The Final Eight Emerge

At eight in the morning, Kumogakure's grand arena was packed with spectators who had gathered to watch the Chunin matches, including the daimyo of various countries and the leaders of several factions.

Amid an atmosphere of tension and anticipation, the third exam officially began under the supervision of its proctor, Tarui.

The first match served as the opening spectacle, pitting Omoi of Samui's Cloud Ninja squad against an unremarkable member of the Stone Ninja Ninjutsu Squad.

With the Cloud Style Nintaijutsu Kenjutsu he had learned from Killer B, Omoi completely outclassed the Stone Ninja's Earth Release. His opponent could only scramble desperately to evade his attacks, allowing Omoi to steal the spotlight and claim the first victory.

Once their fight ended, the staff immediately began leveling the arena floor before proceeding with the second match.

The second pair of contestants were the Taijutsu specialist from the Sand Ninja's Ye Ming Squad and Roi of the Cloud Ninja Nintaijutsu Squad.

The two were evenly matched, and the battle remained deadlocked. In the end, Roi used his home-field advantage and greater acclimatization to Kumogakure's environment to exhaust the Sand Ninja, narrowly defeating his opponent and advancing to the finals.

Compared with the previous fight, however, this match was far less entertaining, so the audience offered little applause when it ended.

The third match was Kazuhiko Uchiha's, and his opponent was the captain of the Stone Ninja Ninjutsu Squad.

The Stone Ninja captain was only as strong as an ordinary Chunin and was no match for Kazuhiko Uchiha. As soon as the battle began, he unleashed several wide-ranging Earth Release attacks at Kazuhiko Uchiha.

Considering the Chunin Ninja Exams' role as a spectacle, and having learned from the previous match, Kazuhiko Uchiha did not defeat the Stone Ninja captain instantly. Instead, he fought him with Fire Release Ninjutsu that looked spectacular but actually had little power.

To the ordinary spectators with no combat ability, their battle was as thrilling as a clash between gods. Shaking off the listlessness of the previous match, they cheered enthusiastically for both fighters.

Once he had put on enough of a show, Kazuhiko Uchiha defeated the Stone Ninja captain with a single Searing Migraine and advanced to the next round.

The fourth match, and the last that morning, pitted Aono, who possessed the Steel Release kekkei genkai, against the captain of the Cloud Ninja Nintaijutsu Squad.

The Cloud Ninja captain was highly accomplished in Nintaijutsu. Unfortunately, Aono's Steel Release kekkei genkai was an exceptionally effective counter to physical attacks. Even with all his strength, the captain could barely hurt Aono and regrettably lost his chance to advance.

After a short midday break, the first round continued.

The fifth match: Shu, who possessed the Explosion Release kekkei genkai, versus the other Ninjutsu-specialist Sand Ninja from the Ye Ming Squad.

This match was quite spectacular. Both the thunderous Explosion Release and the Wind Release that sent sand and stones flying were a visual treat for the audience. In the end, Shu used an Earth Release barrier Ninjutsu to trap the Sand Ninja inside and claim victory.

The sixth match pitted Karui against Natsumi of the Stone Ninja Kekkei Genkai Squad.

Like Omoi, Karui had spent a long time learning swordsmanship from Killer B. Limited by her disadvantage in strength as a woman, she was slightly weaker than Omoi.

Natsumi of the Stone Ninja specialized in Genjutsu and summoning beasts. At the very start, she summoned her Elite Chunin-level Leopard Summoning Beast while using Genjutsu herself to disrupt Karui's movements.

After the battle had remained deadlocked for some time, Karui suddenly used a Secret Technique to unleash a burst of power. Breaking free of the Leopard Summoning Beast, she struck Natsumi with her blade and wounded her.

Severely injured, Natsumi screamed. Enduring the pain, she used a defensive Secret Technique to retreat underground, while the exhausted Karui fell to the Leopard Summoning Beast's increasingly frenzied attacks.

With the sixth match ending in grievous injuries on both sides, the proctor, Tarui, had medical ninja take the two women away for treatment before proceeding with the seventh match.

The seventh match pitted Ye Ming, who possessed the Swift Release kekkei genkai, against the last member of the Cloud Ninja Nintaijutsu Squad.

Both were Taijutsu specialists who wielded tachi, but their swordsmanship styles were entirely different.

The Cloud Ninja's Nintaijutsu swordsmanship emphasized strength, every strike direct and forceful, brimming with dominance. Ye Ming's swordsmanship emphasized speed, creating layers of blade shadows that made it impossible to distinguish illusion from reality.

At the beginning of the battle, the Cloud Ninja could still hold his own against Ye Ming with his Nintaijutsu swordsmanship. But once Ye Ming activated his Swift Release kekkei genkai, he immediately fell behind.

Swift Release enhanced not only Ye Ming's movement speed but also his attack speed and reflexes. His already swift swordsmanship became even more unpredictable. Within a few exchanges, he knocked the tachi from the Cloud Ninja's hand and thrust his blade toward his throat.

Whoosh!

The proctor, Tarui, appeared in the arena and kicked Ye Ming's tachi aside, saving the terrified Cloud Ninja.

"The battle is over. Ye Ming wins."

Tarui gave Ye Ming a cold look as he announced the result.

Ye Ming returned his gaze impassively, slung his tachi across his back, and jumped back into the arena stands.

The final match pitted Samui's younger brother, Atsui, against a member of the Stone Ninja Ninjutsu Squad.

Atsui was a boy with the character for "heat" tattooed on his arm. He used a form of Fire Release Nintaijutsu swordsmanship that was relatively rare in Kumogakure. With every move, the flames clinging to his tachi surged and shifted, making his attacks difficult to guard against.

His Stone Ninja opponent was the squad member responsible for defense. He specialized in defensive Earth Release and was not particularly skilled in offensive Ninjutsu, leaving him to passively defend against Atsui's attacks.

But no defense could hold forever. Amid the intense fighting, Atsui seized an opening and drove his sword through his opponent's chest.

With Atsui's victory, the first round of the third exam came to an end, and the matchups for the second round, which would narrow the final eight down to four, were confirmed.

[No. 1] Omoi vs. [No. 2] Roi

[No. 3] Kazuhiko Uchiha vs. [No. 4] Aono

[No. 5] Shu vs. [No. 6] Natsumi

[No. 7] Ye Ming vs. [No. 8] Atsui

"...Those are the matchups for the next round. The matches will begin at eight in the morning three days from now, right here. I hope all contestants will use these three days to get themselves into top condition and bring us even more exciting matches..."

The proctor, Tarui, delivered a lengthy speech. Only after he announced the time and venue for the next round was everyone allowed to leave.

As Konoha's sole remaining contestant, Kazuhiko Uchiha received special attention from the Jonin leading the team, who gave him some spending money and the opportunity to choose an A-rank Ninjutsu.

Kazuhiko Uchiha reviewed the Ninjutsu he had mastered and found that he knew the fewest Water Release techniques, so he chose [Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique].

After committing the training method for the Great Waterfall Technique to memory, Kazuhiko Uchiha did not rush to practice it. After all, an A-rank Ninjutsu was not something he could learn in two or three days. Rather than waste his time on it, he would be better off resting properly and getting himself into peak condition.

Using the spending money to buy a large pile of refined iron ingots as food for the little Pixiu, Kazuhiko Uchiha took it out to enjoy the wooded mountains beyond Kumogakure. Only after the three days had passed did he hurry back to the arena to compete.