Chapter 149: Wudou Tournament
As Hanzo of the Salamander announced the names of the twelve finalists, the crowd below was a mixture of cheers and groans. To be honest, anyone who had made it to the second round could have easily been promoted to Chunin in their own village.
He waited for the crowd to quiet down before he continued.
"The content of the third round," he said, "can now be revealed."
He waved his hand, and his dedicated announcer appeared at his side again.
"The third round of the exam," the Rain ninja said in a solemn voice, "is a Wudou Tournament!"
"The twelve contestants will draw lots to determine their opponents and will engage in one-on-one duels. The first round will be twelve to six, the second six to three, the third three to two, with one person getting a bye. And finally, the final match. The first three rounds will be completed in one day, and the final match will be held the next day."
"Between matches, the Rain will provide medical support to ensure the contestants' condition."
"At that time, various figures from the ninja world will be watching your matches. The total number of spectators is expected to be over a thousand. At the same time, Lord Hanzo has prepared a generous prize for the champion. We hope that all of you will achieve excellent results."
After hearing the rules, the contestants began to whisper among themselves.
As a ninja exam, a one-on-one fight in the final round was not unexpected. Most of them were mentally prepared.
But the fact that they had to fight three rounds in one day put a great deal of pressure on them. Even with medical support, their chakra would be a major issue. And medical support had its limits. A serious injury would likely be the end of their journey.
The most successful of them would have to fight three matches in one day. And there were no weaklings in this round. No fight would be easy.
Dana thought that besides the Uzumaki siblings, who didn't have to worry about their chakra, everyone else would have to be very careful.
"Of our twelve finalists," he said to Hiroto, "the Cloud has four. That's a very good result. Now, if we can just get first place, this Joint Chunin Exam will be a complete success."
Hiroto looked at him sideways. "You make it sound so easy," he said. "It's easy for you to talk."
"I'd love to be out there," he said with a shrug. "My hands are itching. But my skills don't allow it."
Hiroto was speechless. "Who do you think will make it to the top three?" he asked.
"You're one of them," he said, stroking his chin. "The others are all possible. In terms of raw strength, many of them are evenly matched. It will all depend on their performance on the day. But I think you should aim for first place."
Hiroto thought for a moment, then, instead of dwelling on the question, he whispered, "What do you think the prize will be?"
"Probably not money," he said, glancing at him.
Hiroto felt half of his motivation disappear.
"Here," Dana said, handing him a kunai. "You might need this."
Hiroto took it, a look of confusion on his face. He didn't see anything special about it.
"It's infused with chakra metal," he whispered. "A lot of it. It was sent from the village. You can use it for now."
A weapon infused with chakra metal, besides being able to be used in conjunction with ninjutsu and nin-taijutsu, would also become incredibly hard when infused with chakra. Its usefulness to a ninja was self-evident.
This was no ordinary kunai. If it were on the market, it would be worth at least seven figures, and it would be impossible to find. The production of chakra metal in the ninja world was too low.
But for the Cloud, it was a different story. While they had been at the Joint Chunin Exams, the development of the chakra metal mines in the Eastern Archipelago had already begun to bear fruit. The kunai in his hand was one of the first prototypes from United Iron & Steel.
In the past, adding chakra metal to a weapon had been a stingy affair. The craftsmen who could do it were few and far between, and they rarely had a chance to accumulate experience.
At Dana's suggestion, United Iron & Steel had begun to experiment with different alloys, to see what different effects they would have.
Hearing that the kunai in his hand was infused with chakra metal, Hiroto's hand trembled. He had heard how expensive it was.
"It's a weapon, not a work of art," Dana said with a sneer. "If you're too afraid to use it, it's useless."
Hiroto carefully put the kunai away.
Dana had more of them, but the matter of the Eastern Archipelago was still a secret. He couldn't just hand them out to everyone. If Hiroto had one, it could be said to be a reward from the village. But if all the contestants had one, the other villages would get suspicious. Did the Cloud find a mine?
Sorry, but we did.
Unlike the first two rounds, which were mainly for the high-ranking officials, the third round was a public event. The various merchant guilds, organizations, and clients would all be there to watch. The pressure on the contestants was immense. For example, Han, from the Stone Village. He was the only one left from his village. If he made a single mistake, he would be shaming his entire village.
The pressure was so great, he was starting to get an upset stomach. Especially with Onoki's strict order that he was not allowed to use that power.
The twelve finalists left the training ground, each with their own thoughts. Some went to cram, some to meditate, and some to train in secret with their friends.
Dana refused Hiroto's invitation to spar and instead went to his father's residence.
The Third Raikage was in the accommodations Hanzo had prepared for him, said to be the best of all the high-ranking officials, though that was difficult to verify.
When he saw Dana, he waved his hand, and the others in the room discreetly left to stand guard. The following conversation was clearly a secret, and not many were qualified to hear it.
"Dana," the Raikage said, handing him a scroll, "this is the list I'm preparing to give to the Daimyo. Take a look."
He took the scroll. It listed about nine merchant guilds and blacksmiths. Having been involved with United Iron & Steel for so long, he could tell that about seven of them were real subsidiaries. They were the more public-facing organizations, not involved in the core supply chain. The other two were interesting. They were rivals of United Iron & Steel, belonging to a great noble of the Land of Lightning. This noble clearly did not know who was behind the merchant guild he was fighting.
"These seven will be shut down," the Raikage said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And the other two will be a real shutdown. And let's leave the market in the capital of the Land of Lightning empty for a while. Let the small merchants take it back. We can talk about the rest later."
This was the answer he was preparing to give to the Daimyo, and it was a huge concession. The Land of Lightning was the Cloud's home turf, and the area where United Iron & Steel had the deepest penetration.
"The public-facing forces are gone," Dana said with a nod, "but it won't hurt the company. The supply chain is still in our hands. But as for the empty market, should we..."
He was suggesting that they just create a new set of public-facing forces, a new skin for the old bones.
The Raikage shook his head. "No," he said. "The market in the capital and the surrounding area... let's just leave it. It will put the Daimyo's mind at ease."
He nodded, and they fell into a silence.