Passed

The ninja who will fight Suda Himezuki is named Yamaguchi Tomo. He is several years older than Yichen, in his early twenties, and is still Genin. Don't underestimate these Genin; this is actually the norm for ninjas, a common phenomenon.

Yamaguchi Tomo, in his early twenties, wasn't particularly strong; otherwise, he would have become a Chunin long ago. However, he was incredibly experienced. Having just become Genin, Yamaguchi Tomo was caught up in the end of Second Shinobi War and later participated in the entire Third Shinobi War. Having survived two major wars, Yamaguchi Tomo had a good mindset and his own set of survival skills.

It's important to understand that a ninja with talent like Yamaguchi Tomo wouldn't receive special treatment on the battlefield. Dangerous missions are often assigned to Genin ninjas with limited prospects. Ninjas like Yamaguchi Tomo who manage to survive on the battlefield are no ordinary individuals.

The moment he stepped into Zone 9, Yamaguchi Tomo was already prepared to use Suda Himezuki's help to demonstrate his strength.

Before the competition, Yamaguchi Tomo had tried his best to gather information about the candidates. Although the information was not complete, it was relatively easy to gather information about Suda Himezuki six because of Yichen.

Although Yamaguchi Tomo didn't know how strong Suda Himezuki was, he knew that she wasn't the most outstanding among the six. Even if she was stronger than him, she wouldn't be able to defeat him so easily.

Therefore, after registering his name, Yamaguchi Tomo launched the first attack after the examiner announced the start.

Yamaguchi Tomo's tactics were conventional, Kunai probing, and he was generous in using Exploding Tag, interspersed with some wire-using techniques.

Although Yamaguchi Tomo is Taijutsu Ninja, he also knows the Three Basic Jutsu. During the battle, he cleverly used the Substitution Technique to successfully dodge Suda Himezuki's Ninja Cat Fenghuo attack.

Seeing this, Yichen smiled inwardly. The average strength of the six disciples this time was not high. If Yamaguchi Tomo had changed his tactics and not given Suda Himezuki time to adapt to the rhythm of the battle, and had directly launched a strong attack, with his versatile methods and rich experience, the chances of winning would have been very high. However, unfortunately, he took the most conservative approach.

Under Yichen's deliberate cultivation, his disciples may not be good at other things, but they all have a solid foundation. They can handle this kind of fast-paced but not unreasonable attack without any problems.

As expected, after initially passively dodging, Suda Himezuki quickly adapted to Yamaguchi Tomo 'Suda Himezuki rhythm and gradually began to launch targeted counterattacks.

The climax of the counterattack came with the intervention of Fenghuo. In a one-on-one fight, Suda Himezuki's strength might not be comparable to Yamaguchi Tomo, but with the cooperation of Fenghuo, the battle situation quickly changed, and the initiative fell into Suda Himezuki's hands.

But just when everyone thought Suda Himezuki to win, Yamaguchi Tomo changed his tactics. Yamaguchi Tomo, who had been dodging the Fenghuo attacks, suddenly ignored the Fenghuo, took a hit from the Fenghuo claws, and charged forward to close the distance with Suda Himezuki.

Both were Taijutsu Ninja, Suda Himezuki wasn't afraid of being approached by her, but this attack was still somewhat unexpected.

In fact, based on Yamaguchi Tomo's experience, he had long ago seen the weakness of the Fenghuo: although it was fast, its attack power was low. As long as the Fenghuo did not hit a vital spot, the injured ninja would not lose his fighting ability for a short period of time.

However, Suda Himezuki didn't panic too much. She was a ninja who had experienced some real battles and wouldn't easily make mistakes due to panic. She quickly adjusted her body and faced Yamaguchi Tomo head-on.

But just when Suda Himezuki thought Yamaguchi Tomo was going to engage her in close combat, Yamaguchi Tomo made another move that surprised her.

Just as Yamaguchi Tomo was about to reach Suda Himezuki, he suddenly pulled a longsword from his Ninja Tool Pouch. This completely disrupted Suda Himezuki's plans. Suda Himezuki had prepared to deal with a ninja who, like her, used Kunai in combat, but her opponent suddenly pulled out a large cleaver.

The key was that Yamaguchi Tomo chose the perfect moment; the two were positioned at just the right distance. Any further, Suda Himezuki would have had enough time to react; any closer, and the longsword would be less effective than the Kunai.

Caught in this most unfavorable moment, Suda Himezuki, who had been tricked by Yamaguchi Tomo, was initially startled. But she was also decisive, and shot her Kunai at Yamaguchi Tomo at top speed.

Yamaguchi Tomo smiled slightly. Although the two were very close, Suda Himezuki's move was too straightforward and had no chance of hitting anyone. Sure enough, Yamaguchi Tomo dodged the Kunai attack by simply shifting his position slightly.

"Let's see what you do next." Yamaguchi Tomo thought it was unwise for Suda Himezuki to throw away her only weapon when facing close-range enemies.

At this point, the Fenghuo were still far away from the two, and Suda Himezuki had lost her weapon; it would be too late to retrieve it from her Ninja Tool Bag. Everyone thought Suda Himezuki was going to lose.

But at that moment, Suda Himezuki, who was already charging towards Yamaguchi Tomo, suddenly accelerated. This acceleration caused Suda Himezuki to unleash a speed that surpassed all the speed she had displayed since the start of the battle.

Yamaguchi Tomo was startled. "Could she be hiding her true strength?"

However, this was not the time to be distracted. Because of Suda Himezuki's acceleration, Yamaguchi Tomo's rhythm was disrupted. He had no time to gather his strength before his raised sword slashed down.

Unfortunately, at the last second, Suda Himezuki managed to rush past him, and her fatal sword strike missed its mark.

To make matters worse, as the two passed each other, Suda Himezuki delivered a sweeping punch that struck Yamaguchi Tomo in the chest. Although it wasn't fatal, it further aggravated Yamaguchi Tomo's already injuries from the Fenghuo.

After passing each other, the two immediately turned to face each other. Suda Himezuki, who had regained the upper hand, did not let the opportunity pass. As she turned, she took out a new Kunai from her Ninja Tool Pouch and charged towards Yamaguchi Tomo with the Kunai in hand.

At this moment, Fenghuo had finished his flanking maneuver from one side and was preparing to launch another attack.

Yamaguchi Tomo smiled wryly; his injuries were too severe for him to handle the situation. Not wanting to be beaten any further, Yamaguchi Tomo raised his hands in surrender.

On the high platform, seeing this scene, Yichen smiled slightly; the performance was good. Yichen didn't pay much attention to Suda Himezuki's other performances, only the final risk made Yichen very satisfied.

Just like the Kunai that Suda Himezuki threw earlier, the Kunai that Yamaguchi Tomo threw also had a steel wire attached to its back. After the Kunai pierced the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall behind Yamaguchi Tomo, which was used to separate the two combat zones, Suda Himezuki immediately used the steel wire to accelerate, which led to the scene that followed.

Yichen's students are like scions of prestigious schools; each of them possesses considerable strength, but they lack a certain tenacity in their character. Suda Himezuki's willingness to take the risk in the end indicates that the aspect of her that Yichen was most worried about no longer exists.

"You passed," Yichen thought to himself. Then he glanced at Yamaguchi Tomo; this Genin was pretty good too, he'd probably be one of the Chunin promoted this time.

Suda Himezuki and Yamaguchi Tomo were evenly matched, and their battle involved numerous shifts in offense and defense. Their fighting style was also quite conventional and easy for everyone to understand, which is why the spectators cheered loudly. Although most people didn't see Suda Himezuki when she dodged Yamaguchi Tomo's killing blow, that didn't mean the audience wasn't excited.

As the audience speculated about Suda Himezuki's method, they shouted Suda Himezuki's name to express their excitement.

After the two left the arena, the competition continued, and soon it was Kanako's turn.

Kanako's opponent was stronger than Yamaguchi Tomo, but lacked experience and skill. When faced with Kanako's peculiar Paper Style Jutsu attack, he was so frightened by the paper crane made of Exploding Tag that he quickly surrendered.

At the Genin stage, Kanako's explosive tag paper jutsu was still quite unbeatable. After thinking for a moment, Yichen decided, "You've passed."

The next battle was the most exciting, because neither side was unknown. One was Takuya Uchiyama, the strongest among Yichen's disciples, and the other was Uchiyama Takuhiro Wada Akio, the top student of their year.

Everyone knows that Yichen never chooses disciples based on their highest talent, yet Yichen disciples often miraculously surpass those who were originally the best among their peers. Therefore, everyone is eagerly anticipating this First Shinobi War.

This scene was obviously deliberately created by Yichen.

Since he began researching the Porcelain Release Sealing Jutsu, Yichen's final method was to disperse the runes as much as possible, rather than assembling them in large blocks beforehand, and then reassembling them after attaching them to the enemy. Although this would slow down the Sealing Jutsu's activation time, it would make the seal more concealed.

After all, during a real battle, the Sealing Runes that Yichen inscribed wouldn't be as easily visible as they are now. Naturally, Yichen would deliberately hide the runes to prevent his opponents from discovering them.

So when the number selection began, although it appeared to be the candidates choosing themselves, Yichen had actually rigged it. Yichen would place the prepared rocks in the optimal positions for the target candidates, luring them to grab them.

Yichen didn't concern himself with the others, but he had chosen the opponents for at least six of his disciples.

Of course, Yichen didn't specifically choose rookies, but rather opponents who were all quite strong.

Among them, Uchiyama Takuhiro's opponent is the strongest, and is estimated to be the strongest among the candidates participating in this Chunin Ninja Exams.

Wada Akio didn't expect that his opponent would be Uchiyama Takuhiro. He originally wanted to challenge Uchiyama Takuhiro in front of Yichen when the final list of qualifiers was announced, but now even that step was skipped.

Uchiyama Takuhiro Wada Akio. After arriving at Zone 5, he didn't look at Uchiyama Takuhiro first, but instead turned his gaze to Yichen. Only after seeing that Yichen was also looking over did he turn his gaze away.

The two were classmates, and although they were in different moods at the moment, they still chatted for a few minutes.

"Akio, I never expected my opponent to be you," said Uchiyama Takuhiro. He knew Yichen somewhat; his teacher had never been a respectable person. Now he was certain that Wada Akio was Yichen had deliberately arranged for him to be his opponent.

"Takuhiro, let's have a serious match. Show me your full strength and let me see how effective Master Yichen's guidance really is," Wada Akio said with utmost seriousness.

Uchiyama Takuhiro understood Wada Akio's thoughts somewhat, and said, "Don't worry, although I don't know why the teacher chose me as a student, I know that the teacher never chose me because I'm outstanding. I know you want to use this First Shinobi War to make the teacher look at you differently, and I won't let you down."

After saying that, the two simultaneously signaled to the examiner that they could begin.