The qualifiers were held as scheduled the following day.
Inside the indoor training grounds of Konoha, Sasuke was excitedly attacking his opponent relentlessly.
His fierce attack had been going on for a while, and with his soul's movement and positioning, he easily dodged the three puppets' attacks.
"Sasuke is amazing! Keep it up!"
Sakura, sitting in the audience, watched Sasuke excitedly in the arena, while Naruto next to her kept rolling his eyes.
"That brat is getting more and more pretentious!"
Unlike his two teammates who only watched the spectacle, Kakashi saw much more.
He could clearly feel that Sasuke's stamina and Chakra seemed to have increased a lot. Was it just his imagination?
"Tayuya's at a disadvantage, huh? I didn't expect this Uchiha kid to be so capable..."
On the high platform, Sakon and Ukon watched Tayuya Sasuke. Even though the latter had transplanted the Sharingan, he didn't have much of an advantage against Sasuke, who also had the Sharingan.
Sasuke's resistance to Genjutsu is much stronger than that of ordinary ninjas, not only because he is from the Uchiha Clan, but also because he was trained by Itachi.
Moreover, Tayuya's Sharingan only has a single Tomoe, and she has only had it for a short time. In addition, she is more skilled in group attacks and long-range attacks, so this sharp close combat is the best way to counter her.
In a complex terrain like a forest, Tayuya's chances of winning would be even greater.
But in the bare arena, she could only fight and retreat, trying her best to avoid fighting Sasuke.
"It can only be described as an elemental advantage. This exam tests a ninja's overall strength, and no one can help with that!"
Ajisai frowned and said, "The first match of the preliminaries is Tayuya versus Sasuke, and judging from the current situation Tayuya probably lose."
As expected, after exchanging over a hundred blows, Tayuya, who was already at a disadvantage Tayuya, finally ran out of energy. Her movements were a beat too slow, and she was kicked against the wall by Sasuke, unable to get up for a moment.
"I declare Sasuke winner!"
After checking the situation, the proctor quickly announced Sasuke's victory.
In the past, Sasuke would not have won so easily, but Orochimaru had an immediate effect, with his physical abilities and Chakra reserves increasing dramatically.
Sasuke, who was panting just a moment ago, took a deep breath and walked off the stage with a slightly relaxed expression, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.
"How annoying! He got away with it again!"
Despite this, Naruto looked very happy, and Sakura jumped up excitedly.
On the other side, completely opposite to them were Tayuya and the others.
"I'm... I'm sorry to have disappointed everyone!"
Tayuya, who had been helped over by the Ajisai Tayuya apologized to the people of the Northern Lands.
She felt a little ashamed and unlucky to have failed to win her first match in the Northern Lands.
"It's alright! This is just the beginning, no one will blame you!"
Anko patted her on the shoulder, and Xiaofu also came over to comfort her. Then the two of them took her to the infirmary.
Everyone saw Tayuya's performance; even at the risk of serious injury, she still couldn't win, which means she did her best.
As for the power of the Curse Mark, Tayuya only used the first stage; the second stage is not allowed to be used unless in a life-or-death crisis.
"Ajisai, I remember you also had a battle today, why don't you let Xiao Fu take me to the infirmary!"
As she spoke, she looked at the Ajisai, but the other person said softly:
"My show is in the afternoon, there's still plenty of time!"
Today is the first day of the qualifiers, which will last for four days with twelve matches each day.
Besides Tayuya, there's also a battle with Kin Tsuchi today, and her opponent is Sakura Haruno.
As time goes by, more and more people are eliminated.
The preliminary round list was quickly released, and among those who made it into the main tournament, all but Tayuya Northern Lands had won.
Hinata and Sakura Haruno Konoha eliminated from Konoha.
Sakura Haruno goes without saying; she's terrible at Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and swordsmanship. It's just her bad luck to run into the ninjas of the Northern Lands.
Hinata's defeat was to be expected. Neji only managed to narrowly defeat Kidomaru because of Konoha's aura, let alone Hinata.
Thus, the Konoha 12 who entered the official tournament became the Ten Konoha, and the Northern Lands became the Eight Little Kings.
Of the remaining six spots, Gaara's team took three, Kurotsuchi took one, and the remaining two spots were taken by ninjas from Kumogakure.
It can be said that there are almost no unqualified people among them. The Third Hokage looked at the newly released list, and this result was beyond his expectations.
"I never imagined that so many ninjas from the Northern Lands would make it into the official tournament!"
The Third Hokage's gaze was somewhat complicated. The fact that this newly established ninja village could cultivate so many new talents also reflected their educational capabilities.
Little did he know that these were all taught by his most prized disciple, Orochimaru. If we're talking about the most qualified teacher in the Ninja World, Orochimaru is probably the one.
Otherwise, Itachi wouldn't have gone to such lengths to scheme and guide Orochimaru to teach Sasuke on his behalf in the Original Work.
The Sunagakure also performed well; Gaara's team ranked among the top in the first two assessments. However, in the entire Sunagakure, these three are probably the only ones who can be considered truly outstanding.
Others thought that their village had only sent three people, but they didn't know that these were the only three people in the entire village who were truly capable.
"Good job! Take a rest tomorrow, and keep up the good work the day after!"
In the evening, Anko, Kimimaro, and White Three led the students to a barbecue restaurant in Konoha for dinner.
Aside from Tayuya, who wasn't in a very high mood, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
"Alright! Personal gains and losses don't matter. We're representing the entire Northern Lands in this battle, so leave the rest to us!"
Upon hearing Karin's words, Tayuya's face broke into a smile. Just as the atmosphere reached its peak, Anko suddenly clapped her hands.
"Alright! Let me summarize your performance in battle over the past few days!"
As he spoke, Anko took out a notebook containing information he had recorded about the members over the past few days, including his own students and other winners.
"Jirobo, your attacks are too direct and lack adaptability. You will be in trouble if you face an agile opponent..."
Anko meticulously analyzed the shortcomings of everyone present, while Bai offered solutions one by one.
All three of them have extensive combat experience, and even a combat genius like Kidomaru is still quite inexperienced in front of them.
After analyzing the situation, Anko looked at the thoughtful students and said again:
"I can gather intelligence on the other side, and others will also gather intelligence on you, and will take corresponding measures to deal with you!"
This wasn't the first time they'd heard these words; during previous training sessions, Anko, Shiro, and Kimimaro had all said them many times.
So I kept emphasizing to them that if you can take down an enemy with one shot, don't dawdle. And most importantly, shoot first and then ask questions, so as not to be caught off guard and end up in trouble.
The point is to avoid situations where villains die because they talk too much.
While they were having an intelligence analysis meeting while eating, a few more people came into the barbecue restaurant. Anko, who had been quietly watching the trainees think, looked up and spotted them.
"Hey! Asuma, what a coincidence!"
The newcomers were none other than Asuma, along with the new generation of Ino–Shika–Chō.
"Anko, I didn't expect to see you here!"
Asuma greeted Anko with a smile, and Shikamaru also saw Kidomaru, with whom he had a brief encounter.
The two exchanged a brief greeting and then sat down at a table in the corner, seemingly not wanting anyone to hear their conversation.
"Alright, alright! We still have one more day tomorrow, let's eat and drink well now!"
Now that another team had arrived, it was no longer appropriate to talk about work, so Anko once again drew everyone's attention back.
As it turned out, Anko's decision was correct. Soon after, Team Kurenai, Team Kakashi, Team Guy arrived at the barbecue restaurant one after another, as if they had made an appointment.