One Against a Hundred

Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi, meanwhile, were anything but calm.

Fugaku noticed the shock in his Clan Members' eyes and watched them swallow. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

It's working! The stronger Eiji is, the more their pride will be brought down a notch!

Hiashi was thinking that after this battle, Ryuuzaki Eiji and his unique Kekkei Genkai would surely become famous.

If he proposed bringing Ryuuzaki Eiji into the fold now, he probably wouldn't face much resistance.

VIP Spectator Area

No, this won't do at all!

The Daimyo frowned in the VIP Box. This alone wouldn't make Eiji famous. What was so impressive about one-on-one fights?

He might not understand Ninja, but he knew how to make someone's name known!

Now that he was certain Eiji's strength was truly overwhelming, he felt confident enough to tweak Lady Mito's script a little.

"Lord Hokage, there's no point continuing like this. Why not change the rules again? I have a much better idea!"

Hearing the Daimyo's flippant tone, Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched.

Please don't come up with another 'better idea.' Isn't this tournament chaotic enough already?

But when he heard the Daimyo intended to provide Konoha with more war funding, he could only swallow his objections.

He summoned an Anbu Ninja, whispered a few instructions in his ear, and sent him off.

At first, the Anbu Ninja thought he had misheard. Then he saw the Third Hokage's serious expression and hurried out of the VIP Box.

Eiji was nearly yawning from boredom as he waited for the next contestant to be eliminated.

An Anbu Ninja emerged from the contestants' Rest Room. He used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the Jonin serving as referee, gave him a few instructions, then vanished the same way.

The spectators were dumbfounded. What was happening now?

The Jonin referee returned to the center of the arena and announced loudly,

"The rules have changed again! The Battle Royale is now a Team Battle! All remaining contestants will attack Ryuuzaki Eiji together! If they defeat him, every remaining contestant wins. Otherwise, Ryuuzaki Eiji wins!"

"What!? You've got to be kidding!"

Kushina's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"That's not fair! It's completely unfair!"

She wanted to report the villains in the Village Leadership. Why did they keep targeting Eiji? It was infuriating!

"What...?"

Minato looked just as bewildered. Was this right? How had things ended up like this? How badly did they want Eiji to lose?

"You've got to be kidding! If you don't want him to win, just say so!"

"Exactly! You keep changing the rules! Look at what you've done!"

"What about the bets we placed before the tournament? How do those work now?"

"Give us our money back!"

Some villagers who didn't know what was going on began shouting in protest at the absurd turn of events.

They had already lost their bets, so they might as well enjoy the matches. But then this happened.

"Uh, did your student do something to upset Teacher Sarutobi?"

Jiraiya edged over to Tsunade and asked cautiously. That was putting it politely. He was starting to suspect Ryuuzaki Eiji had burned off Teacher Sarutobi's eyebrows to be singled out like this.

"Shut up!"

Tsunade jabbed Jiraiya with her elbow, finally silencing him.

She couldn't make sense of it herself. Wasn't the point just to promote Eiji? Did they really need to go this far?

Tsunade looked toward Eiji, who stood in the arena.

Then again, that brat's probably happy about this.

Tsunade felt Eiji had come to the tournament to trounce weaker opponents. The Battle Royale had let him steal the spotlight, and now it had turned into a Team Battle.

If he won this easily too, the kid would be able to strut around Konoha like he owned the place.

After hearing the rules had changed, the remaining contestants filed out of the Rest Room and onto the field.

The Combat Arena had become a strange sight. Eiji stood on one side, while more than eighty remaining contestants stood on the other.

Nearly all the graduates eliminated earlier had fallen to Eiji alone. So despite outnumbering him almost a hundred to one, no one dared attack first, afraid his sudden Ninjutsu would take them out in an instant.

Some swallowed hard; others gripped their Kunai tightly. Every one of them tensed, watching the sole enemy before them—Ryuuzaki Eiji.

Eiji looked at the opponents eyeing him hungrily, and a faint smile touched his lips. Facing so many enemies for the first time, he grew a little more serious.

This could serve as a warm-up for the Shinobi World War. On a battlefield, he couldn't expect one-on-one fights all the time. A situation like this would probably be far more common.

"D-damn it... Don't look down on us!"

A Civilian Ninja could no longer stand the tension. Kunai in hand, he charged at Eiji.

That was like lighting a fuse. The others steeled themselves, gritted their teeth, and rushed at Eiji in a fury!

"Don't get cocky! You think you can take on all of us!?"

"Show your seniors some respect!"

Eiji noticed that Uchiha Yo and Hyuga Yamashiro hadn't joined the charge. Was their clan pride keeping them out of such an unfair fight? Or were they letting the others wear him down first?

Either way, the result will be the same.

Eiji raised a hand and used Azure to yank the contestant at the front straight toward him, then drove a punch into his chest!

A burst of air seemed to pass through the man's body and explode from his back. He flew backward into another contestant, knocking him down, and the two tumbled away in a heap!

Then shadows fell over Eiji. Enemies had surrounded him on every side!

He scanned his surroundings with the Six Eyes, turned aside from a Ninja Blade's slash, caught the wielder's arm, and hurled him over his shoulder!

He leaped high to evade a contestant who had used Earth Release to emerge beneath his feet. Kicking out with both legs, he knocked two more unconscious and out of the match!

Then Eiji flipped in midair and swept the contestant who had burst from the ground away with a flying kick!

Landing steadily, Eiji raised a hand and used Azure to seize another contestant by the neck. Unable to breathe, the man tried to grab Eiji's arm, but the Limitless kept him from touching it.

Eiji lifted his head, fixed the man with his azure eyes, and spoke in a low voice.

"Do you want to dance too?"