"Indeed." Namiashi Raido sighed.
He was just unlucky, having encountered a monster like Nagato.
"Perhaps only Kakashi and his team have a chance to defeat Nagato." Raido thought to himself.
In Raido's mind, only a monster can defeat a monster. Although Asuma is considered a genius, he clearly isn't a match for Nagato.
"Asuma, Aburame Shibi... Konoha has ten ninjas advancing, roughly occupying one-third of the elimination round slots." Kakashi silently calculated the total number of Konoha ninjas advancing.
Kakashi estimated that in the first round of the elimination, some would face ninja from their own village, since there were so many Konoha ninjas advancing.
When the Konoha ninjas returned to the inn, Kakashi exchanged information with other Konoha ninjas, sharing the intelligence they had gathered.
After all, it's a worldwide ninja competition, and with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Daimyo of the Land of Rain observing, the more Konoha ninjas advancing, the better for Konoha, and it might even please the Daimyos with gold coins.
Meanwhile, Nagato and his team were also listening to intelligence.
"Konoha has quite a few talented ninjas, like Hatake Kakashi who is skilled in Lighting Release Blade Technique. In the entire preliminaries, all opponents were defeated by Kakashi with one strike."
"Additionally, there's Uchiha Shisui who excels in Genjutsu and Fire Release, and Might Guy who specializes in Taijutsu..." Kakuzu reported the intelligence gathered by the Ninja Sect judges.
"Kakuzu, isn't what we're doing kind of unfair?" Yahiko scratched his head and said.
Although gathering intelligence is part of ninja warfare, using the judge's intelligence feels like cheating.
"What's wrong with it? It's all intelligence gathering, what's the difference? Hatake Kakashi did well in this regard, he watched all of Nagato's battles after each of his own." Kakuzu responded nonchalantly.
Nagato remained composed; the intensity of the preliminaries was too low. He hadn't used any abilities of his Rinnegan, so it didn't matter if Kakashi observed him.
"Nagato, you can be as you wish. Yahiko and Konan, besides the Konoha ninjas I mentioned, be cautious of the Hidden Mist's Terumi Mei, Hozuki Mangetsu, and Hoshigaki Kisame, Nagaishi with his Explosion Release, Sunagani who uses Puppetry..." Kakuzu continued.
Although Yahiko and Konan are capable, many strong contenders are entering the elimination rounds, and Kakuzu estimated that Konan and Yahiko might not even make it to the top eight.
"There's always someone stronger." Yahiko remarked.
Before the competition began, he was sure he could achieve a good ranking.
But after listening to Kakuzu's intelligence, Yahiko thought reaching the top eight would be a success; even the top sixteen would be okay. An early exit would just mean bad luck.
"I'll take the first place." Nagato stated firmly.
Even if the opponent was another disciple of Mokgetsu, Nagato wouldn't give away the first place.
The more talented ninjas come, the more it proves the value of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. He not only aims to take first place but to do so with a dominant posture, demonstrating that the Ninja Sect isn't solely reliant on Ninja Master Sosuke, but that his disciples are excellent too.
In the future, those wanting to cause trouble in the Land of Rain should consider if they have the strength to withstand the combined efforts of the Ninja Sect and Rain Ninja.
...
The second morning after the preliminaries ended, the Youth Martial Arts Tournament elimination rounds officially began.
This time differed significantly from the preliminaries.
The elimination rounds were held at a martial arts venue specially built by the Ninja Sect for the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
The martial arts venue could accommodate tens of thousands of spectators in a circular arena.
However, due to the short construction period, its style was rather rugged, featuring exposed rock walls and mud barriers.
Currently, the Ninja World's housing renovation isn't very advanced, so it could be explained as reflecting the architectural style of the Land of Earth.
In some sense, that's accurate, since the arena was indeed constructed with help from Hidden Rock Ninjas.
A large number of spectators holding pre-purchased tickets passed through inspections to enter the venue, including ninjas, nobles, and wealthy merchants.
After ordinary spectators entered, the Daimyo of the Land of Rain and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, surrounded by an entourage of nobility, officials, and ninjas, proceeded to the best front-row seats, accompanied by Mokgetsu's Shadow Clone.
At the same time, Mokgetsu and Hanzo also began to enter.
But their position wasn't among the audience; it was at a vantage point overlooking the entire venue.
It's not that the Daimyo couldn't sit there, but rather that sitting there would mean having nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, being unable to see the matches clearly.
"Teacher Sosuke!" Ninjas who had previously attended classes shouted greetings to Mokgetsu.
Many ninjas who had attended classes came to the martial arts venue, simply supporting Mokgetsu.
"This front-row seat is indeed expensive." One ninja remarked.
"Just think of it as paying for a course by a top ninja in the Ninja World, plus a ticket to a Ninja World-level event." Another ninja replied.
Upon rethinking, the complaining ninja felt that this expense was justified, realizing the money was well spent.
Mokgetsu smiled in response to the ninjas' greetings.
"Lord Hanzo." Rain Ninjas, unwilling to let their leader appear less impressive, also called out.
Hanzo, with a stony face, said nothing and simply wished to reach his seat quickly and watch the competition until it ended.
He had no desire to hear discussions about being defeated by some reward for first place.
At this time, the fights hadn't started yet, and the participants were in the venue, turning their attention to Mokgetsu upon hearing that Ninja Master Sosuke and Demigod Hanzo arrived.
"So this is the Ninja Master; he looks older than Teacher Mokgetsu, indeed Teacher Mokgetsu is stronger." Obito activated his Sharingan and observed intently, arriving at a conclusion.
Kakashi initially focused on Sosuke until he noticed the expressions of Nagato, Yahiko, and others nearby.
Kakashi found that Nagato and Yahiko regarded Sosuke with great respect, much like Obito looked at Mokgetsu.
"Could it be that the Ninja Sect and the Akatsuki have some history?" Kakashi suspected.
He was always puzzled about why the Akatsuki, seemingly focused on peace and positivity, turned into a future evil terrorist group.
He thought perhaps the Ninja Sect played some unknown role in the transformation.
"The information I have is still too limited; I should have had Yamato write down everything about the future." Kakashi considered deducing possibilities but found the information insufficient.
He didn't know the fate of the Ninja Sect or what became of Ninja Master Sosuke in the future, so naturally, he couldn't infer the relationship between the Ninja Sect and the Akatsuki.
Kakashi decided to thoroughly train Yamato upon returning to Konoha, criticizing him for not instinctively writing down all future events.
After observing Yahiko and Obito, Kakashi came up with a method.
He discreetly used his finger to poke Obito, who was enthusiastically chatting with Nohara Rin.
Interrupted, Obito looked at Kakashi with displeasure.
Kakashi glanced at Yahiko, then at Sosuke on the high platform, and finally at Obito.
"You sure know how to delegate; why don't you go ask yourself?" Obito griped.
Kakashi's implication was clear: he wanted Obito to inquire about the relationship between Yahiko and the Ninja Sect leader Sosuke.
Yet, Kakashi had no deputy team leader status, so why would Obito follow Kakashi's orders? Obito would often say no to Kakashi's self-righteousness.
Kakashi remained silent, pulling out a photo from his ninja pouch.
Obito's expression instantly changed, quickly pressing down Kakashi's hand, wary of public exposure and embarrassment.
"I'll go, I love asking questions!" Obito, forced by circumstances, agreed, inwardly cursing Kakashi.
Only then did Kakashi return the photo to the ninja pouch.
Fools have their uses, and Obito's naivety sometimes has surprising effects; once in the Land of Rain, he had a rather pleasant conversation with Yahiko.
PS: Double updates, seeking monthly votes; Xiao Ju will strive to update (Gojo Satoru face)