fought against Root while trapped in a barrier. Close combat was never Tomoki's style.
"Father, the battle is over!"
Sasuke reminded Fugaku, who had returned and sat beside him.
"I know, just wait here for the next match."
Fugaku replied, then his gaze returned to the arena. The referee had already announced the winner.
Chōjūrō was carried away on a stretcher by the medical team, while Natsuri walked alone towards the exit.
In the long corridor, as Natsuri walked alone, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Come with me, Natsuri."
"No, I still want to watch the match."
Natsuri refused the person's invitation and continued walking towards the changing room.
Half a minute later, Natsuri, who had just changed clothes and was about to leave the changing room, discovered that the clothes she had just taken off had grown a clump of white material.
"Who's there?"
Behind Natsuri, a swirling, vortex-like spatial ripple appeared.
A hand reached out from it and patted Natsuri's shoulder. In the next instant, Natsuri twisted and vanished from her original spot.
The white object on her discarded clothes transformed into a White Zetsu. It looked at the empty changing room, then submerged into the ground and disappeared.
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Outside Konoha Village.
At the location where the Iwagakure forces were stationed, groups of Iwagakure Ninja suddenly began to collectively rush towards the nearby Konoha Village.
This made all the other forces stationed outside Konoha Village tense up, and the sensory Ninja from each village focused their attention on the Iwagakure camp.
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Inside the arena.
One by one, figures stood up and unleashed Chakra, intending to do something.
However, they were met with drawn longswords slicing across their necks.
Countless heads flew up and then fell.
Nobles from the Land of Earth were beheaded, causing the eyes of the few Iwagakure Ninja who were allowed into Konoha to instantly turn red.
Just as they were about to act, they suddenly sensed an attack from beside them.
"There are Konoha spies among our comrades?"
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