Chapter 79: The Preliminaries
But Naruto's answer just now made Sasuke realize that Naruto didn't actually know everything.
After the three of them chatted for a while longer, Naruto said to Sasuke, "You take the night watch. Sakura and I need to get some proper rest."
Sasuke didn't refuse. He knew that Naruto and Sakura had basically been looking after him this entire way, so they definitely hadn't rested well.
When Sasuke had endured until the latter half of the night, Naruto sat up, looked at him, and said, "You rest now! I'll take over the watch."
Sasuke nodded. Just as he was about to lie down, he thought back to the words Naruto had spoken in the Land of Waves.
Ever since returning from the Land of Waves, Sasuke had been thinking about Naruto's claim that the Konoha Leadership could not tolerate the Uchiha.
Sasuke looked down at Naruto and asked, "Last time you said the Konoha Leadership couldn't tolerate the Uchiha—which specific high-ranking officials?"
"This isn't the place to talk. You just need to remember that among those who dead-set on exterminating the Uchiha is Danzo Shimura; don't worry about the others for now."
Sasuke originally wanted to argue a bit more with Naruto, but seeing Naruto glance toward Sakura, he roughly understood what was going on.
The next day:
After Naruto woke up, Sasuke packed his gear and headed into the Forest of Death. Every time he returned, he was covered in wounds, requiring Naruto to treat him.
Once Naruto finished the treatment and Sasukerested for a while, he would head back into the Forest of Death again.
It wasn't until the deadline was nearly up that Sasuke finally stumbled back, his body riddled with injuries.
Naruto didn't comment further, simply supporting Sasuke as they entered the testing area.
After Naruto opened the two scrolls, they saw Iruka.
When the two scrolls were brought together, they actually functioned as a Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
Iruka stood there lecturing them about the Will of Fire, with absolutely no intention of stopping.
Seeing Naruto's attitude, Iruka sighed inwardly. He knew that back at the Ninja Academy, he hadn't paid much attention to the boy, so he had no right to lecture him now.
Once Iruka finished speaking, Naruto helped heal Sasuke's wounds.
"Rest for a bit! There's going to be a round of one-on-one duels in a moment."
Sakura looked at Naruto in disbelief and asked, "It's not over yet?"
"Nonsense! We've only just graduated. How could a normal promotion to Chunin be that easy? Usually, it requires a massive accumulation of completed missions. A Ninja exam like this is a special promotion, so naturally, we have to let our strength do the talking. Furthermore, after this round of one-on-one duels, the remaining people will have another round of one-on-one duels in the Village. Only then will it be decided who gets promoted to Chunin."
Hearing this, Sakura said dejectedly, "So that's how it is!"
Not long after they had rested, Kakashi arrived to inform them to head to the hall of the Central Tower for the one-on-one duels.
Hearing Kakashi's notification, Sakura knew Narutowas right. She dejectedly followed Sasuke and Naruto to the hall of the Central Tower.
By the time the three of them arrived, almost everyone who had passed the second exam was already there.
Immediately after, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen began speaking about why the Chunin Exams were held between allied nations.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to explain the rules for the third stage...
A sickly-looking Ninja jumped out and interrupted Hiruzen Sarutobi's speech.
"Lord Third, the rest is my job."
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the sickly Ninja and said, "Ho ho ho! Very well, I'll leave the rest to you, Gekkō Hayate."
"Yes, Lord Third!"
After Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped down, Gekkō Hayate looked at the crowd below and said, "I will now announce the rules for the third exam."
As soon as Gekkō Hayate finished speaking, he began to cough violently. Naruto was truly afraid that Gekkō Hayate might cough up a lung.
"Before announcing the third exam, we must first hold a preliminary round."
Everyone present started clamoring when they heard there would be a preliminary round.
*Cough, cough, cough!* "Quiet, quiet! You may not understand why a preliminary is necessary. It is because the first and second exams were perhaps a bit too simple, and too many people remain. We must hold a preliminary for the third exam to ensure the proper number of participants for the actual third stage."
After speaking, Gekkō Hayate had another fit of coughing.
"If there are any among you who are injured or otherwise unfit to participate in the preliminaries, you may withdraw now. Oh! Right! The preliminaries are individual matches. Even if one person withdraws, it will not affect the other two on their team. I'll give you all five minutes."
As soon as Gekkō Hayate's voice trailed off, Yakushi Kabuto, who had been secretly observing Sasuke, stepped forward.
"Proctor, I withdraw!"
No one expected Yakushi Kabuto to withdraw. Sakura looked at him in confusion and asked, "Senior Kabuto, why are you withdrawing?"
"I was actually already injured during the first exam. Right now, I can't hear anything at all in my left ear."
Sakura nodded after hearing this and didn't say anything more.
After Yakushi Kabuto left, Gekkō Hayate began explaining the rules of the preliminaries.
"The upcoming preliminaries will be in the form of actual combat. Since that Genin just withdrew, there are exactly twenty people left, so there will be ten duels. The winners will be able to participate in the third stage of the Ninja exams. There are no rules. If one side dies, is unable to continue fighting, or surrenders, the other side is deemed the winner. There is one other case: if one side is clearly no longer capable of fighting, I will step in to stop it to avoid death, which will also be deemed a victory for the opponent. Are there any other questions?"
At that moment, Gaara suddenly spoke up: "So you can't kill the opponent after they surrender, right?"
"Correct! Any other questions?"
The people present remained silent, indicating they had no more questions.
"Very well! Then the electronic bulletin board will now select the opponents for each match."
Soon, the names of Sasuke and Might Guyappeared on the electronic display board.
"Will Uchiha Sasuke and Might Guy please step forward? The rest of you may go to the second floor to observe the match."
Once everyone was on the second floor, the match began.
This duel was indeed a bit difficult for Sasuke. He had been fighting at high intensity for the past two days; his Chakra was running low, and he was physically and mentally exhausted.
Consequently, their taijutsu exchange was a fairly even back-and-forth.
However, Naruto had forgotten Might Guy's ability: Yoroi had a technique in his palms that could absorb an opponent's Chakra and mental energy.
Inadvertently, Sasuke had what little remained of his Chakra and mental energy drained by Might Guy, forcing him to resort to the power of the Cursed Seal.
The moment the Cursed Seal erupted, every muscle in Sasuke's body throbbed with swelling pain.
Sasuke recalled Naruto's words: the Cursed Seal also absorbed the Natural Energy of heaven and earth.