The Relay Battle Begins

"Asuma..."

As they watched Asuma being carried away by the medical team in such a miserable state, the Konoha Rookies looked at Yue with fear and unease in their eyes.

Yes, even at their level, they could tell that if he could defeat Asuma in an instant, then most of the contestants present probably stood no chance against Kusagakure's sole remaining contender.

After all, Asuma was already considered quite strong among them.

Hyuga Hiashi glanced at the Hokage's expression and chuckled to himself.

His own son had been beaten up, yet he remained so calm, without making any response or stating his position.

That meant he intended for the match to continue.

Even if they were no match for Yue, Konoha's youngsters could not back down. They could only grit their teeth and face him.

This was the moment to demonstrate the backbone and courage of a villager who did not fear a powerful enemy.

"So he intends to use this Fuma Yue to temper these children..."

Hyuga Hiashi glanced again at Minato Namikaze beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, then swept his gaze over Kakashi, Might Guy, and the others, deep in thought.

As the next head of the Hyuga Clan, he had already seen many things very clearly.

"Damn it, don't get cocky!"

Obito snapped after coming back to his senses.

At that moment, another person landed in the arena.

Yue's performance had indeed stunned quite a few of the Konoha Rookies.

But that did not mean they were afraid.

The newcomer was Gekko Hayate.

He was friends with Asuma and Genma Shiranui, and they had grown up together since childhood.

He could not simply turn a blind eye to Asuma's fate.

Although his strength was near the bottom among the contestants in this round, and he had only made it this far partly through luck in the draw,

he still wanted to challenge Yue.

"Meaningless."

Yue turned a page, his eyes fixed on the book. He did not even raise his head as he spoke indifferently.

"I know I can't beat you." To Yue's surprise, Gekko Hayate flashed a carefree smile and admitted it openly. "You do have the strength and qualifications to be arrogant. But don't forget... Kusagakure only has you left, while we... still have a whole group."

"Even in a relay battle, we'll wear you down."

As he spoke, Gekko Hayate drew a sword much smaller than a normal blade.

Its size and weight suited him perfectly.

"All I need to do is force out more of your techniques and drain more of your stamina... Even if it isn't me, someone will defeat you eventually."

Gekko Hayate spoke with confidence.

It was confidence in Konoha and in his companions.

Besides, he was stating the truth.

This made Yue regard him more highly. For Gekko Hayate to possess such awareness and judgment at this age already made him far more outstanding than most children his age.

The intent to sacrifice himself was obvious.

Yue raised his head and looked directly at Gekko Hayate. "You're right. But unfortunately... sheep are still sheep. No matter how many gather together, they pose no threat to a real beast."

"At most..."

Yue smiled mockingly and slowly said, "when they're eaten... they'll only waste a little more time."

Gekko Hayate's expression changed slightly at those words.

Over there, Obito Uchiha had practically bitten his teeth to pieces. He wished he could personally enter the arena and immediately join forces with Gekko Hayate.

He could not stand Yue's arrogant attitude.

But... he had already been eliminated.

And he had not even properly recognized his place. Even if he went up, he would only be one more dish on the table.

"Obito... not facing him was actually a good thing."

Shisui spoke softly beside him.

Obito Uchiha felt even more annoyed upon hearing that. Nothing about him looked pleased.

"I didn't see everything clearly, but I can tell that this person isn't the same kind of 'creature' as you from the very beginning."

"Shut up. Why are you taking his side... What does a little brat like you know?!"

Obito rolled his eyes dramatically and said sulkily.

Shisui smiled faintly and obediently shut his mouth.

Begin!

When the referee's arm came down, Gekko Hayate did not recklessly charge forward like Asuma. Instead, he adopted a different strategy.

He immediately leaped backward to widen the distance between himself and Yue.

He began by probing with thrown weapons. Only when Yue dodged or rapidly closed in did he use Konoha-style swordsmanship for defense... Yes, his swordsmanship did not even prioritize attacking. Just as he had said, he perfectly carried out his own strategy: stall for time and waste Yue's stamina.

At the same time, he wanted to see whether he could force Yue to reveal some of his techniques.

So he could provide intelligence for the companions behind him.

It was just a pity... watching from outside the battlefield and personally experiencing the fight while feeling the pressure Yue brought were entirely different things.

Moreover, although his swordsmanship was already exquisite among his generation, with powerful deception and concealment, tricky angles, and swift strikes, there was one problem: while the power systems of Bleach and Naruto were largely different, they shared similar principles when it came to swordsmanship.

Trying to pressure Yue with swordsmanship—or rather, the way of the sword—was the most difficult approach.

The most obvious result was that some of Gekko Hayate's sword techniques could not even touch the edge of Yue's clothes.

Yue had completely seen through and predicted the trajectories and variations of his swordsmanship.

Before Hayate could even finish changing moves, Yue's counterattack would forcibly disrupt him.

And with the overwhelming difference in physical ability, even combining swordsmanship with ninjutsu could not make up for the gap in raw strength.

Fortunately, the strategy he had chosen allowed him to last longer than Asuma.

But not by much—only a little over half a minute.

When Gekko Hayate prepared to use the Body Flicker Technique to circle behind Yue and launch the only surprise attack of the match with a fierce sword gleam, there was a bang as he raised his sword. The weapon in his hand was instantly knocked away, spinning several times through the air before falling to the ground.

Gekko Hayate was immediately dumbfounded.

His sword hand went numb, and his skin had turned bright red.

Before he could react, Yue's still-raised foot slammed into his stomach with tremendous force.

Gekko Hayate was kicked several meters through the air, rolling across the ground. His body curled into a ball, and he could not get back up.

"Next."

Yue withdrew his leg, tapped his toes against the ground, and turned to urge the others.

"..."

Though the fight had lasted a little longer, its outcome was the same as the previous match.

Konoha had suffered a crushing defeat!

In the stands, the Kusagakure jonin's mouth hung slightly open.

He could not believe it.

This was Kusagakure's new generation?!

Really?

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought he was dreaming.

How could he be this strong?

Did the village elders know about this?

His throat bobbed. When Yue defeated the first opponent, rather than feeling joy, he had felt more fear, worried that Yue had gone too far.

He was afraid of angering Konoha's people, especially the Hokage.

He had even been prepared to apologize on Yue's behalf, but seeing no reaction from Konoha and being stunned by Yue's strength, he had abandoned the idea.

"If he keeps winning like this..."

The Kusagakure jonin pondered. For him, Yue's astonishing performance was not the priority.

The hidden danger was.

Now was not the time to consider why Yue was so powerful... This was Konoha, after all. If Konoha's higher-ups lost face and something happened on their own turf, who could the four of them appeal to? There was no guarantee they would even make it back alive.

Konoha had every confidence to disregard Kusagakure.

He even had the absurd thought of telling Yue to deliberately lose the match.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, who had been leaning his upper body over the railing the entire time, was preparing to move.

He understood the current situation very clearly.

By his assessment, only he and Might Guy could give Yue a proper fight. It was hard to say who would win or lose, but Yue could not be allowed to keep winning like this.

If the others continued going up, they would most likely lose.

He needed to step forward.

More importantly, Konoha was already fighting a relay battle, which meant they had the advantage.

It would sound terrible if word got out.

However, just as Kakashi was about to move, a hand landed on his shoulder and stopped him.

Kakashi turned his head and saw Minato Namikaze gently shake his head.

He was telling him not to enter the arena yet.

Kakashi froze.

During that brief delay, someone had already taken Gekko Hayate's "baton" and stood opposite Yue.

Ryuzaki Hyuga of the Hyuga Clan.

He was a year older than Yue, as well as taller and more heavily built.

The prominent new generation members of Konoha who carried secret techniques and Kekkei Genkai inheritances had finally been unable to remain seated.

Yue finally closed his book and flicked his wrist.

He threw the book toward the jonin leading Kusagakure's team.

It seemed the coming match was worth taking a little more seriously.

By "serious," he merely meant that he was interested in the Byakugan.

"I'm getting old, and my eyes aren't as good as they used to be... Go ask that Kusagakure shinobi what book Yue was reading."

"Kids who are this studious are rare these days..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled as he instructed one of his subordinates beside him.

"Yes."

The man nodded, then hurried over to the Kusagakure jonin.

He asked to borrow Yue's book for a look.