At Anbu Training Ground No. 3.
Araki stood together with the two clan heads, Hagane Kotetsu and Chi Jing, watching the match.
Though both of them had long since become veteran jonin, they were now trapped in difficult circumstances, and their emotions could not help but be stirred by the battle between the two genin.
When Huang Jing's [Crystal Shuriken] had been tanked head-on by Hagane Koga without leaving a scratch, Hagane Kotetsu's face had bloomed with a smile like an old tree flowering, while Chi Jing's expression had darkened slightly.
But now, as Hagane Koga leaped into the air, the [Jade Crystal Prison] below cut off his retreat. Chi Jing's expression finally eased, the corners of his lips lifting as his mood brightened.
Hagane Kotetsu, who had just been grinning like a chrysanthemum, now looked utterly tense, as if he wished he could take Hagane Koga's place and face this situation himself.
Araki watched them from beside them and found that their changing expressions were even more entertaining than the fight itself.
This is the hardship of having no control over your own fate, he silently mused.
In the end, they simply were not strong enough.
As crystal pillars pierced through Hagane Koga's neck, armpits, waist, and crotch, pinning him in midair in an almost spread-eagle position, Araki softly remarked, "Not bad battle sense..."
When one could not truly injure an enemy, knowing how to change one's approach and choose to restrain the opponent was undoubtedly worthy of praise. At the very least, it showed a flexible mind rather than the kind of stubbornness that refused to turn back until hitting a wall.
But the problem was that, in this world, it was often precisely those stubborn people who could break through their restraints and surpass their limits. Those