Before the third round of examinees began, Tobirama first delivered a necessary speech.
As the Hokage of Konoha, he first thanked the various ninja villages for participating in the Chunin Exams, then recounted the painful lessons of the previous Shinobi World War and the Five Kage's reflections on the war, explaining the full backstory and reasons behind the current Chunin Exams.
The reason Tobirama emphasized these points was to repeatedly stress that the goal of the Chunin Exams was to maintain peace and order, and nothing else.
Regardless of whether the examinees would listen, its meaning had to be clearly articulated to prevent misunderstanding.
People from other countries knew that although Konoha had the strongest military among the Five Great Ninja Villages, it did not bully the weak like other villages, always upholding the First Hokage's ideals.
While this was partly due to the Land of Fire's abundant resources, which spared them the troubles of other nations and gave them the capital not to confront others, their persistent yearning for peace was also admirable.
Among them, the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Stone Village could somewhat understand Konoha's stance, but the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Mist Village found it difficult to accept.
After all, one was a desert country and the other an island nation, both with limited territory and resources—these were urgent survival needs.
Even though the Land of Fire adopted trade with both countries, following Fumori Masaki's advice, which led to significant economic growth and allowed the daimyo and local nobles to indulge freely, the ninja villages received little financial support.
While their livelihoods were secured, as weapons of war, the ninjas lost their raison d'être, which was clearly unsustainable.
However, the daimyo of these countries were pleased to see this situation.
As losers of the war, their ambitions had been crushed, and they had initially feared retaliation from the Land of Fire.
Now, not only were there no troubles, but they also received trade income similar to peacetime.
What did they have to worry about?
This mentality of the daimyo of the Land of Wind and the Land of Water was precisely what Fumori Masaki aimed to achieve.
When they became complacent in their enjoyment, the ninja villages, as mercenary forces, would find it difficult to exert their influence and thus pose less of a threat to the Land of Fire.
This was just the initial stage; once the Land of Fire deeply integrated into the economies of the two countries and formed solid relationships, there would be no need to worry about their wavering loyalty.
Tobirama concluded his speech, glanced at the fifteen examinees below, and then summoned the chief examiner.
Immediately, Homura Mitokado appeared before everyone.
As a student of the Second Hokage, Homura Mitokado was already known to ninjas from various countries, but due to intelligence secrecy, they only knew him as a strategic ninja, adept at planning.
Was such a person really going to be the chief examiner?
The people of Konoha knew that Homura Mitokado was impartial and adhered to rules, so having him serve as the chief examiner, who also acted as a judge, would undoubtedly ensure maximum fairness.
Homura Mitokado raised his eyes, his gaze cold and calm, and stated, "Now, the third round of the examination will begin, conducted in a one-on-one format.
Each person will receive a numbered tag, and then opponents will be decided by drawing lots."
With that, Homura Mitokado threw fifteen numbered tags, using shuriken-throwing techniques, accurately landing them in each person's hand.
The ability to casually display such throwing skill caused the expressions of the representatives from various countries to slightly tighten.
"Have you memorized your numbers?" Homura Mitokado asked.
Once all the examinees nodded, Homura Mitokado collected all the numbered tags, placed them in a box, quickly spun and shook it several times, then drew out two tags.
He glanced at them, announced the numbers, and immediately, two people stepped out from the line of examinees.
"First round, Hyuga Kazuya versus I," Homura Mitokado announced.
Upon hearing these two names, everyone's expressions became curious.
They hadn't expected the first round to be such a compelling match.
During the Shinobi World War, the Hyuga clan's Byakugan had caused significant trouble for the Hidden Cloud Village.
The First Raikage's surprise attack plan failed largely due to the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.
In other words, this was a match between two parties with grievances from the Shinobi World War.
Would the Hyuga clan rekindle their glory from the war and deliver a heavy blow to the Hidden Cloud ninja, or would the Hidden Cloud ninja finally avenge themselves?
"What a coincidence with this draw.
Do you think Homura did it on purpose?" Hiruzen Sarutobi exclaimed, seeing the result.
"What do you think?" Fumori Masaki retorted.
"Haha, just asking, just asking."
Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed, knowing full well that Homura Mitokado, that rigid fellow, would not show favoritism in a draw like this, and such a grudge-match scenario also didn't align with Homura Mitokado's personality.
"Fumori Masaki-sensei."
At this moment, Sakumo Hatake and Heizo Hattori walked over.
The area below was reserved for the examinees' matches, so everyone else had to go to the spectator stands.
"Good luck, it's your team's match right from the start.
Cheer him on," Fumori Masaki said.
Although Hyuga Kazuya wasn't his student, since he was temporarily assigned to his team, he should encourage him.
"Fumori Masaki-sensei, who do you think will win?" Sakumo Hatake asked.
"I don't know," Fumori Masaki shook his head.
"It seems that Cloud ninja is very smart, not like an ordinary ninja.
Even if his strength is inferior to Kazuya's, he might win in other ways.
Let's wait for the result."
I was indeed a very intelligent young man; his demeanor alone showed it.
Within his team, he held the position of strategist.
Upon learning his opponent was from the Hyuga clan, I quickly recalled information about the Hyuga clan, which the Hidden Cloud Village had collected during the war.
The Hyuga clan's Byakugan possessed long-range observation capabilities, with a level of detail exceeding even the Sharingan.
Their inherited Gentle Fist allowed chakra to permeate the opponent's body, thereby blocking and destroying chakra points and meridians, making it very disadvantageous in close-range combat—
"A ninja clan that caused a lot of trouble for our village in the Shinobi World War," I thought to himself.
"It's almost as if they're specifically designed to counter us Hidden Cloud ninjas."
Given the characteristics of Lightning Release ninjutsu, the Hidden Cloud style, founded by the Second Raikage, incorporated the combat abilities of samurai and the ninjas' use of Lightning Release, which was known as Nintaijutsu.
Specifically, the Hidden Cloud style adopted many samurai sword techniques; thus, Hidden Cloud ninjas were skilled in close-quarters combat, and I was no exception.
However, close-quarters combat was clearly very disadvantageous against a Hyuga clan member.
And the Hyuga clan's Byakugan could discern the flow of chakra, so even fast long-range Lightning Release ninjutsu could be anticipated and dodged by the Byakugan detecting the chakra's condensation beforehand.
Therefore, I couldn't help but sigh, but he quickly composed himself.
No matter how difficult the opponent, as a ninja carefully trained by the Hidden Cloud Village to participate in the Chunin Exams, he could not retreat at this moment.
"Perform the hand seals," Homura Mitokado said after the two faced each other.
I paused for a moment, then Hyuga Kazuya performed a hand seal in front of him.
It was the so-called "Confrontation Seal," a seal with a unique meaning in the traditions of Ninshu.
Back then, it was merely used as a starting gesture for debates—because Ninshu at that time emphasized spiritual training and philosophical discussions.
After the fall of Ninshu, it was adopted as a hand seal for ninja matches, a tradition shared by every country, and only after the discovery of Ninshu scriptures did ninjas learn the original meaning of the Confrontation Seal.
I hadn't reacted at first, but now knowing that Konoha actually used this type of match-starting hand seal in the Chunin Exams, he shrugged and followed suit, forming the Confrontation Seal.
"Alright, the match begins!" Homura Mitokado nodded slightly, then shouted loudly, retreating to give them space.
Veins quickly appeared beside Hyuga Kazuya's eyes, the sign of the Byakugan activating.
Then, his figure moved like a swimmer underwater, rushing towards his opponent.
The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist differed from the traditional Konoha style.
The traditional Konoha style emphasized strength-based taijutsu, commonly known as the Strong Fist, while Gentle Fist placed more importance on agile footwork, because it could infiltrate chakra into the opponent's body to damage fragile internal organs.
Therefore, Gentle Fist prioritized technique.
I drew his standard Hidden Cloud ninja blade and, using the blade's reach, launched an initial attack towards Hyuga Kazuya.
Hyuga Kazuya easily parried the blade's strike with his bare hands.
Seeing this, the well-prepared I immediately widened the distance between himself and Hyuga Kazuya.
This time, I infused Lightning Release chakra into his ninja blade and attacked Hyuga Kazuya again.
Clearly, Hyuga Kazuya couldn't parry the blade with his bare hands again; once his body was paralyzed by Lightning Release chakra, such a distance would be virtually zero for a Lightning Release ninja.
Therefore, Hyuga Kazuya adopted the family's traditional Gentle Fist fighting style, attacking I from different angles, his movements dazzling and unpredictable.
He even deliberately exposed some weaknesses to lure his opponent into attacking.
Although he couldn't directly block the ninja blade, he was confident that he could strike the opponent's chakra points before the blade hit him, instantly making them lose strength.
However, I did not fall for the trick.
He saw that if he thought he could land a decisive blow, he would be counteracted by the opponent's Gentle Fist, which focused on intricate techniques.
Gradually, I's momentum was suppressed by Hyuga Kazuya, and he began to adopt a defensive stance, even being forced to retreat.
"He won!" Sakumo Hatake, as a master of close-quarters combat, immediately saw that I could not win in taijutsu.
Heizo Hattori also nodded slightly, agreeing with Sakumo Hatake's view, saying, "The Hidden Cloud ninjas were defeated by the Hyuga clan in the Shinobi World War, and it seems the same will happen in the Chunin Exams."
"Hmm, if that were just taijutsu," Fumori Masaki's seemingly agreeable words, however, revealed an ominous undertone.
He was looking at the Hidden Cloud ninja's side, and facing such a dangerous situation, Sora's face showed no anxiety, but rather a slight smile.
It was this detail that made Fumori Masaki vigilant, prompting him to observe I again.
A peculiar ripple was emanating from his body.
Just then, I suddenly threw his ninja blade, and while leaping backward, he flung out a large number of shuriken.
Hyuga Kazuya's Byakugan had already noticed this, and he slightly tilted his head, avoiding the ninja blade, while the remaining shuriken posed no threat to him.
In this gap, I began to form hand seals.
"Ninjutsu?" Hyuga Kazuya immediately dodged based on the opponent's chakra condensation direction, but the next scene that unfolded greatly surprised him.
A blinding flash of light immediately erupted from I's body.
Hyuga Kazuya instinctively closed his eyes, but for the Byakugan, even with closed eyes, one could observe the surroundings.
Although the bright light could be blocked, the chakra within it could not.
This was not ninjutsu, but genjutsu.
Due to the Byakugan's characteristics, closing the eyes could render one immune to genjutsu that required eye contact to work, and it would not affect movements by obscuring vision.
However, the genjutsu I used was not simple; it was a special genjutsu that would take effect as long as chakra was observed!
—No good!
Hyuga Kazuya cried out in his heart, but he was inevitably caught in the genjutsu, his movements momentarily stiff.
It was at this moment that I threw shuriken at Hyuga Kazuya, who, under the genjutsu, clearly couldn't dodge them.
Therefore, Homura Mitokado intervened in time, using the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Hyuga Kazuya, raising his hand to block all the incoming shuriken.
Looking at I, who had landed, he said, "This round, your victory."
Then, Homura Mitokado dispelled Hyuga Kazuya's genjutsu.
Hyuga Kazuya, having recovered, immediately knew he had lost and felt a wave of shame.
He had almost won, but due to a moment of carelessness, he allowed his opponent to cast that special genjutsu.
It was also because his own skills were not refined enough; if his control over the Byakugan and the use of Gentle Fist were more profound, even if he fell under genjutsu, he wouldn't have been stiff for so long.
"Heh, I didn't expect this result," Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprised.
"The Hidden Cloud Village actually developed such genjutsu; they've put effort into studying the Byakugan."
"Indeed," Fumori Masaki looked at Sora, who gave him a somewhat smug smile.
He smiled helplessly, then said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Although it's not very mature yet, if it were Hajime, he wouldn't be troubled by this kind of genjutsu."
"As a member of the Hyuga branch family, it's quite good to have reached this level.
Given time, he should be able to approach Hajime's strength," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
"Yes," Fumori Masaki nodded.
The unexpected result of the first round caused everyone to discuss animatedly.
Aside from the Hidden Cloud Village's successful counter to the Byakugan, Konoha's ninja being on the losing side in the first round, which held symbolic significance, was not a good thing for the host village.
Tobirama was somewhat helpless about this result, but there was nothing he could do.
He could only say that the Hidden Cloud ninja was more skilled, and now he had to hope for the performance of the others, so he motioned for Homura Mitokado to continue with the next round of the examination.