The Completely Rigged Imperial Martial Competition

The Imperial Martial Competition was divided into the Sword Group and the Fist Group. The two events proceeded alternately without interfering with each other, and a small number of skilled contestants could participate in both.

Ninjutsu was forbidden during the competition, but the Sword Group allowed the use of Chakra, while the Fist Group could only rely on physical strength in combat.

Everyone wore different expressions as they looked over the simple and clear rules of the Imperial Martial Competition.

Might Guy and Raiton had stars in their eyes. They rolled up their sleeves, and even their breathing became a little hurried.

Ebisu and Washi, who had no interest in the competition, remained largely indifferent. Ebisu even yawned, finding it a little boring.

Genma and Kurenai stared at the competition notice for a while, then looked at each other.

The instant their gazes met, they understood each other's intentions.

Both of them had decided to participate in the Sword Group competition.

Seeing the six of them react like this, Yushi remained calm and composed, as though he had expected it all along. Noma, however, looked somewhat frustrated.

Why did his team have grind kings, yet less drive than a team with one girl!?

Unable to contain his irritation, Noma's previously cheerful expression darkened. "All six of you are participating. No arguments! Might Guy, Washi, Ebisu, the three of you will all enter the Fist Group! Understand?"

"Hey, there's no need to be so forceful. Even if they participate in both groups, it's not impossible~" Yushi said amiably, but in Noma's eyes, it sounded like immense mockery.

"To hell with participating in both groups! Do you still want to do missions or not?!"

Noma looked as though he were about to explode, radiating fury all over his body. Yushi's smile faded slightly.

"Alright, alright, we'll follow your arrangements. Genma, Raiton, Kurenai, you three will enter the Sword Group. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the three answered in unison.

"Good. The competition is about to begin, so let's head in!" Yushi felt that his disciples were truly well-behaved, and his mood instantly brightened.

Noma, however, felt a little depressed and even began to let his imagination run wild. Looking over the boys on his team, he suddenly felt that compared to Yushi's team, they were really only lacking one cute girl.

Damn it, why had that old man, the Third Hokage, assigned me three boys while they got a girl!?

That had to be it. It had to be because they lacked a cute girl that everyone on his team was so mischievous!

Noma was practically roaring inside, yet he could not show it on his face. He felt so miserable that it seemed as if his personality were about to split apart.

However, once they entered the spectator stands, the scenery before him suddenly became much brighter. Even in the dead of winter, it felt as though a spring breeze were brushing against his face.

More accurately, there were so, so many female spectators that everything he had just been brooding over vanished like smoke.

The female spectators screamed and cried out one after another, though it was impossible to tell whom they were cheering for. The entire spectator stand was incredibly lively. Noma's heart soon began to itch, and he quickly forgot about those mischievous disciples as he focused on appreciating the beautiful scenery.

They had agreed before coming that Yushi would be entirely in charge of the team this time, which was why Noma could rest easy.

Thus, the six followed Yushi to the competition grounds, submitted six registration forms, received their respective numbers, and waited.

There were many people waiting, a dark sea of bodies.

The experts from the Land of This were all burly and muscular, and several of them looked especially fierce.

With so many hulking men brimming with masculinity appearing in the arena, the noise from the spectator stands seemed to grow even more intense.

Unexpectedly, just as the competition was about to begin, several contestants entered wearing armor. They looked valiant, dashing, and even somewhat handsome.

But Genma could tell that they were clearly female contestants. After all, men could never train chest muscles that outrageously large.

Yet the Land of This seemed particularly fond of that sort of thing. Even louder cheers erupted from the stands, as though everyone were about to rush down into the arena.

The atmosphere in the arena immediately became strange. It did not feel like the tension before a contest, but more like they were competing for romantic partners, with jealousy thick in the air.

Kurenai seemed to have been affected as well. She directly turned Genma's head forward, preventing him from glancing sideways—in other words, stopping him from looking at the spectator stands.

Ahem. Genma had no idea what the spectator stands had become. He only vaguely sensed that while Yushi was using a Telescope, he was also wiping around his nose.

Ebisu directly turned into an old pervert, wrestling Raiton for the Telescope.

Faintly, they could hear spectators enthusiastically shouting things like, "Have my babies!" and "Ahhh!" If everyone had not been dressed in ancient clothing, Genma would have thought he had arrived at a massive concert for some male celebrity.

This boisterous scene did not last long. After a man in a purple formal outfit appeared and made a gesture for silence, the crowd quieted down.

He then gave a rather imposing opening speech before directly announcing the start of the competition.

The Fist Group competed first. Since there were so many participants, the initial qualifying rounds were six-person free-for-alls, with one person advancing.

Although the qualifiers seemed rather chaotic, there really were too many people, and this format helped select those who stood out the most.

In a six-person melee where the competitors were not too far apart in strength, the fighting became exceptionally difficult. Every punch landed solidly on flesh, and everyone feared being struck at any moment. In the end, the person who could take the most hits was often the one who emerged victorious.

After several rounds of free-for-alls, it was finally time for the Fist Group matches involving Ebisu and the others.

The first to take the stage was Might Guy, who had not forgotten to exercise even below the stage. He now stood beneath the sunlight with complete confidence, his glossy black bowl cut seeming to shine.

Compared to his opponents, though his body was sturdy, he was clearly not in the same weight class. Judging by their builds, Guy did not seem to have much chance of winning.

But Genma and the others were not worried. Guy was a beast who had reached the level of a Genin through Taijutsu alone, since he could do nothing else. No one on the team could beat him in Taijutsu.

The match was about to begin, and the surroundings were unbelievably lively. The five shouted together and raised their thumbs, offering their encouragement. "Guy, do your best!"

"Whoa~ I guarantee I'll defeat them!" Guy was as confident as ever. Flashing his white teeth and raising a thumb, he gave off an indescribably convincing air.

Just as everyone believed Guy could completely crush his opponents, Genma's heart suddenly skipped a beat as he remembered something.

Guy was already in the arena, facing an opponent. He had swept his leg at the other man's lower body, but the opponent leaped up to evade it. Guy was just about to follow up with Konoha Whirlwind.

"Guy! Don't shout the name of your technique! Don't shout it!" Genma cried out anxiously, urging the others to join him.

"Don't shout it, Guy!"

"Ko... Ko..." Guy did hear the reminders from so many people, but not shouting the name of his technique felt as though someone had grabbed him by the throat, suddenly making it hard to breathe. He directly tripped and fell over.

Fortunately, Guy's opponents were honest people. Seeing him fall by himself, none of them took advantage of it. Instead, they froze in confusion for a moment.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Guy pushed himself back up and assumed a punching stance.

"Guy, quickly use your Invincible Great Whirlwind!"

Struck by an idea, Genma roared loudly at Guy.

After shouting, he looked at the others and hurriedly said, "Quick, give Guy new names for his techniques. Change all the Konoha parts to Invincible!"

The other four immediately understood. The corners of their mouths curved up, and faint excitement showed on their faces.

"Guy, quickly use Invincible Rock Rising Ring!"

"Guy, quickly use Invincible Strong Force Whirlwind!"

"..."

All of Guy's techniques became Invincible techniques in this match.

After hearing the revised names his teammates had given his techniques, Guy seemed divinely empowered. Relying on all kinds of whirlwinds and magical spinning, he swept away his opponents in the arena.

After this match, he unexpectedly gained the title of Invincible Whirlwind Kid, making many hulking men who had looked down on him remember him well.

Later, Ebisu and Washi took the stage as well. Though their performances were not as overwhelmingly powerful or visually impactful as Guy's, they were more clean and decisive.

Once all the Fist Group matches had ended and all three had successfully advanced, the Sword Group competition began.

Though the Sword Group had fewer people than the Fist Group, there were still quite a lot of participants, so there were four-person swordsmanship free-for-alls.

The only slight difference was that, since blades had no eyes, everyone used specially made wooden swords provided by the competition organizers.

After several rounds, Genma had already identified several championship favorites. In nearly every match, they completely overwhelmed their opponents, knocking their swords away in just a few strikes.

It had to be said that those female swordswomen disguised as men seemed to be of extremely high quality. Half of those who remained were actually women.

There were roughly ten of them.

However, he could not look for too long. A sharp gaze from behind pierced his back like needles, making Genma quickly avert his eyes.

"Group Eleven, Shiranui Genma... prepare yourselves!"

The competition staff suddenly called his name. Genma adjusted his mood and walked onto the raised platform under everyone's watchful eyes.

The other three opponents seemed a little cold. They hugged their wooden swords as though they were trying to sell them, their expressions stiff and their eyes closed.

"Begin!"

At the referee's command, Genma immediately swung his wooden sword at one of them.

The man Genma had chosen seemed to be an expert. He suddenly opened his eyes and raised his sword horizontally to block.

But for a ninja, rigid moves were not the entirety of one's strength. Since Chakra was allowed, Genma infused his wooden sword with Chakra.

Bang!

The collision of the wooden swords was dull, but there was no sound of either sword breaking.

However, just as Genma's old strength had been spent and his new strength had yet to arise, the other two appeared behind him and swung their swords.

At that moment, Genma understood everything. The three had not been resting with their eyes closed—they had been waiting for him to take the bait.

Compared to them, Genma did seem rather young, so it was not unreasonable for them to join forces and deal with him first.

But though people always chose the soft persimmon to squeeze, these men clearly cooperated extremely well. They obviously knew each other.

This chapter felt alright. Though the recent plot has been meant to make the whole book feel richer, I will not write those unimportant, ordinary battles.