Chapter 153: What Kind of Paper Release is This?
Chiyo, hearing her grandson's name, wanted to give him an encouraging look, but he didn't even glance in her direction.
Dana patted Konan on the shoulder. "Go on," he said. "Don't be nervous. Just show them what you can do. If you can't, you can surrender."
"Lord Dana," she said with a nod, "I'll do my best."
She jumped down from the stands and stood in the center, facing Sasori.
Even though she had seen him many times, she couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful the little boy was, even more so than a girl.
The Rain ninja examiner waved his hand, and the match officially began.
They both immediately created distance. Sasori summoned two humanoid puppets, and Konan released a handful of paper cranes. The cranes circled around her, and the puppets floated up to protect him.
Neither of them was the type to rush in. The match started in a stalemate.
After a moment of hesitation, Konan made the first move.
"Paper Release: Paper Shuriken!"
Several shuriken flew towards him. The puppets immediately moved to block. The shuriken were made of hardened paper. Though they were sharp, they would chip when blocked.
In the stands, Koharu said to the Konoha ninja beside her, "Another ability I've never seen before. In the first round, this little girl seemed to be able to use this ability to stay in the air. I don't know if it's a Kekkei Genkai or a secret jutsu."
"Where does the Cloud find so many special ninja?" the Konoha ninja lamented.
"Though it's special," Koharu said with a shrug, "it's not necessarily strong. No matter how hard you make paper, it's still just paper. It's probably weak to water and fire."
In the arena, the two puppets were constantly firing poison-tipped projectiles from their hands and mouths. Konan dodged, the paper cranes following her like a flock of birds, and she would occasionally throw a paper shuriken or two.
Suddenly, one of the paper cranes, as if by accident, broke away from her and flew towards Sasori.
He keenly sensed it. He didn't know what these paper cranes, which had been released at the very beginning, were for, but he was not about to let them get close.
One of the puppets fired a projectile at the crane. But the crane was too small and was dodging from side to side. A large number of the projectiles only grazed its wing, and it continued to fly towards him, wobbling.
Its target seemed to be the puppet, not him.
He thought for a moment. He had to figure out what these paper cranes did. He had one of the puppets swing its long sword at it.
BOOM!
He held up his arm to block the dust and smoke.
An explosive tag? You make paper cranes out of explosive tags?
Though the puppet had used a sword, its arm had still been blown off, and its other parts were also damaged.
When the dust had settled, he looked at the hundred or so paper cranes that were still flying around Konan, and his expression was different.
The audience was also a little panicked. It was clear that wherever she went with her paper cranes, that section of the audience would scatter in a panic.
"Don't come over here!"
"Son, come here! Don't stand there!"
Dana broke into a cold sweat. For the sake of the future "infinite explosive tags," he had intentionally guided her in the direction of developing explosive tag-related techniques, but this seemed to be a bit much. Was she heading in the direction of a suicide bomber?
Though he was the one who had sponsored the explosive tags for this match.
Seeing that her secret was out, Konan gave up on the element of surprise and went for a frontal assault.
The hundred or so paper cranes rose into the air and then, like a swarm of angry bees, charged at him.
Even the calculating Sasori was panicked by the sight of a hundred explosive tags flying at him like a flock of birds.
The two puppets opened fire, frantically spraying projectiles at the swarm. But the paper cranes were not uncontrolled, inanimate objects. They scattered in all directions, and only a few were hit. And the ones that were hit did not explode. This meant that they were not trigger-activated, but were under her manual control.
His attempt to trigger a chain reaction had failed. He had to move.
In an instant, their roles were reversed. Before, he had been the one standing still, forcing her to run around. Now, she was the one standing still, controlling her paper cranes to chase him.
The explosions were endless. The paper cranes, like bombers, were diving from all directions, and he was running for his life.
In the stands, Koharu felt a little embarrassed. She had just said that Paper Release was weak, and now it was this. She cleared her throat. "Explosive tags are a valuable resource," she said. "A jutsu like this has a high consumption rate. How many of them can she have?"
Sure enough, a short while later, a dust-covered Sasori emerged from the smoke. His two puppets were now half-puppets. One was completely destroyed, and the other was just the lower half, its two legs floating in the air, a very strange sight.
"That was a hundred explosive tags in just a few moments," he said, summoning a new puppet. "But how many more can you have?"
Konan, her expression unchanged, took out another handful of paper cranes and threw them into the air. She, of course, could not afford so many explosive tags herself. But she had a sponsor. Before the match, Lord Dana had told her to use as many as she wanted.
Seeing that she had more, his face fell. He knew that if he dragged this out, he would lose. He decided to go all-in.
He controlled three and a half puppets at once and charged at her. She began to move, and her paper shuriken were also being thrown out as if they were free. And when they hit the puppets, they also exploded.
The paper shuriken were also made of explosive tags.
The entire arena was filled with explosions. Dust and debris rained down on the audience.
They were numb.
This wasn't Paper Release. This was Explosion Release.
Finally, his last puppet was also destroyed in the infinite explosions of the paper cranes and shuriken, and he had no choice but to surrender.
Seeing him surrender, Konan jumped for joy.
"Yay! I win!"
The entire arena was now a scorched, cratered landscape.
"Tch," he said, his face grim. "Next time, I'll have to develop a puppet that's specifically designed to counter explosive tags."
With the scroll with his name on it being cut, the third match was over.
Chiyo looked at the dejected Sasori. She suddenly thought that this wasn't so bad. Disappointment was an emotion. The obsession with not losing would also force him to interact more with the world. It was better than locking himself in the basement.
That puppet that's specifically designed to counter explosive tags, she thought, I'll help you with that.
This little girl from the Cloud was a perfect counter to a puppet master.
The Rain ninja examiner appeared again. "Fourth match: Hiroto Uzumaki of the Hidden Cloud Village versus Shibi Aburame of the Hidden Leaf Village."
Hiroto and Shibi both jumped down from the stands.
And the match was over very quickly.
The moment it began, just as Shibi's insects were leaving his body, Hiroto used a "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique."
The incredibly powerful jutsu covered half the arena. Even the audience could feel the intense heat. And then, the smell of barbecue.
Shibi's insects were roasted to a crisp, a field of charred corpses.
He stood there, stunned for a moment, then reluctantly raised his hand. "My insects... are very troublesome to raise. I don't want to waste them like this. I can't win this match. I surrender."
In the stands, Koharu's face was not good, but she said nothing.
"Fifth match: Minato Namikaze of the Hidden Leaf Village versus Kayo Uzumaki of the Hidden Cloud Village."
This match also ended quickly. Kayo, who had made it to the third round with her sensory abilities, was only average in frontal combat. Her style was similar to her brother's, relying on ninjutsu, but her power was far inferior. The power of a ninjutsu was not just about how much chakra you had.
And against a fighter like Minato, she was quickly taken down, a short sword at her neck.
She froze in fright and surrendered.
In comparison, the longest match of the first round was the last one.
"Sixth match: Han of the Hidden Stone Village versus Choza Akimichi of the Hidden Leaf Village."
Choza was, of course, a formidable opponent. But Han's style was a strange steam-based nin-taijutsu. This new prodigy from the Stone was very strong and had advanced through the rounds with ease, as if he had been holding back. Some had guessed that he had some special "Steam Release," but he had never admitted to it.
The two of them were both tough fighters, and they traded blows for nearly half an hour. But without the Ino--Shika-Cho combination, Choza's techniques were a bit one-dimensional. And his opponent's chakra seemed to be endless. In the end, he was defeated.
After nearly two hours, the first round was over. On the torii marked "One," there were only six names left:
"Tsuki Kaguya, Pakura, Konan Kohaku, Hiroto Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, Han."
"Will the team leaders of each village please come down and draw lots to determine the order of the second round."