The Third Round of the Chunin Ninja Exams

This is the noisiest time of Natsuhi... (as the saying goes)

The rising sun was already scorching, drying the drops of morning dew.

Sunlight streamed obliquely into the enormous stadium, where light and shadow created a dividing line between restlessness and coolness.

Inside the stadium, Sakura and her group stood in a line, like soldiers being inspected, facing the high audience seats.

The third round of the Chunin Ninja Exams is about to begin.

However, the match was originally scheduled to start at 9:00, but now it's almost 9:30, and the signal for the start of the match is still nowhere in sight.

The general audience seats were almost full, but only about half of the distinguished guests, dignitaries and nobles from various countries, had arrived.

"What the heck! Why hasn't the match started yet? It's been almost half an hour!"

Naruto was already getting impatient waiting on the sidelines, stretched his arms and legs to loosen his stiff body while complaining.

"Tch, aren't all leaders like this? How can they show their importance if they don't make us wait? That's just how bureaucrats operate!"

Sakura curled her lip and replied with a sarcastic remark.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the empty seats in the VIP section.

The absent were the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire.

Sakura sneered. The Hokage and Lord Kazekage had already taken their seats on time. She really didn't know where these high-ranking officials got the courage and face to be so dismissive of the ninjas.

Could this be a show of force to give Konoha Ninja Village a warning?

The establishment of the ninja village system in various countries allowed the entire Hokage world to escape the war-torn, blood-soaked Warring States period and enter the era of ninja villages where major powers clashed. This system was a major step forward for the Hokage world in moving away from ignorance, but it also sowed the seeds of many hidden dangers.

One country, one village: who takes the lead?

The state controls the economic lifeline of the ninja village's survival, while the ninja village possesses the military strength to overthrow the daimyo's throne and even conquer the state. The relationship between the daimyo and the Kage is one of mutual cooperation and mutual restraint.

When the ninja villages were weak, they would quietly act subserviently, yielding to the daimyo in exchange for various forms of economic and material support, thus accumulating strength. When they were powerful, they completely disregarded the nation, acting as they pleased, doing whatever they wanted, and attacking whomever they pleased, and the daimyo had no control over them.

The daimyo both wanted the ninja villages to be strong so they wouldn't be invaded by foreign enemies, and they also wanted the ninja villages to be weak so they could control them.

This is quite contradictory.

In the eyes of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and others, Konoha is currently at its weakest point, with the Third Hokage getting old, the Sannin either betraying the village or leaving, the middle generation unable to shoulder heavy responsibilities, and the new generation lacking successors.

This is also their best moment to establish their authority.

They deliberately arrived late, forcing everyone to wait for them, precisely to show everyone who really holds power in this country.

Of course, these are just Sakura's guesses.

Sakura wasn't sure whether the delay in the arrival of the Land of Fire's daimyo and nobles was due to bureaucratic delays or ulterior motives. She only knew that Tsunade and Jiraiya present, and Konoha was far from as weak as these people imagined. If they truly harbored ill intentions, this debt would be settled sooner or later.

Many others realized the significance of the name.

In the central stands, the Third Hokage glanced casually at the audience, inwardly shaking his head, and continued his nonchalant conversation with the Fourth Kazekage. One of the Anbu guards behind him also glanced at the empty seat of the Land of Fire Daimyo, but gave a cold, unspoken smile behind his mask.

The daimyo wanted to put the ninja village in a bad light, but little did he know that the ninja village didn't take him seriously at all. For a large village like Konoha, if the daimyo dared to be too arrogant, he could be taught a lesson at any time. The ninja village was only wary of the daimyo in order to maintain the smooth operation of the Land of Fire and ensure that Konoha could have the support of the country.

The other Genin in the audience didn't think about so many political aspects.

"Sakura, Naruto, you two calm down. The match is about to start, and being too anxious will affect your performance!"

Hinata, standing between Naruto and Sakura, gently tugged at Sakura's sleeve and whispered.

He clearly wanted to face Naruto, but he deliberately turned to face Sakura, a shyness that made Sakura chuckle to herself.

Hinata usually very straightforward, honest, and generous, transforms into a completely different person when she's around someone she likes, which is incredibly cute. Like many boys, she's usually carefree, but becomes speechless when she's with someone she likes.

"Hinata, you should be pulling Naruto along with him! I'm not in a hurry!"

Sakura glanced at Naruto with a sly smile, leaving Naruto confused. "Huh? What's wrong?"

She was about to continue teasing Hinata when she suddenly sensed something and looked towards a certain spot in the stands at the same time as Hinata.

Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hanabi, the eldest daughter of the clan, and Neji, a member of the Branch Family, were sitting there.

"Was it Sister Sakura Haruno who defeated Neji?" Hanabi had seen Sakura many times, but she didn't know how strong she was. Hearing that Neji was a prodigy of the Hyuga Clan, and that Sakura had defeated Neji, she pointed to Sakura in the audience and asked curiously.

"Yes, it's her. Her Ninjutsu is more qualified to be Absolute Defense than mine..." Neji recalled the scene of his defeat at Sakura's hands.

"My sister's friend is so amazing! I had no idea!"

"Hanabi, you can't judge a person's strength by their appearance alone, remember that! Neji, I want to emphasize this again, although every Ninjutsu has its weaknesses, I might not be able to tell just by watching a few matches. If you want to break her Ninjutsu, a better way is to practice with her more often." Hiashi sat up straight and said seriously, Neji quickly nodded in agreement.

"Dad, Neji, look! Sister saw us!" Hanabi excitedly waved to Hinata in the audience.

In this world, although it's unclear why Hanabi Hinata up her clan's legacy to become a Genin, her powerful and cheerful older sister has always been someone Hinata admires, and the two sisters have a very good relationship.

"Hmph!" Hiashi suddenly remembered that he seemed to be the last in the family to discover his eldest daughter's strength and her outdated Gentle Fist. He subconsciously snorted when Hinata was mentioned, putting on the airs of the head of the family, but he had to admit that Hinata was indeed quite capable.

"... Hanabi, look closely, your sister's Gentle Fist has gone down a different path. Although I've told you not to imitate her and arbitrarily modify Gentle Fist, there are still some things worth learning from it!"

"Yes, Dad!" Hanabi answered obediently.

Just then, a commotion arose from the other side of the stands. It turned out that the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire had finally arrived late.

This also means that the competition is about to begin!

Offstage, the examiner, standing in front of the several Genin, coughed a few times, signaling Sakura and the others to stop fooling around.

"Stand still, all of you. The match is about to begin, so face the audience properly!" Genma Shiranui, who always had a Senbon (a type of Genma Shiranui) dangling from his mouth, said calmly, "Because you are the protagonists of this match!"

Amidst the cheers of the audience, the Third Hokage somehow managed to make his voice resound throughout the entire arena.

"... Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to watch the Chunin Selection Tournament hosted by our Konoha Ninja Village! Now, I hereby declare the selection tournament between the nine who passed the preliminary rounds officially open!"

The brief opening remarks ignited the audience's enthusiasm to its peak!

After Genma Shiranui explained the rules of the match, the first round finally began.

"Round 1: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sakura Haruno!"

"Please, everyone else, go to the athletes' rest area first."

Under his command, the others filed away, leaving only Genma Shiranui, the chief examiner, and Naruto and Sakura on the sidelines.

"Naruto, I never expected that we'd end up fighting here!" Sakura exclaimed.

Naruto's azure eyes were fixed on Sakura, and he smiled as he said:

"Sakura, do you know? You've always been the person I most wanted to challenge! Although we've sparred many times before, and I always ended up losing, things are different now! You'd better watch out, or you'll lose to me!"

"Hmph, is that so?" Sakura smiled faintly, lowering her hands from her chest. "Then I'll have to look forward to it!"

"Don't worry, I definitely... won't let you down!"

The two were ready for battle. Genma Shiranui a sudden swing of his hand—

"Round 1 of the match... Begin!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Sakura's figure transformed into a blur, instantly rushing in front of Naruto and crashing into his Naruto!

Puff!

The two seemed to be embracing each other tightly, standing face to face.

Sakura's Kunai had already plunged deep into Naruto's abdomen!

A trickle of blood flowed from the wound.

"So fast!" Naruto's azure eyes trembled with disbelief.

Sakura's eyes were completely indifferent.

There was neither the sadness of hurting a friend nor the joy of winning the game.

He simply stared coldly ahead.

The surrounding audience stared in disbelief at the scene, completely silent, seemingly unable to believe that the first match had ended so quickly!

Genma Shiranui watched this scene calmly, standing still without saying a word.

On the rest platform, Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan, veins bulging, and scanned the entire arena again and again!

Then, Naruto collapsed to the ground, his azure eyes losing their luster.

Sakura didn't even glance at Naruto on the ground, and spoke calmly.

"You're not slow either... Naruto!"