"Hey, kid, show me your full strength!" Xi Chuo held two blades in his hands and had another clenched between his teeth, making his words slightly slurred. His fighting spirit, however, was clearly high.
"Heh, here comes my move, [Skycleaver]!"
Dosu stretched out his hands, immediately attempting to unleash a ninjutsu. However, he saw a shadow flash past his eyes, a chill instantly creeping across his neck, causing the jutsu he was about to release to stop dead in its tracks.
"Boom!"
Dosu's corpse fell to the ground, becoming the first direct fatality in the preliminaries of the Third Exam.
"Why is his strength this weak?" Xi Chuo's eyebrows almost knitted together in frustration. He had been looking forward to an evenly matched battle—how could his opponent fail to withstand even a single move?!
Chapter 239: The Spinning Rasengan [Part 1]
"The winner of this match is Xi Chuo from the Cloud Village."
Hayate Gekko felt fortunate he hadn't already left; otherwise, he'd have to walk back again. After announcing the result, once Zabuza unhappily dragged the body away, Hayate naturally shifted his gaze to Gaara from Sunagakure and the final member of the Sound Village's trio, Tama Tsuchi.
Of course, Hayate could swear to the heavens that he hadn't known beforehand about the Third Hokage's intentions—it was purely a man's intuition.
"Please have Gaara from Sunagakure and Tama Tsuchi from the Sound Village step onto the arena and prepare for battle."
Sure enough, Gaara's and Tama Tsuchi's names appeared on the electronic screen. Naturally, Hayate announced their names without any hint of foul play.
Upon hearing Hayate call Gaara's name, Temari's face immediately showed concern. Like an anxious mother hen, she began giving advice, even though she knew Gaara's strength wouldn't lead to any real trouble. Yet her newfound protective instinct towards her younger brother made her worry uncontrollably.
"Judge, I forfeit."
However, before Temari could finish her instructions, Tama Tsuchi had already chosen to forfeit. She saw through the situation—since Sakon and Dosu had been instantly killed, there was no way she, whose strength was about equal to theirs, could fare any better. The guy named Gaara exuded killing intent all over; clearly not one of the good guys.
Gaara (obviously not one of the good guys): "..."
Gaara's expression immediately darkened, and sand began spilling out from the opening of the gourd on his back. What did this mean? Nobody had forfeited in all the previous matches, yet now he faced a forfeit? Were they looking down on him or what?
"Gaara, don't be impulsive. Stay calm." Temari quickly tried calming Gaara's nerves. Truth be told, she was secretly relieved Gaara wouldn't have to fight—he wouldn't face any danger at all. Having embraced the role of a motherly elder sister, Temari secretly gave Tama Tsuchi a mental thumbs-up.
After getting some affectionate soothing from his older sister, Gaara finally calmed down. The way he sat there oddly reminded Sakura of a giant panda from a past life, hugging its caretaker's leg and begging for a bowl of milk.
"That Tama Tsuchi fellow is quite clever. He knew his opponent was too strong, so he withdrew in time. It's a bit shameful, but at least he saved his own life!"
Although Hinata did not show it directly, she looked down on Tama Tsuchi's cowardly act of quitting. After all, he wasn't from Konoha; whether or not he embarrassed himself had little to do with her.
"Saved his life? That remains to be seen!" Sakura shook her head and smiled. If she remembered correctly, in the original plot, the three Sound Ninja were severely injured and eventually used by Orochimaru as sacrifices for the Impure World Reincarnation technique. Now Sakon was already injured, Dosu killed by Xi Chuo in one blow, and although Tama Tsuchi was unharmed, he would likely still end up as Orochimaru's future sacrifice. Right now he might seem safe, but in reality, he'd only bought himself a few more days.
At this point, only four people remained on the spectator stands who hadn't participated in the matches yet: Naruto, Sakura, Ganshi from Iwagakure Village, and Kira from Kirigakure Village. Naruto kept glancing back and forth between Ganshi and Kira.
"I wonder who will be my opponent?"
Just after Naruto muttered this out loud, he heard Hayate Gekko call his name from below.
"Please step forward, Naruto Uzumaki from Konohagakure Village, and Ganshi from Iwagakure Village."
"Huh? I'm up first?" Naruto was somewhat surprised, but quickly became excited. "Hahahaha! Didn't expect it to finally be my turn!"
"Don't get too confident. Careful not to fall flat on your face!" Seeing how excited Naruto got, Sakura quickly reminded him. With ninjas, you could never know what trump card they might have until the very last moment. Getting defeated unexpectedly happened more often than not. Izuna Uchiha is a prime example.
"I understand!" Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself before jumping down from the stands.
Ganshi appeared to be a rather silent man. His appearance was ordinary, but there was something sinister about his eyes that gave people no sense of friendliness.
"With both contestants ready, the match begins."
Since it was now a Konoha ninja's turn, Hayate Gekko sensibly moved closer to Haku and Zabuza. He wanted to avoid getting caught in the crossfire—these kids fought far too recklessly when things got heated.
"Konohagakure Genin, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto straightened his forehead protector and formed the [Defiant Seal]. This wasn't the slightly impulsive Naruto from the original storyline; he maintained proper etiquette where necessary.
"Iwagakure Genin, Ganshi."
The moment Ganshi spoke, Naruto's expression subtly changed—not because of anything else, but because of the terribly grating sound of Ganshi's voice. It felt like two rusty metal plates scraping against each other.
"Do you find my voice strange?"
Ganshi didn't react oddly to Naruto's slight expression of surprise. He'd long grown accustomed to being stared at differently. "When I was young, my voice was perfectly normal. But later on, an accident seriously damaged my vocal cords, leaving me sounding like this ever since. You're not the first to give me that look, and you sure as hell won't be the last."
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