Chapter 68:
"The second match: representing Konoha, Uchiha Shuyu versus Kirigakure's Hoshigaki Shizuma! Will both contestants please enter the arena!"
The short-statured Shuyu and the tall Shizuma stepped into the arena.
"So this is Konoha's ace? He really is young," commented the Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, as she looked at Shuyu down in the arena.
"If you underestimate him just because of his age, you're going to pay for it."
Although Naruto hadn't seen much of Shuyu's combat abilities, if Sasuke said it wasn't a problem, then it definitely wasn't.
"Hoshigaki... Shizuma..."
A clansman of Kisame's, and wielding Samehada as well.
Looking at the opponent with the shark-like face standing before him, Uchiha Itachi thought to himself.
"Begin!"
As soon as Rock Lee announced the start of the match, Shuyu threw a shuriken.
"Water Style: Water Refinement Technique!"
Water coiled around Samehada, knocking away Shuyu's shuriken before surging toward him.
Having once faced Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi was well aware of Samehada's ability to absorb chakra. Shuyu responded by flipping his hand and throwing several more shuriken in succession.
"That won't work on me!"
Shizuma declared as he swung Samehada again, prepared to bat away the incoming shuriken. But the instant he struck them, they exploded.
Attaching explosive tags to shuriken was basic ninja protocol—something every veteran from the wartime era knew how to do.
Because it was such a basic tactic, most seasoned shinobi from that era would instinctively dodge shuriken attacks rather than deflect them, in case they were rigged to explode.
Even if Shizuma had chosen to dodge rather than bat them away, it wouldn't have made a difference. Shuyu's trailing shuriken were aimed to strike the ones in front and trigger the explosions anyway.
"If you don't even have that level of combat awareness, how did you become a Chūnin?" Shuyu muttered as he prepared to finish him off.
"Don't be ridiculous! There's no way I'm going down here!" Shizuma shouted, pushing himself up with Samehada. "Samehada: Human Fusion!"
Samehada began fusing with his body, turning him into a half-merman.
This technique could only be used with Samehada's approval. Without it, the sword would devour the user and rob them of their sanity.
Clearly, despite being Kisame's clansman, Shizuma hadn't earned Samehada's recognition.
Genjutsu users love reckless opponents—the more reckless they are, the less likely they are to guard against illusions, making them easy prey for mind control.
"This guy...!"
On the special observation platform for village leaders, Chōjūrō stood up abruptly.
In truth, he hadn't wanted to allow the use of the Seven Ninja Swords in this year's Chūnin Exams. If not for the Daimyō's insistence that the Land of Water and Kirigakure must not embarrass themselves before the other villages—and Ao's persuasion—Chōjūrō wouldn't have allowed these seven individuals to wield the blades.
Except for Kagura, whom he personally endorsed, the remaining six were nothing more than dead weight.
Though they held the rank of Chūnin, they were at the absolute bottom of that rank.
And precisely because they were so weak, they were the ones sent. After all, it was Konoha hosting the Chūnin Exams—they couldn't afford to overdo it.
"...He's lost control."
Naruto looked down at Shuyu in the arena. While he trusted Shuyu's ability to stand his ground against a Chūnin, it was still unsettling to see him facing an opponent clearly out of control.
He glanced toward Sasuke, who sat nearby on the spectator stands next to Sakura with his eyes closed, resting.
If even Sasuke wasn't worried about his disciple, then Naruto figured there was no need for concern.
Naruto believed that if anything truly went wrong in the arena, Sasuke would be the first one to act.
Down in the arena, Shuyu nimbly dodged Shizuma's attacks, the three tomoe in his Sharingan spinning slowly in his eyes. Suddenly, the berserk Shizuma froze in place, his mouth contorting into a furious snarl.
"...Hoshigaki Shizuma is no longer capable of fighting. The winner: Konoha's Uchiha Shuyu!"
While Samehada devouring its user's sanity would be a major issue for most, for Naruto, it was a relatively simple matter—after all, the boss of Samehada, the Three-Tails, was practically Naruto's sworn brother.
Next up were the following matches:
Konoha's Uchiha Sarada vs. Kirigakure's Kyohō Fuefuki
Konoha's Mitsuki vs. Kirigakure's Oniyuzu Ichirōta
Sunagakure's Shinki vs. Kirigakure's Ibuki Kyofū
Sunagakure's Yato vs. Kirigakure's Seruberi
Sunagakure's Arashi vs. Iwagakure's Chūnin Extra A
Kirigakure's Onomichi Hassaku vs. Kumogakure's Chūnin Extra B
After the strongest two of the new generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were eliminated—Boruto with his hacks, and Shuyu steamrolling his opponent—the rest gradually fell one after another to their opponents, except for Onomichi Hassaku, who got lucky with an even weaker opponent from Kumogakure.
"You lot! Double the intensity of your training once we're back!"
Outraged that all her village's contestants had been eliminated, Kurotsuchi screamed from the stands. Though Darui didn't act out as she did, his expression was just as dark.
In the end, the eight finalists were:
Uzumaki Boruto
Mitsuki
Uchiha Sarada
Uchiha Shuyu
Shinki
Yato
Arashi
Onomichi Hassaku
"That's great, Sasuke! Our daughter won her match too," Sakura said happily to Sasuke beside her. This could barely count as their first real date.
Usually, Sasuke was out on missions, and even when he returned to the village, he'd head straight to Naruto's office. Only at night would he come home.
If Sasuke hadn't at least remembered to come home at night, Sakura would've started to worry that Naruto was trying to steal her man.
Sasuke didn't reply but nodded slightly. Sarada's performance was just as he'd expected. Before the Chūnin Exams, she had been training with Sakura and had already mastered some of her monstrous strength. Among Genin, she was nearly unstoppable.
Her battle earlier had been particularly straightforward—she used her one-tomoe Sharingan to dodge incoming attacks, then closed the distance and knocked her opponent away with a single powerful punch.
It was over in a flash.
"By the way, Gaara, your adopted son has a Magnet Release bloodline limit?" Naruto asked, looking at Shinki below. If nothing unexpected happened, the winner of this Chūnin Exam would likely be between Shuyu and Shinki.
"Where'd you even find him?"
To Kurotsuchi's question, Gaara merely smiled in silence.
She looked at him enviously. To just randomly pick up a kid with a bloodline limit—she wished she had that kind of luck.
Kirigakure had Kagura. Sunagakure had Shinki. Konoha didn't even need to worry about its future. But Iwagakure and Kumogakure still hadn't found any promising next-generation candidates.
That was exactly what troubled Kurotsuchi and Darui. While this generation enjoyed relative peace, what about the next? Without the power to back them up, Iwagakure and Kumogakure would inevitably become subordinate to the other villages.
The tournament continued.
Next matches were:
Uzumaki Boruto vs. Onomichi Hassaku
Mitsuki vs. Arashi
Uchiha Sarada vs. Shinki
Uchiha Shuyu vs. Yato
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