Chapter 154: A Bad Hand and the Top Three
Dana jumped down from the stands again to draw the lots. By a coincidence, all the villages were still in the running, with at least one contestant from each, and the Cloud had two.
The first number he drew was "2." Not great. It meant they would be up first.
But when he drew the second number, he knew it could be worse.
"1."
Wait a minute, he thought, am I really this unlucky? After sending Yusuke out in the last round, now it's a civil war?
This meant Hiroto would be facing Konan.
He suddenly felt that the Hidden Rain was really ruthless. To have the team leaders draw the lots... it gave him no one to complain to.
He looked back at Hiroto and Konan in the stands and gave them an awkward smile.
"Hehehe."
They had no idea what had just happened.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Hiroto said.
"Me too, senpai," Konan said. "I've got a chill down my spine."
Sure enough, the next moment, the Rain ninja examiner announced, "Second round, first match: Hiroto Uzumaki of the Hidden Cloud Village versus Konan Kohaku of the Hidden Cloud Village!"
Two scrolls, with their names on them, unrolled from the torii marked "Two."
In the stands, almost all the Cloud ninja covered their faces.
"And I was just thinking about taking the top two spots," the Third Raikage grumbled.
"Nice draw," Hiroto said. "Don't ever draw again."
"I knew it!" Yusuke, who had just woken up, said. "Lord Dana has a bad hand! Glug, glug, glug!"
"Why am I here with the Cloud?" Ringo said. "Glug, glug, glug!"
"Doctor," Ganseki said, holding the two of them down, "we need a refill here!"
Hiroto and Konan went to the arena, their faces blank. Dana didn't dare to look at them.
Konan knew she had no chance. Her fighting style was weak against large-scale ninjutsu, whether it was Water or Fire Release. Against a ninjutsu master like Hiroto, her explosive paper cranes were no more difficult to deal with than the Aburame's insects. If she had been matched against a taijutsu user like Pakura or Han, she would have had a much better chance.
As the "big brother" of the team, she knew the gap between her and Hiroto.
After a moment of hesitation, she chose to forfeit. Instead of a desperate struggle that would just waste her teammate's energy, it was better to just surrender and let him conserve his strength.
Hiroto said nothing, just nodded.
The examiner and the audience were not surprised. After the result was announced, the scroll with her name on it was cut down.
"Second round, second match: Pakura of the Hidden Sand Village versus Han of the Hidden Stone Village."
From this point on, each village had only one contestant left. To be eliminated now would mean the end of their journey.
Pakura calmed her nerves. Her opponent was Han of the Stone. It was a mixed bag.
Good, in that they had fought in the second round. She knew his fighting style and had some intelligence on him.
Bad, in that she had been at a disadvantage in their last encounter.
Sure enough, the battle was incredibly fierce. Pakura's Scorch Release fireballs were powerful, and Han's steam-based nin-taijutsu was strong. The arena was soon filled with flying rocks. The ground, which had already been bombed by Konan, was now a complete mess.
What was most frustrating for her was that even when her Scorch Release hit him, he would just release a large amount of steam from his body and "blow" the fireball away. It was ineffective.
Even when she used her trump card, controlling multiple fireballs to surround herself, she could not win. Her chakra was constantly being depleted, while Han's seemed to be endless.
In the end, she made a mistake and was hit by him several times. She was covered in wounds.
For the honor of her village, she was not willing to surrender. She wanted to fight to the death, hoping for a chance at victory. But the Sand elder, Chiyo, decisively surrendered for her.
She did not want her village's prodigy to be killed. Though Pakura was not happy about it, she was declared the loser.
And so, the Hidden Sand's journey in the Joint Chunin Exams came to an end. They were the first of the five great villages to be eliminated.
"Second round, third match: Minato Namikaze of the Hidden Leaf Village versus Tsuki Kaguya of the Hidden Mist Village."
This was a match even Dana was very interested in. He was curious to see how the current Minato would deal with the slightly insane Tsuki, and how much he had grown.
From the very beginning, he had been a little curious about the short sword on his back. Its shape was too similar to Sakumo's White Fang. In the original timeline, the two of them had had no connection.
He suddenly had a vision of a future Minato, the White Fang in his left hand, a Rasengan in his right, flying around the battlefield with the Flying Thunder God.
The examiner's voice, announcing the start of the match, broke his reverie.
Tsuki immediately charged forward. It was her fighting style. With her fearlessness of injury and her body as a weapon, a close-quarters battle was always more effective for her.
Usually, she would charge, and her opponent would retreat. But this time, she saw Minato charging to meet her.
She unhesitatingly sent her bone blade at his eye. But the next moment, he ducked, and then disappeared from her sight.
So fast!
Such a fast Body Flicker.
The "Body Flicker" was a broad category of jutsu, similar to "Fire Release." There were many different types. Any jutsu that allowed the user to move quickly could be called a Body Flicker. The difference in skill was immense. A weak user was slow and could not even control their direction. A master could integrate it into their every move, with a variety of miraculous effects.
Minato's Body Flicker had always been fast. Combined with his top-tier dynamic vision and reflexes, he could use it to great effect. And now, he was being trained by a master of it, Sakumo Hatake.
When he reappeared, he was behind her, his short sword swinging.
She quickly covered her vital points with her bones. As long as her internal organs were not injured, a superficial wound was not a problem for her.
But the sharpness of this blade was far beyond what she had imagined.
She felt as if she had been hit by a hammer. She lost her balance. The blade had cut deep into her, and the bone armor beneath her skin had cracked. If she had been an ordinary ninja, she would have been nearly cut in two.
He had landed a blow and had immediately retreated. He looked at his short sword. There was a small chip in the blade. It was like hitting a steel plate. Though it was not the "White Fang," a masterpiece infused with chakra metal, it was still the best weapon he could find, and it had not been cheap. He sheathed it and took out a kunai.
"What's wrong?" she said, though she was surprised by the sharpness of his blade. "Are you afraid to use your sword?"
"Yes," he said with a nod. "I am."
She was speechless for a moment, then the two of them clashed again.
In the stands, the Third Raikage said, "This little girl from the Mist is interesting. She was so crazy when she was fighting the others, but now that she's facing an equal, she's much calmer."
"For a weaker opponent," the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, said, shaking his head, "craziness can be intimidating. But against a master, it will only lead to a quick defeat. This is why the Kaguya clan rarely produces top-tier fighters. They are always struggling between their instincts and their reason."
But with her mind now clear, was she a match for Minato?
A kunai flew at her. She blocked it. But the next moment, the kunai turned into Minato, who stabbed at her neck. She barely managed to block it, but the attack was weak. It was a clone. And then she was hit from behind.
From the audience's perspective, it was as if several Minatos were ganging up on her. But in reality, they were all just clones, not even Shadow Clones. And yet, they were overwhelming her.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" She was starting to lose it. The suppressed madness was once again taking over. She became more and more agitated.
She grew faster, more ferocious. But she found that no matter how fast she was, he was always faster. Slowly, her furious assault turned into a passive defense.
Finally, after another of his clones was dispelled, she heard his voice from behind her.
"RASENGAN!"
A blue ball of spinning chakra slammed into her back.
In an instant, her skin, her bones, her internal organs—they were all being torn apart by the Rasengan's power.
She was sent spinning away and crashed into the wall of the stands, leaving a human-shaped imprint.
The examiner quickly entered the arena and stood between them. "The match is over!"
But she staggered to her feet. "Wait," she gasped. "I'm not... cough."
She coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The audience, seeing how badly she was beaten, looked at Minato with disapproval. He just scratched his head, embarrassed. They didn't know that this "little girl" was the most ruthless of all the contestants.
In the end, with her internal organs injured, she was unable to continue. The Rain's staff carried her away, and Minato was declared the winner.
On the torii marked "Two," there were only three names left: "Hiroto Uzumaki, Han, Minato Namikaze."
The Cloud, the Stone, and the Leaf had taken the top three spots in the Joint Chunin Exams.
The villages of the top three were, of course, overjoyed. No matter what the final result was, to have made it to the top three in such a prestigious exam was an excellent achievement. In front of the many merchant guilds, organizations, and clients, they had shown their village's strength and future potential.
After the exams were over, the news of this grand event would surely spread far and wide.