Kagami: I Thought It Was a Speed Bump!

On the fifth match of the first day of the qualifiers, the Konoha rising star Uchiha Kagami, a favorite to win the tournament, finally made his debut.

The stands erupted, and a wave of excitement quickly swept through the crowd.

It was clear just how popular Kagami had become in the village.

Kagami stepped onto Temporary Arena 2 first and waited for his opponent to enter.

Far away,

the Sunagakure delegation, preparing for their own matches, watched with curiosity.

There was no helping it. If Sunagakure wanted to obtain the Rinnegan or one of Konoha's Forbidden Jutsu, they had to place in the top two at the very least.

That meant they had to pay particular attention to the strongest competitors.

Sunagakure didn't have the same intelligence advantage as the Konoha hosts, who knew which contestants were seeded for the Ninja Way Tournament. But they were certainly familiar with some of Konoha's prominent shinobi, who had already made a name for themselves.

Uchiha Kagami was undoubtedly one of the best among them—the kind of person they needed to watch closely.

"Your good buddy's up next."

Chiyo nudged Danzo beside her and spoke in a low voice.

More than twenty members had come to Konoha as part of Sunagakure's visiting delegation, but only five of them, including her and Danzo, had registered for the Ninja Way Tournament.

The other three Sand Ninja were seasoned veterans, but only ordinary Jonin in terms of strength.

The remaining eight Elite Jonin hadn't entered the tournament. Instead, they were concealed among the delegation and spectators, ready to help Chiyo and the others escape Konoha at the end.

Without Kage Level strength, it would be difficult to win the tournament.

Chiyo and Danzo both knew that well, so it made more sense to keep those elite