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After Might Guy carried Rock Lee away and Kankurō left with Gaara, the large screen, having narrowly escaped destruction twice due to its high position, flickered to life once more, displaying names.
The list for the tenth and final round of matches was soon announced.
Temari vs. Tenten!
"Huh... Shikamaru, it looks like I got a bye."
"Yeah, congratulations."
"Mm, I'll ask my dad for a reward when I get back."
"I'd advise against that."
Shikamaru deadpanned, "Besides our Team 10, Team 8 also passed in its entirety. The chances of running into them in the finals of the third exam are pretty high. The three of us are no match for them; we might end up utterly humiliated."
"Then it's even more reason to ask my dad for a reward, so we can bribe Ryūsei and the others later."
"Chōji, you…"
Shikamaru was momentarily stunned by Chōji's unexpected cunning.
Meanwhile, the battle between Temari and Tenten had already begun.
Watching Tenten use storage scrolls to release a massive barrage of weapons, launching long-range attacks against Temari, Ryūsei suddenly felt a pang of pity.
This pity was for Tenten, and also for Team Might Guy.
If this were a 3 vs. 3 team battle, and everyone went all out, Team Might Guy would undoubtedly be the strongest squad in this year's Chūnin Exams.
Ryūsei wasn't afraid of Gaara because his Water Release and genjutsu could counter him.
However, Lee's speed and the Eight Inner Gates technique countered Ryūsei's genjutsu and most of his ninjutsu.
In a team battle, Team Might Guy would definitely be a top contender, if not the best.
But unfortunately, this was an individual competition, and Team Might Guy had drawn the worst possible lots.
Neji was instantly defeated by Ryūsei; Rock Lee nearly had an arm and a leg destroyed by Gaara; and now Tenten was facing Temari, who excelled in Wind Release.
Despite being the squad with the strongest overall combat power, they became the only team among the four to be completely eliminated.
This kind of luck was truly like misfortune knocking on misfortune's door—unbelievably unlucky!
The outcome of the battle was unsurprising. Temari defeated Tenten effortlessly with just three swings of her fan.
Tenten's astonishing number of weapons and her exquisite throwing skills not only failed to harm Temari but nearly resulted in Tenten being injured by her own weapons blown back by the wind.
It was another one of the rare crushing victories!
With Temari's victory, the elimination rounds concluded.
After ten rounds of matches, plus one bye, a total of eleven examinees advanced to the finals of the third exam. They were as follows:
Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Hyūga Hinata, Kankurō, Nara Shikamaru, Hoshina Ryūsei, Yamanaka Ino, Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara, Temari, Akimichi Chōji.
Among the eleven examinees, eight were Konoha genin, while the other three were from Sunagakure.
The finals of the third exam would not only be an internal contest for Konoha but also a showdown between the new generation of Konoha and Sunagakure.
Hiruzen, accompanied by the proctor of the second exam, Anko, who was holding a box, came down and had the examinees draw lots to determine their opponents for the finals. They also announced the start time for the finals.
Since the finals of the third exam would be attended by numerous wealthy individuals and nobles invited by Konoha, and likely many civilians from the Land of Fire and neighboring countries would also come to watch, extensive preparations were required.
Additionally, to give the examinees time to improve themselves, the finals were scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. one month later.
Thus, the examinees began drawing lots.
Sasuke was still confined to a hospital bed. As he should have been the first to draw, he automatically received the last remaining lot.
Shino stepped up to Anko and retrieved a folded slip of paper from the box.
Upon opening it, the number 9 was written on it.
Hinata drew number 5.
When it was Ryūsei's turn, he drew number 3.
After all the examinees had drawn their lots, the matchups for the finals of the third exam were quickly listed by Anko.
Similar to the elimination rounds, since there was an odd number of examinees, one lucky individual would receive a bye in the finals.
The matchups were as follows:
[No. 1]Uzumaki Naruto vs. [No. 2]Akimichi Chōji
[No. 3]Hoshina Ryūsei vs. [No. 4]Nara Shikamaru
[No. 5]Hyūga Hinata vs. [No. 6]Yamanaka Ino
[No. 7]Gaara vs. [No. 8]Uchiha Sasuke
[No. 9]Aburame Shino vs. [No. 10]Kankurō
[Bye]Temari
Seeing this list of matchups, Ryūsei was visibly stunned.
"My opponent is actually Ryūsei? What a drag," Shikamaru scratched his head, a pained expression on his face.
Ryūsei, who wasn't far from Shikamaru, overheard this remark. A flicker of pity passed through his eyes as he glanced at Shikamaru.
Facing me isn't the real tragedy. The real tragedy is that your future wife is slipping away!
"Holy... shit..."
Suddenly, Ryūsei's lips twitched slightly, and he involuntarily muttered two words under his breath, audible only to Hinata, though she didn't caught what he say.
Ryūsei just realized he had seemingly achieved an unbelievable feat!
He... had ended Boruto!
Hinata didn't have feelings for Naruto; Sakura didn't have feelings for Uchiha Sasuke; Ino had absolutely nothing to do with Sai; and now... Shikamaru had missed his only chance to make Temari see him in a new light.
In other words, the future of this world would no longer include Uzumaki Boruto, Uzumaki Himawari, Uchiha Sarada, Nara Shikadai, or Yamanaka Inojin?
After announcing the matchups for the finals and the start time, Hiruzen dismissed everyone and left the central tower along with the team of jōnin.
Ryūsei and the others also left with their respective supervising jōnin.
By now, dusk had fallen.
After leaving the Forest of Death, Kurenai kept her promise and took Team 8 out for a feast.
"Hinata, Shino, see you in a month."
After the meal, Team 8 parted ways at a crossroads.
They wouldn't see each other for quite some time.
After all, the finals were related to their families' honor. Hyūga Hiashi, who wasn't disappointed in Hinata, and Shino's father, Aburame Shibi, would undoubtedly be present to watch.
To avoid bringing shame to their families, this month would be dedicated to truly hellish training.
During this month, Ryūsei also had many things to do. Even if he had free time, he wouldn't seek out Hinata or the other two girls.
The combat prowess displayed by Lee had, for once, made Ryūsei feel genuine pressure.
When he had read the manga and watched the anime in his previous life, Ryūsei had been utterly astonished.
Now, witnessing such a scene firsthand, his astonishment was far greater than when he had read or watched it.
The speed and attacks—so fast that you could perceive them and see them coming, yet your body couldn't react in time—just thinking about it carefully filled him with a profound sense of trepidation.
Lee's performance exemplified the principle: "Nothing is invincible; only speed is unsurpassable."
Even more terrifying was that there were many stronger individuals in the ninja world who were faster than Lee.
Compensating for his defensive weaknesses wasn't an urgent priority. Ryūsei first needed to boost his speed to its current maximum potential.
Alternatively, as long as he increased his speed, having weaker defense wouldn't matter too much. As long as he didn't encounter a fatal area-of-effect ultimate technique, he could basically survive.
*****
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