"The ninja forces of the Land of Rain are developing pretty well. This ninja called Nagato looks very strong." The Daimyo of the Land of Fire said to the Daimyo of the Land of Rain sitting beside him.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire didn't understand things like Chakra Control or Nature Transformation, but every Ninjutsu Nagato used caused massive destruction, with full-on special effects; it clearly wasn't simple.
"Indeed." The Daimyo of the Land of Rain nodded in cheerful agreement.
He suddenly felt this Ninja Sect wasn't bad at all—at least it could earn him some face.
Even ordinary people could sense how formidable Nagato was, so the participating ninja all the more so.
"He's that good with Earth Release too… then is it possible he's also proficient in Lighting Attribute Ninjutsu and Water Attribute Ninjutsu?" After thinking it through carefully, Kakashi realized Nagato was very likely proficient in Five Elements Ninjutsu.
Because besides using a Reverse Attribute Fire Release to defeat Hanzo, what the Ninja Master Sosuke was most renowned for was his mastery of seven kinds of Chakra Nature Changes and their Ninjutsu.
Since Nagato was now learning under Sosuke, it wasn't impossible for him to master multiple Chakra Nature Changes and their Ninjutsu.
When estimating an enemy's strength, you naturally aim as high as possible; overestimating is always better than underestimating.
"That Sage Eye—what exactly can it do?" What Kakashi cared about most was still those eyes of the Six Paths Sage on Nagato's body.
Just by using the Transparent World to sense them, Kakashi could feel a lethal threat coming from those eyes.
"We can only see whether Aburame Shibi and Sunagani can force him to show more of his hand next." Kakashi thought as he glanced at the matchup list.
Aburame Shibi had drawn number three; as long as he won the upcoming match, he would face Nagato in the second round.
"You have to beat him to get into the top four. That's a bit of a hassle." Sasori casually glanced over, only to find that Nagato's strength was far from ordinary—and he just happened to be stuck exactly at the placement Sasori wanted.
If Nagato were his opponent after he'd already made the top four, Sasori would either directly forfeit or throw the match; he only wanted a Chakra Blade, after all.
But with Nagato becoming the roadblock to his advancement into the semifinals, Sasori had to think about how to defeat Nagato without exposing himself.
Sasori wasn't afraid of cannon-type ninja like Nagato, because Sasori dealt in poison. No matter how powerful your Ninjutsu, if you accidentally got poisoned by Sasori, you'd step straight into a dead end.
"Number three, Aburame Shibi versus number four…" The referee's voice quickly echoed through the resting room again.
Aburame Shibi pushed up his sunglasses with a finger and silently walked toward the battlefield.
The Hidden Rock Ninja who had also been called out exchanged a word with his teammate, then hurriedly followed.
The result went exactly as Kakashi expected: Aburame Shibi won.
Although he'd never fought Aburame Shibi himself, Kakashi knew Shibi was one of the contestants Hiruzen Sarutobi had personally consulted about, so his strength definitely wasn't weak.
The matches quickly progressed to the fourth bout of the first round. The moment Kakashi heard the names the referee called, he focused his mind.
"Number seven, Yahiko, versus number eight, Sunagani!"
"Yahiko, be careful of his hidden weapons—Puppet Masters all like to use poison." Nagato spoke up to remind him.
"Yeah, I know. After all, he's one of the people Minister Kakuzu specifically warned us about." Yahiko nodded with a grin.
The intel Kakuzu had provided was already detailed enough; if he still lost, then it could only mean his own strength wasn't good enough—he couldn't blame anyone else.
"Yahiko, do your best." Konan encouraged him.
"I'll do my best to win this fight. Even if I can't make it to the finals like Obito said, I at least have to push into the top eight—getting knocked out in the first round would be kind of embarrassing." Yahiko laughed as he walked toward the battlefield.
If Yahiko advanced to the top eight, his next opponent would be Nagato. Yahiko understood the gap between the two of them very well, so in his heart, making the top eight already counted as a success.
Besides, there were quite a few strong ninja in this Youth Martial Arts Tournament. If he could break into the top eight, Yahiko felt he could treat Konan and Nagato to a meal to celebrate.
"Begin the match!"
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"
Just as the referee's voice fell, Yahiko quickly formed Hand Seals, leapt up, and spat a massive water sphere at Sasori.
He wanted to use the Great Waterfall Jutsu to create favorable conditions for using Water Release.
Sasori maintained his indifferent expression, took a few steps back, pulled out a Scroll, and took Hiruko out from it. While dodging the impact of the torrent, he controlled Hiruko to launch an attack on Yahiko.
"Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu!"
Worried about the poison on the puppet, Yahiko used Instant Body to pull away and then split off two Water Clones, intending to have the clones deal with Sasori's puppet.
Reality proved Yahiko's concern was justified—right as he dodged aside, Sasori's puppet opened its mouth and spat a large number of high-speed Poison Needles.
If Yahiko hadn't created enough distance in time, there would've been no way to avoid such fast Poison Needles at close range.
Next, Yahiko's Water Clones charged at Hiruko, while Yahiko himself went straight for Sasori's real body.
When facing a Puppet Master, the best method was to attack the body, because the Puppet Master's own body was nowhere near as tough as his puppets.
"Water Release: Water Spear!"
Yahiko formed Hand Seals and gathered a swirling vortex of water in his hands. The water spun at high speed, then transformed into three long-handled Water Spears that shot toward Sasori at high velocity.
This was a Water Release technique developed by Mokgetsu, specializing in Penetration Power.
The sharp Water Spears didn't cause the slightest ripple in Sasori's heart. While he used one hand to control Hiruko's Tail Spike to deal with the Water Clones, he pulled out another Scroll containing a puppet and summoned it, then controlled the Defense Puppet to block the incoming Water Spears.