Inside the arena in the Dawnlands.
Numerous media outlets had gathered there, along with spectators who had come to watch in person.
Before long, every one of the tens of thousands of seats was filled.
Overhead, two floating platforms hovered, still carrying the two veteran hosts.
One man and one woman: Wang Ji and Yu Ming.
The pair were delivering the opening remarks they had rehearsed countless times in their heads.
"Welcome to the live broadcast of this year's National Tournament Individual Tournament finals!"
"I'm your host, Wang Ji."
"I'm your master, Yu Ming."
Backstage at the arena, the many contestants waited anxiously.
They had felt overwhelmed as soon as they learned the competition rules yesterday.
Their legs had gone so weak that they wanted to withdraw.
They had to watch out for the other contestants while challenging all eight members of the Akatsuki in succession.
How the hell were they supposed to fight like that?!
Luo Yu and Ye Lingbo, however, were not nervous.
One was confident in his own strength.
The other had focused her attention on a smiling, pale-skinned young man dressed in white in the corner.
Su Qiming, who was suspected of having sided with the Sea God.
Su Qiming was equally confident in himself.
He could not say for certain about Deva Path Pain, but as for the Akatsuki members before him, with that power in his grasp...
They should not be difficult to defeat.
However, the family's higher-ups had issued strict orders to secure the Mystery Egg left by the Ninja Research Association.
They intended to offer it as a gift to that lord.
According to that lord, Deva Path Pain had mastered only some of the Rinnegan's abilities.
With a little effort, he should be able to defeat him too.
After all, he