Sweep of Three! Grade-First Contender!

Finally...

At a certain moment, a sound rang out—

Clang!!!

After the wooden kunai in the hands of Mikami Yu and Asuma collided once again, they both slipped from their grips and flew out.

Just as Asuma wound up to throw a punch, Mikami Yu executed the Substitution Technique. His body vanished from the spot with a whoosh and appeared behind Asuma, then caught a kunai falling from midair, precisely placing it horizontally against the back of Asuma's neck before Asuma could turn around:

It's over.

Asuma instinctively wanted to struggle, but quickly snapped to his senses, offered a wry smile, and somewhat helplessly raised his hands: "Fine. You win."

Actually, Asuma still had some stamina left and could have fought for a bit longer, but there was no point.

Because, if the kunai had been real, he would already be dead.

As Asuma conceded defeat,

Mikami Yu also breathed a sigh of relief, took two steps back, and stood in place with his center of gravity slightly lowered, a strong sense of exhaustion washing over him.

He really did it!

A sweep of three!

In this battle, he had exhausted every ounce of his strength. Aside from the traits of the Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique, and leaving the Eight Gates unused, he had practically used every other means at his disposal—of course, he hadn't planned on using the first two anyway, intending to keep them as trump cards for a surprise attack.

After catching his breath for a moment, Mikami Yu raised his head to look around.

At that moment,

most of the students in the arena had already finished their battles.

After all, ninja students of this age relied mostly on taijutsu and the Three Techniques, at most knowing a little genjutsu. Once knocked to the ground, it was basically over.

Only a sparse few people were still fighting.

For example, Obito and Might Guy—

These two guys were also old rivals. In the midterms and finals over the past few years, Obito had lost to Guy at least four times, so meeting his nemesis now filled him with intense rivalry. Even beaten black and blue, they kept getting back up again and again to continue exchanging blows.

Finally, Obito seized an opening, crossed his hands in hand seals, and spat a burst of fire toward Might Guy:

Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!!

This fire ball looked slightly smaller than the one Mikami Yu had just unleashed, with a diameter of only about a meter.

Well... after all, Obito's fire ball was forged through his own daily hard practice, which seemed somewhat flimsy and unsubstantial compared to the solid, powerful fire ball Mikami Yu had "copied" via the Gala System.

Seeing the blazing flames rushing straight at him, Might Guy was swept up in the heat of battle. He directly crossed his arms to shield his head and face, pale green chakra surging around his whole body, and brute-forced his way through the ball of fire, smashing a blow carrying his Flame Fist right onto the face of Obito, who was already celebrating his victory!

At that moment, sparks were even flickering in Might Guy's hair.

"Guy..."

"Obito, what are you two..."

Nohara Rin and Yuhi Kurenai not far away were dumbfounded.

No, it was just a graduation exam; why were they risking their lives...

At that critical juncture—

Water Style: Wild Water Wave!

A torrent of water even more torrential than when Mikami Yu had used it descended from the sky, extinguishing the blazing flames. Then, a white figure cut into the battlefield like lightning—it was Hatake Kakashi, appearing between Obito and Might Guy, grabbing both of their wrists with a hand each:

"You two, give me a break! Have you both lost your minds?"

"Hurry up and go down to see the medical ninja for treatment!"

Following Kakashi's intervention, the two instructors Oki and Himura also stepped in, announcing that the fifteen-minute countdown had ended and the entire exam was over.

Medical ninjas who had long been waiting on the sidelines quickly entered the arena, beginning to check the condition of the injured students and treating some of the obvious wounds.

On the attacking faction's side, Nara Zhenyuan was revived, rubbing his aching neck without a word; Asuma retreated to the side, looking at Mikami Yu with somewhat complex eyes; Kaimon Hyuga stood silently to the side, his Byakugan already deactivated.

On the defending side, Obito, who had just wrapped bandages around his face, was making a fuss next to Kakashi, asking which side had won. Kakashi didn't speak, too lazy to entertain him.

"Obito, you'd better sit down and rest for a bit. The teachers will announce the results shortly."

Nohara Rin patted the stone steps beside her and advised.

Afterward, she looked at Mikami Yu: "Yu, are you alright?"

"...I'm fine, just a little tired."

Mikami Yu smiled, leaning against the tree trunk behind him, not wanting to move at all.

Nohara Rin pursed her lips and said, "Your performance just now was truly brilliant, taking on three people by yourself, and Asuma was among them. I really didn't expect you to have gotten this strong."

"Just lucky."

As soon as Mikami Yu offered this modest reply, Obito hurried over: "I was pretty awesome too! If I hadn't pinned Might Guy down, it wouldn't have been that easy for him to pull it off! Besides, Guy lost to me in the end anyway. If Yu gets first place, I should at least be second, right?"

"...I'd say you're twenty at most."

The one who had just walked over and spoken this time was Yuhi Kurenai.

She was obviously exhausted as well by this point, her face slightly flushed and still panting, but her eyes were bright. "I'd say Mikami's first place is pretty much guaranteed. It's a shame Asuma and the others weren't grouped with us, or we wouldn't have lost so miserably."

The few of them chatted away animatedly.

Mikami Yu half-listened while lines of text flickered across his mind:

[Transformation Technique: Congratulations, Little Mikami, you won again. And this opponent was much stronger than the last one, so it's truly amazing that you managed to beat him.]

[Clone Technique: Hmph, it's just passable. It's a pity my pretty new skin wasn't used... But I suppose this is fine too, seeing as you worked so hard. I wonder which ninjutsu still hasn't been used by Little Mikami, it's so hard to guess!]

[Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu: ...Even though you aren't talking about me this time, I still feel very annoyed listening to you talk. Besides, I advise you not to mention that jutsu at all, or else she'll come out in a bit, and this guy named Mikami will be dead for sure.]

[Eight Gates: ?]

"Holy shit, cut it out!"

Seeing Eight Gates bubble up, Mikami Yu was so startled he shuddered all over.

He hadn't used Eight Gates in this test partly because, with only the first gate opened, its usefulness was limited, but also because he was apprehensive. Who knew if Eight Gates might suddenly get carried away and make him run a hundred laps around the Konoha training ground, or do some other bizarre thing.

Good thing...

[Eight Gates: Hmmm, even though it's a bit annoying not being brought along for the fight, I still quite like your tactical style. That's what youth is all about! Wash up properly when you get back, and I'll come find you for training tomorrow! Be there or be square!]

Mikami Yu: "..."