Competition

Hearing Dodai concede, Fukai let out a sigh of relief, then immediately felt deep sorrow and humiliation over his own state of mind.

"Tch!" Tsunade, who had been eagerly hoping Hatake Sakumo would wipe out the Cloud Shinobi team, clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"The winner is the Konoha team. All right, everyone get off the arena. We need to clean the place up soon." Tsunade announced listlessly, then promptly told the Cloud Shinobi team to get lost.

A thunderous cheer erupted from the stands. This match had been far more exciting than the previous two, especially the second one, which had been nothing but Kosa showing off.

Hatake Sakumo coldly sheathed his blade, turned around coolly, and left. Hiruko landed on the ground with some excitement and happily chased after him.

Aburame Ryoma remained silent: Their joy was theirs alone; I had nothing.

"Is it our turn?" Yagura tapped the Hook Staff in his hand and walked onto the stage.

Rōshi followed without hesitation.

Mist Ninja rarely had much experience with unity and cooperation. Although Iwagakure was the village most skilled at coordinated combat, those good at cooperation tended to be fairly mediocre, while the strong ones were all lone wolves. Thus, it had ultimately developed into individual battles.

And right from the start, it was a clash between generals.

Neither of them was a Jinchuriki yet. In battle, Yagura used taijutsu along with Water Release and Wind Release, while Rōshi used Fire Release and Earth Release.

The result came quickly. Yagura would later become the Fourth Mizukage, so his strength was far beyond Rōshi's. A few minutes later, Yagura slipped behind Rōshi and struck him to the ground with his staff, then casually hooked a large chunk of flesh from his shoulder. If Tsunade had not stopped him in time, Yagura might have "accidentally" killed Rōshi.

During World War I in the Shinobi World, Mist Ninja and Iwa Ninja had invaded the Land of Fire after the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, died and Konoha was left leaderless.

The enemy of one's enemy should have been a friend. The two villages shared no border and had no major conflict of interests. Even if they had not formally joined forces to invade the Land of Fire, they should at least have had some tacit understanding.

However, the Second Kage of the two villages had formed a deep hatred during the Warring States era and could not stand each other. Thus, what had originally been a joint invasion of the Land of Fire fell apart over an uneven division of spoils. The two Kage fought fiercely, eventually fighting to the death and perishing together.

Konoha: laughing like pigs.

The whole thing was pretty absurd. Two Kage had perished together over such a trivial matter, and the two ninja villages had become mortal enemies because of it. But reality could be absurd sometimes.

So, given the opportunity, Yagura did not mind killing an Iwa Ninja genius.

Under normal circumstances, Konoha ninja would only applaud such a thing. But this was, after all, an exam arena watched by countless people, so Konoha had to consider the consequences.

"It seems our team's next opponent will be the Mist Ninja." After watching the first match, Sarutobi Toru no longer paid attention to the battles that followed.

Iwa Ninja focused on group cooperation, so they inevitably lagged behind in terms of individual elites. The fact that Ōnoki would have no successor later on was not unrelated to this style of education.

Sure enough, in the battles that followed, Shū's Explosion Release gave Yagura a bit of trouble, but the remaining Gari was practically just there to make up the numbers. He was easily defeated by Yagura, completing Yagura's feat of taking down three Iwa Ninja in a row.

Afterward came three days of rest. The timing had been calculated perfectly, just enough for those wealthy spectators to spend money in Konoha. If the break had been any longer, they would not have stayed in Konoha.

During this time, the Third Hokage did not even need Shadow Clones. Every day, he sat in the Hokage's Office reading financial reports, and sometimes his face creased with smiles.

At the same time, the maturation of organ cultivation technology caused Konoha Hospital to rise to fame overnight. Many dignitaries had already expressed interest, and even Daimyo of small countries hoped Konoha would open branch hospitals in their nations.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was both delighted and helpless by these requests. After all, Konoha still had far too few medical ninja capable of standing on their own.

Sarutobi Toru understood the fervor of those dignitaries very well. With organ cultivation, there was basically no need to worry about most illnesses. Simply replacing a diseased organ would cure the majority of diseases outright.

People from other ninja villages only noticed that Konoha had been receiving more and more visitors and becoming increasingly prosperous, but they did not really know how much Konoha had earned. Sarutobi Hiruzen, however, knew clearly that Konoha had made a fortune from this Chunin Exam and greatly expanded its influence. After the Chunin Exam, Konoha would certainly usher in a huge wave of missions.

Three days later.

Still in the same arena, Sarutobi Toru's opponent this time was the Mist Ninja team.

Jinin Akebino gripped the heavy axe and hammer in his hands. As the wielder of the blunt sword—Kabutowari—he looked lean and gaunt, but was actually born with immense strength. He was also the oldest member of the Mist Ninja team, just barely within the age limit.

At this point in time, the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist had not all been forged yet, and Suikazan Fuguki's Samehada did not even exist. Therefore, Jinin Akebino was second only to the team leader, Yagura, and was even somewhat stronger than Suikazan Fuguki.

Jinin Akebino coldly watched his opponent, a foolish-looking ninja in green with a watermelon-shaped haircut.

He had seen this ninja before. When they had first arrived in Konoha, this silly green watermelon rind had knocked down quite a few examinees. His taijutsu was fairly good.

"But you think that little bit of taijutsu is enough to beat me? Don't make me laugh!"

Jinin Akebino charged in.

Jinin Akebino gained the advantage.

Might Duy removed his weights.

The two sides fought to a draw.

Unable to end the battle after a long time, Jinin Akebino used taunts.

Might Duy opened the Third Gate.

Jinin Akebino got GG'd.

Watching Jinin Akebino, whose muscles and bones had been shattered by Might Duy's Reverse Lotus, being carried off the field barely clinging to life, Suikazan Fuguki's entire body stiffened. He desperately wanted to ask whether he could concede.

But thinking of the rules of the Blood Mist, he knew there was still a chance of survival if he went out there. If he dared surrender? He would probably die even faster.

"Don't worry. His opponent used an explosive taijutsu technique. You only need to stall for time," Yagura said calmly.

Seeing Might Duy close the Eight Gates and appear to be gasping for breath, Suikazan Fuguki regained some confidence.

Suikazan Fuguki stepped onto the field.

Suikazan Fuguki used a Water Clone stalling strategy.

Might Duy fell into a difficult situation.

Might Duy erupted, opened the Six Gates, and unleashed Morning Peacock.

Suikazan Fuguki was finished.

Tsunade looked at the ground, which had been pulverized by Morning Peacock. Suikazan Fuguki's Water Clones, along with his Main Body, had all been blasted into pieces.

Shaking her head at the pile of mangled flesh, Tsunade waved her hand at the arena staff. "Shovel it up!"

Yagura could only feel cold sweat pouring down his back. Good thing Suikazan Fuguki went up. If it had been me, I probably would not have fared much better!

Fortunately, after opening the Six Gates, Might Duy had expended too much energy and finally left the field. Otherwise, Yagura did not know whether he would have had the courage to step into the arena.