Wood Release's First Match Against a Modified Body

"Both sides, retreat behind the white line."

Gekko Hayate raised his right hand. Chiba and Jinduo stood on opposite sides of the platform, while the examinees above crowded around the railing, dozens of chakra signatures converging on the arena at once.

Jinduo rolled his shoulders. As his arms lifted, his wide sleeves slipped back, revealing two metal bands pressed against his skin.

"You've been staring at my hands."

"There's something hidden inside."

"Guess how many."

"Three places."

Jinduo rotated his wrist halfway.

"What if you guessed wrong?"

"I'll take you apart and count afterward."

Gekko Hayate coughed.

"Ninja tools and ninjutsu are permitted during the preliminaries. The match ends when one side loses the ability to fight, voluntarily surrenders, or dies."

Naruto leaned over the railing and shouted.

"Chiba, don't finish him too fast! I still haven't seen what techniques that guy has!"

Chiba looked up at him.

"Who do you want to watch?"

"Obviously the opponent."

"Then you'll be disappointed."

Jinduo raised his left arm.

"Do you always look down on people like this?"

"Weak people like asking that."

"When you're kneeling, I'll give those words back to you."

Gekko Hayate lowered his right hand.

"Begin."

Jinduo formed no hand seals. Both arms extended outward at once, tubes hidden beneath his skin swelling his muscles as two black nozzles sprang from the bases of his palms.

Compressed air blasted through the tubes, sweeping stone chips from the platform into several rapidly spinning air bullets.

Chiba stepped forward with his right foot. Silver-white roots pierced through the cracks between the stone slabs, raising a Metal Wood shield before him.

The first air bullet slammed into the shield. The impact dispersed through wooden conduits into the ground, but several examinees watching near the wall were still shoved back by the shockwave.