Respective Opponents

"Does the Third Hokage think the Akimichi Clan's Ninjutsu has better visual effects? Kohei's fighting style is indeed too conventional and not very entertaining." Shuichi seeing the draw for the last four people that the Third Hokage was really going to great lengths for Konoha, never missing any opportunity to showcase Konoha.

Before the competition even started, he discovered that almost all of Konoha's top ninjas had successfully advanced to the Third Exam. They either had Chunin- level strength or possessed unique Ninjutsu effects. In this situation, if you were to say that this electronic lottery was truly random, I doubt anyone would believe you.

Like all Akimichi Clan, Akimichi Jinsei had a large belly and didn't look very strong, which made Suiken think, "I can fight him too."

However, right from the start, Akimichi Jinsei all out with his full power, just like a brute.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu." His two arms rapidly grew larger, completely disregarding what method Suiken used to deal with him, and his two enormous palms slammed towards Suiken.

"You..." Suiken swiftly shot out Senbon from his body to attack Akimichi Jinsei, but Akimichi Jinsei almost ignored it, first blocking with his palm in front of him, disregarding the slight pain in his hand, and continued to strike at him without slowing down.

With nowhere to dodge, Suiken took out Kunai and stabbed it fiercely into the large hand. Before blood could even flow, he was sent flying by a palm strike.

"Expansion Jutsu, Human Boulder!"

Akimichi Jinsei threw away the Kunai and immediately activated the Expansion Jutsu, his entire body swelling into a ball, his limbs contracting into his body, and then he spun at high speed towards Suiken.

"Boom!" The giant meatball, carrying a person, slammed directly into the wall at the edge of the field, leaving a large crater in the wall. After Akimichi Jinsei deactivated the Expansion Jutsu, everyone could see a person falling through the hole in the wall. It was none other than Suiken, who had suffered extensive fractures all over his body. He was completely oblivious to the pain of falling to the ground, and it seemed that he had been seriously injured and passed out.

Seeing this, Kamizuki Ryūun felt there was no need to investigate further and directly announced:

"The winner is Akimichi Jinsei!"

"The Third Exam has officially ended. Those who have successfully advanced, please come forward so we can proceed directly to the draw for the Main Tournament Third Exam."

All the participants on the platform saw that the preliminary rounds had ended, and the 12 people who had successfully passed the preliminary rounds came to the center of the field one by one to wait for the next arrangements.

A moment later, a Konoha staff member came out of a small room next door, carrying a box about the size of a human head.

The Third Hokage stepped forward directly, ready to personally explain the details of the Third Exam.

"Congratulations everyone, you have all qualified to participate in the Third Exam. Now, before you leave, I need you to complete one last draw to determine your opponents."

"Now, please everyone draw a piece of paper from the box. We will use the number on it to confirm the opponent list for the Third Exam."

After hearing the Third Hokage's words, everyone went to the box, took out a piece of paper, and showed it to the staff.

Shuichi glanced at his number; it was number 3. It seemed he would be taking the Third Exam in the second round. He was also looking forward to seeing who his opponent would be.

The staff member was drawing something on a piece of cardboard in his hand as he looked at it. After a short while, he stopped drawing and said, "Lord Hokage, the match list for the Third Exam is out."

"Yes, let everyone see."

He flipped the cardboard in his hand over, so everyone present could see the battle situation of the Third Exam.

Upper half:

[Sunaki VS Uchiha Ryouya]

[Takeda Shuichi VS Yukari]

[Tetsuishi VS Nara Rokujin]

Lower half:

[Hyuga Akiha VS Saki]

[Aburame Shihei VS Akimichi Jinsei]

[Mokui VS Yao]

"Is the Third Hokage trying to exploit child labor?" Shuichi after seeing the match list, feeling that he would likely have to fight three Sunagakure masters in a row. "Or am I just really unlucky?"

"Excuse me, Lord Hokage, I have a question." Saki, somewhat uneasy upon discovering that her half of the bracket was entirely composed of Konoha ninjas, asked, "Why are these only temporary pairings between different halves of the bracket, and why aren't the subsequent opponents listed?"

"I can answer that question for you," said Kamizuki Ryūun. "These one-on-one battles are an opportunity for every Chunin to showcase their abilities, but whether or not someone becomes Chunin will be decided by the higher-ups of all the nations, not solely based on the outcome of the match."

"In other words..."

"This is a stage to showcase yourself," Kamizuki Ryūun emphasized. "After the first round, there will be 6 people left. Some people will definitely have more matches, which may seem unfair, but it's not."

"Even if you lose in the first round, as long as you perform well and fully demonstrate your skills and intelligence, it's still possible to become Chunin."

"Therefore, multiple battle opportunities are highly sought after, as they represent longer exposure time, and the more victories one wins, the more publicity one receives."

I understand. This is different from a qualifying competition. The main point is how to let others know your abilities as much as possible, rather than winning the championship by any means necessary.

"The third round will begin on the afternoon of August 1st. This is time for preparations for the arrival of high-ranking officials from various countries, as well as time for everyone to rest and study their competitors." The Third Hokage concluded, "Thank you for your hard work. See you in a month."

"Phew, Sunagakure will definitely be discussing how to deal with me. They're probably having a headache right now." Returning home from the forest, Shuichi was in a pretty good mood. "At this stage, they definitely won't dare to act recklessly in Konoha. Let them use whatever methods they have. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

For the next month or so, because he was participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams, he didn't have to go on any missions and could rest and train properly, which was a rare period of leisure.

In mid-July, at Konoha's Training Ground 26, Shuichi his body, calmly dodged left and right.

"Jingle!"

"Oh dear, you almost touched the bell, Tatsuki! What a pity!" Shuichi said with a mischievous smile.

Before him stood Ishikawa Tatsuki and Yūhi Kurenai, both panting heavily, seemingly having expended a great deal of energy.

"Damn it, we still couldn't get it." Ishikawa Tatsuki was drenched in sweat. Shuichi had suddenly told them that they would have more free time this month and could do special training, and that he was considering whether to teach them some Ninjutsu.

When he arrived at the training ground full of anticipation, he found that Shuichi only wanted them to find a way to steal the bells on their bodies, and if they succeeded, he would teach them something new.

What I thought would be easy turned into a two-week ordeal, and I still couldn't snag one. I was practically ready to tear the bell off myself, but in the end, I failed.

Shuichi didn't create this Konoha tradition of Bell-Grabbing just to prank Ishikawa Tatsuki and Yūhi Kurenai. Rather, after personally experiencing the Chunin Ninja Exams, he had some new ideas about how Genin could improve their combat abilities.