Elimination King

A massive fist of magma surged straight at him, wrapped in searing waves of heat and carrying an overwhelming, mountain-crushing force.

The magma fist seemed to contain boundless power. Wherever it passed, the air itself appeared to warp from the heat.

At the same time, Fugaku Uchiha refused to be outdone. His eyes widened, and in an instant, scorching flames burst from his mouth like a savage fireball, lunging fiercely toward Rogge.

The fireball radiated a terrifying heat, as though it could burn everything to ashes.

The moment the magma fist collided with the flames, time itself seemed to freeze.

Then, under the magma's extreme heat and incomparably powerful impact, the fireball shattered in an instant, turning into countless sparks that flickered in the air a few times before vanishing without a trace.

"What?" Fugaku Uchiha roared, his heart filled with shock.

He knew Rogge was powerful, but he had not expected him to be so difficult to deal with.

Without the slightest hesitation, he activated the Body Flicker Technique and leaped away from his original position.

The two Uchiha Clan genin beside him reacted a beat too slowly. By the time they followed Fugaku Uchiha in leaping away, Rogge's magma fist had already smashed into the hard blue-brick floor.

Molten magma splashed out in every direction. Though they had not been struck head-on by the magma fist, the two Uchiha genin still suffered burns to varying degrees and immediately cried out in pain.

With Rogge making his move, the other shinobi inside the formation also began attacking the enemies beside them.

Very quickly, the barrier descended into a chaotic melee.

"Damn it!" The two injured young Uchiha shinobi attacked together, hurling more than a dozen shuriken in succession toward Rogge.

Their eyes were filled with rage and unwillingness. They swore to make Rogge pay for injuring them.

Chōichirō Sarutobi and Kakuhei Sarutobi instantly flashed in front of Rogge and performed ninjutsu together.

"Fire Release—Great Flame Technique!" Two fireballs rose into the air and swallowed the incoming shuriken whole, reducing them to ashes.

"Rogge, are you all right?" Chōichirō Sarutobi asked with a concerned look.

"You brat, don't go acting on your own!" Kakuhei Sarutobi scolded in the tone of an older brother.

However, Rogge did not appreciate it at all. He said coldly, "I don't need your protection. Just look after yourselves!"

With that, he charged at another young shinobi from the Hyuga Clan.

Rogge launched the first attack. His body moved like lightning as he stepped forward and threw a straight Wing Chun punch.

The force behind the punch was fierce and sharp. It looked incredibly powerful, but he was secretly controlling his strength, displaying only power slightly greater than his opponent's.

He knew he could not reveal all his strength too early. He had to hold something back.

The young Hyuga Clan shinobi narrowed his eyes. Veins bulged at his temples as his Byakugan opened instantly.

In his eyes, Rogge's movements seemed to slow down countless times. He could clearly see every minute motion and every point where Rogge exerted force.

He then used Eight Trigrams Palms to meet the attack, crossing his palms as he tried to neutralize Rogge's strikes.

But Rogge's punches came like a raging storm, relentless and unending.

Every move seemed to use all his strength, yet each was only just a little stronger than his opponent's.

Rogge moved with flexibility and variety, his footwork light as he remained in control of the battle at all times.

Cold sweat gradually formed on the Hyuga Clan shinobi's forehead. He realized that Rogge's attacks were beginning to overwhelm him.

He gritted his teeth and struggled to block Rogge's offensive, trying to find an opportunity to counterattack.

Then Rogge's gaze sharpened as a powerful aura erupted from him in an instant.

His punches suddenly accelerated, their force becoming even more ferocious. Every strike carried a howling gust of wind.

The Hyuga Clan shinobi defended with all his strength, but under Rogge's powerful assault, he gradually began to feel unable to keep up.

At last, Rogge spotted an opening. He sidestepped the opponent's palm wind, then followed with a swift Wing Chun inch punch directly into his opponent's chest.

"Smack!" With a dull impact, the Hyuga Clan shinobi let out a muffled groan and staggered back several steps, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Rogge showed no mercy. He rushed forward and added another kick, sending the young Hyuga Clan shinobi flying more than ten meters.

Just then, a small opening appeared at the edge of the Four Violet Flames Formation. Two medical shinobi carried a stretcher over and swiftly arrived beside the unconscious Hyuga Clan shinobi.

Their expressions were focused, their movements practiced and quick.

One of the medical shinobi used a unique medical ninjutsu. Green light gathered in her hands and slowly flowed into the injured man's body, repairing his damaged tissues and chakra pathways.

The other medical shinobi assisted from the side, ready to deal with any sudden developments.

After the emergency treatment, the two medical shinobi placed the defeated young Hyuga Clan shinobi onto the stretcher and left through the temporarily opened gap in the Four Violet Flames Formation.

Their movements were exceptionally swift and professional. At a glance, they were clearly veteran medical shinobi who had experienced the First Shinobi World War.

Rogge did not linger. He selected another opponent.

It was a young shinobi wearing sunglasses, with long hair, both hands in his pockets, and an aloof expression. From the clan crest on his clothes, Rogge recognized him as an elite genin of the Aburame Clan.

Seeing Rogge charge toward him aggressively with scorching magma flowing all over his body, the seemingly aloof Aburame Clan shinobi immediately raised both hands and said, "I surrender!"

After saying that, he jumped to the small opening in the Four Violet Flames Formation and quickly left the barrier.

"Uh..." Rogge was speechless.

The Aburame Clan possessed a secret hereditary technique that allowed them to control insects in battle. They should have been strong, yet the shinobi representing the Aburame Clan had actually withdrawn voluntarily. Rogge could not make sense of it.

Forget it, it was a small matter. Who cared... Rogge gave up on the pointless thought and threw himself back into the battle.

Meanwhile, Konoha's higher-ups were also watching from the raised platform, discussing and evaluating the battles of the talented youths.

Seeing Rogge's outstanding performance, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and said, "Rogge is indeed an excellent child. He just doesn't understand teamwork and is too determined to show off his strength."

Uchiha Zhenghong, the Uchiha Clan head, frowned. "Lord Hokage, what do you think of Fugaku's performance?"

"Not bad. He's a good child as well," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile.

Then, when they saw that the young shinobi representing the Hyuga Clan had actually lost to Rogge in taijutsu, Konoha's higher-ups immediately began discussing it heatedly.

"Rogge's taijutsu is quite impressive! He actually defeated a Hyuga Clan youth through taijutsu alone."

"That young man even opened his Byakugan, yet he still lost to Rogge. Rogge's taijutsu should already be at chunin level."

"No, that's not right. Look carefully. Rogge is clearly handling this with ease. He hasn't fought with all his strength. He's conserving his stamina!"

As the higher-ups continued their commentary, the expression of Sōju Hyuga, the current head of the Hyuga Clan, grew darker and darker.

The Hyuga Clan was renowned throughout the shinobi world for the Byakugan and the taijutsu of Eight Trigrams Palms. They had always held themselves in high regard, but now one of their clan's geniuses had been defeated by some brat who had appeared out of nowhere. Sōju Hyuga's face darkened as he fell silent.

Inside the barrier, Rogge faced two Uchiha Clan youths alone.

Relying on his powerful taijutsu, he knocked them both down with a punch and a kick in less than ten seconds.

"Rogge! I must recruit you into Root!" Watching Rogge's exceptional performance, Danzo Shimura silently made up his mind.

Danzo Shimura decided that once the clan ranking tournament ended, he would send someone to secretly contact Rogge and try to bring him into Root's camp.

Soon, only ten shinobi remained in the formation.

They were Rogge, Kakuhei Sarutobi, Fugaku Uchiha, Hiashi Hyuga, Ayako Shimura, and five other shinobi.

Next came the one-on-one arena matches, with the order of each person's duels determined by drawing lots.

The arena matches used a points system. Each shinobi would fight the other nine shinobi one-on-one in turn.

Only a shinobi who won all nine upcoming duels and earned nine points could take first place.

At that moment, the three tomoe in Uchiha Zhenghong's Sharingan slowly rotated as he stared down at Rogge beneath the platform, his expression ugly.

Many others had also turned their attention to Rogge.

It could not be helped. Rogge's performance this time had been far too dazzling.

In the opening free-for-all, Rogge had dominated the field. Every shinobi he set his sights on, aside from Fugaku Uchiha, had been eliminated by him.

Rogge truly deserved the title of Elimination King.