The third match of the second round was an internal battle within the Rock team.
Contestant number six, Natsumi, had been severely injured in her previous match against Karui and was still recuperating in the Cloud Village hospital.
She chose to forfeit directly, allowing her captain, Shō, to advance successfully.
The audience showed a degree of understanding for this situation and watched the final match of this round with keen interest.
[No. 7] Yomi vs. [No. 8] Atsui.
Yomi, the Sand ninja, was a taciturn shinobi, his eyes always hinting at a trace of unknown sorrow.
His weapon was a blue longsword slightly different in style from a tachi.
Atsui, the Cloud ninja, had the same short blonde hair as his sister Samui. His personality was the complete opposite of Yomi's; he was a lively and energetic young man.
After forming the seal of confrontation upon entering the arena, their battle officially began.
"Cloud Style: Flame Sword!"
Atsui formed a few hand seals with his left hand. The tachi in his right hand immediately burst into intense flames.
The raging fire continuously spread towards the tip, enveloping the entire blade.
"Cloud Style: Flame Slash!"
Atsui charged at Yomi, swinging his flame sword and releasing a half-meter-long flame blade projectile.
Yomi watched calmly as the flame approached him. Wind-nature chakra surged around the blue longsword in his hand, and he similarly swung it, releasing a massive blue sword energy projectile.
The flame blade and the blue sword energy collided, resulting in a violent explosion that turned into countless tiny breezes and scattered sparks before finally dissipating in the air.
"Haha, take this one too! Cloud Style: Raging Flame Cross Cut!"
Excited to encounter a strong opponent, Atsui instantly slashed his right arm, sending out one horizontal and one vertical flame attack that flew towards Yomi like a burning cross.
"Wind Sword Art: Wind Tornado!"
Two streams of wind-nature chakra spun around Yomi's blade, gradually swallowing the surrounding air.
They expanded into a tornado about half a meter long before flying towards the flame cross.
The spinning tornado met the flame cross. Instead of exploding like before, it absorbed the flame cross, transforming into an even larger fire tornado that continued its assault on Atsui.
"Hmph! Cloud Style: Earth-Splitting Slash!"
Atsui, gripping his longsword with both hands, brought it down on the ground before him. Shattered earth and stones flew up, crashing into the fire tornado.
Affected by the earth and stones, the tornado's rotational force greatly decreased. By the time it reached Atsui, it could barely maintain its form and was completely dispersed with a casual wave of his hand.
Seeing that his two attacks had been ineffective, a trace of gravity appeared on Atsui's face. Although they were just probing moves, they were not to be underestimated.
Yomi's ability to resolve them so effortlessly meant his strength was somewhat beyond Atsui's expectations.
"Not bad, Sand ninja. Don't you have a Kekkei Genkai? You should use it soon,"
Atsui said. After speaking, the flames on his tachi blazed fiercely, clearly indicating he was preparing to launch a real attack.
"To deal with you, my Wind Sword Art is sufficient,"
Yomi replied, shaking his head and raising his blue longsword.
"Damn it, how dare you look down on me!Cloud Style: Blazing Flash Strike!"
Yomi's calm words made Atsui think he was being mocked, instantly irritating him.
With a loud shout, he crossed the dozen or so meters between them in the blink of an eye, appearing right in front of Yomi and swinging his sword at his head.
"Wind Sword Art: Wind-Cutter!"
Yomi, unhurried, met the attack with his blue longsword, forcefully blocking Atsui's fierce strike.
"Clang!"
A loud metallic crash echoed. The tremendous force shook both their bodies simultaneously, and they each retreated several steps.
"Sand guy, be careful. I'm going to finish you with one ultimate technique. If you don't want to die, you can still surrender now,"
Atsui said seriously, his chakra flowing towards the tachi in his hand. He seemed quite confident in this ultimate move.
"Come on."
Although Yomi didn't know what Atsui's ultimate technique was, he felt no fear. He focused his mind, ready to use his Kekkei Genkai to counter the attack if necessary.
"Since that's the case, then take this! Cloud Style Ultimate Technique: Hundred Sparrows Soaring Sky!"
Countless sparrows composed of flame poured from the tip of Atsui's tachi, circling above the Cloud arena. When their number exceeded one hundred, they cried out in unison and dove towards Yomi at the center of the arena.
"Wind Sword Art: Storm Sword Wall!"
Seeing Atsui's attack, Yomi felt reassured. His longsword traced countless patterns, forming a protective barrier of wind-nature chakra sword energy around his body that shredded the diving fire sparrows one by one.
"No way, he blocked even that? The participants in the Chunin Exams are all strong guys,"
Atsui panted heavily, a bitter smile appearing on his face as he saw his hard-earned ultimate technique neutralized. He had already reached his own conclusion about the outcome of this battle.
"Your strength is insufficient. This technique's power is too dispersed, and it's more suited for clearing out cannon fodder in large-scale battles,"
Yomi said bluntly, holding his sword after dealing with Aatsui's ultimate move, offering his evaluation without reservation.
Atsui had exhausted most of his chakra, and his strongest ultimate technique had posed little threat to Yomi.
In contrast, Yomi had suppressed Atsui using only his Wind Release sword style. Once he employed his most powerful Kekkei Genkai, he could almost end the fight instantly.
In the eyes of spectators like Uchiha Kazuhiko, the outcome was already decided. Unless Atsui possessed some incredibly strong trump card to achieve a stunning reversal, defeat was inevitable.
"You're right, but I'm not just limited to nin-taijutsu."
Fighting on his home ground, Atsui naturally couldn't just concede.
Plus, with the Cloud proctors present for protection, he stored his tachi back into a scroll and began forming hand seals, attacking Yomi with a visually impressive ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Fireball Barrage!" A continuous stream of bowl-sized fireballs shot evenly from Atsui's mouth, bombarding Yomi one after another.
Seeing Atsui's actions, Yomi frowned. His figure swayed, dodging the encirclement of fireballs, and he instantly closed the distance to Atsui, thrusting his sword towards Atsui's heart.
Just as Atsui was about to be killed, his sister Samui instantly leaped down from the stands. With a single sword stroke, she deflected Yomi's longsword and saved Atsui.
"Sis," the defeated Atsui said somewhat sheepishly, lowering his head.
Samui reached out and ruffled her brother's hair, encouraging him,
"Don't be discouraged. You performed very well. Let's go now. In a few days, we'll send you to Lord Bee for some serious special training."
"This match's winner is Yomi." After the Samui siblings left, Proctor Taruī immediately announced the result.
The matches for the day concluded. The audience gradually left the arena. Taruī kept the four advancing participants Uchiha Kazuhiko, Shō, Omoi, and Yomi behind to inform them of the specific arrangements for the subsequent matches.
"The semi-finals of this year's Chunin Exams will be held tomorrow morning at 8 AM. The two winning examinees will proceed to the final match the day after tomorrow at 8 AM."