Before the second round of exams, Homura Mitokado instructed Hyuga Kazuya and Ei to form the Seal of Reconciliation. This seal, representing an end, was a counterpoint to the Seal of Confrontation, which signified a beginning. The main reason for this ritual was to prevent any genuine animosity from arising between the two sides due to the impure motives of the Chunin Exams. Beyond being a display of strength, the exams were also intended to be a venue for fostering communication and maintaining relationships.
Hyuga Kazuya reluctantly formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Ei, saying, "I was careless this time. Don't think you can win with such petty tricks next time!"
"Ah, I know." Ei understood that luck played a part in the success of that move. Moreover, as a newly developed genjutsu, it was far from perfect; both its intensity and range limited its effectiveness.
However, through the battle with Hyuga Kazuya, the Cloud Hidden Village could gather more intelligence, and future improvements to this genjutsu might make it a secret genjutsu truly capable of countering the Hyuga clan.
"Don't think you can easily defeat us just by relying on the Byakugan," Ei said.
"Don't underestimate the Hyuga clan's Byakugan. My mastery of it is not yet complete," Hyuga Kazuya retorted, unwilling to show weakness, then returned to the stands with a somber expression.
Hatake Sakumo knew Kazuya was upset about losing to a Cloud ninja and thoughtfully said, "It was just an accident, don't worry about it."
"Even so, as a member of the Hyuga clan, to lose to a Cloud ninja, it truly disgraces our family name," Hyuga Kazuya sighed, speaking dejectedly.
The Hyuga clan had played a significant role multiple times on the Cloud battlefield during the Ninja World Wars, practically being the bane of Cloud ninjas. Everyone thought Kazuya, being from the Hyuga clan, would win, but the outcome was quite different.
"If you cling to the past and ignore the present, you will eventually be eliminated," Fumori Masaki said, looking towards the Cloud Hidden Village side. "The opponent is also constantly improving. If you stop now, you will be left behind, Kazuya. You must remember this principle."
Hyuga Kazuya paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. He felt Fumori Masaki's words were foreshadowing something.
Fumori Masaki spoke from experience. He understood that while he possessed a broader perspective than most, it didn't mean others would stagnate or cling to so-called traditions. In the future ninja world, only villages willing to innovate could become leaders of the continent, or at least influential members. Conservative factions unwilling to abandon the past would only be discarded, becoming sacrifices of the new era.
Fumori Masaki believed this was partly why the Uchiha clan met their tragic end. They failed to acknowledge the differences between the era of ninja villages and the past. While other ninja clans, including the Hyuga, aligned with the Hokage's policies, the Uchiha clan remained at odds with the village's policies, becoming the sole outlier. Strikes, ostracization, and ultimately extinction seemed to be their predetermined fate.
Fortunately, the current Uchiha clan would not repeat the history of the past. Perhaps some stubborn and conservative individuals still existed, but they no longer affected the entire Uchiha clan's integration.
Next, Homura Mitokado began to preside over the second round of exams. This time, it was a match between a ninja from the Hidden Rain Village and a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village. Fumori Masaki didn't recognize the Hidden Rain ninja but knew the Hidden Sand ninja was Chiyo's son, Sasori's father, Sasori.
During the waiting period for the second exam, Fumori Masaki learned fromHatake Sakumo that they had clashed with the Hidden Sand Village team. Connecting this to the fact that Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law both died at Hatake Sakumo's hands, one couldn't help but wonder if there was truly such a thing as destiny. However, Fumori Masaki would not believe it; if he believed in destiny, everything he did would be meaningless.
The Hidden Rain Village was a ninja village that focused on assassination. Therefore, its ninjas were often skilled in assassination but weak in direct combat, much like the former Hattori Hanzo.
In the Forest of Death, due to their emphasis on environment and tactics, Hidden Rain ninjas could take advantage of the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist ninjas' mutual destruction to pick up the pieces.
However, in the third exam arena, which primarily relied on individual ability and offered little external assistance, the Hidden Rain ninja's advantage was very low. And he was facing Chiyo's son, Sasori's father.
Although a ninja's battle cannot be judged by absolute strength, there are probabilities, and Sasori's chances of victory were very high. The result did not deviate from this; the Hidden Rain ninja was decisively defeated by Sasori's puppet.
"As expected of Chiyo's child, his talent in puppetry is extraordinary," Fumori Masaki nodded slightly.
"Indeed," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "To have such mastery of puppetry at such a young age is no small feat."
At this moment, Sasori, who had won the second round, looked atHatake Sakumo and made a taunting gesture. Seeing this,Hatake Sakumo pondered for a moment, then smiled at him.
Sasori's meaning was that since he had successfully advanced,Hatake Sakumo shouldn't fall midway.Hatake Sakumo's meaning was that he would definitely have a match with him.
Then, the preliminaries continued. This time, it was a match between Kiku from the Cloud Hidden Village and a Hidden Rain ninja, followed by Omo from the Hidden Sand Village against a Hidden Rain ninja. In just three rounds, all the Hidden Rain ninjas were eliminated.
Hanzo showed little disappointment at this. He had long known that his students' success in the second round was due to geographical advantage and luck. In terms of strength, they were perhaps the weakest among all the qualified candidates.
Although all the Hidden Rain ninjas had been eliminated, Hanzo didn't have to leave immediately. He could observe the performance of other ninja village candidates, which would help him assess future situations.
The subsequent matches finally featured a Leaf ninja. This time, it was a match between Hattori Hanzo and Ran.
"Should I call it lucky or unlucky?" Hattori Hanzo glanced at the frustrated Kiku, who seemed to wish he could replace Ran in the match.
"I don't know,"Hatake Sakumo said.
"Never mind. Kazuya, I'll get your revenge for you," Hattori Hanzo took a breath and said to Hyuga Kazuya.
"How should I put it? Even if you win against a girl, it doesn't seem like something to brag about, does it?" Hyuga Kazuya mused.
"Is that so? But the girls here are very strong," Hattori Hanzo was referring to Tsunade, who was not a helpless medical ninja.
"Even so," Hyuga Kazuya still felt a bit awkward.
"Well, it's better to be gentle with girls, Hanzo-kun," Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at Hattori Hanzo at this moment.
"Hey, hey, Hiruzen, don't corrupt my student. Corrupting your own students is one thing," Fumori Masaki immediately protested.
"What are you talking about? I haven't taught my students anything bad," Hiruzen Sarutobi denied.
"Of course." At this moment, Jiraiya and others, who were discussing nearby, heard their conversation, and Jiraiya immediately supported his teacher.
"See?" Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't even had time to feel touched before Jiraiya's next words almost made him fall to the ground.
"Although Lord Hiruzen isn't a very proper person either, I, Lord Jiraiya, am not the kind of person who follows others. I will only be myself!" Jiraiya said proudly, hands on his hips.
Orochimaru and Asahi, who were next to him, couldn't bear to watch, and Hiruzen Sarutobi also had a wry smile, saying, "Jiraiya, your master isn't happy at all."
"Boring. I'm leaving, Sensei Kazamori," Hattori Hanzo wasn't interested in getting involved. He said to Fumori Masaki, then walked down.
On the Cloud Hidden Village side, Ran was about to go to the arena. Before leaving, she smiled at Kiku and said, "Kiku, I'll help you gather some intelligence. Of course, if I accidentally eliminate him, don't blame me, okay?"
"Hmph. If he gets eliminated like that, then his strength is insufficient. I'm not even interested in fighting such a guy," Kiku pouted.
"Win if you can, if not, focus on gathering intelligence," Ei said. "That's our ninja's principle, Ran. You just need to act accordingly. The opponent is one of Fumori Masaki's students. No matter who it is, if you can win, it's an honor for the village, and Sensei Sora will also be happy."
"Ah, didn't you already defeat that Hyuga Kazuya?" Kiku asked in surprise.
"I asked around, and it seems that Hyuga Kazuya isn't Fumori Masaki's student. He was borrowed from someone else. His third student doesn't seem to have participated in the Chunin Exams," Ei explained.
"What? He has other students but doesn't let them participate in the third exam?" Kiku was very puzzled. "Never mind, it's none of our business anyway. In short, good luck, Ran. Even if you lose, don't make it too ugly."
"What kind of talk is that? As a comrade, you should say, 'You must win!' That's the right thing to say," Ran said, crossing her arms in front of her, displeased.
"No matter what, just give it your all," Sora, who had been paying attention to others, walked over at this moment and said with a smile.
"Sensei Sora is the best. As for Kiku—" Ran immediately made a face at Kiku, leaving him unsure whether to be angry or helpless.
"Alright, I'm going." Ran, full of confidence, arrived at the arena. Hattori Hanzo was already standing there, his narrow eyes squinted.
"So slow," he said.
"What does it matter? It's not that urgent," Ran smiled, then curiously said, "Your eyes are quite sharp. Why do you squint them?"
It seemed Ran couldn't forget the scene in the Forest of Death where she saw Hattori Hanzo's wide-open eyes. Hattori Hanzo didn't expect her to care about that and was momentarily stunned, then replied, "That's my business, isn't it?"
"What a pity. I was hoping to see that look in your eyes again," Ran sighed softly.
Hattori Hanzo didn't know what to say, so he just glanced at Homura Mitokado. Although Homura Mitokado was a rational person, he wasn't without emotion. Faced with this situation, he was also a bit speechless, cleared his throat, and said, "In any case, the fifth round of matches begins."
Don't let Ran's seemingly un-ninja-like demeanor fool you; when she truly got into action, she was anything but hesitant. The moment Homura Mitokado said "start," she drew her ninja blade and immediately threw kunai at Hattori Hanzo.
Hattori Hanzo tore off his outer garment and swung it sharply towards the incoming kunai, covering them all. Because the outer garment was quite large, it even obscured his entire body.
When the outer garment fell, Hattori Hanzo had already vanished. Ran paused only for a moment, then quickly scanned her surroundings, including above, but saw no one. She didn't hesitate to plunge her ninja blade into the ground, injecting lightning-style chakra, and rapidly tearing up the ground next to her.
However, apart from shattered rocks, there was no sign of anyone. Ran immediately realized that Hattori Hanzo had not hidden underground using Earth Style as she had imagined. But he couldn't have truly disappeared, so only one possibility remained.
Just as Ran looked up, she saw the fallen outer garment in front of her had swelled up, roughly forming the shape of a person. Only one eye was visible from inside the garment, its gaze exceptionally sharp, just like the eyes Ran had seen in the Forest of Death. Before she could react, the opponent swung the outer garment, along with the kunai previously wrapped inside, accompanied by a certain invisible sound.
—That was wind-style chakra.
Ran was all too familiar with wind-style ninjutsu, which countered lightning-style. In the Cloud Hidden Village, one of the things to learn was how to deal with wind-style ninjas. Therefore, Ran was very familiar with the sound of wind-style. She chose not to clash with these kunai imbued with wind-style chakra. Wind-style excelled at cutting, and clashing with weapons would only result in damage, and might not even block them.
After all, the ninja blade Ran possessed was only a mid-tier weapon in the Cloud Hidden Village. If it were the legendary Kusanagi no Tsurugi, it might be able to withstand wind-style head-on without damage.
So, Ran agilely dodged the incoming kunai. The black outer garment in front of her was approaching. She couldn't help but quickly think about where the opponent was hiding. Was he hiding behind the outer garment as before, or had he secretly slipped into her blind spot?
Ran hadn't expected Hattori Hanzo to be this type of ninja. This method of using external objects to conceal one's figure and look for opportunities for assassination was consistent with traditional ninjas from the Warring States period. However, his technique had absorbed the combat methods used by modern ninjas, so much so that what seemed like an outdated fighting style could still have unexpected effects.
Since she couldn't make a judgment, Ran decided to take the most direct approach: choose both! Then, she quickly formed hand signs, and a large number of electric arcs surged forward, engulfing not only the outer garment but also the ground.
"You guessed wrong," Hattori Hanzo's voice came from behind her at this moment.
Ran immediately turned her head and instinctively swung her ninja blade. The opponent unhesitatingly threw a punch, decisively breaking the ninja blade. His hand was equipped with a weapon similar to brass knuckles, imbued with wind-style chakra, which easily cut through the lightning on the ninja blade, even breaking the metal.
As her ninja blade shattered, Ran felt a heavy kick to her abdomen, sending her flying backward and landing on the ground.