The Final Match

"Everyone, it's not a major problem. The matches will be paused for ten minutes, then resume." Ye Liang shouted, then picked Obito up.

The guy had merely exhausted his Chakra; there was nothing seriously wrong with him. Ye Liang sent him straight to the lounge, trusting that he would be fine.

The matches that followed would be much fairer.

Taking the previous factors into account, Ye Liang directly barred anyone over twenty from competing. Because of the injuries, he also assigned many more personnel, greatly improving safety.

The first Chunin match had come to an end just like that.

There were still two rounds left: one written test and one practical test. Since Ye Liang did not need to proctor the written exam, he was naturally happy to take it easy.

"By the way, are there really this many people in the village now?" Ye Liang was eating at the ramen shop.

"Isn't that right? Ever since the Chunin Exams began, more and more ninja have come to Konoha to watch the matches. They're all ninja from small villages, though. Not only are they not taking the exams, they often stir up trouble. It's quite a headache." Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku shook his head helplessly.

It seemed he had suffered quite a bit over the past two days as well.

"Doesn't the village do anything about it?" Ye Liang asked.

Although most ninja had been sent to the competition grounds at this time, Konoha still had its own guards.

"The village?" Ōtsutsuki Kaguya froze. Then she nervously leaned close and whispered into Ye Liang's ear, "Mr. Ye Liang, don't say such things. Konoha's Military Police Force is made up of the Uchiha. Can they be trusted now?"

Ye Liang was stunned.

He had actually forgotten about that!

Konoha's Military Police Force had always been commanded by the strongest clan, the Uchiha. But the Uchiha had previously suffered Danzo's assassination attempt. It was already good enough that they had not risen up in revolt—how could they continue protecting Konoha?

What was more, the Uchiha had been transferred out of Konoha half a month ago. They were all recuperating outside the village now.

"Ah, life is unpredictable."

Ye Liang sighed. He had originally wanted to change the Uchiha's fate, but he had not expected them to ultimately fall out with Konoha anyway. If he was right, the Uchiha might still appear to be part of Konoha, but they had long since established themselves as a village of their own.

"Perhaps I should declare myself king as well!" Ye Liang suddenly thought of something.

Danzo already saw him as a thorn in his side!

And because of the Uchiha matter, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also developed a rift with him. Continuing to live in Konoha was not truly safe. If Danzo sent someone to assassinate him, could he really guard against those highly trained ninja with his own life experience?

Poisoning, for example. Assassination!

As long as they caught Ye Liang while he was asleep, such underhanded methods could put him in danger.

With that thought, Ye Liang began entertaining other ideas.

He returned to the examination grounds.

The written test here had already ended, and the third round of the Konoha exams would begin that afternoon.

Practical combat!

Also known as the Jungle Pursuit Battle!

This exam was centered around teams. Every three people formed a team, and each team held one marked seal.

They were Heaven and Earth seals!

Competing teams only needed to seize the seal they did not possess from another team, then strike the victory gong in the center of the jungle to win.

Of course, countless jonin were stationed throughout the jungle, enough to cover nearly every team, so there was no need to worry about safety.

Ye Liang moved through the jungle.

This was where Ye Liang had first chased Orochimaru. Back then, he had fled through every corner of the place, so he was fairly familiar with it.

"Where did that brat Obito run off to now?"

Ye Liang looked around. He was not the jonin assigned to watch over Obito this time, merely an outside ninja overseeing all the teams.

"Kid, you seem pretty strong!"

At that moment, a young brat came up behind him.

Mizukage Yagura!

Besides Ye Liang, the outside ninja assigned this time included jonin and Kage-level experts from the major ninja villages. After all, not everyone was willing to entrust their safety to Konoha.

"So it's Lord Mizukage. Is there something you need?" Ye Liang's pupils constricted as he regarded the Mizukage with caution.

There had actually been no small amount of conflict between Konoha and Kirigakure. Aside from Ye Liang's indirect role in Juzo Biwa's death, during the Third Great Ninja War, Guy's father, Might Duy, had slaughtered all of Kirigakure's jonin!

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been wiped out!

Though only six of them had remained at the time.

"Nothing. I just heard Mei Terumi say that you're a rare talent, so I wanted to get to know you."

"Mei Terumi?"

Ye Liang froze. At the same time, he realized Yagura did not seem hostile toward him. Still, he had no desire to speak with this young Mizukage, because Ye Liang knew Yagura's history all too well!

It was incomparably cruel!

Ye Liang had read about the Mizukage's past in his previous life.

Countless children would be placed in a space shrouded in mist. They would first be trained, and after becoming familiar with one another, they would be ordered to slaughter each other.

By then, they had already formed friendships. Such an order was equivalent to forcing them to abandon those bonds.

That was like raising venomous insects in a jar!

Ye Liang naturally understood this method. The insect-raising method from his previous life was the same: mix venomous creatures together and let them kill one another. When only the final creature remained alive, it would be the strongest venom king!

Yagura was that venom king!

"We don't know each other, so let's leave it at that." Ye Liang chuckled dryly and immediately prepared to leave.

What nonsense. Who would want to stay around a venom king who had abandoned all emotion? If he stabbed Ye Liang in the back, Ye Liang would really be done for.

"Hey! Don't go! I still wanted to chat!" Yagura shouted after him, but Ye Liang had already vanished into the distance.

In truth, Ye Liang had not left Yagura for that reason alone.

It was because he had suddenly felt the Nine-Tails stir within his body, a restless sensation as though it wanted to burst out of him!

"Could it be because of the Three-Tails?" Ye Liang grew suspicious.

After all, Mizukage Yagura also had a sealed tailed beast within him: Isobu, the Three-Tails!

Meanwhile, Yagura in the distance was indeed staring coldly at Ye Liang's retreating back. His expression was no longer friendly, and a killing intent slowly surfaced in his eyes!

Clearly, he had no favorable impression of Ye Liang. Everything before had been an act.

More importantly, Ye Liang had not noticed at all!

"I originally wanted to test your limits, but I should just make my move. After all, I'm rather interested in your tailed beast." Yagura said calmly. Even as he spoke of killing, his expression did not change in the slightest.

In the distance, Ye Liang finally found Obito.

The jonin assigned to watch over him was Kakashi.

Uh!

Seeing Obito desperately trying to shake off Kakashi, Ye Liang naturally understood what he was thinking. They had come from the same class, so why was one still a student while the other had become a teacher's assistant?

Obito felt deeply wronged. Was his talent really that poor?

Kakashi silently watched him from high in the trees, even though he already knew that Obito had noticed him!