Konoha Dance King (Part 2)

On the day of the competition.

The members of the Sarutobi Clan chatted and laughed as they headed toward their destination, brimming with confidence that they would take the championship. Their wide robes and colorful banners fluttered in the wind. At the back of the group, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared blankly at a poster pasted on the wall.

He had only just moved from the clan's old grounds to a new home, and everything around him felt fascinating. The Uchiha Clan Crest and the Senju Clan Crest depicted on the poster caught his eye.

He remembered that the first version of the poster hadn't included the Sarutobi or Shimura clans. Now they occupied the lower half, with a graphic of a crack between them hinting at their upcoming showdown.

A clan member's reminder snapped Sarutobi Hiruzen out of his daze, and he hurried to catch up with the group. He was a competitor, after all—he couldn't afford to make a mistake.

When they reached their destination, Hiruzen stared in amazement at the throngs of people up ahead. The crowd was far larger than he'd imagined, packed in layer upon layer around the village entrance.

He seemed to spot some Yamanaka clan members selling bouquets in vivid colors. Judging by their beaming faces, business appeared to be going well.

With the Senju Clan coordinating, a passage was cleared for the competitors.

Sarutobi Hiruzen clearly saw the boy in the Shimura crowd staring at him.

The two silently met each other's gaze across the sea of people until one of them turned away. At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't swept up in the joy of victory. Instead, he surveyed the area around the venue. It seemed the Uchiha hadn't arrived yet.

"They're here." Standing at the head of the Senju Clan's group, Hashirama looked up toward the direction where he sensed chakra.

The sound of Body Flicker techniques tearing through the air echoed in everyone's ears. Black blurs appeared one after another at the competition grounds, and the Uchiha Clan, clad in high-collared robes, made its grand entrance.

"Phew."

Among the crowd, Rikusei, holding a fan, couldn't help letting out a breath as he looked over the participating clans.

Once all the competitors had arrived, members of the clans responsible for maintaining order began setting up a cordon around the stage.

Four clans, four formations.

On the left stood the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, their colorful banners snapping in the wind. The determined faces at the front were presumably the clan heads, their gazes fixed on the stage.

The Senju Clan on the right seemed to have made no preparations at all. But thanks to Rikusei's sharp eyes, he noticed the chakra-restoring pills clutched in their hands.

This was only a dance competition. Why did it look like they were about to use jutsu?

Still, everything seemed normal so far. Rikusei and the other clan members turned their attention to the judges' platform. The judges were the current heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.

The Pineapple Head stood up and faced the crowd. After glancing at the box covered with red cloth on the table, he announced in a clear voice, "The format is two clans competing at a time. Clan heads, please come forward and draw lots!"

Rikusei tried to look inside with his Sharingan, but found that a Barrier blocked his vision. It was probably Mito Uzumaki's doing.

The four clan heads stepped onto the stage, their eyes fixed on the box before them.

Senju Hashirama, dressed in a robe, smiled at the judge and asked, "What do we do?"

The Nara clan head stood up and replied, "Draw lots first, of course."

After some commotion, the matchups were decided: Shimura versus Sarutobi, and Uchiha versus Senju.

The winners would advance to the finals.

How underhanded.

Rikusei, standing among the Uchiha, watched as the Shimura Clan took the stage first.

Competitors of all ages had entered, but to keep up their youthful appearance, they had even used the Transformation Jutsu.

Very well.

The Uchiha decided they would steal the idea first—and make sure no one stole it from them again.

With the Shimura Clan's help, the fluttering banners spun so quickly they dazzled the eye.

The clansmen worked together with impressive coordination and refined Taijutsu. Their daring moves drew bursts of cheers from the onlookers.

Suddenly, they tossed their banners into the sky. With the Shimura Clan's masterful control of Wind Release, the multicolored flags formed a springtime sea of flowers overhead.

The three judges on the platform—members of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans—nodded quietly in approval.

The dance ended.

The thunderous applause and shower of flowers made the Yamanaka judge even happier. The money they'd spent building a new clan compound in Konoha would finally be recouped.

"Eight points!" "Nine points!" "Seven points!"

The judges raised their scorecards and revealed their ratings.

The highest and lowest scores were discarded.

The judge stood and announced, "The Shimura Clan: eight points!"

In the middle of the stage, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a little nervous. He gripped the flagpole with his small hands and tried to calm his breathing.

He saw his father leading the dance, and muscle memory kicked in at once. He followed the moves he had practiced hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

He was keeping perfect time.

When he glanced at the cheering crowd in the stands, a rush of fervor surged through him, and he swung his banner with even greater force.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

While the banners blocked the crowd's view, an elite Sarutobi ninja crouched and unleashed Fire Release into the sky.

A scorching fire dragon roared as it surged skyward in the direction the banners pointed.

Many in the crowd were civilians, seeing a Fire Release on this scale for the first time. Their eyes widened, and the venue fell silent. The instant the dragon vanished, thunderous cheers erupted.

The performance ended with the flagpoles plunging into the ground in perfect unison, the banners snapping as they moved.

The judges bowed their heads and discussed the performance before finally awarding it nine points.

Uchiha Madara stepped forward, arms folded across his chest. Under the gaze of the entire crowd, he said calmly, "Let's do it together."

After discussing the proposal, the judges decided to ask the Senju Clan for its opinion.

At the front of the Senju formation, Hashirama raised an arm and gave a thumbs-up. "Madara, I've wanted to do this for ages!"

Tobirama, who had known this would happen, looked at his elder brother helplessly. What else could he do? Hashirama was his own brother.

The competing formations shifted.

The Uchiha and Senju clans stood facing each other in silence.

The familiar scene made many people feel as if they'd returned to the battlefields where the clans once faced off.

"Madara!"

"Hashirama!"

The clan heads at the front called each other's names loudly.

The clansmen behind them realized the competition had begun.

Rikusei opened the folding fan bearing the Uchiha Clan Crest. The fan snapped open in his hand, its ribs giving a crisp click.

The Uchiha struck first, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Through Rikusei's eyes, he saw the Senju Clan immediately counter.

Their plain robes were tossed into the air, and hidden long sleeves whipped skyward. Interwoven sleeves of different colors bloomed across the competition grounds like a rainbow.

The moment their closed fans opened, they transformed into broad feathered fans. The colorful feathers trembled with every sweep, as if all kinds of birds were soaring across the grounds.

"It's an Illusion Technique!" Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been engrossed in the performance, finally realized what was happening. "The Uchiha actually used an Illusion Technique."

"Isn't it perfectly normal for the Uchiha to use an Illusion Technique?" Rikusei said, closing his Sharingan and folding the feathered fan. He turned his gaze away from the judges' platform. The judges had clearly noticed the technique, yet were still entranced by it. Their move had worked.

"Damn it!" Tobirama swung his long sleeves and shouted toward the front, "You're up, big brother!"

"Oh."

Hashirama snapped out of it, focused his chakra beneath his feet, and stamped the ground, disrupting everyone's chakra.

The crowd had come to its senses, but the plan had already succeeded. Madara held his feathered fan and smiled faintly. "Now, how are you going to dance?"

"Earth Style: Earth Platform Technique!"

The Senju leaped onto the ground as it rose, their long sleeves sweeping through the air as they danced like nimble sprites.

"Ah!" Halfway through the competition, Uchiha Baru finally noticed that most of the Senju Clan were women. He glanced behind him. "Rikusei, did they use the Transformation Jutsu?"

Rikusei didn't answer. He shot Baru a scornful look. Every clan had used the Transformation Jutsu since the Shimura Clan took the stage.

Realizing he'd asked a stupid question, Baru turned back sheepishly.

As the Uchiha's bodies spun, their feathered fans spun with them. The clan formed a wall around the venue and focused their chakra. "Fire Release: Fire Lotus Technique!"

The Fire Lotus floated in the air, radiating waves of heat. Its roiling flames warped the air and drew everyone's attention.

"Bring it on, Madara!"

Caught up in the excitement, Hashirama stared at the Fire Lotus overhead. He brought his hands together and channeled his chakra. Trees burst from the surging earth and grew wildly, merging into a towering Wood Golem.

The instant Hashirama channeled his chakra, everyone at the venue began backing away.

The Eternal Mangekyo spun in Madara's eyes. He controlled the armored Susanoo, tossed aside its long blade, and strode forward with a rolling gait. He shouted, "Dance, Hashirama!"

Susanoo and the Wood Golem swayed through wild dance moves at the entrance to the newly established Konoha.

Tobirama braced himself against a tree trunk to steady his swaying body and looked from afar at the chaotic scene. He'd anticipated this, but seeing his imagination become reality before his eyes still made him sigh helplessly.

Oh well. As long as they were having fun—and they could intimidate the clans that had just joined the village while they were at it.