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In the crowd watching the match in front of the moon castle, Kakashi pushed up the forehead protector covering his left eye and stared intently at one of the figures among the contestants.
"Uncle Sakumo! You've got this!!!"
Beside him, Might Guy was roaring at the top of his lungs.
"Kakashi!"
He grabbed Kakashi's shoulders and shook him vigorously.
"Come on, cheer with me for Uncle Sakumo! We can't let the other teams outdo our support!"
As always, he flashed a thumbs-up, tears glistening in his eyes.
"My old man's already been eliminated, so Uncle Sakumo has to fight for both of them!!"
Guy's father, Might Dai, had been knocked out in the preliminaries because his soul body couldn't use the Eight Gates Formation.
But Dai had studied desperately for the written exam and passed, appearing proudly before his son and proving his effort.
"I'm pretty sure neither of our dads ever agreed to that arrangement," Kakashi deadpanned, giving him the classic dead-fish eyes.
"Damn it!!"
Tears instantly streamed down Guy's face.
"Aren't we best friends for life?! Then obviously our dads became best friends too! That's how it works!!!"
"Yeah, I'm not really in the business of managing my dead father's social circle."
Kakashi looked away.
"Damn it! You're so cold, Kakashi!!"
Guy wailed.
Kakashi ignored him and kept his gaze fixed on Hatake Sakumo in the image.
The Sakumo on screen was brimming with spirit, like a freshly unsheathed blade.
In Kakashi's memory, his father had always been gentle, never once showing his edge in front of him.
And in those final days, the man had been like a caged beast, shrouded in defeat and despair.
Now, for the first time, Kakashi was seeing a side of his father he had never known.
His eyes flickered slightly. Without a word, he understood the message his father was silently sending.
The corners of Kakashi's eyes softened, and he smiled.
At that moment, all the contestants had finished their introductions, and Izuna once again took center stage.
"Now, please welcome the Lord of the Yellow Springs Hell, Master of the Fifth Palace, King Enma of the Enma Palace!"
Deafening cheers erupted once more.
"Great King!"
"Great King!!"
"Great King!!!"
"Looks like the King has the highest popularity after all," Kaito chuckled again.
The image now focused on the towering gates of the Enma Palace.
Rumbling echoes filled the air.
Two rows of jailers dressed in uniform black pushed open the massive, heavy doors with combined effort.
Lord Enma stepped out from within the palace, clad in luxurious black robes trimmed with flowing gold, a terrifying oni mask covering His face.
Chiri and Madara followed behind Him, one on each side.
"Everyone."
In an instant, Lord Enma's body grew enormously large, nearly as tall as the palace itself. Thick black clouds churned and surged around His form.
He looked down upon the crowded souls below, then turned His gaze toward the audience outside the screen.
In that moment, silence fell both inside and outside the image.
"I am Enma, King of the Fifth Palace of the Yellow Springs Hell.
With the Yellow Springs newly opened, in order to maintain the proper order of the world and guide the cycle of reincarnation, the Yellow Springs requires many capable individuals to join me in its construction."
Lord Enma's gaze shifted to the forty-nine finalists on the platform.
His incomparably heavy voice rang out, making the air itself tremble.
"The finals are about to begin. Give it your all. I look forward to your performances, and I eagerly await the nine final colleagues who will ascend to the thrones."
He spoke only a few short sentences before shrinking back to normal size and returning inside the palace.
The gates rumbled shut once more as the jailers closed them in unison.
The image returned to Izuna.
He now held a wooden lot-drawing tube, inside which forty-nine thin lots rattled and shook.
"Now, we begin the drawing for the first round."
He raised the tube high.
"This is a divine artifact from Lord Enma's desk. It will randomly deliver numbered lots to the contestants.
The twenty-four pairs with matching numbers will face each other in order of their numbers.
The contestant who draws the blank lot will receive a bye and advance automatically to the next round."
He shook the tube.
"Here we go!"
In an instant, the wooden lots shot out, crisscrossing above the contestants' heads in streaks of light.
"Stop."
At Izuna's command, every lot froze in place above a contestant's head and instantly enlarged so everyone could clearly see the numbers.
"This guy…!"
Kaito's mouth twitched as he saw the blank lot hovering above Senju Hashirama.
"The blank lot went to the First Hokage?" Minato said. "That kinda kills the drama."
"Exactly. The real value of a lucky blank lot is when a weaker contestant draws it," Kaito nodded in agreement.
In the image, Hashirama looked up at his blank lot, looking rather stunned himself.
At the same time, he glanced fearfully at the woman beside him—a red-haired lady with her hair tied into two buns.
From off-screen came Kushina's and Karin's shrill, piercing shouts.
"Grandma Mito!!!"
"Lady Mito!! Crush that First Hokage!!!"
"Oh? So that's the First Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Mito?" Kaito looked over with interest. "Since she made it to the finals, she must be quite the powerhouse."
"Lady Mito was Konoha's original Nine-Tails jinchūriki. Kushina inherited the Nine-Tails from her."
Watching Hashirama shrink timidly in front of Uzumaki Mito, Minato covered his face in deep sympathy.
As a fellow man married to an Uzumaki woman—he totally got it!!!
Now the contestants left the stage, leaving only the two for the first match and Izuna as referee.
"First match of the finals—"
Izuna stood at the edge of the platform.
"Hōzuki Gengetsu versus Mu!"
"AHHHH!!!"
"It's the Second Mizukage versus the Second Tsuchikage!"
The audience didn't know what expression to make.
Although they had already seen the pairings during the draw, actually watching these two shadows—who had killed each other in life—stand opposed once more in death left everyone speechless at this twisted fate.
"…This really isn't just Lord Enma's idea of a joke, right?" Minato muttered, sighing.
"Who knows," Kaito answered casually, looking at the Second Mizukage with his trademark thin mustache and the fully bandaged Second Tsuchikage.
"Could be coincidence. After all, their fate together isn't finished yet."
It's definitely not a coincidence!
Having spent enough time with Lord Enma, Kaito answered himself with absolute certainty inside his head.