Konoha Dance King (Part 2)

On the day of the competition.

The Sarutobi Clan marched toward the destination, chatting and laughing, filled with confidence in their victory. Their wide robes and colorful flags fluttered in the wind. Sarutobi Hiruzen, walking at the back of the procession, stared blankly at a poster plastered on a wall.

Having just moved from his clan's territory to this new environment, he found everything novel. The Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan emblems depicted on the poster caught his eye.

He remembered that the first version of the poster had not included the Sarutobi or Shimura clans. Now, they were positioned in the lower half, with cracked special effects patterns hinting at the duel they were about to begin.

Somewhat distracted, Sarutobi Hiruzen caught up to the group after a reminder from his clansmen; he was a participant, after all, and could not afford to make a mistake.

Upon arriving at the destination, Hiruzen looked in surprise at the surging crowd ahead. The number of spectators far exceeded his imagination, surrounding the village entrance three layers deep.

He seemed to see some Yamanaka clansmen peddling brightly colored bouquets, and from their beaming faces, he noticed that sales seemed to be going quite well.

Under the coordination of the Senju Clan, a path for the participating contestants was cleared.

Sarutobi Hiruzen clearly saw a boy from the Shimura group staring at him.

The two stared at each other silently across the sea of people until the other turned his head away. Sarutobi Hiruzen was not surrounded by the joy of victory at this moment, but was instead sizing up the surroundings; it seemed the Uchiha clansmen had not yet arrived.

"They're here." Standing at the front of the Senju Clan's formation, Senju Hashirama looked up, gazing into the distance toward the direction where he sensed chakra.

The sound of air being torn by body flicker techniques echoed in people's ears. Black phantoms leaped and appeared one by one on the competition stage; the Uchiha Clan, dressed in high-collared robes, had officially taken the stage.

"Hoo."

Rikusei, clutching a fan in the crowd, could not help but let out a breath, gazing at the members of the various clans participating.

As the contestants arrived, members of various clans responsible for maintaining order began to pull up a cordon around the competition stage.

Four clans, four square formations.

On the left were the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, their colorful flags snapping in the wind. The leaders, presumably the heads of their respective clans, looked toward the competition stage with resolute expressions.

The Senju Clan on the right appeared to have prepared nothing, but with Rikusei's excellent eyesight, he discovered the chakra-replenishing pills clutched in their hands.

This was just an ordinary dance competition; why did it look like they were about to use ninjutsu?

However, everything seemed normal for now. Rikusei and the other clansmen looked toward the judges' table, where the current heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans sat.

The man with the pineapple-style hair stood up to face the crowd, glanced at the box covered with a red cloth on the table, and announced in a loud voice, "The competition format is pairs. Will the heads of each clan please come forward to draw lots!"

Rikusei tried to use his Sharingan to take a look, but found it blocked by a barrier; it must have been the handiwork of Mito.

The four clan heads stepped onto the stage, staring intently at the box before them.

Senju Hashirama, wearing his robes, smiled at the judges and asked, "What should we do?"

The head of the Nara Clan stood up and replied, "Naturally, we draw lots first."

After a flurry of activity, the results of the draw were: Shimura versus Sarutobi, Uchiha versus Senju.

The winners would advance to the finals.

Despicable.

Rikusei, in the Uchiha crowd, watched the Shimura Clan, who were the first to take the stage.

Although there were participants of all ages, they had actually used transformation techniques to maintain a youthful appearance.

Very well.

The Uchiha decided that they would steal the show first; if they were to be stolen from again, they would investigate.

The fluttering flags, in coordination with the Shimura Clan, spun in a dizzying display.

The superb coordination and exquisite taijutsu between clansmen, along with various thrilling maneuvers, caused the surrounding crowd to erupt in bursts of cheers.

Suddenly, they threw their flags into the sky. Under the Shimura Clan's masterful control of wind release, the colorful flags formed a sea of spring flowers in the air.

At the judges' table, the three members of Ino-Shika-Cho were also nodding silently in approval.

The dance ended.

The thunderous applause and the flowers scattered across the field made the Yamanaka judges even happier; this would recoup quite a bit of the cost they had spent building their new clan territory in Konoha.

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

The judges held up their placards, revealing the scores from their hearts.

Discarding the highest score and the lowest score.

The standing judge announced, "Shimura Clan, eight points!"

In the center of the field, Sarutobi Hiruzen was somewhat nervous, his small hands gripping the flagpole tightly as he breathed to try and relax.

Seeing his father leading the dance ahead, his muscle memory instantly kicked in, following the movements he had practiced hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

He had perfectly kept up with the rhythm.

Inadvertently glancing at the cheering crowd in the stands, a surge of hot blood rushed to his heart, and he increased the force with which he waved his flag.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Taking advantage of the flags obscuring the crowd's line of sight, an elite ninja of the Sarutobi Clan who had snuck in cast a fire technique toward the sky.

A scorching fire dragon roared, charging into the sky in the direction pointed by the flags.

Among the onlookers, there were many civilians who, seeing such a large-scale Fire Technique for the first time, could not help but widen their eyes. The silent scene erupted into thunderous cheers the moment the fire dragon vanished.

The performance concluded, and the flagpoles were instantly driven into the ground, their synchronized movement causing the colorful flags to snap in the air.

The judges lowered their heads to deliberate for a moment before finally awarding a score of nine.

Uchiha Madara stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest, and said calmly amidst the gaze of the masses: "Both clans together."

After some discussion, the judges decided to seek the opinion of the Senju Clan.

In front of the Senju Clan's formation, Hashirama raised his arm, gave a thumbs-up, and said heartily: "Madara, I've wanted to do this for a long time!"

Tobirama, who had known this would happen, looked at his older brother helplessly. What else could he do? This was his own flesh and blood.

The formation of the participating teams changed.

The Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan stood face to face, watching each other in silence.

The familiar scene made many feel as if they had returned to the battlefields of the past.

"Madara!"

"Hashirama!"

The leaders of both sides shouted each other's names aloud.

The clansmen behind them knew the competition had begun.

The folding fan bearing the Uchiha crest was snapped open in Rikusei's hand, the uniform opening of the fan ribs emitting a crisp sound.

The Uchiha's preemptive strike drew cheers from the crowd.

Through Rikusei's eyes, he saw the Senju Clan immediately launch a counterattack.

Plain-colored robes were tossed into the sky, and hidden long sleeves were whipped into the air; the interlacing sleeves of various colors bloomed like a rainbow across the competition grounds.

The closed folding fans transformed into wide feather fans the moment they were opened, the colorful downy feathers fluttering gently with the movement of the fans, as if various birds were soaring across the arena.

"It's a genjutsu!" Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been mesmerized by the performance, snapped to his senses and muttered: "The Uchiha are actually using genjutsu."

"Isn't it normal for the Uchiha to use genjutsu?" Rikusei closed his Sharingan and folded his feather fan, withdrawing his gaze from the judges' table. It was clear that while the judges had noticed, they remained intoxicated by it; their tactic had worked.

"Damn it!" Tobirama, waving his long sleeves, shouted toward the front: "It's up to you, Brother."

"Oh!"

Hashirama, having regained his focus, concentrated chakra into his feet and stomped on the ground, disrupting everyone's chakra.

Although the crowd had awakened, the ploy had already succeeded. Madara, holding his feather fan, smiled slightly and whispered: "How will you dance next?"

"Earth Style: Earth Platform Technique!"

The members of the Senju Clan waved their long sleeves and leaped onto the rising ground, dancing gracefully like sprites.

"Ah!" Halfway through the competition, Uchiha Baru realized that the vast majority of the Senju Clan were women, and he looked behind him: "Rikusei, they used Transformation Technique, didn't they!"

Rikusei didn't want to answer and gave him a look of disdain; every clan had used Transformation Technique since the Shimura Clan took the stage.

Realizing he had asked a stupid question, Baru turned away sheepishly.

The feather fans turned with their bodies as the Uchiha Clan, forming a human wall, concentrated their chakra: "Fire Style: Fire Lotus Technique."

The fire lotuses floating in the air released rolling heat waves, the steaming flames distorting the air and attracting everyone's gaze.

"Well done! Madara."

Hashirama, caught up in the excitement, looked at the fire lotuses in the air. He pressed his palms together and channeled the chakra within him; the earth surged as trees erupted and grew wildly, merging together to become a towering Wood Golem.

The moment Hashirama mobilized his chakra, everyone present began to retreat.

The Wood Golem stomped its right foot, a dull, thunderous sound echoing across the land. The makeshift judges' table could not withstand the swift shockwave and fell to pieces.

The noisy crowd scrambled to retreat to a safe distance.

The Eternal Mangekyo spun in Madara's eyes. He controlled the armored Susanoo to drop its long blade, then twisted its body and strode forward, shouting aloud: "Dance, Hashirama!"

At the entrance of the newly built Konoha, the Susanoo and the Wood Golem swayed their bodies in a wild, unrestrained dance.

Tobirama, steadying himself against a tree trunk, looked out at the chaotic scene from afar. Although he had anticipated it, he still sighed helplessly when the fantasy truly unfolded before his eyes.

Forget it, as long as they are having fun, and it serves to intimidate the clans that have just joined the village, it's fine.