Chapter 120: Opening Match
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuuki Shinichi grabbed the shuriken in his hand.
However, before he could throw it, Wind Style: Gale Palm already assailed him!
He immediately ran to his right and backward, dodging the blast.
Kaito noticed his movement and thought, Too slow.
He flickered to where Shinichi had dodged and threw two compressed wind balls at him.
By the time Shinichi noticed the wind balls, they were already rushing toward him. He tried to dodge again, but the wind balls exploded.
He avoided most of the wind blades, but a few gusts still hit him. Several wounds appeared on his left arm and leg.
Everyone was surprised that the battle started so intensely. They all began to cheer loudly!
Kaito had intended to continue his attack, but he noticed that Shinichi made a few hand seals, and his chakra suddenly surged.
Hmm, what jutsu? Well, I'll test him out.
Kaito created a huge compressed wind ball and threw it at him.
If the jutsu Shinichi was using required some time to activate, this might defeat him.
However, huge ice spikes immediately appeared around him. Some were large enough to be called spears. Shinichi shouted, "Ice Release: Ice Prison!"
Instantly, all the ice spikes shot out at extremely high speed! Some of the spikes pierced through the wind balls, dispersing them.
Seeing the shock on Kaito's face, Shinichi smiled triumphantly!
The next moment, four spikes hit Kaito. Shinichi was about to celebrate, but Kaito dissipated into wind! He was shocked.
Wind Clone? When did he cast it?
Kaito created a huge wind ball precisely so he could hide behind it.
When Shinichi couldn't see him, he created a Wind Clone and escaped underground.
Before Shinichi could figure out when Kaito had created the Wind Clone, Shinichi felt something beneath him.
Shinichi immediately jumped backward. As soon as he jumped, Kaito's hands emerged from the ground, trying to grab his legs.
As Shinichi landed in the distance, Kaito emerged from underground. Kaito smiled.
"That jutsu is very strong. I'm impressed."
Shinichi was panting. This was his family's B-rank jutsu, and it had used up more than half of his chakra.
When Kaito left the ground, Mieko and Hodaka suddenly snorted. Sakai Yumi, on the other hand, began to worry.
Everyone was stunned by this jutsu. Most people had never seen Ice Release techniques.
The ice spikes were embedded in the stadium walls. Civilians, and even some ninja, breathed a sigh of relief because the spikes weren't aimed higher.
Hiruzen thought, Should I arrange a barrier? Genin shouldn't be using B-rank jutsu.
Kaito didn't give Shinichi a chance to catch his breath and attacked again with Gale Palm at close range.
Shinichi desperately dodged while using Water Style: Water Wall for defense and trying to create distance from Kaito.
Such skirmishes continued for 4-5 minutes. Shinichi had more wounds on his body, and his breathing became heavier.
Finally, he managed to get away from Kaito. He quickly made a few hand seals.
Kaito also made a few hand seals. Two wind wolves appeared beside him and rushed toward Shinichi.
Kaito stood still and waited to see what jutsu Shinichi would use.
Shinichi used Ice Release: Ice Dragon Jutsu.
Soon, an ice dragon formed in front of Shinichi. It began moving toward the wind wolves and Kaito. Kaito thought, Ice Dragon? Looks powerful. But he seems out of chakra.
Kaito controlled the wolves away from the ice dragon and then attacked Shinichi from the opposite direction.
Shinichi ignored them and focused his attention on Kaito.
Suddenly, the ice dragon accelerated and rushed toward Kaito. At the same time, Shinichi knelt to the ground, exhausted.
Kaito made a hand seal and used Wind Style: Rotating Wind Shield.
When the ice dragon reached Kaito, it opened its gaping maw, revealing huge fangs, as if it wanted to bite him to death.
However, a circular shield, three meters in radius and half a meter thick, formed in front of Kaito. It was made of wind and spun at high speed.
The ice dragon collided with the shield and was stopped. It continuously pushed against the wind shield.
At the same time, the two wind wolves also ran toward Shinichi.
Shinichi thought, Just a little more, and I can break his shield!
The ice dragon pushed the shield halfway. The wind wolves were still about 20 meters away from him.
The audience became tense. Kuhaku Rou shouted excitedly in the waiting room, "Shinichi will win!"
Besides Sakai Yumi, the other Hidden Mist genin were also happy. On the other hand, Hodaka and Mieko were just annoyed.
Sakai Yumi said, "No, he lost."
This surprised the other four Hidden Mist genin, who didn't understand what she meant. They looked at Shinichi and Kaito.
When the wind wolves were about 10 meters from Shinichi, the ice dragon broke through the wind shield. Shinichi smiled. The ice dragon hit Kaito—a direct hit.
He was completely frozen solid! Shinichi wondered why Konoha's proctor didn't save Kaito.
Just then, Inoichi Yamanaka appeared in front of Yuuki Shinichi and dispersed the two wind wolves that were about to bite him!
Inoichi looked at Shinichi and announced, "The winner of this round is—Suzuki Kaito, and he will advance to the next round."
Shinichi was shocked. So was the audience. They thought, Didn't he win?
Shinichi immediately protested, "Why? Wasn't he hit first? You should help him, not me!"
Inoichi Yamanaka sighed at his ignorance. He pointed his thumb at where the ice dragon had exploded.
Shinichi followed his thumb. He saw a block of ice, but Kaito wasn't inside. He was shocked. "Where is he?"
As soon as he asked, he heard a voice, "Yo, looking for me?"
He quickly turned his head to the left and saw Kaito standing not far away, waving. He was stunned.
"But how is that possible? I saw you get frozen with my own eyes!"
Kaito just smiled and left without answering.
Almost everyone in the audience was confused. Even among the ninja, several were puzzled.
The Hidden Mist genin also didn't understand what had happened. They looked at Sakai Yumi. She explained, "While he was underground, he created a Shadow Clone."
The Hidden Mist genin were all stunned. She continued, "The rest of the battle was fought by his Shadow Clone. His real body remained hidden underground. After the clone was frozen, it dispersed, and his real body emerged from underground while you were distracted by Inoichi Yamanaka."
The Hidden Mist genin were speechless. After a long while, Matsushita Satoru finally exclaimed, "So Shinichi lost to a Shadow Clone?"
Sakai Yumi looked at Rentaro. "Don't underestimate him. Although he doesn't have a kekkei genkai, he has more chakra than you. In this battle, he lost less than ten percent of his chakra, and his tactics are also comprehensive. You need to stay vigilant."
Rentaro nodded with a serious expression.
Experienced ninja who watched this battle were deeply impressed.
Inuzuka Tsume, sitting with her children in the audience, thought, Very good. Even someone like me didn't notice that was just a Shadow Clone.
Inuzuka Kiba kept asking how Kaito won, so she explained it to him. Inuzuka Hana also listened carefully nearby.
The judges also analyzed the match. Ibiki said, "Impressive. He mainly relied on a D-rank jutsu to force the opponent to use two B-rank jutsu, exhausting his chakra."
Genma nodded. "Yeah, and his speed and precision were also very good, repeatedly pushing his opponent into a corner."
Raido added, "While his strategy was excellent, his ability to use Shadow Clone Technique is also impressive."
Ibiki replied, "Yes, and he's very good at using it. His Shadow Clone is very useful for information gathering in missions, and he can also use jutsu of two natures."
Raido smiled. "And he can use Gale Palm without hand seals."
Genma said, "I think he's ready to be promoted to chunin. He's strong and good at tactics. The rest is to see how he leads."
Raido said, "What do you think of his opponent? Although he lost, his Ice Prison technique is still very strong, and if used on the battlefield, it would cause great damage."
Ibiki had a different opinion. "However, his control over the Ice Prison technique isn't good—it shoots in all directions. So it'll hit enemies, but also allies."
Genma said, "Hard to say. His teammates could take cover beforehand. However, although his jutsu is strong, his chakra is also wasted. I don't think he's ready for promotion yet."
They continued to discuss the battle between the two sides and their respective pros and cons.
Hiruzen was also impressed by Kaito's ability to win so easily, thinking, A beautiful win. He's a very promising talent.
But another thought suddenly occurred to him.
If he wins this match, will he ask me for another reward? I still owe him two rewards!
He sighed, thinking, I should make Homura Mitokado pay for these rewards. After all, it was his suggestion.
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