The first match had been spectacular, from Hiashi's offense to Pakura's brilliant comeback.
Yato announced: "There will be a thirty-minute intermission before the second match begins."
After leaving the arena, Pakura teased Yato: "Is the Hidden Leaf going to lose all three matches? If so, I don't see much point in you occupying this territory. Might as well surrender it."
Yato didn't indulge her, replying: "Impossible."
"It's daytime - save the dreaming for nighttime. That's completely unrealistic."
"But congratulations on your first victory. You might consider what you want from the Uchiha."
"Or perhaps your heart desires marriage into the Hidden Leaf? We wouldn't necessarily refuse."
Pakura had intended to provoke Yato, but his responses made her seem petty instead.
She could only roll her eyes at Yato before walking away.
After the brief intermission, preparations began for the second match's participant selection.
When the two final portraits flashed on screen, a smile spread across Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.That's right, these were photos of Uchiha Yato and Rasa.
This was also something both sides' higher-ups were particularly concerned about. Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't believe for a second that Rasa could defeat Uchiha Yato, hoping instead that Rasa could force out more of Yato's hidden cards.
Chiyo, possibly influenced by the previous match, felt that if Rasa wasn't countered by the Sharingan's genjutsu, he stood a good chance of defeating Uchiha Yato.
Without any formal greetings, the two combatants immediately engaged upon entering the arena.
Rasa instantly released two ninja tool scrolls, unleashing a massive shower of gold dust.
"Sand Control: Gold Dust Impact!" Rasa shouted immediately.
A huge mass of gold sand came rushing toward Uchiha Yato.
Rasa was clever, keeping a small portion of the gold dust around himself for protection.
This combat style was quite similar to Uchiha Yato's - both were essentially artillery mages.
Not to be outdone, Uchiha Yato opened with a Wildfire Spread technique.
The entire battlefield was instantly engulfed in Uchiha Yato's flames.
While these flames didn't have much effect on the gold dust, they made Rasa uncomfortable, weakening his chakra control.
With obscured vision and reduced control, the gold sand became easier to dodge.
With the Sharingan's dynamic vision and his own Jonin/Kage-level threshold of skill, if Uchiha Yato couldn't dodge this, that would be entirely his own fault.
But for the spectators, this was quite unpleasant.
The flames were indeed powerful and covered an extremely wide area.
Uchiha Yato employed his usual tactics, giving Rasa little time to react before following up with a Great Meteor technique.
This one-two punch gave Rasa an instant taste of what the A-B brothers must have felt.
However, this time Uchiha Yato mixed in other ninjutsu.
Thick dust clouds obscured Rasa's vision, making it extremely difficult for him to track Uchiha Yato's movements.
Yato was being particularly devious, subtly using small wind release techniques.
He directed all the smoke toward Rasa's position, making it appear from outside that Rasa was isolated in his own zone.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but marvel at Uchiha Yato's technique.
In terms of talent within the Hidden Leaf, Uchiha Yato was undoubtedly among the elite.
This "elite" ranking compared him to the First and Second Hokage. Had those two not died young, it would be hard to say whose talent was truly superior.
This precise control of tiny wind currents to maintain smoke concentration in a specific area even shocked Danzo, a veteran wind user.
Uchiha Yato then suddenly stopped attacking and bowed to the spectators.
Seeing this gesture, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew the kid was about to put on another show.
True to form, Uchiha Yato pulled out his ninja tool pouch and retrieved several shuriken and other throwing weapons.
He then began hurling these weapons into the smoke cloud, with Rasa at the center as his target.
Trapped in the circle, Rasa was simultaneously roasted by flames, choked by smoke, and forced to dodge shuriken attacks from all directions.
This made Chiyo, watching from the stands, both anxious and heartbroken. After all, Rasa was one of their village's core strengths - it was impossible not to feel for him.Rasa, trapped within the encirclement, had no effective countermeasures left. He could only attempt to block Uchiha Yato's attacks through auditory means.
Gradually, he extended tendrils of gold dust outward, both to track Yato's movements and to serve as his eyes.
Then, Yato "accidentally" stepped on the gold dust.
The particles seemed to come alive, swiftly wrapping around Yato's entire body.
From within the encirclement, Rasa declared, "You can surrender now. Once bound by my gold dust, there's no escape."
Yato remained silent, prompting Rasa to add, "This is just a spar. On the battlefield, you'd already be buried by my Gold Dust Funeral."
Only then did Yato respond, "Haven't you realized anything yet?"
The sudden question left Rasa bewildered.
Meanwhile, the spectators already knew the outcome—this match would undoubtedly end in Uchiha Yato's victory.
From their perspective, Rasa had completely exposed himself, and worse, he was now staring directly into Yato's Sharingan.
Unbeknownst to Rasa, he had already fallen into the genjutsu of the Sharingan.
While Yato continued toying with the crowd outside, Rasa was trapped in an illusion, battling himself.
Beyond collecting emotional reactions, Yato also wanted to test the effectiveness of his Mangekyo Sharingan against high-level ninja.
In truth, he had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan from the very beginning.
Otherwise, there was a real chance Rasa might have captured him. But Yato had altered the flow of time across the entire battlefield.
Now, time moved slightly slower within the arena, causing Rasa's techniques to unfold at a delayed pace.
Through this experiment, Yato confirmed that the rogue ninja he had previously tested were at the boundary between Chunin and Jonin.
Against Rasa, the same ocular power had a slightly diminished effect.
As Yato had suspected, even cheats had their limits—conservation laws couldn't be defied.
Amused, Yato taunted the self-absorbed Rasa within the illusion.
Of course, once the experiment concluded, he couldn't forget to collect a few bodily samples from Rasa.
After all, he had promised Orochimaru the research materials—he couldn't neglect that.
With all experiments and personal objectives complete, Yato generously gifted Rasa his signature genjutsu.
The spectators, who had been watching Rasa stand motionless, were startled when he suddenly broke into a grotesque dance.
The sight instantly triggered memories in many.
Key figures—troublesome Uchiha members, Sand Ninja envoys, and Aburame Ryoma—twitched involuntarily at the sight.
Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen and other Hidden Leaf elders remained silent. After their previous loss, the Leaf leadership had been eager to reclaim their pride.
As long as Yato didn't kill Rasa, they would seize any opportunity to punish the Sand Ninja.
Helplessly, the Hidden Leaf's F4 were just that petty, which was precisely why Uchiha Yato managed to achieve his goal by exploiting this flaw.
Uchiha Obito, who had been just one step away from falling into this genjutsu, along with Hyuga Bōya and Sarutobi Tsuru from earlier, were utterly shaken.
Watching it on tape and experiencing it live were two entirely different sensations.
Even those who hadn't been caught in the genjutsu could potentially be drawn into such a dance—let alone those who had already fallen victim to it.
This time, Uchiha Yato didn't drag things out for long and quickly dispelled the illusion. Only then did the referee announce:
"Uchiha Yato wins."
The large screen immediately displayed Yato's victory, surrounded by tiny figures celebrating.
This instantly made Pakura feel terrible. In her previous match's final scene, the screen had shown flowers arranged around her photo, making it look like a funeral.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yato's victory was accompanied by cheers and firecrackers from the crowd.
Pakura, who had initially decided not to dwell on it, found herself resenting Yato all over again.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped in to mediate, preventing any further incidents.
With today's two matches concluded, only one final battle remained.
Originally, the event was scheduled for three days, one match per day.
But due to Pakura's inclusion and the Fourth Kazekage's insistence on speeding things up, it was decided to wrap it up in two days.
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