After the first round ended completely, eight finalists were produced.
After a short rest, the matchups for the second round were decided by drawing lots.
The opponent Sora encountered in the second round was also a girl from the Inuzuka clan.
Her strength was decent, but she was clearly a step below Raidō Namiashi, and her ninja dog was injured in the previous match and couldn't cooperate effectively.
Learning from the previous experience, Sora did not give her any chance to deploy tactics again.
As soon as the match began, he closed in with absolute speed, using a precise hand chop to avoid the ninja dog and lightly struck the side of the girl's neck, instantly rendering her temporarily unconscious and ending the fight.
"Winner, Sora!"
This victory was clean and neat, once again drawing exclamations of surprise from the spectator stands.
On the stands, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly, seemingly quite approving of Sora's efficient and non-excessive style.
However, Asuma encountered a setback in the second round. His opponent was from the Uchiha clan, named Uchiha Enta.
Although Uchiha Enta hadn't awakened his Sharingan either, his Uchiha-style shurikenjutsu and basic Fire Release techniques were quite proficient, and his taijutsu wasn't weak either.
"Winner, Uchiha Enta!"
Asuma punched the ground unwillingly, but gritted his teeth and stood up, bowing towards his father's direction on the stands before walking off the arena.
On the stands, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched his son's defeat. His face didn't show much disappointment, but instead held a trace of barely noticeable relief and seriousness.
He took a puff of his cigarette and said calmly to Jiraiya beside him,
"It's good to suffer some setbacks, it lets him know there are skies beyond skies, people beyond people. Jade that is not polished does not become a gem."
"As the Hokage's son, his future path is destined to be more difficult than others. Experiencing more failures now is better than paying the price with his life on a mission in the future."
His words were calm and steady. As a father, he might feel distressed, but as the Hokage, he understood the importance of tempering even more clearly.
With Asuma's defeat, all matches of the second round ended, officially announcing the top four finalists of this Ninja School practical exam!
Sora, Hikaru Hyuga, Ibiki Morino, Uchiha Enta.
These four undoubtedly represented the top combat strength among this year's new generation in Konoha Village.
The atmosphere at the scene became even more heated and tense. Everyone was looking forward to the upcoming semifinals.
This wasn't just a competition for ranking, but also an important display of clan, style, and even future path.
Sora's gaze slowly swept over the other three, finally settling on Hikaru Hyuga.
Hikaru seemed to sense it and also turned his head. Those white eyes looked calmly at Sora, the corner of his mouth still holding a gentle yet cold smile.
The atmosphere at the central arena grew even heavier. The top four were decided, and next were the semifinals to determine who had the qualification to compete for the championship.
The referee teacher walked to the center of the field holding a new lottery cylinder. Sora, Hikaru Hyuga, Ibiki Morino, Uchiha Enta stepped forward one by one to draw lots.
Sora took a deep breath, reached into the cylinder, and pulled out a paper slip, unfolding it.
It had the number "2" written on it.
'Number 2?'
Sora turned his head to look and saw that the number Uchiha Enta just pulled from the lottery bucket was '1'.
'Another Uchiha? I wonder how his strength compares to Uchiha Ryota?'
Immediately after, the referee loudly announced the drawing results, "Semifinal first match, Sora, versus, Uchiha Enta!"
Uchiha Enta seemed more steady than Uchiha Ryota. His face didn't have that arrogant expression, but deep in his eyes, he still carried the pride unique to the Uchiha clan.
'Uchiha Enta...' Sora quickly recalled in his mind, confirming that this character indeed didn't exist in the original work.
"Semifinal first match, Sora versus Uchiha Enta, both contestants please enter the arena!"
Sora and Uchiha Enta simultaneously stepped into the center of the arena.
"Please guide me." Uchiha Enta spoke first. His tone was still polite, but carried a sense of unwillingness to admit defeat.
He witnessed firsthand how Sora violently beat Uchiha Ryota. Being from the same Uchiha clan, he felt humiliated but also held a desire to restore the clan's honor.
"Please guide me." Sora returned the greeting calmly, while carefully observing Uchiha Enta.
His aura was steadier than Uchiha Ryota's, his chakra amount seemed slightly better, but...
For some reason, Sora intuitively felt that the sense of threat from this Uchiha Enta was even less than that from the previous Raidō Namiashi.
"Match begin!"
As soon as the referee's words fell, Uchiha Enta immediately moved his hands rapidly.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!"
He spat five or six fist-sized fireballs from his mouth, while simultaneously throwing several shuriken with both hands, hidden behind the fireballs as they shot towards Sora.
'Starting with this move again, he used it against Asuma too.'
Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red is the precursor to the C-rank Phoenix Flower Jutsu and belongs to D-rank.
Watching Uchiha Enta's match against Asuma, Sora noticed he used it very proficiently. He probably wouldn't take long to learn the C-rank Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
Choosing not to take it head-on, Sora forcefully exerted power from his feet. His body instantly shot forward to the left front, extremely fast, narrowly avoiding the coverage of the fireballs and shuriken.
"So fast!" someone exclaimed from the stands.
Seeing his attack miss, Uchiha Enta immediately retreated, while forming hand seals again, trying to create distance and continue suppressing with ninjutsu.
But how would Sora give him this chance?
The moment he avoided the attack, Sora's sprinting speed increased again, closing in on Uchiha Enta like an arrow released from its bow.
"So fast!" Uchiha Enta's pupils contracted. His hand seal movement was interrupted. In haste, he could only draw a kunai and hold it in front for defense.
Sora closed in, throwing a simple, direct straight punch towards Uchiha Enta's face, the fist wind whistling!
Uchiha Enta hurriedly used the side of his kunai to block.
Thud!
The fist collided with the kunai, emitting a dull sound.
Uchiha Enta felt a tremendous force transmitted from the kunai, making his wrist go numb. His body uncontrollably slid back several steps before barely stabilizing his posture.
'His power is too great!' Uchiha Enta was shocked inwardly, his arm still trembling slightly. He finally personally experienced what Uchiha Ryota felt then. This was simply not power on the same level!
"Enta, do your best!" Uchiha clansmen shouted from the audience seats.
But Sora wouldn't give him a chance, pressing forward step by step.
Fist, foot, elbow, knee... every part of his body became a sharp weapon. The offensive poured down like a violent storm.
Sora's taijutsu was forged under Might Duy's near-self-destructive hellish training. Its foundation was solid, movements concise and efficient, without any unnecessary flashiness. Every strike aimed directly for vital points!
Uchiha Enta could only awkwardly swing his kunai to block and evade.
His taijutsu was considered good among his peers, but under this pure taijutsu suppression from Sora, it wasn't enough at all.
The sounds of clanging collisions were incessant.
Uchiha Enta was completely forced into a passive state, pulled along by Sora's rhythm. Often blocking one punch, the next kick would already be before him. He was flustered, with dangerous situations arising repeatedly.
From the moment Sora closed in, he had already lost!