Konoha, Forest of Death Tower.
Battle Arena.
After Isagi's match, Hayate quickly announced the start of the next one, and it was none other than the famous fight Isagi clearly remembered: Lee vs Gaara.
Despite his involvement, some epic moments seemed predestined to happen, and this fight truly brought shock to the audience.
Isagi's fight with Temari had been one-sided, so it didn't offer much to witness, but this battle showed the limits of taijutsu against the ultimate sand defense.
Isagi witnessed the iconic scene of Lee taking off his weights. Then came the battle that showed how far the will to win can take someone, transcending pain and sanity. Isagi felt not ashamed at all to admit that, in terms of will to achieve something, he was nowhere close to Lee. Not just him; few in this world were this hard-working.
Lee opened five gates, but despite all that he was still not able to take down the monster from the Sand. He almost died in Gaara's hands if not for Might Guy intervening at the crucial moment.
After Gaara's fight came the battle between the Hyūga cousins. Neji really let out his inner frustration on his weak and timid cousin, much to the anger of Naruto. Then came an almost hair-pulling kind of fight between Sakura and Ino which ended in a draw.
Soon everyone was done with their battles, and the preliminaries came to an end. Sarutobi once again took the attention of everybody remaining, talking about the importance of the third exam. Finally, names began flashing on the electronic screen; it was time to decide the matches for the third exam.
Kanzaki Ryōta vs Uzumaki Naruto.
Seeing these two names on the screen, Isagi couldn't help but show an interesting look. His presence seemed to have altered a very major event in Naruto's life. He who originally had to fight Neji was now facing Ryōta, who was more of a no-nonsense type of guy and wouldn't give Naruto much time in the fight to turn things around.
"It's the fox brat… I can't really tell if he's strong or not…" Seeing his opponent, Ryōta showed a conflicted look. Remembering Naruto's earlier battle with Kiba, he had mixed thoughts about his overall strength.
"All I can tell is that your chances of becoming a chūnin have gone much higher." Mei really didn't seem to take Naruto's strength seriously. Feeling happy for Ryōta, she almost congratulated him in advance.
"Haha." Hearing their words, Isagi couldn't help but let out a little laugh. At their confused expressions over his laughter, he spoke in a slightly mysterious tone. "Remember this: never ever underestimate that kid. You'll understand why I said this eventually."
At his words, which seemed to contain a lot, both turned to gaze at Naruto and really had a hard time believing this idiot could achieve anything.
Soon more names began to appear on the electronic screen.
"Hyūga Neji vs Gaara of the Sand."
"Guess Neji will get a rougher beating than he would have gotten from Naruto." While Neji was strong, Isagi knew he was nowhere close to the strength Gaara possessed at this stage. Heck, even he himself couldn't do anything to him if Gaara unleashed his jinchūriki form and transformed into Shukaku.
Neji, unaware of the tragedy he might go through despite having witnessed how Lee was dealt with, still seemed confident.
Then more and more names appeared on the screen. Eventually his name appeared as well, and seeing his opponent, Isagi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
"Arisawa Isagi vs Uchiha Sasuke."
"Guess a month later I'll have plenty of things to copy." Isagi showed an anticipating look. He knew the Sasuke a month later would be a lot different from the current Sasuke.
He would go through a month-long training session with Kakashi and learn a lot of things worth copying. Moreover, if he could rile him up a little to improve his Sharingan during the battle, it would be the best possible outcome.
And on how to rile him up, he had plenty of ways. Though he had to act a little villain-like, it didn't matter as long as he didn't do anything too obnoxious, crossing his own bottom line.
With the matches for the third exam settled, everyone was finally allowed to leave and head back home.
Whether it was Ryōta or Mei, both were tired enough from battling each other. After leaving the forest, the three separated and went their own ways. Isagi gazed in the direction of his home in his memory.
(Review the book please whether you like it or not, I'd want it to be eligible to appear in rankings soon, that'll give me motivation to continue writing. Thank you)