Hatake Satoru didn't even glance at the screen. He just followed the others up to the stands.
At this point, only a few small fry were left. Most of them would probably get matched in entertaining ways.
The purpose of the prelims was to get a look at each person's abilities and condition, to avoid any drawn-out messes during the main event when the audience was watching.
If they were strong enough, the screening wouldn't be too strict.
But if someone got seriously hurt or accidentally revealed an important trick now, it would definitely put them at a disadvantage in the actual Chunin Exams.
So the best outcome would be to fight someone you can totally overpower—or go all in and take each other down hard.
Hatake Satoru leaned against the railing and glanced down at the arena.
The Forest of Death round before this was a team survival exercise, so it only showed how good the squads were at working together.
It didn't say much about individual strength.
But this one-on-one round was clearly meant to test that.
And with people watching, they couldn't have matches that ended instantly or dragged on forever.
Honestly, it felt more like a show than a test.
Now that he thought about it, it wasn't much different from a gladiator match with a crowd watching people fight.
Hatake Satoru rubbed his chin and decided not to make it sound so dark.
Then his eyes shifted to the excited young man next to him.
"By the way, isn't it kind of weird for you to be here at the prelims if you're the Mizukage?"
Satoru had felt something was off the moment he heard the prelims were happening.
This wasn't the main event. Seeing Hozuki Mangetsu here was unexpected.
He should've shown up with the crowd during the actual tournament.
"Because I was bored—these past few days have been killing me!"
"So I insisted on coming."
Mangetsu grinned and shook his head, looking totally carefree.
Satoru scratched his head awkwardly, but honestly, this was probably the best time for Mangetsu to show up.
During the official Chunin Exam, things could get interrupted. Watching now was actually a win.
The first match was Sasuke versus some no-name opponent.
Satoru didn't recognize the guy's name and immediately filed him under "small fry." Only people who left an impression were worth paying attention to.
Sasuke had awakened the second tomoe in both Sharingan eyes. His stamina wasn't great, but facing a nobody like this, he should be fine.
"Now that I think about it… most of them seem to be low on stamina."
Satoru started to sense something might be wrong and turned to look at Sasuke, who had just finished the match and was walking back up the steps.
Sasuke still had scratches on his face, and his clothes looked a little dirty.
When he noticed Hatake Satoru staring at him, he smirked proudly, like he was showing off—"See how awesome I am?"
"Because there's a big time gap between when the first and last teams came out of the Forest of Death, this round isn't all that fair. But it's really just to check everyone's strength."
"And even though they call it a 'prelim round,' not many people actually get eliminated. It's mostly just to give them some pressure—trust me, experience talking."
Kakashi walked out of the student area, holding up a little orange book to cover the lower half of his masked face as he spoke in a low voice.
Sakura and Naruto, still in the student section, were both focused on Sasuke, who had just fought. It didn't even seem like they noticed Kakashi had left their side.
Sasuke really had it tough. Naruto had the Nine-Tails inside him backing him up, so he looked full of energy—like he hadn't just been through two days of hell.
Sakura mostly didn't fight at all. And Sasuke didn't even have the curse mark yet.
In the end, he was the only normal person who'd gone through all that with just his own body.
If he hadn't run into weak opponents, he'd probably be lying in a hospital bed right now instead of acting like some top dog here in front of the others.
"Double-layered safety net, huh."
Hozuki Mangetsu looked curiously at Kakashi's orange book and the mask covering his face.
Kakashi had already figured out that the Fifth Mizukage was a bit of an oddball, but he still paused when Mangetsu called him out. He just smiled under his eyes.
Man, he really wanted to rip off both their face coverings.
"Why do you always focus on the weirdest things at the weirdest times? Something's off with you."
"What if those three from Kirigakure don't make Chunin? Weren't you hoping Haku could rank up quickly to Jōnin~?"
"That's all the care you've got to show~?"
Hatake Satoru elbowed Mangetsu in the ribs behind him.
Hatake Satoru might be the only one who could joke around like that with the Mizukage.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow—this was a Kage, after all. Shouldn't they be a little more serious?
Mangetsu always gave him this weird vibe. He was the Mizukage, yet when he was around Hatake Satoru, he acted like some excited little fanboy.
"If things go badly here, I can just pass them when we get back."
"I mean, I am the Mizukage."
And besides, even if Haku was still a Genin, he was already doing A- and S-rank missions with Zabuza.
Making Haku a Jonin was just to let him take the lead on missions sooner.
This whole thing was really just an excuse for them to come out and have fun.
For once, Hatake Satoru and Kakashi had the exact same thought, and he shook his head with a sigh.
"But I am curious who they'll go up against."
Hatake Satoru leaned on the railing and looked toward the scoreboard.
After all, the three from Kirigakure didn't show up in the Chunin Exams in the original timeline.
At that time, Suigetsu didn't even exist in the story yet, and Haku had been dead for over a week.
Hatake Satoru looked over at Kimimaro, who was watching the match below seriously. Kimimaro was probably the only one here who'd fought with some of these people before.
And judging by how interested Gaara seemed in Kimimaro, there was no doubt the two of them would end up fighting.
But in the original, Kimimaro was half-dead and had the curse mark, so things were really unpredictable. If he stayed in his current healthy state, just how far could he go against Gaara?
"Ah, Suigetsu's up against that guy in green…"
"Kinda weird, but he's actually kinda cute."
After being poked in the ribs by Hatake Satoru, Hozuki Mangetsu finally stopped messing around and looked up at the names changing on the screen.
"Guy in green" was a strange way to describe someone… Hatake Satoru glanced to the side.
Suigetsu vs. Lee.
No way—Suigetsu's hydration jutsu made him nearly untouchable unless you had Lightning Release. He was basically invincible.
Putting Lee, who only used Taijutsu, up against him… that didn't look great.
But they'd never actually fought, so it was hard to say how things would play out.
Hatake Satoru frowned slightly. If it turned into a one-sided fight, it would be boring.
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