"Good, let him show off. Let him think he can just rely on luck to keep getting freebies. Now he's finished!" some spectators shouted excitedly.
Uchiha Itachi's lips curved into a cold smirk. With a snort, he charged straight at a kekkei genkai user. At the same time, Nii Yugito spread her fingers—her Ghost Fire Ball ignited, bursting into blue flames that seared toward the opponents who had ganged up on one person.
Cries of agony erupted immediately as people were burned.
The battlefield descended into chaos—dust, water, earth, and fire all clashed together, blanketing everything so thickly that no one could see what was happening in the center.
Finally, when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, there was no trace of Hyūga Shigeo in the middle of the arena.
But the rule was clear: if he was alive, they had to see him; if he was dead, they had to see a corpse. It was impossible for there to be no trace at all.
"There he is!" someone in the stands suddenly shouted.
Everyone turned their heads to follow the pointing finger—and the arena exploded into noise.
High above, beneath the dark clouds, floated a single boy. In daylight, his eyes had always remained closed. But now, those blue eyes were wide open—brilliant and dazzling, shining like stars against the night sky.
The crowd fell silent. In that moment, they had no choice but to admit it—even just the ability to fly placed this child far above many other shinobi.
"Kill him!" roared an Iwagakure contestant from below.
At once, Deidara mounted his clay bird and soared into the sky.
Hyūga Shigeo didn't retreat in the slightest. He declared, "Didn't you say I had no ability? Today, I'll show you my taijutsu!"
With those words, his legs became a blur. He launched a fierce kick straight into Deidara, landing several blows in succession until the boy collapsed onto his bird, his chest aching in pain.
Deidara's heart tightened. If the opponent couldn't fly, he would have had the advantage. But this one—just like his master—could fight in the air.
"Clay—Birds!" Deidara unleashed a swarm of miniature clay birds, sending them streaking toward Shigeo.
But Shigeo flickered away with Body Flicker Technique, reappearing right in front of him. His movements were lightning-fast, his taijutsu overwhelming. The two clashed fiercely mid-air.
Meanwhile, the swarm of clay birds wheeled back around. Shigeo caught hold of Deidara and whispered coldly, "I didn't want to kill you. But if you insist on dying so early, I won't stop you."
As he spoke, a surge of water erupted from his mouth—Water Release: Water Stream! Deidara was instantly drenched.
"Lightning Release!" Shigeo's hand crackled with electricity.
Water and lightning—plus the clay's explosive charge. The result would be catastrophic.
"You—you don't want to live?" Deidara cried in horror.
"I'll live just fine. You, on the other hand… not so much."
The lightning surged into Deidara's soaked body.
"Guh—!" Blood sprayed from his mouth. His clay bird couldn't keep up with Shigeo's speed, and with the interference of lightning and water, the creations lost control, spiraling downward.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the arena. Deidara collapsed, bloodied, on the wreck of his clay bird. Three other contestants were caught in the blast and were carried out severely injured.
As Shigeo landed, more challengers rushed at him. But he met them head-on—left hook, right kick, Lightning Release, Earth Release, Wind Release shuriken—none of the six or seven attackers could get close.
The audience gasped. "That Hyūga Shigeo… he's not weak at all! He's incredibly strong! Look—he's holding off so many people at once without even breaking a sweat!"
"Yes… he really is strong!" Even those who didn't know much about ninjutsu could see it now.
Despite waves of attacks, none could touch him. Every jutsu they unleashed, he countered with one that overpowered or neutralized it.
Then suddenly, a piercing whistle echoed across the arena—high-pitched, eerie, like some night fiend's cry.
"That's the sound of a demon beast!" Nara Shikaku shot to his feet, his battle-hardened eyes scanning every corner of the coliseum.
"Someone just summoned a demon beast," he said grimly. He had seen such strange creatures once during the Third Shinobi World War.
"What's a demon beast?" Might Guy asked.
"A creature from another dimension. It can only be summoned by someone with strong Yin-type chakra. Who did this?"
As his words fell, a massive plume of smoke erupted in the arena. A huge creature loomed within it, roaring furiously. Its cry was eerily similar to the Ten-Tails itself, rattling the hearts of everyone present.
Spectators gasped. "Wow, the organizers really went all out! They actually summoned a beast into the tournament? Incredible!"
High in the stands, the masked Uchiha Obito narrowed his eyes. "Whose plan is this?"
To summon a demon beast was no small feat. Forcing a bunch of genin to face it went far beyond the scope of a competition. Clearly, something was wrong.
Still, the more chaos, the better. A smile curved beneath his mask. He would wait… and strike like a fisherman reaping all the spoils.
Yesterday's labyrinth had been his best chance to act, but sealing tags suppressing chakra had foiled him. Not today. Today was the perfect chance. He wouldn't waste it.
Of course, capturing jinchūriki was never easy. Even Madara, who already knew how to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and extract tailed beasts, couldn't enact the Infinite Tsukuyomi right away. Timing and conditions mattered.
But if this demon beast wounded the two jinchūriki here, his opportunity would come.
Obito kept his gaze fixed on the arena, ready to move.
The colossal beast stepped forward, blue lightning crackling across its body. It raised its head and howled. The sound was too close to the Ten-Tails' roar. Inside Yugito and Fū, their tailed beasts stirred restlessly, growling through their hosts.
The arena was chaos. Yet the spectators only cheered louder, convinced this was another twist from the organizers to make the fight more exciting. They had no idea it was part of a larger conspiracy.
"Yes! Charge! Fight!" The crowd screamed, blind to the danger.
The demon beast bellowed again. Even the ninja contestants who had been attacking Shigeo turned away from him to face the monster.
(End of Chapter)
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