Clash of Geniuses (1)

Soon, the previous match in the arena concluded, and Hyuga Yunfei and Hatake Saku took the stage.

The battle began the moment the referee gave the signal.

Hyuga Yunfei suddenly deployed Rotation right where he stood.

Just as the spectators in the stands were left bewildered, wondering why this member of the Hyuga Clan would do such a thing, the figure of Hatake Saku slowly faded from his original position.

It turned out that what had been left behind was merely an afterimage!

His true body had, at that very moment, appeared inside the sphere of Hyuga Yunfei's Rotation!

Hatake Saku immediately seized Hyuga Yunfei by the throat, forcibly interrupting the Rotation.

Just as he prepared to toss the man out of the ring, Hyuga Yunfei suddenly raised his hand to signal his surrender.

This action caused an instant uproar among the audience in the stands.

How could he lose so quickly?!

Hatake Saku, for his part, felt somewhat surprised.

His previous opponent had been stubbornly unwilling to surrender, leaving him no choice but to knock the man unconscious.

This one, however, was sensible; the moment he realized he couldn't win, he conceded decisively.

Hatake Saku slowly set him down, and after the referee announced the result, the two walked toward the other side together.

Perhaps because he was a bit of a chatterbox, he walked beside Yunfei and couldn't help but ask:

"Why did you surrender so decisively?"

Rubbing his slightly reddened neck, Yunfei replied, "My young master told me to surrender immediately. I had originally intended to trade a few blows with you before conceding, but I didn't expect your strength to be so overwhelming. As expected, my young master knows everything."

"Your young master?" Hatake Saku pondered for a moment, imagining a scenario where the boy used his Byakugan to observe the flow of chakra within his enemy's body, only to conclude that victory was impossible.

He clicked his tongue, lost interest, and headed toward the third waiting area.

Yunfei, meanwhile, sighed and entered the empty contestant viewing area from the exit.

Have I disgraced the Hyuga Clan today? I wonder how the clan will punish me? And what will the young master think?

With these thoughts, he had little heart left to watch the matches.

It wasn't until the big screen scrolled to Senju Yuto vs. Nara Airi that he finally perked up.

On the other side, Xingzhuo shouted in his heart, Why is it another Nara?

Could it be that Senju Tobirama is paving the way for his nephew's path to becoming Hokage, letting him get an early start with the Nara Clan, Konoha's chosen laborers?

That's highly likely!

This time, he wasn't worried about Yuto being outmaneuvered.

After all, if Yuto needed explosive power, he had a meat shield; if he needed speed, he had a meat shield; if he needed tactics, he had a meat shield; if he needed brains, he had a meat shield; and if he needed chakra, he had a "ton-level" chakra reserve.

Facing such a monster-class contestant, aside from Kureha Kurama and Hatake Saku, almost no one could stand a chance.

Soon, after the referee called for the start, seven-year-old Yuto and fifteen-year-old Nara Airi began their battle.

Perhaps because she knew of Yuto's identity or had received intelligence on him, Nara Airi did not intend to use her family's secret Shadow Possession Technique.

Aside from her family's secret arts, she also knew a few Wind Style ninjutsu.

But Yuto happened to be the perfect counter to Wind Style ninjutsu.

Because ordinary Wind Style attacks couldn't even break his defense when they hit him.

Thus, a strange scene unfolded in the arena.

Senju Yuto, comparable to a human-shaped small cannon, left a massive crater in the ground with his brute strength wherever he stepped.

Meanwhile, the slender and graceful Nara Airi dodged while casting Wind Style, which felt like nothing more than a tickle to Yuto.

This scene left many people stunned.

Every spectator was thinking to themselves, Where did such a monster come from?

It wasn't until Yuto had been led around in circles several times that he suddenly realized what was happening.

He then immediately split into a hundred Shadow Clones at once, surrounding Nara Airi from all sides.

Faced with this situation, Nara Airi, who had been kiting Yuto the whole time, raised her hands in helpless surrender.

As they exited, Yuto was still grinning and waving at the villagers in the stands.

The sight of him splitting into over a hundred clones at once had been truly shocking, and the audience was now filled with high spirits.

Nara Airi, however, looked completely resigned and whispered, "Hurry off the stage and clear the way; look, the referee's face has turned black."

Yuto paused for a moment and quickly replied, "Oh, oh, right."

As they left together, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you a sister of Nara Harumiko?"

Nara Airi felt a mix of annoyance and sentimentality:

"That's right. You really are something, little brother Yuto; both of us sisters have been defeated by your hand."

The tournament continued.

Soon, it was Hoshishaku's turn.

Looking at the preliminary results on the screen, he fell into deep thought.

Another Uchiha?

And this name sounded very familiar.

Uchiha Setsuna.

Glancing at the sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth walking toward the preparation area alongside him, Hoshishaku cast a System Inspection.

[Name: Uchiha Setsuna]
[Vitality: 100]
[Mental Power: 300]
[Chakra: 26,000]
[Jutsu: Fire Release series, Three Body Technique]
[Special Ability: Sharingan (Three Tomoe)]

A standard Jonin stat block, Hoshishaku thought.

But the opponent's Three Tomoe Sharingan told him that these stats could not be taken as a reference.

It was common knowledge that a single-tomoe Sharingan represented Genin-level strength, two-tomoe represented elite Chunin-level strength, and three-tomoe represented elite Jonin-level strength.

Therefore, the sixteen or seventeen-year-old Uchiha Setsuna before him was undoubtedly an elite Jonin.

Thinking of this, Hoshishaku felt a surge of excitement.

Would he lose in his first battle against an expert of the same level?

On the other side, upon seeing that his opponent was a seven or eight-year-old brat, Uchiha Setsuna rolled his eyes so hard they nearly disappeared.

Make him, a genius Uchiha who inherited the will of Clan Head Madara, bully a seven or eight-year-old Hyuga kid?

Had the village lost its mind?

He stepped closer to Hoshishaku and said impatiently:

"Hey, little brat from the Hyuga clan, just surrender as soon as you get on the field. I don't want to bully you."

Hyuga Hoshishaku took a few steps back so he wouldn't have to tilt his head up so high.

Once his gaze met Uchiha Setsuna's eyes, he replied sincerely:

"It's just three tomoe, nothing to be proud of. By the way, I know the Flying Thunder God Technique. You should know that jutsu, so don't surrender too easily."

Uchiha Setsuna was stunned upon hearing this.

Flying Thunder God Technique?

Of course he knew it.

As a follower of Uchiha Madara, the person he spent the most time with was actually Clan Head Madara's younger brother, Uchiha Izuna.

And didn't his big brother Izuna die at the hands of that evil white-haired Senju's Flying Thunder God Technique?

So, what was the deal with this kid?

Was he a disciple of that evil white-haired Senju?

Or a true disciple who had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique?

At this thought, the way Uchiha Setsuna looked at Hoshishaku was as if he wanted to devour him, and he no longer mentioned anything about surrendering.

He decided to teach this brat a harsh lesson!

Meanwhile, Hyuga Hoshishaku smiled with an air of complete innocence.

If his opponent were to be instantly defeated because he looked down on him, what would be the fun in that?

He certainly didn't want to miss out on such a battle between equals.