Seeing Kurozawa injured, Inuzuka Midori lay down, satisfied.
If she had the strength, she wanted to do better, but for now, this was all she could manage.
"The winner is decided, Kurozawa wins!" Hiruko promptly announced the battle's result.
Kurozawa glared at Inuzuka Midori but didn't dare to make another move.
"What a bother, having to fight such a monster in the second round." The victory didn't excite Kurozawa; there's nothing to be happy about a Chunin defeating a Genin.
Rather than focusing on the current victory, he needed to think about how to minimize his injuries in the second round because his opponent was Might Guy.
The severely injured Inuzuka Midori was quickly taken away by a Medical Ninja, while Kurozawa also went to a designated area for treatment.
Seeing Kurozawa win the battle, Genshi's expression softened a bit.
Konoha and Hidden Mist had three battles, and Hidden Mist won two, so they still had the upper hand.
"The fifth match, Uchiha Obito versus Sarutobi Asuma!"
"Sarutobi Asuma? Isn't he the son of the Third Hokage? It's time for him to take the Chunin Exam too."
"I've never heard of Uchiha Obito; surely the Third Hokage's son will win."
The majority of the audience favored Asuma, not because they knew his ninjutsu or his strength, but simply because he was the son of the Third Hokage.
As the son of the Third Hokage, Asuma winning was expected; losing would be unusual.
"They underestimate our Uchiha." Uchiha Inabi disagreed with these remarks.
Having been defeated by Obito, he was well aware of Obito's strength—not just among Genin but also strong among Chunin.
"It's fine; Obito will prove Uchiha's excellence with his strength." Uchiha Yashiro said calmly.
In his view, Obito might not be able to defeat Kisame or Might Guy—those two were real monsters—but beating Asuma should be no problem.
The reason is simple: if Asuma had such great power, his reputation as the Hokage's son and a genius would have spread through Konoha by now.
Uchiha Inabi nodded, focusing on the center of the arena to watch the battle intently.
In the arena, one couldn't hear the discussions in the stands, being basically sharp-eared and observant ninjas.
Even though he couldn't hear, Asuma already guessed what the audience above was discussing.
It was nothing but the fact that as the Hokage's son, he should win; he was all too familiar with this, having heard it since he was young.
If he won, it was rightfully so, as the Hokage's son should do. If he lost, it meant he hadn't trained well, as the Hokage's son couldn't be of such a level.
"It's easy to say on the surface, but Obito is not easy to deal with." Asuma thought as he watched Obito smilingly wave at the audience.
Asuma had no confidence in fighting Obito; the Fire Release Obito had shown in the preliminaries had left a deep impression on him to this day, and now, a month later, Asuma truly had no idea what Obito might have improved on.
Not winning the battle as those people wished wouldn't upset Asuma; his heart might even feel a secret joy.
But Asuma wouldn't intentionally lose because there were people he cared about on the field.
Asuma didn't want Mokgetsu to see him lose easily, to feel like her teaching was in vain. He didn't want Sarutobi Hiruzen to see him lose easily; he wanted to prove himself with his strength.
Asuma looked up at the stands, though it was difficult to distinguish due to the distance. Still, he imagined a blond figure with a gentle smile watching from there.
"That boy's battle huh, he is definitely going to be thrashed by Uchiha Obito." Tsunade remarked upon hearing Asuma's name.
"Why?" Mokgetsu turned her head towards Tsunade and asked.
"Haha, because Asuma can't speak, call her 'Auntie'." Jiraiya laughed heartily, answering Tsunade's question for her.
Mokgetsu's expression was a bit subtle; Tsunade was actually right in her rambling. Currently, the gap in strength between them was quite big; for Asuma to win seemed really difficult—it would require every factor to align, plus Obito must have an off day.
"But considering Asuma's age, calling you..." Jiraiya looked at Tsunade's gradually rising fist, ultimately swallowing the rest of his words, knowing Tsunade hit without sparing power.
"The battle begins!"
When Hiruko's voice echoed through the arena, Mokgetsu refocused her gaze on the venue to watch the battle.
"Breath of Flame, Full Concentration Breathing!" Obito swiftly entered a concentrated breathing state, speeding up his Fire Attribute Chakra Nature Changes.
However, he didn't immediately enter the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, as it would consume too much. He wanted to first test Asuma's capabilities and then decide.
Asuma also instantly entered the state of Basic Breathing to enhance his own abilities.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!
Asuma pulled out three kunai from his ninja pouch and used Wind Nature Transformation to infuse Wind Attribute Chakra into them, flinging them towards Obito.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito gathered Chakra and rapidly completed the Nature Transformation at his throat, spewing a massive flame.
The flames formed an enormous fireball, crashing towards the incoming shuriken.
The kunai, enhanced with Wind Attribute Chakra, had considerable power, yet it still lacked compared to Obito's Great Fireball, being directly knocked to the ground.
Asuma chose not to face it head-on and instead dodged.
Obito wasn't hoping to hit Asuma with the Great Fireball, so he immediately unleashed chakra and charged in.
Although Asuma's breathing technique strength and physique were far inferior to Obito, he hadn't wasted the month. Besides mastering the Basic Breathing Technique, Asuma had a deeper grasp of Wind Attribute Nature Changes and, with Mokgetsu's guidance, mastered the technique of accelerating himself using Wind Release.
With the speed boost from Wind Release, Asuma didn't instantly fall behind; on the surface, he seemed to fight Obito on equal terms, appearing to be evenly matched.
Of course, it was just on the surface.
"Obito's strength is actually much greater than mine; when did he become so adept in Taijutsu!" Asuma, who thought he could gain an upper hand with the new technique in Taijutsu, felt somewhat puzzled.
After getting a rough idea of Asuma's level in Taijutsu, Obito directly activated his Sharingan, turning his eyes blood-red, with two tomoe spinning within.
Once the Sharingan was activated, Obito's insight improved dramatically, revealing many flaws in Asuma's attacks.
Already somewhat at a disadvantage, Asuma immediately fell into a losing trend, being forced to retreat continuously under Obito's attacks.
Seeing Asuma in a disadvantaged position, a guard instinctively glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen, but Hiruzen's expression remained similar to that before, without much change.
"He actually suppressed the Hokage's son; this Uchiha Obito is very strong indeed."
"Could he really win?"
No ninja would be foolish enough to belittle the Hokage's son in such a grand setting, even if he lost. At most, they'd just silently critique or jest with friends.
The ordinary folk's words might not matter to the Hokage, but a ninja should understand, even if the Hokage doesn't mind, his subordinates would be more than willing to serve.
Uchiha Fugaku watched Obito's steady advance, securing the advantage, and nodded slightly. From his perspective, Obito seemed securely on the path to becoming a Chunin.
"If he becomes a Chunin, he could directly join the Police Department. If he comes to the Police Department, he'd undoubtedly receive the best training." Uchiha Yashiro regretted Obito's previous refusal.
He believed that having Uchiha teach Uchiha would be best because nobody understood the Uchiha better than the Uchiha themselves.
Seeing that Taijutsu was unviable, Asuma had to alter his strategy; he maximized Wind Attribute Nature Changes, suddenly accelerating to widen the distance.
Though he had even less assurance with ninjutsu, Asuma had no choice but to use it because if he didn't utilize Wind Release Ninjutsu, he'd lose to Obito's Taijutsu.
"Those people probably started nitpicking that I hadn't trained properly yet; people who only know how to talk don't realize how strong my opponent is." Asuma thought to himself while forming seals.
"Fast, huh? Then I'll use ninjutsu." Noticing he couldn't keep up with Asuma and fearing he'd face a Wind Release attack if he continued, Obito also began forming seals to use Fire Release Ninjutsu.