From a little after 7:00 a.m., people throughout Konohagakure began making their way toward the circular arena.
Since there were simply too many spectators—including Konoha residents, tourists, merchants from various countries, and more—tickets were being sold for the third-round finals of this year's Chūnin Exams.
Fortunately, Konoha's people weren't short on money, and those who came to watch in Konoha were even less so. The ticket sales alone generated considerable revenue.
The bigger source of income, however, came from the surge in consumer spending brought by the massive crowds.
After a brief discussion, the other four Great Ninja Villages all expressed envy and began considering whether they could replicate this competition model themselves.
Times were changing, and the ninja villages could no longer cling to their old mystique and isolation. They had to keep pace with the era.
In recent years, quite a few underground ninja arenas funded by private merchants had appeared throughout the shinobi world. These events treated ninja battles as gladiatorial entertainment. The format was crude, brutal, and reduced ninja to mere playthings, naturally earning the displeasure of the major villages.
Unfortunately, despite repeated crackdowns, such arenas kept resurfacing because the profits were simply too great.
Perhaps using legitimate tournaments to squeeze illegal competitions out of the market wasn't such a bad idea.
Around 8:30 a.m., Makoto arrived at the arena with Honoka.
The two leisurely took seats in the audience section to the right of the main platform. Their seats were near the front, offering an excellent view and an outstanding spectator experience.
As for Yūgao, she was an ANBU operative and a member of the Fourth Hokage's personal guard unit. Her duties today were extensive, so there was no chance she could sit back and enjoy the matches as a spectator.
Minato had originally wanted Makoto to sit on the main platform, but he had declined. The last thing he wanted was to spend the day playing political games with the Five Kage. That sounded exhausting.
Even Jiraiya and Tsunade had made the same choice, and both were seated beside him.
The matches would officially begin at 9:00 a.m. Spectators continued filling the arena, and even the main platform was now occupied by the various Kage.
They weren't sitting particularly far from Makoto. Ninja eyesight was generally excellent.
Rasa and Ōnoki gave Makoto polite nods of greeting.
Makoto returned the gesture with equal courtesy.
Though neither had met him in person before, information on a certain individual had long since become one of the highest-priority intelligence topics in every village.
The Raikage had his own grudge against Makoto, but even he wouldn't abandon proper etiquette in a public setting like this.
The most enthusiastic by far was Terumī Mei.
When their eyes met, she wore a charming smile, seeming highly interested in the mysterious and powerful man.
More importantly, he was handsome.
The Fifth Mizukage had always been something of a face enthusiast.
Honoka remarked, "I heard that's Kirigakure's newly appointed Fifth Mizukage. She's also the first female Kage in shinobi history. Makoto, she's very beautiful, isn't she?"
Makoto replied, "With hair that long covering half her face, who knows what she actually looks like? Maybe she has a scar or a birthmark over her right eye."
Jiraiya immediately shook his head.
"No, no, Makoto. With all my years of flower-viewing experience, I can guarantee that Mizukage-sama is an absolutely peerless beauty."
Makoto stared at him in disbelief.
"..."
Jiraiya-sama, did you feed your entire emotional intelligence stat to Rocky the husky?
How could you say something like that right in front of Tsunade?
This was definitely not the moment to show off your extensive experience.
Honestly, it was just immature.
No wonder he'd spent so many years failing to win the goddess's heart.
Sure enough, Tsunade shot her old teammate a vicious glare.
"Oh? Jiraiya, sounds like you've got quite the wealth of experience. From the looks of it, you haven't been seriously searching for the Child of Prophecy at all these years. You've just been drinking and chasing women."
Jiraiya: "..."
I'm such an idiot. Really, truly an idiot!
Tsunade wasn't finished.
"And you, brat, don't think you're innocent either. Why do you think she only smiled at you?"
She snorted.
"Honoka, don't worry. If he dares flirt with the Mizukage, I'll gouge his eyeballs out myself."
Makoto: "..."
Setting aside the fact that, with his current physique, even if his eyes were gouged out they would regenerate instantly...
The real question was:
Could a medic even beat him?
Still, Makoto was an honest man.
Honest men didn't argue with women.
Remaining silent was the safest choice.
At that moment, a man carrying a briefcase approached and quietly asked, "Higashino-sama, do you have any favorites for today's matches? Interested in placing a few bets?"
Makoto pointed at Tsunade.
"Talk to her. She's the real high roller."
"You're absolutely right, sir, but this lady has already been one of our clients for quite some time."
"Oh? Then my apologies. I'm not interested."
After sending the bookmaker away, Makoto turned curiously toward Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama, Konoha's genin are extremely strong. Their chances of winning are pretty high, and the results seem fairly obvious. What's there to bet on?"
Tsunade said, "Then you're mistaken. Leaving aside the two all-Konoha matches, for the other five fights, people aren't just betting on who wins or loses. They're also betting on how long each match will last. There's a different payout bracket for every minute."
Makoto: "..."
All he could say was that he'd underestimated the gambling businesses operating on the organization's outskirts.
He had thought Tsunade might finally shake off her reputation as the Ultimate Sucker through this event, but apparently that wasn't happening.
May she remain a walking fat sheep for the rest of her life.
That was good news for Konoha.
Honoka asked worriedly, "In that case, aren't you concerned that someone might threaten the contestants into throwing matches?"
Tsunade let out a cold laugh.
"Give them ten times the courage and they still wouldn't dare."
Makoto added, "Don't worry, Honoka. The village already prepared for that possibility."
Konoha didn't prohibit gambling.
But interfering with the matches was absolutely forbidden.
...
At exactly 9:00 a.m., the finals officially began.
Gekkō Hayate appeared in the center of the arena with a Body Flicker Technique.
He was serving as both chief examiner and referee for the third stage of the Chūnin Exams.
In the original timeline, the position had been taken over by Shiranui Genma because Hayate had been taken out by Baki in a single move.
But in this world, Hayate was alive and well.
"Everyone, welcome to Konoha and to this year's Chūnin Exams. I know what you're all here to see, so I won't waste time with a long speech. Let's bring down the contestants for the first individual match."
He wasn't using a microphone.
Through precise control of Wind Release chakra, he projected his voice directly into every spectator's ears.
Although the arena itself had been designed with sound-amplifying acoustics, this display still revealed an exceptionally high level of ninjutsu mastery and made the representatives from the other villages view him in a new light.
The people of Sunagakure were especially impressed.
After all, Wind Release was their specialty.
The moment Hayate finished speaking, an already fired-up Rock Lee leaped out of the competitors' waiting area and landed beside the referee.
Gaara, on the other hand, simply took the stairs.
Slowly.
Unhurriedly.
Everything happening around him was irrelevant.
The spectators' impatient shouts meant nothing.
The only thing he cared about was whether his opponent's blood would satisfy his sand.
Enduring it any longer was unbearable.
Today, he had to kill his opponent and prove that his existence had meaning.
Once both contestants were in position, Hayate spoke again.
"Well, I already explained the rules during the preliminaries, but for the benefit of today's audience, I'll go over them one more time."
"This is a one-on-one individual match. Any methods are permitted, including killing your opponent. However, if I, as chief examiner, determine that the outcome has already been decided, I have the authority to stop the match."
"The result of the battle does not have an absolute impact on promotion to Chūnin. Even if you lose, you may still be promoted if you demonstrate sufficient ability."
"Now then, please introduce yourselves."
Lee immediately blurted out, "M-me! Me first! I'm Rock Lee, a genin of Konoha!"
Gaara replied coldly, "Gaara of the Sand."
As he spoke, he cast an icy glance toward both his opponent and the referee.
If the referee tried to stop him again this time, he would kill him too.
"Then, the first match of the third stage of the Chūnin Selection Exams... begin!"
The instant Hayate finished speaking, he jumped away.
Not too far away, though.
After witnessing the preliminaries, he already knew that this Sand brat was anything but well-behaved.
Makoto was extremely interested in this fight.
In the original timeline, this matchup had taken place during the preliminaries.
Now it had been moved to the finals, and Lee had become the PLUS version.
His expectations were high.
The moment the match started, Rock Lee burst forward at high speed and appeared right in front of Gaara.
Then he leaped into the air and launched a spinning kick straight at Gaara's head.
Leaf Whirlwind!
Gaara had already opened the gourd on his back beforehand.
A massive amount of sand poured out and instantly formed a sand wall on the right side of his body to block the attack automatically.
It was useless.
Lee's physical abilities had been enhanced by years of natural energy training at the dojo.
The power behind this kick far exceeded anything Gaara could have imagined.
The sand wall exploded on impact, and the kick continued through, smashing directly into Gaara's face.
In an instant, Gaara was sent flying.
He tumbled across the ground like a rag doll, rolled several times, and lay motionless.
It looked as though he had either been seriously injured...
Or knocked unconscious outright.
The spectator stands erupted in an uproar.
"That fast?!"
"Sunagakure's ninja are trash!"
"Seriously! He looked so intimidating, and he went down in one move?"
Even Rasa on the main platform was completely dumbfounded.
Gaara was Sunagakure's ultimate weapon.
The One-Tail Jinchūriki.
And this was it?
Had Konoha become this absurd?
One of their genin could kick his village's Jinchūriki around like a ball?
Did this kid grow up eating chakra for breakfast or something?
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