After the first round concluded, the top eight contestants emerged.
Following a brief rest, lots were drawn to determine the second-round matchups.
The opponent Lin Ze faced in the second round was another girl from the Inuzuka Clan.
Her abilities were decent, but she was clearly a cut below Namiashi Raidō. Moreover, her ninja dog had been injured in the previous match and could not coordinate effectively with her.
Having learned from his previous experience, Lin Ze gave his opponent no opportunity to employ any tactics this time.
As soon as the match began, he closed in with overwhelming speed. A precise knife-hand strike bypassed the ninja dog and landed lightly on the side of the girl's neck, instantly knocking her out for a short time and ending the fight.
"The winner is Lin Ze!"
This clean, decisive victory drew another wave of amazement from the stands.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly in the stands, seemingly quite appreciative of Lin Ze's efficient yet restrained approach.
Asuma, however, suffered a crushing defeat in the second round. His opponent was a member of the Uchiha Clan named Enta Uchiha.
Although Enta Uchiha had not awakened his eyes either, he was quite proficient in Uchiha Style shurikenjutsu and basic fire release, and his taijutsu was not weak, either.
"The winner is Enta Uchiha!"
Asuma pounded the ground in frustration, but he still gritted his teeth and stood up. He bowed toward his father in the stands before leaving the arena.
In the stands, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched his son's defeat without much disappointment on his face. Instead, he wore a barely perceptible hint of gratification and solemnity.
He took a puff of his pipe and said evenly to Jiraiya beside him:
"A little setback will do him good. Let him learn that there are always greater heights and stronger people. Jade must be carved before it can become something useful."
"As the Hokage's son, his path is bound to be harder than anyone else's. Better for him to experience more failures now than pay with his life on a mission in the future."
His words were calm and steady. As a father, he might have felt pained, but as the Hokage, he understood the importance of tempering oneself all the more.
With Asuma's defeat, the second round concluded, and the final four of this Ninja Academy practical combat assessment were officially decided!
Lin Ze, Hikaru Hyūga, Ibiki Morino, and Enta Uchiha.
These four undoubtedly represented the strongest combatants among Konoha's new generation this year.
The atmosphere grew more excited and tense, with everyone looking forward to the upcoming semifinals.
This was not merely a contest for rankings, but also an important showcase of their clans, styles, and even their future paths.
Lin Ze's gaze slowly swept over the other three before finally settling on Hikaru Hyūga.
As though sensing it, Hikaru Hyūga turned his head as well. His white eyes regarded Lin Ze calmly, while that faint, gentle yet icy smile remained on his lips.
The atmosphere around the central arena grew increasingly heavy. The final four had been decided, and next came the semifinals, which would determine who qualified to compete for the championship.
The instructor serving as referee carried a fresh drawing cylinder to the center of the arena. Lin Ze, Hikaru Hyūga, Ibiki Morino, and Enta Uchiha stepped forward in turn to draw lots.
Lin Ze took a deep breath, reached into the cylinder, pulled out a slip of paper, and unfolded it.
The number "2" was written on it.
Number two?
Lin Ze turned to look and saw that the number Enta Uchiha had just drawn from the cylinder was "1."
Another Uchiha? I wonder how strong he is compared to Ryota Uchiha.
Immediately afterward, the referee loudly announced the results. "First semifinal match: Lin Ze versus Enta Uchiha!"
Enta Uchiha appeared somewhat more composed than Ryota Uchiha. His face lacked that arrogant expression, but deep in his eyes, he still carried the pride unique to the Uchiha Clan.
Enta Uchiha... Lin Ze quickly searched his memory, confirming that there was indeed no such character in the original story.
"First semifinal match: Lin Ze versus Enta Uchiha. Both contestants, please enter the arena!"
Lin Ze and Enta Uchiha walked into the center of the arena at the same time.
"I look forward to our match." Enta Uchiha spoke first, his tone reasonably polite, but carrying a refusal to lose.
He had witnessed firsthand how Lin Ze had beaten Ryota Uchiha. As a fellow member of the Uchiha Clan, he felt both humiliated and filled with a pent-up desire to restore his clan's reputation.
"I look forward to our match." Lin Ze calmly returned the courtesy while carefully observing Enta Uchiha.
His presence was steadier than Ryota Uchiha's, and his chakra reserves seemed slightly greater as well, but...
For some reason, Lin Ze instinctively felt that Enta Uchiha posed even less of a threat than Namiashi Raidō had earlier.
"Begin!"
The instant the referee finished speaking, Enta Uchiha's hands flew into motion.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!"
He spat out five or six fist-sized fireballs while simultaneously flinging several shuriken with both hands, concealing them behind the fireballs as they shot toward Lin Ze.
The same opening again. He used it against Asuma, too.
Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson was a D-rank ninjutsu that served as a prerequisite to the C-rank Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
While watching Enta Uchiha's match against Asuma, Lin Ze had noticed how proficiently he used it. Presumably, it would not be long before he could learn the C-rank Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
Rather than take the attack head-on, Lin Ze drove off the ground and instantly darted diagonally forward to the left at tremendous speed, narrowly escaping the area covered by the fireballs and shuriken.
"He's so fast!" someone exclaimed in the stands.
Seeing his attack miss, Enta Uchiha immediately retreated while forming hand seals again, attempting to gain distance and continue suppressing Lin Ze with ninjutsu.
But how could Lin Ze give him that chance?
The instant he evaded the attack, Lin Ze accelerated again, closing in on Enta Uchiha like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"So fast!" Enta Uchiha's pupils contracted, and his hand seals were interrupted. In his haste, he could only draw a kunai and hold it across his body to block.
Lin Ze closed in and drove a simple, direct straight punch toward Enta Uchiha's face, his fist whistling through the air!
Enta Uchiha hurriedly blocked with the side of his kunai.
Thud!
The fist collided with the kunai with a dull impact.
Enta Uchiha felt an enormous force surge through the kunai, numbing his wrist. His body slid backward uncontrollably for several steps before he barely managed to steady himself.
He's far too strong! Enta Uchiha was shocked, his arm still trembling slightly. He finally experienced firsthand what Ryota Uchiha had felt back then. Their strength was not even on the same level!
"Enta, you can do it!" Uchiha clansmen shouted from the spectator seats.
But Lin Ze gave him no opportunity, pressing forward relentlessly.
Fists, feet, elbows, knees... every part of his body became a lethal weapon, his attacks pouring down like a raging storm.
Lin Ze's taijutsu had been honed through Might Duy's hellish, almost self-destructive training. His fundamentals were solid, his movements simple and efficient, without the slightest unnecessary flourish. Every strike went straight for a vital point!
Enta Uchiha could only swing his kunai in a desperate scramble to block and dodge.
His taijutsu was fairly good among his peers, but against Lin Ze's pure taijutsu pressure, it was nowhere near enough.
The clinking and clanging of collisions rang out incessantly.
Enta Uchiha was completely on the defensive, forced to follow Lin Ze's rhythm. Often, as soon as he blocked a punch, the next kick was already upon him, leaving him scrambling and repeatedly in danger.
From the moment Lin Ze had closed in on him, he had already lost!
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