When they heard the name of the contestant, many spectators instantly became spirited, quickly looking towards the center of the arena.
After the first round of battles, the audience had a general understanding of the competitors' strengths and knew which ones were relatively stronger.
After all, ordinary people might not understand Nature Transformation Ninjutsu, but they could judge the contestants' strength by the scale of their Ninjutsu and the speed at which they defeated their opponents.
Obito once spewed out a massive sea of flames in a battle with Asuma, clearly showing he was ruthless, while Terumi Mei also easily eliminated her opponent in battle, her strength not to be underestimated.
Moreover, the two of them were respectively Hidden Mist Ninja and Konoha Ninja, adding more excitement to this battle.
"Last time, you won because I ran out of stamina. This time, I'll show you my true power," Obito confidently declared.
He was concerned about losing to Terumi Mei in the Forest of Death, especially since, ever since becoming stronger, aside from Mokgetsu's other disciples, he could easily handle his peers.
"Wishful thinking. Do you think I was using my full strength last match?" Terumi Mei replied, not backing down. Anyone could talk big.
"Begin the battle!" Hiruko quickly announced the start of the exam once the two were in position.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito immediately concentrated his breath and performed hand seals, spitting out a massive fireball towards Terumi Mei.
Although he knew the Great Fireball wouldn't overpower Terumi Mei, there wasn't a more suitable Fire Release Ninjutsu to start with.
"Water Release: Water Array Pillar!"
Terumi Mei also formed hand seals in place, using her Ninjutsu. However, the water ball she spewed out was three times larger than Obito's fireball. As the water and fire met, Obito's Great Fireball was instantly doused, and the water ball continued rushing towards Obito.
Though such a water ball couldn't cause much harm, Obito knew Terumi Mei had a technique to directly transform the water ball into a Water Dragon Bomb, so he swiftly dodged to distance himself from it.
"I shouldn't have acted then, he learned something about my abilities," Terumi Mei sighed inwardly.
Seeing that she couldn't catch Obito off guard, Terumi Mei cut off the Chakra supply to the Water Array Pillar. This technique of hers required continuous Chakra maintenance to use the Water Dragon Bomb without hand seals, fundamentally an application of Chakra Form Transformation.
The inflexible large water ball lacked the ability to pursue, splashing onto the ground.
Obito watched Terumi Mei leisurely, waiting for an opportunity. Directly using Fire Release Ninjutsu to clash with Terumi Mei's Water Release wasn't a wise move.
He wasn't foolish; he lost last time due to a headlong clash. This time, he'd definitely switch tactics.
Terumi Mei wasn't acting recklessly either. Although she countered Obito's Ninjutsu, his Taijutsu was significantly stronger than hers.
Of course, neither was making big moves; they weren't just standing still.
Terumi Mei quickly surveyed the entire arena. Initially, there were plenty of trees here, but after so many battles, they had either been knocked down or burned. Now, besides empty space, there was only a small pond.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bomb Jutsu!" Terumi Mei dodged the shuriken thrown by Obito, quickly forming hand seals to cast her Ninjutsu again.
Seeing the water dragon seemingly trying to push him towards the small pond, Obito burst out Chakra, used Soru to pull away in the opposite direction, and ran towards the edge of the arena.
He knew that Water Release was stronger where there was water. Even though it was just a small pond, it could still provide some support to Terumi Mei.
"Breath of Flame Chakra Mode!"
Obito enhanced his breath, entering the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, further boosting his physical abilities. He then opened his Sharingan to increase his insight, skillfully positioning himself so the Water Dragon Bomb hit the wall behind him.
At the same time, Obito reached into his Ninja Pouch, pulling out a shuriken, imbuing it with Fire Attribute Chakra, and threw it at Terumi Mei.
"Lava Release: Lava Monster Jutsu!"
Terumi Mei gathered Chakra in her mouth, combining both water and earth Nature Transformations to form Lava Release Chakra, ultimately spitting out a large amount of yellow adhesive material.
The yellow adhesive had strong corrosive properties and viscosity. Obito's Sharingan could clearly see the moment his shuriken touched the adhesive, it began to merge with it, while some changes appeared on its metallic surface.
Though the changes were subtle due to the brief contact, the powerful insight of the Sharingan allowed Obito to detect it.
"What kind of Ninjutsu is this? It doesn't seem like Water Release; it looks powerful," Obito recalled Terumi Mei's words before the battle.
It turns out Terumi Mei wasn't bluffing; she truly had some abilities kept in reserve.
As Obito contemplated whether to try using Fire Release, Terumi Mei spat two more mouthfuls of yellow adhesive.
Cautiously, Obito didn't counter with Ninjutsu but swiftly dodged.
Perhaps this Ninjutsu had some inherent flaw, as Obito easily evaded it.
But suddenly, Obito noticed that the initial adhesive had solidified, turning into a gray wall.
Recalling how easily he evaded that attack, Obito felt something was amiss.
He couldn't figure out Terumi Mei's intentions, but he was sure she wouldn't make meaningless attacks; she was a formidable opponent who had defeated him once before.
"Flame Fist!"
Obito compressed a large amount of Chakra into his fist, then suddenly converted it all into Fire Attribute Chakra, striking hard at the gray wall beside him.
BOOM!!
The immense power of the punch, combined with the fierce flames, instantly created a large hole in the gray wall. Obito walked through the gap, heading toward the center of the arena.