The Final Match

Minato spun through the air like a top, rotating rapidly around his own axis.

His blindingly fast legs struck Uchiha Ryu all over, leaving his opponent completely unable to defend himself.

Thud!!!

After suffering a barrage of blows, Uchiha Ryu fell to the ground like a broken doll the instant Minato withdrew his leg.

Uchiha Ryu lay face-down on the ground. His cool, handsome face had somehow been kicked into a swollen mess, and his once-proud eyes showed a trace of confusion. "How is this possible? I actually lost."

"Nothing is impossible," Minato said calmly. "Granted, your clan's Bloodline Limit is powerful, but that is only relative. As long as someone possesses speed beyond what your eyes can track, your Bloodline Limit will be useless."

After saying that, Minato ignored his opponent's futile struggling. Once he saw the referee nod at him, he walked off the stage.

In truth, there was something else he had kept to himself.

He had always believed that, compared to something predetermined at birth like a Bloodline Limit, he would rather trust in his own hard work.

When Minato returned to Feng Xun and the others, the first thing that greeted him was his younger brother's resentful stare.

"Brother Minato, it's a good thing you won. If you'd lost, the boss lady would've strangled me to death."

"? What happened?" Minato looked somewhat taken aback. He turned toward Kushina on the other side, wanting to know what had happened.

It would have been better if he had not looked. The moment he saw Kushina fidgeting awkwardly, Minato immediately wondered whether something was wrong with his eyes. Kushina, who was normally so carefree, was actually blushing like a young girl.

Could it be that I didn't win at all and had fallen under my opponent's genjutsu?

Kushina noticed Minato's puzzled expression and immediately returned to normal.

"Pretty boy, were you just thinking something very rude?"

Having been found out, Minato flushed and hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, I wasn't thinking anything. Right, Xun just said he was nearly strangled to death. What was that about?"

After a while, Minato finally understood why his younger brother had said that. He secretly glanced at the silent Kushina and asked hesitantly, "Kushina, were you worried about me just now?"

"Huh?" Like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, Kushina bristled and shouted, "Pretty boy, stop being so full of yourself, okay? I just think I'm the only one allowed to beat you. If you lost to someone else before I did, wouldn't that make me look bad?"

"Is that so?" Seeing Kushina deny it so loudly, Minato lowered his head in disappointment and said nothing more.

Come on, bro, has your emotional intelligence gone offline? Why did you stop talking? Kushina's reaction was obviously just classic tsundere denial. How could you not see that?

Feng Xun, watching the two from the side, was utterly speechless. He had sold out his little brother so naturally before, so how had he suddenly turned into such an innocent boy?

Still, he could not interfere too much in their relationship. What if, because of him, they failed to get together in the end and Naruto never got born? Then there would be nothing left to say—the world would definitely be doomed.

By then, Madara probably would not even need to make a move. Nagato could end Naruto ahead of schedule with a few wide-area attacks.

Thinking of that, Feng Xun took the initiative to change the subject so the atmosphere would not remain awkward. "By the way, Brother Minato, who are your opponents in the next two matches?"

The ninja graduation exam used a best-of-three format, so Minato's assessment was far from over.

Unfortunately, it would have been better if Feng Xun had not asked. After he did, Minato became even more awkward.

"???" Did I say something wrong again? Feng Xun was puzzled.

At that moment, Kushina snorted twice and said, "I don't know who his opponent is in the second match, but I'm his opponent in the third."

Huh? Feng Xun felt as though he had misheard.

He looked at Minato, only to see him nod with an equally unpleasant expression.

Wow, what a small world! But Brother Minato would definitely go easy on her, right?

Just as he was thinking that, Kushina suddenly pointed at Minato. "If you dare go easy on me during the match, I will never forgive you afterward."

After saying that, Kushina left them without looking back. She had no idea that their actions had already been observed by a hidden pair of eyes.

"Hehehe, a genius boy and the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki. What an interesting pair. Let me think about how I should make use of them."

"Xun, what do you think I should do?"

Having easily completed his second match, Minato stepped down from the stage and looked miserably toward Kushina in the distance.

Their match would be the next one.

"Brother, listen to me. The one who tied the knot must untie it. You can't conquer the boss lady with force. You need to use your burning love to move her."

After saying that, Feng Xun secretly glanced at Kushina in the distance. Only when he saw that she had not heard him did he let out a sigh of relief.

"But what exactly should I do? Kushina just told me not to go easy on her. I know she sincerely wants to fight me, but I don't want to win."

Seeing Minato so troubled, Feng Xun's eyes darted around. Then he leaned close to Minato's ear and whispered, "When the time comes, do this #@￥...%￥..."

Not long afterward, the referee called Kushina and Minato onto the stage together.

Looking at the golden boy and girl onstage, Feng Xun bared his teeth.

I hope Brother doesn't sell me out again this time. But I warned him several times not to expose me, so there shouldn't be a problem, right?

On the arena.

Kushina pointed at the boy before her and warned him again, "Pretty boy, you're not allowed to go easy on me, got it?"

Minato, who had already made up his mind, nodded to show that he would not do such a thing.

At the referee's command, Kushina seized the initiative and rushed in front of Minato in an instant.

She did not use any ninja tools as weapons. Instead, she swung the fist that had beaten up who knew how many people straight at Minato's face.

Minato did not dare take it head-on. He sharply twisted his body aside, dodging Kushina's straight punch, then took advantage of the moment when her old force had faded and her new force had yet to form to unleash a sweeping kick.

Konoha Gale

However, the strike Minato had thought would work was caught by Kushina, who spotted its opening.

She half-leapt up from the ground, reached down with her right hand, and grabbed Minato's left leg—the leg he was using as a pivot.

"Haaah!!!" Kushina shouted as she grabbed Minato's left leg, then swung him through the air like a windmill.

"Damn, Kushina is actually this fierce?" Seeing Kushina's astonishing combat strength from below the stage, Feng Xun's scalp went numb.

"If that's the case, I don't know whether the earlier plan can still work."

P.S.: Continuing from the previous chapter.

I suspect Danzo had wanted the Uchiha Clan's eyes as early as ten years ago, and the bandages on his head were merely groundwork for his later cover-up. Of course, even if they were groundwork, he would not have wrapped bandages around his head for no reason, so he must have suffered some kind of head injury before. The wound should have healed long ago, though.

In other words, Danzo's wolfish ambitions must have been secretly plotted for a long time. The destruction of the Uchiha Clan was likely already somewhat planned back then as well. Otherwise, such a large clan could not possibly have been wiped out overnight. But honestly, Danzo looked quite a bit like Kiba Inuzuka when he was young.

Tomorrow, I'll bring everyone some speculation about Kushina's strength. Seriously, couldn't Master AB explain things more carefully? Having to keep guessing is exhausting for the brain cells.

Lastly, this is a new author with a new book, so please support it!!!