The twelfth preliminary match: Shin vs. Yōrō.
The Root organization, originally founded single-handedly by that dead bastard Shimura Danzō, not only tricked children out of some of Konoha's clans, but also cultivated its own reserve forces. It even used the same "raise poison bugs in a jar" method—its brutality was about on par with Kirigakure's Bloody Mist policy.
The winner lived. The loser died. An absurd waste of manpower.
Most of Root's reserves came from carefully selected gifted children taken from orphanages both inside and outside the village. Shin and Sai had been among the finest representatives of that system. After Root was completely dismantled, those children were finally granted official Konoha identities and allowed to live normal lives under the sunlight.
Now, Shin had become one of the outstanding civilian ninja trained by Makoto's dōjō. He possessed considerable talent in ninjutsu, and with overwhelming strength, defeated Yōrō from Takigakure.
Watching from the stands, Kurenai finally let out a huge sigh of relief. At the very least, Team 9 had managed to get someone into the finals instead of getting completely wiped out.
And now, the final pressure landed squarely on Asuma and Shikamaru.
The two stared at each other. Shikamaru practically wanted to snatch the cigarette out of his teacher's hand and smoke a few himself to calm his nerves.
Why did someone who hated trouble always end up running into the most troublesome situations?
At this point, he could only pray he'd be the lucky one to get a bye. Otherwise, for Team 10's dignity, he'd have no choice but to seriously fight it out.
The twelfth preliminary match once again drew everyone's attention.
Because only three contestants remained:
Konoha — Nara Shikamaru
Kumogakure — Karui
Takigakure — Fū
One of them would automatically advance into next month's finals with a bye.
But only Shikamaru was praying for it. The other two girls were fired up instead, and seeing that only made Shikamaru feel even more troubled.
In the end, Fū laughed her way to victory.
As expected, girls who smile a lot tend to have good luck.
Or perhaps Konoha knew her identity and shamelessly stacked every possible luck buff onto her head.
Even Fū herself felt helpless about it. During the written exam, she hadn't answered a single question—she'd only shared a few thoughts at the end, yet somehow passed anyway. During the second exam, two bodyguards escorted her through the whole thing. And now, in the preliminaries, she'd drawn the one and only bye spot. She'd done absolutely nothing and still advanced into the finals without even getting a chance to show off.
With things already at this point, Shikamaru had no choice but to head down and fight for the final finals slot.
Fortunately, while he was lazy, his brain worked well. He had already analyzed Kumogakure ninja combat styles long ago and devised a corresponding strategy in his head.
So what was this? Unable to beat up his future wife, so he decided to throw heavy punches at his good buddy Chōji's future wife instead?
Both Karui and Omoi were disciples of Killer B, and their fighting styles were fairly similar. After a fierce battle, Shikamaru secured the victory, preventing Team 10 from becoming a joke.
With the preliminaries concluded, the fourteen genin participating in the finals were decided. They would face off one-on-one, with seven matches determining the final seven victors.
Thankfully, this was the Chūnin Exams, not some "Ninja World Genin Championship Tournament." The seven winners wouldn't need to keep fighting afterward to decide a top three ranking.
Hayate stepped forward.
"Today's fourteen winners are officially the participants of the third round of this year's Chūnin Selection Exams. We will now randomly determine the matchups."
The electronic screen began flashing as the genin waited for the results.
The final bracket was as follows:
First Match: Rock Lee vs. Gaara
Second Match: Hyūga Neji vs. Omoi
Third Match: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchiha Sasuke
Fourth Match: Tenten vs. Haku
Fifth Match: Shin vs. Hōzuki Suigetsu
Sixth Match: Aburame Shino vs. Haruno Sakura
Seventh Match: Fū vs. Nara Shikamaru
With their opponents now decided, some were delighted while others were miserable.
Both Sasuke and Naruto were quite satisfied. The two rivals who had constantly competed against each other would finally clash on the most important stage, before everyone's eyes, in a fated showdown.
Lee was the happiest of all. Not only was he opening the finals, but his opponent was also the mysterious and overwhelmingly powerful "Sand Gourd Kid." His anticipation for the finals instantly shot through the roof.
Shikamaru: "..."
Out of everyone present, he was probably the most depressed. After finally making it into the finals, he still ended up fighting last. His opponent was still a woman—and worse, one who had never revealed her abilities before.
He genuinely felt like his own village was targeting him.
Hayate continued: "The matches will take place on August 1st. You have nearly a month to improve your strength, gather intelligence on your opponents, and formulate suitable strategies."
"So work hard. I hope all of you can put on an excellent match."
"That's all for today."
...
As everyone left the central tower, Makoto noticed someone beside him repeatedly glancing his way.
His passive perception was extremely sharp. The moment the other person stole another look at him, he suddenly turned his head—
—and immediately saw a breathtaking view.
Makoto was about the same height as Asuma. Looking downward from above, the cleavage was deep and dramatic. As expected of Kumogakure's number one beauty, someone capable of competing with Tsunade in bust size.
Women saw it and couldn't stop flaunting it. Men saw it and their backs nearly gave out.
From boys of eight to old men of eighty, no male creature was safe from looking. One extra glance and their whole bodies would tremble. They'd go home and silently swallow bitter drinks beside their yellow-faced wives, from then on letting their worldview follow those three measurements instead.
But Makoto was a serious ninja, unmoved by beauty.
"What? Did I beat you up on the battlefield before?"
Samui replied, "No, we never met on the battlefield. But you did beat up one of my friends."
"I've beaten up too many Kumogakure ninja. How would I remember? Man or woman?"
The moment Omoi and the other two heard that, they instantly got pissed off, but none of them dared to do anything. Makoto was basically Kumogakure's nightmare incarnate.
Samui, however, remained calm.
"A woman."
"Don't tell me it was Yugito? Is her face okay?"
"She recovered pretty well. She'll still be able to get married."
"You… aren't planning to avenge her, are you?"
"I can't beat you anyway, and I don't want my face ruined."
For once, the woman revealed a faint smile after saying that. Then she quickly left with her subordinates, her swaying figure and perfect curves drawing the eye effortlessly.
Makoto, Asuma, Tokuma: stare.
Guy: What even are women? Are they more fun than Kakashi?
Kurenai snapped, "You three bastards, have you stared long enough or not?"
Tokuma immediately said, "Kurenai-senpai, you know me. The Hyūga Clan has strict family values."
Asuma added, "Kurenai, you know me too. My eyes only have room for you."
Makoto followed up, "Kurenai-senpai, you know me. The bed at my house… isn't that big."
"You three should learn from Guy." Kurenai glared at the trio of horny bastards, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Makoto-kun, the other villages are absolutely drooling over your genes. Be careful they don't use a honey trap on you. No, I need to go tell Yūgao and Honoka to keep an eye on you."
Makoto instantly surrendered. "Senpai, I was wrong. Please show mercy with your words."
Guy suddenly asked, "Are you talking about Kumogakure planning to do something against Konoha?"
Asuma and Tokuma answered in unison, "Go play with your Kakashi."
After returning to Konoha, each team was dismissed.
The younger generation had struggled through an entire day in the Forest of Death, then immediately participated in the preliminaries afterward. At this point, everyone needed to go home and rest.
The Forest of Death was not far from the dōjō. Makoto originally planned to head straight home, but after his passive perception picked up a familiar chakra signature nearby, he changed his mind.
Outside the Konoha hot spring baths, a certain white-haired old pervert was sneakily picking out a good spot, apparently gathering material for his novel updates.
Without making a sound, Makoto appeared directly behind him.
"Jiraiya-sama, do you know what all the Konoha kunoichi who know you have in common?"
"Wha—?!" Jiraiya jumped in fright and turned around. "Oh, it's you, Makoto. Why the hell do you appear like a ghost?"
"Answer my question."
Jiraiya's old face reddened slightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I'll just tell you directly then. The thing they all have in common is that none of them dare visit the hot springs whenever you're back in the village. Please try acting like a human being for once. No wonder you've never managed to win over your goddess."
"You know, the most important virtue a man can have is devotion. Women hate shameless perverts the most—especially strong-willed women."
Jiraiya burst out laughing. "You dare say that to me? Would you dare go home and say the same thing to your two girlfriends?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Makoto replied confidently. "I devotedly love my wings. You know, wings are only complete when they come in a pair."
Jiraiya: "..."
"As expected of you, Makoto. In terms of shamelessness, I acknowledge you as the strongest in the ninja world."
"Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, serious business now. Jiraiya-sama, why did you suddenly come back? Did you discover some conspiracy targeting Konoha?"
"Not exactly. But while investigating Orochimaru, I discovered he joined a mysterious organization. And that organization is gathering many infamous S-rank missing-nin from across the ninja world. Their goal is probably huge."
"You mean the Akatsuki, right?"
Jiraiya looked genuinely surprised. "How do you know that? I only uncovered that information recently. I haven't even told Minato yet."
"Simple. I have an inside agent."
"Don't tell me it's Orochimaru? That doesn't make sense. How did you convince him?"
"Very simple. Orochimaru has already developed a form of immortality. And I'm one of the few people who can truly kill him—the kind where even Impure World Reincarnation couldn't bring him back."
"I see..." Jiraiya's expression became complicated. "So he's already reached that stage? Terrifying. You really should kill him."
"Do you honestly want me to kill him, Jiraiya-sama?"
Jiraiya: "..."
"Besides, he's more useful alive than dead."
"Fine. Maybe you're right." Jiraiya sighed. "Did he tell you anything else?"
"The Akatsuki's ultimate goal is to gather the tailed beasts and force permanent peace upon the ninja world through overwhelming violence and deterrence."
"A dangerous organization indeed. Looks like I'll need to investigate them thoroughly."
Makoto immediately cut him off.
"No, Jiraiya-sama. I want you to stop here and not pursue the matter any further. Orochimaru's information is enough."
"Minato-senpai and I will keep watching this ourselves. If you investigate recklessly, you could disrupt our plans."
"And most importantly, it's dangerous. The leader of the Akatsuki is a man who calls himself a god. Orochimaru couldn't even fight back against him. We don't want anything happening to you, understand?"
Jiraiya considered it for a while before finally accepting.
"Alright. Maybe I really am getting old. I'll leave troublesome matters like this to you youngsters."
"Don't worry. As long as I'm around, nothing will happen. You should just focus on searching for your Child of Prophecy."
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