After the referee declared Ino the victor, the Medical Corps immediately entered to treat Neji.
The Medical Ninja examined his injuries and promptly carried him away on a stretcher.
Tenten, who had been brutally beaten by a certain strongman who refused to disclose his name, was also sent to the hospital.
The only reason she had held on was to watch Neji's match.
After the match, she naturally followed him to the hospital for treatment.
First Hinata, then Neji, the two prodigies of the Hyuga Clan, were admitted for treatment one after another.
There were still two matches left.
The strong smell of blood in the arena completely stirred Gaara's murderous intent, which Ino's Ninjutsu had brought out.
He forcefully crushed Otogakure's Dosu with his Sand Coffin, and then, under the constant soothing of Temari, Kankuro, and Jonin Baki, he finally managed to suppress the ferocity in his heart.
The last match was Lee against Kiba.
Both were incredibly fast Ninja, but ultimately Lee proved superior, securing the final spot.
He was the only Genin from Might Guy's Team Guy to advance to the official competition.
Team Guy had one qualifier, Team 7 had two, Team 8 had two, and Team 10 had two, which simply meant the competition was very fair.
Sasuke, Shino Aburame, Kankuro, Hinata, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, Ino, Gaara, and Lee—these ten advanced to the official matches.
Seven Konoha Ninja and three Sand Ninja, with all those from smaller Villages eliminated, this was also quite fair.
Next was the drawing of lots.
Ino immediately drew number one.
The final match order was Ino vs.
Temari, Gaara vs.
Shino Aburame, Naruto vs.
Lee, Shikamaru vs.
Hinata, and Kankuro vs.
Sasuke.
Due to the competition format, ten people could not determine the top four.
The Third Hokage and Sunagakure's leading Jonin, Baki, had a brief discussion, then decided that the winners of the Shikamaru vs.
Hinata and Kankuro vs.
Sasuke matches would fight an additional match on the day of the competition to determine the top four spots.
Baki nodded in agreement, casually saying, "Whatever you say, we agree."
The official matches were a month later.
The Third Hokage began a lengthy speech with the opening remark, "Make good use of this month to enrich yourselves and present your strongest state during the competition."
A month later, these ten would compete under the gaze of various Daimyō, wealthy merchants, and dignitaries from different countries to determine the ultimate victor.
"How boring."
Ino didn't mind competing against fellow villagers, and she could even accept a death match against enemy Ninja, but she strongly disliked these 'monkey show' like matches, where they were put on display for others to watch.
She possessed great power, and while she didn't expect to be condescending towards ordinary people, she at least deserved some respect, right?
Why should those weakling dignitaries watch them fight?
It wasn't like her previous life where sports and culture were intertwined; Ninjutsu wasn't a public entertainment.
This was a tool for killing.
Was it really necessary for those pig-headed dignitaries to watch live, to use these Ninja as stakes for gambling on wins and losses?
If it was about deterrence, wouldn't two large-scale Ninjutsu from a Jonin be more intimidating?
Ninja fighting a bloody battle below, while a circle of people watched from above, making comments—this feeling made her uncomfortable, as if she were some kind of exhibit.
Shikamaru glanced at her and whispered, "Hey, hey, a lazy person like me with a bad reputation can say these things, but you, a genius, can't."
"I'm just complaining a bit."
The Third Hokage's rambling speech lasted an hour and a half, after which he announced their dismissal.
Everyone was to go home and prepare.
Naruto ran out, shouting.
He had just observed Ino using Wind Release Ninjutsu, and a sudden inspiration had allowed him to finally complete the development of his wind-nature Chakra.
He rushed off to find Kakashi, hoping the latter would teach him two Wind Release Ninjutsu.
It didn't matter if he couldn't learn them right away; he could use five hundred Shadow Clones to practice!
Team 10 walked out of the central tower together and immediately encountered Asuma.
Ino and Shikamaru both advanced to the official matches, with only Choji being eliminated by Naruto, which showed Asuma's effective guidance.
He said cheerfully, "You all fought well.
My treat, let's go eat ramen."
Choji, defeated by Naruto, was somewhat dejected, but upon hearing this, he exclaimed, "What? Eat ramen? What about the barbecue we agreed on!"
He shifted his shoulders, pushed with his hips, forcefully squeezing Shikamaru and Ino aside, his tone carrying a hint of disappointment: "Asuma-sensei, haven't we always eaten barbecue?"
Asuma let out two dry laughs.
Multiple Exploding Tags was truly harmful!
Still eating barbecue?
The money for this ramen was even borrowed from his good friend Chiriku!
He had now fallen to the point of borrowing money from a monk, how miserable!
"Eating barbecue all the time isn't good for your blood vessels.
Let's try something different.
Ramen is actually very delicious too!" he forcefully found an excuse.
Team 10 ultimately had a meal at Ichiraku Ramen, and it must be said, it was quite delicious.
After finishing her ramen, Ino bid farewell to Asuma and her teammates and strolled home.
Because Orochimaru had appeared at the Chunin Exams, all the Jonin in the Village were very busy, and the intelligence system was even busier.
Inoichi hadn't even watched Ino's match, only asking about it after dinner that evening.
She didn't say much.
Neji was, after all, from the Hyuga branch family, and defeating him didn't bring as much prestige as defeating Chōjūrō.
Inoichi simply asked a few questions.
Neji was hospitalized for treatment, while his daughter returned home for dinner as if nothing had happened.
The outcome was self-evident.
He asked about her plans for the next month.
The Village wouldn't assign missions to these participating Genin for a month, so Ino naturally planned to leave the Village and continue studying with Tsunade.
Tsunade's whereabouts were too elusive; without the support of an entire intelligence system, finding her would be truly difficult.
The next day, Ino picked two flowers by the roadside, then went to the hospital to visit the two prodigies of the Hyuga Clan.
Hinata was mainly suffering from exhaustion and would be fine after a night's rest.
Neji's injuries were also superficial.
As a master of Taijutsu, such minor external wounds were no big deal at all.
Tenten was in the ward, talking with Neji, while Lee and Might Guy were jump-roping in the courtyard outside the hospital building.
"Oh, are you alright now?"
Just by looking at Ino's expression, one would never guess that all of Neji's injuries were inflicted by her.
She looked just like a kind passerby.
Their gazes at her were also open and free of hatred.
Regardless of what outsiders thought, Ino had held back.
If it had been a death match, Neji would have been long gone.
The combat distance was a limitation for her, and the inability to kill in a Village-wide battle was also a limitation.
Of course, when facing a Female Ninja, certain vital areas could not be attacked, which was also a significant limitation for Neji.
Overall, the match was fair, and both fought with great restraint.
"You absolutely must defeat the strongman from Sunagakure and avenge me!" Tenten said, puffing out her cheeks.
By now, the moniker of a certain strongman had spread throughout the Genin of Konoha.
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