After the dinner party, everyone returned to their homes.
Naraku washed up, lay down on his bed, and rubbed his hands together, ready to routinely check if the animator had updated.
The result did not disappoint him; the anime updated several episodes at once.
Naraku clicked on the episode after the one he had watched, but he was puzzled that the part where Sakumo taught them the One Thousand Years of Death was missing.
Well, it seemed the animator wanted to save it for a flashback later.
This episode opened with the twenty-four candidates who had advanced to the third round of the Chunin Exams, standing in four neat rows, quietly listening to the Examiner announce the rules of the competition.
Naraku and Kakashi were each assigned opponents. Naraku's match was earlier, so Kakashi had time to come to his arena to watch the match.
[Finally, it's individual battles!]
[It's my favorite one-on-one segment again!]
[Naraku's opponent is a Hyuga? What a coincidence?]
[Holy crap, a showdown between two great Dojutsu?!]
[It won't be a showdown at all. Naraku probably won't activate his Sharingan. There's a post that analyzed Sakumo must have instructed him not to.]
[Beauty! Beauty, come closer!]
[Indeed, the Hyuga, like the Uchiha, tend to produce beauties.]
[Sister, step on me!]
[Ah, that look, as if she's looking at a dog, I'm captivated...]
[Kakashi came to watch the match~]
[I'm already used to their inseparable closeness.]
[You should have been used to it long ago; they had many pairings before.]
The battle between Naraku and Hyuga Haru had already begun.
Naraku, who attacked first, found that his ninja sword techniques were not very effective, so he switched to close-range Ninjutsu bombardment, pressing his advantage and making his opponent look quite disheveled.
Kakashi listened to the audience's discussions, a slight smile appearing on his face.
[Catching a blade with bare hands! Exciting!]
[The Hyuga Clan has very well-developed defenses against weapons, with many techniques and routines.]
[Holy crap, the ninja sword flew off!]
[Good heavens, that hand speed—five per second?]
[The audience is stunned!]
[Even a point-blank Great Fireball couldn't kill anyone. The Great Fireball is indeed the Fire of Mercy, hahahaha!]
[It's truly a bit hard to contain myself.]
[Still young, not knowing how to cherish and protect pretty girls at all.]
[How old is Naraku... why should he cherish and protect pretty girls?]
[Ninjas mature early; there are even those who marry before they're ten.]
[Tsk tsk tsk, Naraku is being praised. Kakashi, what are you laughing at?]
[Kakashi: They say my partner is strong, hehe.]
Naraku launched Lightning Release needles, and while Hyuga Haru was busy dodging, he quickly picked up the ninja sword that had just been knocked away and charged from behind her.
By the time Hyuga Haru realized something was wrong, it was too late. Naraku appeared behind her like a ghost, and from his stance, it looked like he was going to sever her shoulder.
Fortunately, Naraku stopped in time, not even scratching her skin.
[Naraku is definitely a good hand at herding sheep.]
[His Lightning Release needles were meticulously distributed, forcing the Hyuga to move to the position he had planned.]
[So, when drawing Naraku as a dog, should it be a Border Collie?]
[Is the breed of dog the point? Hey!]
[Who said earlier that our Naraku doesn't know how to cherish and protect pretty girls? Isn't this very gentlemanly?]
[To the previous comment, even if the opponent were a boy, Naraku probably wouldn't cut him down, right?]
[That's right, our Baby Naraku is so gentle; he wouldn't go for a killing blow.]
Having won the first match, Naraku jumped onto the spectator stands and saw Kakashi still looking carefree.
"Kakashi, aren't you going to prepare?"
"My match is the ninth one. I'll have enough time if I go after you finish."
"You should be a little more nervous, really. Come on, let's go, let's go."
Naraku grew anxious seeing his unhurried demeanor and pushed Kakashi forward with both hands from behind.
[Thanks, the sugar content is too high; I'm already dizzy.]
[Naraku is like an overprotective mom.]
[Naraku is definitely a J-type person.]
[That's me; if my flight is tomorrow morning, I wish I could be at the airport tonight, just afraid of being late.]
[Then Kakashi is probably a P-type person, not getting anxious until the last minute.]
[That's me, writing homework on the last day of summer/winter break.]
[When a J-type person hurries you, don't panic; there's still plenty of time.]
[But when a P-type person hurries you, you'd better not procrastinate, because there really isn't any time left.]
[Too real.]
Kakashi's opponent was from the Aburame Clan. Lightning Release and Fire Release were natural counters to those insects. After only a few moves, the Aburame forfeited.
[The Aburame had it rough.]
[He'll probably need a long time to recover his losses.]
[Aburame: This round was a huge loss.]
Next, the animator used a few scenes to quickly gloss over Naraku and Kakashi's second-round matches, probably feeling there were no spectacular moves worth dwelling on, so a simple explanation sufficed.
However, he did show most of the battle of Might Duy, who was quite popular among the audience.
When Might Duy narrowly lost to a member of the Kurama Clan, the audience cried out in regret.
[The feeling of fist-to-fist combat is so exhilarating!]
[After seeing too many glass cannons, Uncle Duy's battles are still more interesting.]
[Oh, if he had opened the Third Gate earlier, it might have been able to withstand that blow.]
[Does Uncle Duy really not practice any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, just Taijutsu?]
[He probably doesn't have the talent for it; otherwise, he would practice some. It's too limiting.]
[I feel Uncle Duy could get promoted. Not many in Konoha could withstand one of his kicks.]
[Yes, wasn't it said before that anyone who performs well has a chance? Uncle Duy shouldn't be worse than a Chunin, right?]
In the third round, Naraku had a bye, and Kakashi won, with both simultaneously entering the top four.
When the group list came out, the audience filled the screen with comments, saying they had already guessed the plot's development.
[Ha, I knew it!]
[I'm familiar with the plot tropes of all kinds of shonen anime; how could rivals meet before the finals?]
[Naraku versus Kurama, both are Genjutsu masters; this will be interesting.]
[Genjutsu is for girls; I want to see rivers of blood, Kiba! (Witty)]
In the semi-finals, the battle between Naraku and Kurama was not easy. Both had considerable Genjutsu prowess, with a continuous stream of Genjutsu clashing, one layer on top of another, quickly broken, making it difficult for either to inflict effective damage through such means.
But Naraku was not only skilled in Genjutsu. After reaching a stalemate in that aspect, he drew his ninja sword and demonstrated to Kurama what it meant to overwhelm with brute force.
[Inception vibes.]
[Kurama: How do you know... that the present you are in is real?]
[Naraku: You're an idiot. I can also cut people.]
[Naraku: It's simple. When you're cut down by me, that's when it's real.]
[Kurama: 6]
[Uncle Duy's eyes were practically popping out with envy.]
[Hahahahaha, it's Uncle Duy's fault that his Genjutsu resistance is so low. He didn't even get a chance to show off his 'power creates miracles'.]
Kakashi's side, however, was a complex Ninjutsu battle. His opponent possessed a rare Wind Release Chakra, which countered his most proficient Lightning Release Ninjutsu. He was not skilled in Fire Release, which could counter Wind Release, and even if he used it, it would just be a waste of effort.
Throughout the entire battle, Kakashi fought very passively.
During the match, Naraku was shown briefly, revealing his slightly nervous expression and clenched fists, fearing that Kakashi might accidentally lose to someone else.
In the end, Kakashi barely managed to win, relying on his larger Chakra reserves and skilled Earth Release Ninjutsu.
[I thought Kakashi was going to stop at the semi-finals.]
[That would be too ridiculous. Naraku finally made it to the finals, but his opponent wasn't Kakashi.]
[If he really lost, Naraku would nag Kakashi about it for the rest of his life.]
[He'd still bring it up and scold him even when they're old.]