Living Advertisement

From the very beginning, when Sarutobi Toru stabbed out the candidates' eyes, he had already intended to use them as advertisements.

Of course, that also had a great deal to do with the Sunflower Manual-modified Speed Chakra Mode being especially suited for weapons like Senbon. But more importantly, he wanted to make Konoha's Medical Ninjutsu famous.

What was the most miraculous Medical Ninjutsu in the ninja world? Of course, it was the plug-and-play Eye Transplant Technique! (Though by the end, they were all just hot-swapping them directly.)

Sarutobi Toru had originally thought eye transplant surgery would be easy. After all, didn't the Hyuga Clan already have the Caged Bird Seal? Uchiha Madara had even transplanted eyes before Konoha was founded.

But reality told Sarutobi Toru that he had been thinking too much! Only eyes with bloodlines and immense vitality, such as the Byakugan and Sharingan, could do that. Otherwise, why were there still so many One-Eyed Dragons in the ninja world?

So, once organ regeneration cultivation had succeeded, Sarutobi Toru decided to use Regenerated Eyeballs as an advertisement for Konoha Hospital. After all, if someone's heart, liver, spleen, lungs, or kidneys were destroyed, they would be dead. If they lost an eyeball, they could still live.

Leaving behind the group of blind men who had regained hope and were stumbling toward Konoha, Sarutobi Toru's group encountered no further obstacles and finally returned to Konoha Village.

Konoha Village.

The barrier set up around Konoha Village could react to the Invitation Letters, so entering Konoha Village meant the mission was complete.

Teams lacking confidence in themselves would often climb over Konoha's walls. But several of the seeded teams had proud ninja among them. The Cloud Shinobi and Mist Ninja, for instance, had entered directly through the main gate.

Naturally, those ninja were all wounded as well. They had faced seven or eight teams working together to intercept them, and no one who had come to participate in this competition was weaker than a Chunin. They had gone through a hard battle.

Fortunately, they had teams from their own villages helping to escort them. Otherwise, they might have capsized in a ditch.

At that moment, in the waiting room.

Torifu Akimichi was chewing food in huge mouthfuls. Beside him, Tsunade was boredly tossing dice, while several teams that had returned to Konoha early bandaged their wounds and quietly discussed something.

Suddenly, Sarutobi Toru's group appeared on the large screen in the room. In this era, surveillance cameras were still rare things, and Konoha had only installed two at the gates.

The moment Sarutobi Toru's team stepped through the gate, there was a clatter as Tsunade ran out of the waiting room.

Torifu Akimichi picked up another braised pork knuckle and chuckled. "Being young is wonderful!"

The other teams in the waiting room carefully observed Sarutobi Toru's group, their expressions turning grave.

"They won't be easy to deal with!" That was the consensus of every team. The Cloud Shinobi, Mist Ninja, and Stone Shinobi in particular looked awful.

All three teams had received intelligence on Sarutobi Toru: "Incredible speed without warning, too fast to even see!" The Cloud Shinobi had an additional note: "A cruel perversion for stabbing out people's eyes!"

"Only a few scrapes?" Fukai muttered.

"The later it gets, the greater the danger. The fewer teams that still have Invitation Letters, the more attackers there will be!" Yagura, still a genuine young man at this point, wore a dark expression. "The last team to pass faces the greatest difficulty! These Konoha people cannot be underestimated!"

Hatake Sakumo glanced up at the screen without the slightest surprise. Hiruko muttered, "Honestly, when will I ever get to shine like that?"

Not long after entering Konoha, Sarutobi Toru saw Tsunade jump down from a rooftop. "Toru! Are you all right?"

As she spoke, Tsunade began feeling all over Sarutobi Toru's upper body.

But the minor scrapes Sarutobi Toru had suffered had long since healed under his monstrous constitution. All that remained were some dried bloodstains and dust.

Tsunade felt around and found no injuries. Then she felt around some more, her face quietly turning a little red.

The air immediately filled with a rosy atmosphere.

"Hahaha! It's fine! Toru is very strong! That's the power of youth!" Might Duy shouted, breaking the ambiguous mood.

Tsunade clenched her fists, veins bulging on her forehead. "Is~ that~ so~? Then I'm relieved~!"

Inuzuka Hana silently made herself as inconspicuous as possible and looked at the energetic Might Duy with pity.

You're finished. You know that? Maybe one day Princess Tsunade will beat you to death, you know that?

"All right!" Sarutobi Toru took hold of Tsunade's delicate hand as it continued roaming over him. "I should go register!"

Tsunade immediately forgot about a certain green-skinned idiot and said with a smile, "Let's go, Toru. You're the last team now!"

By the time Sarutobi Toru and the others entered the candidates' waiting room, Torifu Akimichi finally put down his food and said, "Now that all eight teams have arrived, the competition will begin in one week."

"The competition will be held at Arena 13. The first team to enter Konoha is Team One, the second is Team Two... The matches will be Team One versus Team Eight, Team Two versus Team Seven... Understood?"

The first and second teams immediately looked unhappy. As the earliest teams to enter Konoha, and not seeded teams at that, there was a considerable gap between their strength and that of the other teams. Even after obtaining their Invitation Letters, they had mostly relied on deception and hiding to enter Konoha.

Meanwhile, the Sand Shinobi and Konoha teams that had entered last were both among the stronger seeded teams. They no longer had even the slightest hope.

Well, their greatest hope was to face each other. Then they might have a chance to reach the semifinals.

After announcing the Final Round rules, Torifu Akimichi said with a cheerful smile, "Other than areas marked as prohibited, the rest of Konoha is open to everyone. Candidates may explore freely, but aside from the Training Ground, Ninjutsu is forbidden in all other areas. Otherwise, the Anbu will invite you for tea."

"All right, the first round is over. Everyone may disperse now!"

As soon as the exam ended, Tsunade beamed. "Toru, let's go eat barbecue to celebrate! I heard Konoha recently opened a Yakiniku Q. Let's go see how it tastes!"

"Right! How can we not celebrate the victory of youth? Our team—ugh, mmph!"

Inuzuka Hana grabbed Might Duy by the back of his collar and choked him until he could not speak. Smiling, she said, "Duy and I have other things to do. You should go by yourselves."

"Is that so? Then it can't be helped. I can only go with Toru alone!" Tsunade said with a sweet smile.

"No problem, enjoy yourselves!" Only after the Chakra around Tsunade's fists dispersed did Inuzuka Hana finally sigh in relief and drag Might Duy out of the waiting room.

Sarutobi Toru watched Tsunade fooling around with his teammates(?) and smiled. How should he put it? This new teammate, Inuzuka Hana, was unlike the generally hot-tempered Inuzuka Clan. She had a strong desire to survive. If he had to describe her with one word, it would be "yielding."