Once the troublemaker stepped off the battlefield, the referee picked up the list and began counting the ten fallen contestants lying on the ground. Konoha's medical team immediately followed to carry them away.
At this time, Tsunade had not yet recommended assigning a medical ninja to each squad in Konoha, as she would later during wartime.
The inefficient medical team could only take two at a time, which made the Konoha engineering crew coming to repair the battlefield feel rather annoyed.
"With just this many members, what can this medical team even accomplish? Looks like I should find some time to talk with The Third about this!" Tsunade, clearly unimpressed, glared coldly at the medical team below.
"Do you actually have the nerve to come back here?" Kazushi exploded as soon as he saw the troublemaker return to the audience seats.
The troublemaker, standing proudly with his chest puffed out, wasn't intimidated by this one bit: "Old man, please calm yourself first; I'll explain everything when we get back!"
"You brat, they've already caught you red-handed! Hurry up and explain now!"
"Ahem, old man, come over here."
Shen whispered something into Kazushi's ear, and as the two talked quietly, their expressions became increasingly sinister.
"Well then, old man? If you can't handle this properly, you shouldn't be clan head anymore."
"It'll definitely work out. Just wait—those annoying guys won't know what hit them!"
Watching from the side, Aiko saw the two of them smiling more and more slyly, knowing full well these two father and son were plotting something again.
In this family, only Fugaku was innocent and clean-hearted. As for the other three—father and son duo included—they were schemers through and through. Aiko insisted she was a cultured woman, so she would never sink to using such crude language.
"Hehe…" came two voices in unison.
The Uchiha father and son duo, letting out sinister laughter, probably had no idea who their next victim would be.
Time gradually passed amidst the cheerful atmosphere in the Uchiha section, and the Konoha engineering crew had already finished repairing all the damage on the battlefield.
When the referee pulled out the list again, he announced the next round with an unnatural expression: "Next match: Iga Kinoto vs. Hyuga Nayou!"
"Cough... cough cough…" Meide, who was sitting quietly in the Hyuga section, started coughing violently after hearing the referee's words, nearly choking on his own saliva.
"Father, I'm going onto the battlefield now!" With that, Little Iceberg left the stunned Hyuga clan members behind and headed directly to the arena.
Meanwhile, Shen inwardly kept complaining: "Does this guy have a curse on him or something? Why is it him again?"
Without waiting for her opponent to arrive, Nayou, once on the stage, coldly declared toward the contestant area: "I want to fight all ten!"
"…"
For a moment, the scene was deathly quiet.
"Hmm, contestant—are you sure you're not joking about this?" The quickly recovering referee seemed doubtful about proceeding like this.
"I'm not joking. I will fight all ten."
Nayou's simple and direct declaration reignited the previously silent audience seats.
"Little princess of the Hyuga clan also wants to take on ten opponents? That truly is exciting!"
"If I were her opponent, I'd hate hurting such a beautiful child, wouldn't you?"
So it turns out this Naruto world still values looks after all?
Soon, ten brave—well, contestants—stepped forward. As ninjas themselves, they couldn't afford to be as sentimental toward female competitors as the audience. The survival law in the Ninja World was absolute strength.
"Hey there, little lady. Let me be your first opponent," one contestant declared, taking the initiative. He truly deserved praise for having the courage to challenge someone from the Hyuga clan with taijutsu.
Seeing his aggressive approach, Nayou immediately shifted her weight backward onto her left leg, placing her hands palm-up and palm-down along the centerline of her chest—this was the opening stance of Wing Chun!
The contestant threw a right punch straight at her face.
"Shameful!" Meide shouted loudly while rising from his seat in agitation.
But the man clearly ignored him, and his fist flew straight at Nayou's face.
However, he apparently didn't understand that Wing Chun's true strength lay not in offense but defense. Before his punch could land, Nayou deflected his wrist with her left hand, then struck his face with her small yet explosive fist.
"Pa! Pa! Pa!"
Not letting up after landing one hit, Nayou continued pressing the attack. That was the heart of Wing Chun—unleash lightning-fast blows at the first sign of weakness.
The audience fell silent again. They'd long heard about Uchiha's prodigy, so they shouldn't have been surprised by that bold declaration earlier. Now though, they were truly amazed by Nayou's torrential offensive.
"How strong is this kid actually? I wasn't too shocked when the previous one showed strength, but this..."
"It seems Konoha still has strong fighters in this generation!"
Each punch landing on the contestant's face also seemed to strike the spectators' own faces. Numb from the spectacle, they could only sigh at life's unpredictability.
The other nine contestants watched their fellow fighter get completely dominated without any chance to fight back. Discarding whatever notions of chivalry they had, they all stepped forward together.
Seeing this, Nayou immediately kicked away the first victim—cough—the opponent. With a cold expression, she loosened her fists and began channeling chakra through her body. Clenching them again, two lion heads crackling with purple lightning appeared on her hands.
[Purple Lightning Twin Lion Steps!]
With a fierce cry, she abandoned Wing Chun defensive techniques and launched an offensive. Even the roaring lion heads on her hands looked eager for more.
[Earth Style Mud Wall!]
One contestant charging at the front immediately stopped running and released a ninjutsu on the spot upon seeing this situation, intending to defend against her assault.
"That's too naive. Don't you know lightning beats earth?"
Nayou scoffed coldly and smashed the mud wall aside with one hand. Then she used her other hand to slam downward at the opponent.
With a 'peng' sound, the man's torso was smashed into the arena ground by this blow. Paralyzed by purple lightning, he couldn't even dodge in time.
[Fire Release Great Flame Technique!]
Seeing her dominance in close combat, the second contestant chose to use ninjutsu for long-range attack. Based on the Great Flame Technique, he must be from the Sarutobi Clan.
Nayou was quite familiar with fire release—not, rather, all Five Releases. After all, she sparred almost daily with a certain young genius, understanding thoroughly how to counter most ninjutsu techniques.
[Huitian!]
Nayou planted her weight on her left leg and spun backward, chakra blasting out from her whole body. The chakra shield around her pulsed with pale blue light streaked by violent purple lightning—it looked positively otherworldly.
"Boom!"
A tremendous sound erupted as the flames from Gōen no Jutsu clashed against Huitian. In an instant, the intense flames were greatly weakened by the high-speed rotating barrier.
As chunks of flame flew everywhere, the crowd in the audience seats roared with excitement all over again.
"This is the charm of the Chunin Exams matches!"
"This kind of up-close and personal battle is truly entertaining! That earlier flashy clearing move was barely worth watching!"
"You're getting cocky, talking trash about DJ Shen like that!"
"I'm not! I didn't say anything!"
"Get him, boys!"
This poor guy had clearly bumped into a group of party animals. He never got to finish his Triple Denial before getting surrounded by a bunch of burly guys. What he'd ultimately go through? That's just something better left unsaid.
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