I... I didn't hear that wrong, did I?
No!
I understood that correctly, right?
What this little girl meant was that, right?
That, right?
No mistake, right?
That, right?
All the gazes that had been focused on Ikeda Ichiro instantly returned to the little girl who had made her decision, taken a deep breath as if to ease her nerves, and retreated several steps to prepare for the coming battle.
At that moment, the hearts of those on the second floor who had previously been looking toward the Hada Clan and Amegakure suddenly began to boil.
Combined with Gekko Hayate's earlier words, there was far too much to unpack in that sentence.
What did she mean by "then I won't need to go all out"? Wasn't that completely blatant?
Whether intentional or not, she really shouldn't have said that, should she?
This was Konoha, after all. Konoha was currently the strongest of the major ninja villages, not some small village like Amegakure. She couldn't just say something like that so casually.
No! More accurately, in this context, wouldn't it cause some unpleasant misunderstandings? The referee had just said that he would intervene if necessary. What he meant was probably that she could use her full strength.
The implication was roughly: Don't worry. Even if you go all out, I can ensure the battle proceeds and ends normally.
And this little girl's response was: I won't go all out, then.
Wasn't that openly showing that she didn't trust Gekko Hayate? Since Gekko Hayate could serve as the referee for such an important Chunin Exams, Konoha must have trusted him deeply, and his strength had to be more than sufficient for the position. In fact, he was probably quite formidable.
For such an important Chunin Exams, even Konoha would not send someone