Hearing that Minato surrendered, Satoru finally fully relaxed.
"Rasengan, Hiraishin, Summoning Technique... this Minato really knows how to surprise!"
"That last technique was luckily stopped, otherwise who knows what would have happened..." Satoru was very alarmed.
"Finally... The winner! Satoru!" The Third Hokage finally announced the end of the fight. Satoru earned the right to advance to the semifinals.
"Good! Now all participants who passed the second preliminary round have the right to compete in the subsequent semifinals. The semifinals are 4 vs 2 fights. Once you pass this fight, you can directly enter the finals."
"So, the winners of this stage are: Uchiha Jinpu, Matsubara No, Taigaku, Satoru," the Third announced.
And Satoru felt very mixed emotions. Besides himself, the other three were from the same team. Considering they reached the central tower first, it could only mean one thing.
Namely — their incredible strength.
"Looks like I'll have to fight two more times... Wonder how they'll arrange it," Satoru pondered.
"Good! Then let's not waste time! Our semifinal draw starts now! The screen is spinning!" After the Third's words, he quickly shouted "stop."
Then on the screen appeared "Uchiha Jinpu vs Taigaku." In the end, three of them were from the same team, so they definitely had to face each other.
And Uchiha Jinpu, looking at Taigaku, then at the Third, didn't seem to want to fight much.
"Will you fight?" the Third Hokage asked.
"I will," though Uchiha Jinpu was in a difficult position, he still decided to fight.
However, judging by his look, he was still somewhat hesitant. And very soon, a jonin suddenly appeared on the arena, whispered something to the Third. The Third eventually nodded and announced:
"Uchiha Jinpu forfeits the fight."
"Forfeited? The Uchiha genius with three tomoe voluntarily forfeited?"
"What a weakling! I thought it would be a spectacular fight! What a disappointment!"
"Why did he forfeit? Did he realize he's no match for his teammate?"
The audience around was very dissatisfied, but Satoru understood Uchiha Jinpu's intent.
"Forfeit to avoid draining his teammate's strength and chakra... That way, even if I beat Matsubara No, they'll still be fresh and rested? How clever."
"But can this Matsubara No wear me down? That's the question," Satoru was very confident in his abilities.
The Third Hokage immediately announced the fight of Satoru vs Matsubara No. Satoru also immediately stepped onto the arena.
"Forfeited outright? Not like your style. I wanted to fight you," Satoru said to the departing Jinpu.
"There'll be a chance in the future. For now, beat Matsubara No first," Jinpu didn't say much and left the arena.
And then Matsubara No stepped onto the arena.
This Matsubara No was about ten years old. His muscular body seemed not from great strength, but from high speed.
Obviously, his chakra nature was also Wind. He could use Wind Release to enhance his body and make his speed even higher.
Honestly, it was a bit like Namikaze Minato.
However, Satoru knew that this guy's aces definitely weren't limited to just speed, otherwise he couldn't have reached the semifinals so smoothly.
"You're Satoru, right? I heard you're very strong. Hope you don't disappoint me. I really want a good fight," Matsubara No didn't act recklessly from the start but eagerly awaited the fight with Satoru. Satoru respected such an opponent too.
"Good, I get it. In that case, I'll fight you head-on," Satoru decided to adapt to the opponent's fighting style to warm up and get into top form.
"The fight begins!" The Third Hokage announced the official start of the fight. And, as Satoru expected, this Matsubara No rushed at him at incredible speed.
And Satoru, like a rhino, charged to meet him.
A real battlefield shouldn't be like this. Ninjas should prioritize the mission first, and if needed, finish the opponent. But this time, Satoru decided to smash everything with raw power.
"Monstrous Strength!" Satoru, charging forward, punched the ground hard.
*Boom!*
The ground made a sound and immediately cracked.
"What powerful force! Destroyed the arena with one punch!" The spectators were also shocked. They couldn't imagine such huge energy hidden in Satoru's small body.
However, this world was illogical from the start. With Senjutsu, one could become incredibly strong. There were plenty of such anomalies.
Looking at the arena, Matsubara No had already stopped his rush. After all, no matter how high the speed, you need solid footing. If he rushed so fast without footing, he'd just fall into the pit.
So Matsubara No quickly stabilized his position. At the same time, he still attacked Satoru from range.
"Shuriken!" Matsubara No seemed to know some fighting methods, but he threw shuriken terribly, almost hitting the spectators.
"Ha-ha-ha! This is interesting!"
"This guy can't throw shuriken!"
Many spectators couldn't hold back laughter. Satoru didn't laugh but calmly analyzed the opponent's abilities.
"Looks like you're not strong in ranged combat, so you use speed to close the distance?" Satoru had already analyzed the opponent's abilities.
"You might not be great at ninjutsu, and genjutsu even worse. Looks like you're a pure taijutsu fighter," Satoru didn't use genjutsu to win instantly. Out of respect, he decided to beat him with taijutsu.
"Right! I'm a taijutsu fighter!" Then Matsubara No quickly closed in on Satoru and began a series of fierce attacks.
Sharingan, Byakugan, sensory abilities, Observation Haki...
With these abilities, Satoru faced Matsubara No's attacks without any pressure. No matter how fast the attacks, Satoru could easily dodge them.
"How is that possible?! You can keep up with my speed?!" Matsubara No could hardly believe his eyes.
"Why is keeping up with your speed so strange?" Satoru, dodging the opponent's attacks, said: "I can not only dodge your attacks but counterattack too!"
Saying this, Satoru really punched Matsubara No in the stomach, then kicked him away.
Satoru hadn't even used Armament Haki and already sent Matsubara No flying to the other end of the arena.
"So strong! This guy is so strong! Speed and power far surpass mine..."
Matsubara No struggled to his feet, then tore off the bandage from his arm and said:
"Good! Good! Can't drag it out anymore! Need to use full power to beat him!"