"First match: Uchiha Sasuke versus Akado Yoroi!"
Their names flashed across the monitor on the wall, and Gekko Hayate announced the match.
"Will the two of you please step forward? Everyone else, return to the waiting area."
The crowd began to move. Shinmoku was standing ahead and to Sasuke's left. As they passed each other, he heard Sasuke say:
"Too bad it wasn't you."
It was the first thing they'd ever said to each other. It sounded almost like a confession of love, but knowing Sasuke, he just wanted to challenge someone strong.
Damn Yugito. With just one comment, she'd made every ambitious ninja set their sights on him.
But...
"It's not too bad. In your current state, you'd be lucky to even touch my clothes."
Sasuke clicked his tongue. Then he remembered what Sakura had told him: the man beside him had protected him all night, so he probably knew about the Cursed Seal on his neck.
"Don't go falling over out there~" Shinmoku said with a jaunty wave as he walked off.
Just then, Kakashi Hatake came over and quietly reminded him:
"Don't use your Sharingan, and don't overuse your chakra."
"You know? Did Shinmoku tell you?"
"No."
"Then how did Shinmoku find out?"
"Someone from the village got into a direct confrontation with Orochimaru. He was there too."
"I see."
"Anyway," Kakashi said, reading Make-Out Paradise, "don't let the Cursed Seal activate. It'll kill you."
"I guessed as much," Sasuke said with a faint smile.
The waiting area was on the second floor, like a viewing gallery, accessible by a staircase nearby.
On Konoha's side, all the teams except Kabuto's were with their squad leaders. Only Shinna stood alone, watching the stairs as if she were waiting for someone.
But when Shinmoku actually appeared, her gaze shifted elsewhere.
Shinmoku walked over to her, and several squad leaders followed.
"Can I help you all?" Shinmoku asked curiously.
"We were in a hurry last time," Kurenai Yuhi said. "Could you tell us what you know about Orochimaru?"
"I thought you already knew."
"Anko and the Anbu did give us their accounts, but you were there yourself. I'd rather hear your analysis."
It was hard to glean useful information from a bystander's retelling. As someone who had faced Orochimaru directly, Shinmoku clearly had more to offer.
"Sure."
Shinmoku thought for a moment.
"First, he definitely wasn't going all out.
"He only used two and a half offensive jutsu: Summoning Technique, Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, and Many Serpent Formation. You probably know the first two. Many Serpent Formation is a large-area jutsu. Basically, people spit out snakes, and the snakes spit out swords. They're fast.
"He's better at defense and recovery than offense. He probably has some kind of snake-based clone or substitution technique that lets him avoid fatal injuries, and he's difficult to sense.
"During the fight, one of my clones, covered in Explosive Tags, blew up on him, but he only suffered minor injuries. So I'd say his recovery ability is pretty strong.
"His mental resistance is comparatively weak, since Shinna and I both managed to trap him with genjutsu... and he himself isn't good at genjutsu.
"That's about it."
To be honest, that fight had felt more like an old man toying with a child.
Orochimaru was a scientist of the Shinobi World, a walking advertisement for forbidden jutsu, and a legendary survivor. Of course he wasn't easy to deal with.
"The genjutsu you mentioned... was it a dojutsu?" Kurenai asked.
"Yes."
"..." The Konoha genjutsu specialist gave an exasperated smile. "You could've just said his weakness was the Sharingan."
"Are you good at genjutsu?" Guy asked Kakashi.
"Sharingan Genjutsu? No."
The area fell abruptly silent.
Meanwhile, the fight below had reached its climax. Sasuke used Shadow Leaf Dance, but the Cursed Seal on his neck began to spread as he overexerted himself.
With sheer willpower, he suppressed it and unleashed his self-taught Taijutsu: Lion Combo.
Both fighters fell to the ground, but Sasuke forced himself back to his feet.
"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!"
When he heard his name, Sasuke's last reserves of strength gave out, and his steps began to falter.
Just as he was about to fall, Kakashi appeared and took him away to seal the Cursed Seal.
"Next match..."
The names on the monitor began to change, drawing everyone's attention.
"Uchiha Shinmoku versus Tenten!"
Oh?
He'd drawn the consolation prize.
Shinmoku looked at Tenten, and she looked back at him, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
Knowing she might face Shinmoku or his sister, both of whom were skilled in genjutsu, Tenten had spent some time training herself to avoid looking at her opponent's eyes, instead watching their limbs and using sound to determine their position.
"I'll beat you!" she said as Shinmoku walked over.
Shinmoku didn't respond. He simply walked down the stairs.
Tenten took her position. Gekko Hayate cleared his throat.
"Begin!"
At the signal, Tenten lowered her gaze and threw her Shuriken at the same time.
"Clink~"
Weapon-throwing was an important part of ninja combat, but unfortunately for her, it was the first of the Uchiha's three classic tricks.
Even though she was accurate, Shinmoku could easily judge the weapons' trajectories without even activating his Sharingan.
"Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink~"
Shinmoku knocked the Shuriken aside one by one and asked:
"Got any other tricks?"
"Then try this."
After saying that, Tenten gauged the distance. When she reached the perfect spot, she crouched and pulled out two scrolls.
"Twin Rising Dragons!"
The scrolls shot into the air, and Tenten leaped after them. They unfurled to a length of five or six meters, revealing a huge supply of ninja tools.
She spun through the air, hurling the tools at Shinmoku at incredible speed.
Shinmoku began swimming through the sea of weapons, knocking them aside with his blade whenever he couldn't dodge.
The whole thing lasted ten seconds. Just as Tenten finished throwing her weapons and landed, she leaped back into the air.
"It's not over yet!"
She curled her fingers. Threads connected them to the weapons she'd thrown.
The weapons were yanked back into the air, and Shinmoku used the opening to retreat to the wall.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Shinna had taught him this jutsu. Under his control, the wall of water stayed two meters high and three meters wide. Combined with the wall already behind him, it created a safe zone.
The exchange ended, and the water wall broke apart.
Lightning Release: Spider Web!
After forming Hand Seals, Shinmoku slapped the floor. The Lightning Release spread out like a spiderweb, carried along by the water that hadn't yet drained away.
"Crackle—"
Tenten landed right on Shinmoku's jutsu, and her body instantly stiffened.
It was a basic immobilization jutsu. Someone with enough physical strength could shrug it off, and chakra could be used to break free, but Tenten clearly wasn't capable of either.
Shinmoku slowly walked up to her.
"Do you surrender?"
"No!" She was still trying to get her chakra moving.
"If you don't surrender, I'll have to use the Taijutsu Secret Technique: One Thousand Years of Death, okay?"
"Do whatever you want!"
"Okay."
Shinmoku formed Hand Seals and walked behind her, then quietly asked:
"Are you sure? The so-called One Thousand Years of Death is..."
"I surrender!"