Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the next match was about to begin.
As the electronic screen lit up, two names slowly appeared:
Hyūga Hinata VS Kuisui
Wen Lan's brows relaxed slightly.
Kuisui was a shinobi from Amegakure, and his strength truly was at the standard genin level.
Hinata obediently walked down the stairs—
and nearly tripped from nervousness.
At first glance, she looked like a timid little girl who seemed incredibly weak.
Kuisui leapt down into the arena with a smug grin already forming on his face, as if he could already see himself advancing.
However, Wen Lan gave Hinata an encouraging look.
Hinata immediately lowered her head, blushing furiously.
"Konoha's Hyūga Hinata versus Amegakure's Kuisui!"
"Begin!"
"Little girl, you should just forfeit."
Kuisui sneered lightly while secretly gripping three kunai between his fingers.
But Hinata suddenly raised her head.
Her pale eyes were clear and pure like moonlight on fresh snow.
"I… won't give up."
The instant she spoke—
her hands had already formed seals.
"Byakugan!"
Veins bulged around her eyes.
Hinata immediately drew three kunai from her pouch and hurled them toward Kuisui.
Kuisui was startled and hastily threw out his own kunai to intercept.
Six blades collided in midair, scattering sparks.
But Hinata's figure had already closed the distance like a phantom.
Her steps were steady.
Her gaze was clear.
Kuisui's expression changed drastically as he tried to retreat—
but Hinata extended two fingers and struck a chakra point in the center of his chest.
Kuisui's pupils contracted.
His body instantly went limp as he collapsed to the ground.
Wen Lan watched with satisfaction.
Over the years, he had personally trained Hinata as well.
"Konoha's Hyūga Hinata wins!"
Hinata stood frozen in place.
For a moment, she didn't know whether she was shocked by her own victory—
or by how easily she had won.
Wen Lan looked at Kuisui with a hint of pity.
Honestly, this was what a normal genin should look like.
The Konoha Twelve were monsters one after another.
Even Hinata—considered among the weakest of them—was still far beyond ordinary genin.
Especially after special training.
Kurenai, worried Hinata had been injured, hurried down to check on her.
That finally snapped Hinata out of her daze.
She immediately fled like a startled rabbit, running away in embarrassment.
Soon after, the electronic screen flashed again.
The next match appeared:
Uzumaki Naruto VS Sushi
Naruto flipped down from the platform with a confident grin.
Looking around loudly, he shouted:
"Hey, whoever's called Sushi! Hurry up and get down here! The sooner we finish, the sooner we're done!"
From the crowd, a shinobi dressed in Iwagakure's distinctive red cloth attire slowly stepped forward.
His expression looked terrible.
"Yeah, the sooner we finish, the sooner I can smash you to pieces."
That sentence caused everyone from Konoha—
as well as the gathered Kage and higher-ups—
to pause for a moment with strange expressions.
After all, Uzumaki Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage.
Saying "I'll smash you to pieces" right in front of his father…
was certainly bold.
Minato Namikaze merely smiled faintly.
There was no anger in his eyes—
only anticipation.
Still, since Sushi was just a genin, it was normal that he didn't know Naruto's identity.
As Sushi jumped into the arena, Wen Lan spoke calmly:
"Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto versus Iwagakure's Sushi!"
"Begin!"
Naruto grinned widely and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In an instant—
more than a hundred Narutos appeared simultaneously.
They surged toward Sushi like a tidal wave.
Sushi's pupils shrank violently.
He hurriedly threw several shuriken, causing a few clones to burst into smoke—
but only a handful disappeared.
The overwhelming majority charged straight at him.
Not just Sushi—
all the genin present were stunned by the sheer number of shadow clones.
Very quickly, the swarm of Narutos surrounded Sushi completely.
Punches and kicks rained down endlessly.
The sounds of impacts echoed nonstop.
When the dust settled—
Sushi lay sprawled on the ground, bruised black and blue and completely unconscious.
Wen Lan's voice echoed across the arena.
"Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto wins!"
The surrounding genin erupted into uproar.
Many stared in shock, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.
Naruto merely scratched the back of his head smugly and laughed.
"Huh? He already went down? I wanted to keep practicing a little longer!"
Then he bounced happily back toward the stands, completely unaware that the overwhelming strength he had just displayed had rendered most of the audience speechless.
Up in the stands, Sasuke cast Naruto a cold glance.
A faint look of disdain appeared on his face.
Sasuke believed in stylish combat—
defeating opponents with the most elegant and refined techniques possible.
What he hated most was Naruto's style of overwhelming enemies through sheer numbers.
To him, true combat should flow like art—
not be won through brute force and endless clones.
Of course, when Sasuke had once said this to Wen Lan—
Wen Lan had instantly shattered him with a single sentence:
"You'd need that much chakra first if you wanted to fight like that."
After that, the remaining matches were mostly unremarkable.
Genin from every village took turns battling, victories alternating back and forth, but none caused much excitement.
Only Neji, Haku, and the rich girl Tenten drew real reactions from the crowd.
Neji and Haku both won through absolute domination.
As for Tenten—
she nearly beat her opponent to death simply by endlessly throwing weapons.
Soon, the second round came to an end.
All of the Konoha Twelve successfully advanced.
Standing at the edge of the platform, Wen Lan swept his gaze across the finalists and smiled faintly.
"Now… the real main event begins."
He leapt down from the platform and announced:
"One month from now, the third round will begin."
"And now, the final matchups will be decided."
The large screen immediately began rotating again.
Soon, the matchups appeared:
Temari VS Hinata
Sasuke VS Kankurō
Naruto VS Gaara
Gaara's eyes narrowed.
Sand slowly swirled around him as a cold smile spread across his face while staring at Naruto.
Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly as well.
His expression became serious.
Their battle in the Forest of Death had merely been an appetizer.
The real clash was still to come.
Once the matchups were announced, the participants gradually left the arena.
As the Five Kage departed, the crowd slowly dispersed as well.
Naruto remained standing where he was, staring at Gaara's departing figure.
His fists clenched unconsciously.
He could feel the murderous intent radiating from Gaara—
but he had no intention of losing either.
That evening, Wen Lan was eating dinner at home when a patrol member knocked on the door and entered.
Wen Lan looked at the clansman curiously.
"What is it?"
"Third Elder, there's a kunoichi named Tenten outside the compound. She wants to see you."
"Tenten? Looking for me?"
Wen Lan looked completely baffled, but still nodded.
"Bring her in, then."
"Yes!"
The clansman quickly departed.
A short while later, Tenten appeared at the doorway.
She looked nervous—
but determined.
Wen Lan set down his chopsticks and smiled.
"Have you eaten yet? If not, join us."
—------------------------------
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