"This is the newcomer—Lock. He'll be joining the competition as well," Katsuki Oguri announced, leading him forward.
All eyes immediately fell on the boy. Lock had already drawn attention the moment he appeared, but now that Oguri had officially introduced him, the anticipation in the air thickened.
Many of them had never even heard of his name. Unlike Kakashi, whose reputation spread like wildfire, Lock's graduation had been quiet, almost underwhelming, and in the three years since he'd kept a deliberately low profile. To these Genin, he was an unknown.
But what really caught their eyes was his age. He was younger than all of them—barely ten years old. The next youngest competitor here was at least twelve.
Small. Young. Weak. That was the verdict most of them silently passed. To them, Lock looked like easy prey.
The hostile stares didn't bother him. Compared to the killing intent he'd faced during the brutal early years of the Chunin Exams, this was nothing. If he hadn't flinched then, he certainly wouldn't now.
Lock stepped forward with calm confidence. "If no one minds… I'll be the dealer for the next match."
The murmur that rippled through the crowd was sharp with surprise. He looked calm, even polite, yet his words rang like a provocation.
Arrogant, some thought. But it was the kind of arrogance that stirred their blood.
Oguri's lips curled faintly as he watched. As expected from the boy who could suppress Kakashi. No one here is going to defeat him.
Seeing no one object, Lock drew out a scroll. "This is my wager—the Earth Scroll. If anyone has a Heaven or Man Scroll, step forward."
A few groans broke out immediately. Several of them carried Earth Scrolls themselves. That meant they weren't eligible to fight him this round.
Then, all at once, three voices cut through the crowd.
"I'll take it."
"I'll fight him first!"
"Let me be the one."
Three Genin surged forward at once.
But their eagerness quickly boiled over into an argument.
"Noda Kazuhiro, you just fought a match," one of them snapped. "Step aside and let someone else have a chance."
"That's right!" another chimed in, glaring. "It's my turn this time."
Kazuhiro bristled. "Don't be ridiculous. Who says one win means I'm finished? This is about seizing opportunity. If you're too slow, that's on you."
The three squared off, voices rising, each unwilling to back down.
Oguri sighed and stepped between them, hands raised. "Enough. This is meant to be a fair competition. If none of you will yield, then show your scrolls. Lock can choose his opponent."
Grudgingly, the three complied.
Noda Kazuhiro revealed a Man Scroll. The other two held Heaven Scrolls.
Oguri turned toward Lock. "Well then, Lock. Who do you choose?"
Lock's gaze swept over the three. His choice was immediate. He pointed at Kazuhiro. "Him."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Of the three, Kazuhiro was among the strongest—something even his rivals had admitted when they'd ganged up on him earlier. For Lock to pick him outright seemed reckless.
But Lock's voice remained calm, matter-of-fact. "The Man Scroll is what I need."
At that, the atmosphere shifted. The others traded looks, some even licking their lips. Lock had revealed something important.
He already had a Heaven Scroll. That, combined with the Earth Scroll in his hand, meant he was just one step away from completing the set.
Very few here had managed to gather two scrolls. For Lock to show his hand so openly—it made him a tempting target.
The truth was, this "competition" looked simple on the surface but was full of hidden complexity. No one knew exactly which scrolls someone else carried unless they revealed them in battle. Choosing when to challenge and when to hold back was a gamble.
The rules, as Oguri had explained, were straightforward: challengers must wager two scrolls, while the defender only needed to put up one. On paper, the challenger was at a disadvantage. In reality, if your strength was overwhelming, it became an opportunity to clean house.
And even if someone managed to collect all three scrolls, they weren't allowed to simply walk away. The exam only ended once three finalists were determined. Anyone with a full set too early would immediately become a target, hounded until their prize was stripped away.
Several of the Genin here had already learned that lesson the hard way. They'd held the full set once, only to lose it in the very next duel.
In the end, strength decided everything. That was the truth hiding beneath the thin veneer of "fairness."
For these Genin, the appeal was obvious. Here, fights were controlled. No one aimed to kill, only to claim scrolls. It was far safer than the chaos outside, and ten thousand ryō was a small price to pay for survival.
To them, the Chunin promotion mattered. But their lives mattered more.
And so, with the wagers set, Lock stepped forward to face Noda Kazuhiro—the first of many who thought to test the youngest contender in the ring.
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San