Having handed Naruto over to Jiraiya, Jokichi went off to train on his own.
He still went to Training Ground 39.
The place was remote, sparsely populated, and familiar, making it a safe place to train.
This time, he was training those S-rank ninjutsu.
Impure World Reincarnation, Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Flying Thunder God Jutsu, Lightning Cutter, Spirit Transformation Technique...
With the combined talent bonuses of Hatake Kakashi and Namikaze Minato, he now learned S-rank ninjutsu very quickly.
However, this "very quickly" was also relative.
Moreover, even though they were all S-rank ninjutsu, their different natures meant their learning requirements varied.
Naturally, this resulted in different learning speeds.
For example, Jokichi mastered the Dead Demon Consuming Seal in a single day, but learned the Impure World Reincarnation very slowly.
It had almost been a week.
On the other hand, learning the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was incredibly fast.
It took him about half a day to master.
Perhaps even Namikaze Minato didn't learn this jutsu that quickly.
As for the Lightning Cutter...
Jokichi had known how to use it for a long time; he just hadn't practiced it.
After all, it was Kakashi's signature technique. If someone discovered him using it, it would be somewhat hard to explain.
Furthermore, it wasn't a ninjutsu so powerful that he absolutely had to learn it.
Of course, there were also many ninjutsu he couldn't learn.
Most A-rank and S-rank ninjutsu were forbidden jutsu, requiring special talent and potential to learn.
When Jokichi tried to learn the Spirit Transformation Technique, he couldn't make heads or tails of it from start to finish.
There were also many other forbidden jutsu that he could learn, but at a very slow pace.
The road was still long.
Walking slowly, it might take a very long time to reach the end.
But Jokichi had a rocket, believing he would get there very soon.
...
Time slipped away bit by bit.
Many Daimyos and ninja village leaders from various countries arrived one after another, making Konoha increasingly lively.
However, beneath this prosperous exterior, dark currents were surging.
The Hokage building.
The frequency of Anbu entering and leaving grew higher and higher. Intelligence reports poured in, and deployment orders were sent out.
The Police Force was on high alert, patrolling day and night for 24 hours.
Ninjas on outside missions returned successively and were not allowed to leave again until the Chunin Exams concluded.
On the streets, one could often see ninjas leaping back and forth across rooftops.
The tension in the village allowed even ordinary villagers to sense an unusual atmosphere.
Finally, a month passed.
The third stage of the Chunin Exams officially began.
Konoha Arena.
Nearly ten thousand seats were almost completely filled.
Daimyos and ninja leaders from various countries also successively entered the VIP area, surrounded by accompanying ninjas and guards.
The perimeter was also secured by many Anbu.
Outside the arena, over fifty members of the Uchiha Police Force patrolled the vicinity.
On the village walls, aside from the Uchiha Police Force, a large number of ninjas were mobilized.
They were all at least Chunin level or above.
These well-prepared arrangements gave the Third Hokage full confidence.
Even if someone had malicious intentions, it could be perfectly resolved.
The matches began with the arrival and announcement of the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage.
All the competitors entered the arena to meet the audience.
However, Naruto didn't show up.
Fortunately, his match was the last one, so it didn't delay the tournament.
After all the competitors met with the audience, the participants for the first match stayed behind.
The rest entered the competitor stands.
Jokichi versus Neji.
The number one of the previous rookie class against the number one of the current class.
This gimmick ignited the audience's enthusiasm.
Discussions, betting, and various other voices continuously rang out.
For a moment, the spectator stands were boiling with voices, exceptionally bustling.
Even the Kazekage was discussing the outcome of the two with the Hokage.
Leaving the spectators aside.
Inside the arena, the two stood five meters apart.
Neji looked at Jokichi's indifferent expression.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly to reveal a confident smile.
"You'd better go all out right from the start. I'm not like the others."
"Oh!"
Jokichi looked at him with some curiosity.
"To still be this confident after seeing my crushing victory over Lee, it seems your strength is quite formidable!"
"That's a given, because I am the strongest."
"Whether you're the strongest or not, we'll know after we fight."
Seeing that the two were about to continue their trash talk, the referee Gekko Hayate hurriedly interjected.
"Are you both ready?"
The two glanced at him and nodded slightly.
"Since that's the case, let the match begin!"
The moment the words fell, Neji dashed forward.
He raised his hand to strike a palm at Jokichi.
Jokichi smiled lightly, directly pulling out a shuriken and throwing it at him.
Then, his hands formed seals.
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu."
The shuriken split from one into two, two into four, four into sixteen.
And sixteen into countless copies in mid-air.
In an instant, the sky was filled with shuriken, flying toward Neji in a dense, overwhelming swarm.
With such an intense volume, it was impossible to avoid by dodging.
Neji was alarmed internally and hurriedly stopped his steps.
Next, his body began to spin, and all 361 tenketsu on his body continuously released chakra.
The chakra formed a high-speed rotating defensive dome as his body spun.
The sky full of shuriken was knocked away with clanging sounds as soon as they got close.
When all the shuriken were deflected, Neji stopped spinning.
But before he could even steady his footing, Jokichi was already upon him.
He threw a punch directly at his head.
"Smack!"
Neji defended in time, swatting Jokichi's fist away with one palm.
Simultaneously, he thrust his other palm toward his opponent's abdomen.
However, Jokichi was faster, planting a kick squarely on his chest.
This sent him flying backward like a cannonball.
"Boom!"
Neji's body smashed into the wall, creating a deep, massive crater.
The surrounding area cracked densely like a spiderweb.
It seemed as if the entire wall trembled.
Neji coughed up a mouthful of blood, struggling to pull himself out of the wall.
Unexpectedly, the moment he moved, Jokichi had already turned into a blur.
He charged right in front of him.
"Bang!"
The fist struck his abdomen.
Neji hunched over like a cooked shrimp, once again violently spitting out fresh blood.
The formidable force dispersed, expanding the deep crater behind him.
The cracked area widened from one meter to five meters.
The violent tremor startled the people in the spectator stands.
"How could he be this fast!?"
Neji widened his eyes in disbelief.
Jokichi said indifferently.
"Of course, it's because I've grown even stronger over this past month."
"To grow this much stronger in just one month..."
Carrying a sense of unwillingness, Neji slowly collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Hayate confirmed Neji's condition and loudly announced the result of the match.
"For this match. Jokichi wins!"
The spectator stands fell into dead silence.
They originally thought this would be a fierce battle between dragons and tigers.
They expected an exceptionally intense fight.
But as a result, the victor was decided in just three moves.
Was the gap between the number one of the previous class and the number one of the current class really this huge?
The crowd couldn't believe it.
However, everything their eyes saw told them that this was the reality.
"Oooooo!!!"
Enthusiastic cheers erupted from the spectator stands.
Although the match ended quickly and they hadn't seen enough.
This kind of absolute crushing power gave them a hearty, exhilarating feeling.
Each and every one generously offered their applause for Jokichi.
"This guy..."
At the very back of the spectator stands, a short Anbu stared fixedly at Jokichi in the arena.
His small fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.
He was very unwilling, but had to admit that the gap between them had grown even wider.
In the spectator stands, the Jonin who came to watch the matches also revealed looks of astonishment one by one.
They all knew Jokichi was very strong, and there were even rumors that he had driven Orochimaru away.
However, his speed and strength had improved drastically compared to the preliminary rounds.
This rate of progress was simply staggering.