Chapter 217: Ino's Battle, a Walk in the Park
Akiyama Makoto looked with amusement at the sickly man.
Gekkō Hayate, Konoha Special Jōnin, a member of the Hokage's personal Anbu, and Uzuki Yūgao's childhood sweetheart. The two of them were even known as the "golden boy and jade girl" of the Anbu.
It was just a pity that Yūgao was now passively following him, and in reality, he had not even met Hayate yet. After all, Hayate's main job was to wear a mask and carry out Anbu missions. Although he also lived as an ordinary person in his daily life, unless he took the initiative to find him, it was difficult to have any interaction with him.
However, he had just glanced at him, and that gaze, as calm as still water, made him feel as if there was some resentment there.
And then this resentment was vented on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He not only jumped out to interrupt Hiruzen's desire to talk about the Will of Fire, but he even ignored his reply and turned to say, "Everyone, I am Gekkō Hayate, cough cough cough—"
A series of violent coughs, coupled with his heavy dark circles, made all the ninja present look at him with suspicion.
Is this guy okay? Is he going to collapse in the next second?
He also released a trace of his sensory perception to check his physical condition.
He then discovered that Hayate was indeed suffering from a "bloodline sickness."
The so-called bloodline sickness was, in essence, inheriting the power of one's ancestors without the corresponding constitution to withstand it. This led to the body being constantly in deficit, and it was incurable.
Itachi was like this, Kimimaro was like this, and Hayate was no different.
However, his condition was a little better. His "Transparent Escape" was close to a Yin Release secret technique, so it only caused him to be mentally exhausted, which in turn led to insomnia and loss of appetite, and finally left him in a chronically "sub-healthy" and sickly state.
As long as he reduced his use of the technique and paid attention to his health, living a long life would not be a problem.
But looking at him now, who knew if he would even have the chance to follow his medical advice.
"...In short, to ensure the length and watchability of the final round of the Chūnin Exams, we must reduce the number of remaining participants."
"What follows will be a deathmatch with your lives on the line. If anyone feels unwell or wants to withdraw, this is your last chance."
Seeing no one respond, he announced the official start of the matches.
"Next, we will conduct one-on-one individual battles, and they will be life-and-death. There are exactly twenty people, so there will be ten rounds. The winners will be able to participate in the third and final round of the exam."
After speaking, he looked at Anko.
At her command, the large screen began to scroll with everyone's names.
He curiously used a trace of his sensory perception to probe and, sure enough, found that there were staff members behind the scenes controlling the text. And next to them, a complete match-up list was blatantly hanging.
The corners of his mouth curled up. So the order of the matches really is fixed!
But this was not surprising. Hiruzen had just said it bluntly: this was a mock battle between allies. Since it was a mock battle, Konoha, with its home-field advantage, naturally had to show off the strength of its new generation of ninja as much as possible, and eliminate those who were not strong enough.
But this time, the girls around him were probably going to make a lot of jaws drop.
The first match was still Sasuke vs. Yoroi Akadō.
At this time, Sasuke was covered in dirt. As a member of Team 7, who had only just entered the central tower at the last moment to qualify, he had had no time to rest.
Forcing him to go first at this time seemed like a huge disadvantage. But in reality, Yoroi, Misumi, and Kabuto were all Orochimaru's spies in Konoha. Kabuto, with his high strength, had not been discovered, but Yoroi and Misumi were practically openly spies. They couldn't be too flashy, which meant they were destined not to pass this round.
This meant that Sasuke's victory was almost guaranteed. The rest just depended on Yoroi's acting.
The facts were just as he had predicted. Although Yoroi had a cheap trick to absorb chakra, Sasuke, after his training and the activation of Cursed Seal Level 1, had chakra reserves that were on a different level. Yoroi couldn't absorb it all, and was in the end sent flying by a chakra-enhanced kick.
Next was Zaku Abumi vs. Ino Yamanaka.
At this point, the rhythm of the matches was completely different from his memory. Originally, Ino and Sakura were supposed to be the "fish" matches, thrown away to be sacrificed. But now, they had actually arranged a real opponent for Ino.
Zaku's strength was actually not bad. He had the unique sound-based ninjutsu of the Sound Village. For example, the Slicing Sound Wave, where he could raise both hands to build up power and then swing them down to form a sonic boom, using chakra to control the air pressure to create an invisible attack, and it could even be used to repel an opponent's attacks. Then there was the Extreme Slicing Sound Wave, where he could inject sound waves into the ground with both hands to bind the enemy, and could continuously release them.
Sound waves were invisible and intangible. When fighting such a ninja, one could be hit without even knowing it.
Originally, Shino was his natural counter. He could use his insects to block Zaku's sound holes, making him defeat himself. But now, his opponent was Ino, and everything was different.
"Yamanaka Ino. So you're from the Yamanaka clan?"
Zaku was belligerent and very confident in himself, so his style was also rather reckless.
He looked at Ino's pretty face, and a smile appeared on his lips. "For the sake of you being so pretty, if you surrender now, I can still not hit you."
Ino flicked her hair. "Although you've complimented me, I'm afraid that compliments from an ugly man just make me angry. So, could you please stop talking to me, obediently surrender, and step down?"
Zaku looked at her in disbelief, pointing at his own nose. He was... ugly?
He, who was so arrogant, had his temper ignited in the next second. He unceremoniously used the Slicing Sound Wave and aimed it at her face.
Seeing this, many people were shocked. Even Asuma was ready to make a move. After all, he knew exactly what type of ninja Ino was; she had basically no frontal combat ability. And now, facing such a troublesome opponent, she still dared to be so impudent. Had he been too indulgent in the past, making her not know her own limits?
But her performance in the next moment left him and everyone else in the arena dumbfounded.
The invisible Slicing Sound Wave was easily dodged by a simple tilt of her head. Not even a single strand of her hair was cut.
Everyone watched this scene quietly, not knowing how she had done it.
She, on the other hand, revealed a triumphant smile. The Slicing Sound Wave was indeed strong and invisible to the naked eye. But her sensory ability was now on a different level. After being strengthened by him, she felt it was only a matter of time before her perception surpassed her father's.
Even now, she didn't need to form hand seals. Just by relying on her instinctive perception, she could detect the flow of chakra and the trajectory of the ninjutsu. And this gave her, who was not good at taijutsu, a huge advantage. She only needed to dodge her opponent's attacks and wait for an opportunity to counterattack. The rest could be handled by her secret techniques.
But how exactly should I deal with this opponent?
At this moment, she had both the Dual Heart Method and the Formless Wave. To deal with Zaku, she naturally didn't need to use the Formless Wave. That was the ultimate genjutsu he had developed. Unless it was necessary, she didn't plan on using it, for fear of being questioned and being unable to explain.
As for the Dual Heart Method, that was a different story. Inoichi had also learned it. It could totally be passed off as a family secret technique.
And so, under everyone's gaze, Ino leisurely dodged his attacks, while at the same time, calmly assumed the stance for the Yamanaka's secret technique.
Seeing this, those who were familiar with it all showed looks of confusion.
Using it in this situation... can she even hit him?
One had to know, if the Yamanaka's secret technique missed, the user would have to wait for a considerable "cooldown" period. At that time, she would have no choice but to lose. How could she fight back then?
And under everyone's gaze, she... really did use it.
And Zaku... just happened to run straight into it, as if it were all fated.
Only he, who was familiar with her ninjutsu configuration, knew that what she had just done was just a feint. The real, larger part of her spirit was hidden by the Dual Heart Method. Therefore, even if her secret technique had "failed," another trap would have been waiting for ZK.
But even she hadn't expected that Zaku wouldn't even be able to get past her sensory perception.
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