"What's wrong, Hokage-sama? Are you not satisfied with the two children's performance?" Ōnoki asked, seemingly having seen through Torifu's thoughts.
Torifu waved his hand. "Not really. Both of these children were painstakingly trained by me. It's not good to be biased towards either, so I might as well not care about either of them. It saves me from getting annoyed by their mistakes."
The others clearly hadn't expected Torifu to answer that way and were momentarily at a loss for words.
"Hokage-sama's way of thinking is quite interesting. As long as you don't care about either of them, there's no favoritism at all. I truly admire that, hahaha." Ōnoki chuckled, then continued to watch the match. These two youngsters were quite skilled.
At such a young age, their chakra reserves were already astonishing. He remembered being that age and feeling grateful just to be able to use one jutsu.
Times had changed.
Konan, suspended in mid-air, stared at the puddle on the arena floor. In what seemed like an instant, a very fine stream of water shot out from the puddle, passing through the layers of protective white paper in front of her like a thread!
Seeing that it was about to hit, Konan immediately dodged to the side, a truly perilous moment.
"Is that, Heavenly Weeping? It seems to be a simplified version. This youngster has quite a few trump cards." Tobirama hadn't expected that this little rascal Yahiko could create a substitute version of such a difficult jutsu of his.
He felt a wave of emotion, wondering if his Water Release jutsu would soon be surpassed.
"This kid's strategy is good. Hiding in the water and using hidden attacks to drain Konan's mental and physical energy. He's quite cunning, just like Torifu." Hashirama grumbled from the side.
However, the idea was naturally a good one, but the puddle created by the Water Clone Jutsu was too small. It couldn't provide Yahiko with much protection.
Seeing this, Konan immediately released a large amount of white paper, then scattered a handful of explosive tags mixed in with the paper. She quickly performed hand signs, and the explosive tags and white paper folded into butterflies, which then flew towards the puddle on the ground.
A continuous rumbling filled the air, and the entire arena began to shake.
Seeing the spectacle, the villagers were naturally delighted, having unlocked Konan's new jutsu.
But Chōza felt a chill down his spine and immediately pulled out the white paper butterfly from his pocket. "This... this won't explode, will it?"
Shikaku, still feeling down about missing out on being a game character, merely gave Chōza a perfunctory answer. This only made Chōza more panicked. The small paper butterfly felt like a hot potato, impossible to hold onto or throw away.
"What are you afraid of? Konan-sama's are explosive tags, yours is just plain paper." Inoichi finally gave Chōza a shot of confidence, and only then did Chōza put the paper butterfly back into his pocket.
Meanwhile, on the arena floor, the small puddle Yahiko had created was completely gone after such a furious bombardment. In fact, cracks had appeared all over the arena floor, preventing water from lingering.
Yahiko could only switch to a different fighting method. He quickly formed hand signs, and a cloud of mist emerged from his mouth.
Mist Concealment Jutsu—this could corrode Konan's paper; they had tested it before. But Konan had long been prepared for this jutsu.
Her light swallow wings transformed into heavy angel wings, fanning strong gusts of wind across the arena. In just a few movements, the mist was blown away.
But by then, Yahiko's jutsu was also complete. A crane cry echoed! A cerulean crane flew towards Konan.
It was wreathed in flowing water and continuously spat water arrows at Konan. Konan used paper shuriken to defend, and the two entered a stalemate once more.
This was exactly what Yahiko wanted. Konan's explosive tags and various jutsu had greater destructive power than his. So, if they went all out, he would clearly be at a great disadvantage, and even a slight lapse in attention could lead to a mistake.
Therefore, he chose to use his most familiar tactic to defeat Konan.
Seeing Yahiko's choice, Torifu showed a slight smile from the viewing platform. It was about what he expected. In his fight against Konan, Yahiko still chose the safest approach. Although this tactic might not look very good if he won.
"This kid intends to fight Konan in a battle of attrition. Was this taught by Hokage-sama?"
Torifu shook his head. "No, they spar often, and this kid figured out a method himself that works wonders against Konan. But whether it will succeed this time is still unknown."
Ōnoki nodded upon hearing this. From the sound of it, the Hokage had given Konan some special training? And he said he wasn't biased? This was clearly favoritism!
However, Ōnoki didn't say anything. They were his disciples; what business was it of his? He should just focus on watching the match; a winner would likely be decided soon.
On the arena floor, Konan found herself somewhat restricted by the constantly interfering water crane. She knew Yahiko was using a classic tactic; every time he used this move against her, Konan found it difficult to counter.
Because Konan wanted to maintain her advantage, she had to fly in the sky, but flying also consumed a lot of chakra. If her chakra ran out and she landed, she would undoubtedly lose.
'I still have half my chakra, and Yahiko's jutsu consumes more chakra, so he'll only have a little more chakra than me.' Konan analyzed in her mind. She didn't underestimate this small difference. If she ran out and Yahiko still had a little, she would definitely lose.
These past few days, because of Torifu's words, Konan had been practicing in the backyard every night. Torifu's words had indeed made her realize something, she just didn't know if it would be useful.
If it failed, it would consume a large amount of chakra, and she would certainly only get second place. However, there was no other option right now; if they continued to stalemate, the result would be the same. She could only try her best!
Konan gathered all the surrounding white paper, condensing it into a massive paper spear! She also mixed in many explosive tags.
Then, she released a large amount of white paper again, sending it towards Yahiko. The paper spear, meanwhile, was aimed at the water crane flying in the sky, constantly harassing her!
This single paper spear had several times the power of a normal one! The moment it touched the water crane, it exploded! The explosive tag's damage instantly obliterated the water crane into splashes!
Yahiko was extremely surprised at this moment. He didn't know when Konan had learned this move. It seemed like just an increase in size, but the chakra control involved was much more precise!
However, he was currently facing the crisis of being enveloped by white paper and couldn't afford to worry about too much.