Konoha and Sunagakure had already fought two matches.
In one match, Asuma had lost.
In the other, Kakashi had lost.
Only one match remained.
Sunagakure's contestant had already been confirmed—
Kisame Hoshigaki.
But on Konoha's side, the contestant had not yet been confirmed.
More accurately, it was not that he had not been confirmed.
He simply had not gone up yet.
That gave Hiruzen Sarutobi room to operate and replace him.
Hiruzen did not believe Konoha's originally selected contestant, Uchiha Shisui, would be Kisame Hoshigaki's opponent.
The abilities Kisame had displayed were far too restrictive against ninjutsu-type shinobi.
Uchiha Shisui was not only skilled in ninjutsu. He also excelled in genjutsu and taijutsu.
But his age was still there.
Hiruzen did not believe Shisui's genjutsu and taijutsu had reached a level where they could defeat Kisame.
Therefore, Hiruzen decided to replace him with someone who could counter Kisame.
A pure taijutsu shinobi.
Might Guy.
Most people in the shinobi world did not value taijutsu. Some even looked down on taijutsu specialists with disdain.
But during the incident where Kirigakure's death warriors attacked Konoha, Might Duy's outstanding performance had caught Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention.
He had been the first to survive the Kirigakure death warriors and loudly alert the other Konoha shinobi.
Facing three Kirigakure death warriors alone, he had knocked them all down in a few punches and kicks.
He had not even given them the chance to use their explosive tags.
That performance had already surpassed the special jonin who had been killed by those Kirigakure death warriors.
Thus, after seeing Kisame's abilities, Hiruzen immediately thought of Might Duy.
Chakra absorption techniques were extremely effective against ninjutsu.
But they could be countered by taijutsu.
Might Duy was over the age limit, so naturally he could not be used against Kisame.
But Might Duy had a son.
Might Guy.
He inherited the same path, the same style, and the same training method from Might Duy.
And his age was just right.
"The sixth match—Sunagakure versus Konoha."
"Kisame Hoshigaki versus Might Guy."
Hearing Konoha's name, Uchiha Shisui had already prepared himself to step forward.
But the name that followed made Shisui freeze in place.
"Not me?"
Shisui subconsciously looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen made a hand gesture, pressing his palm downward.
Shisui retreated back to his previous position.
"Hokage-sama changed my name at the last moment?"
"Why?"
"Because he thinks I'm not Kisame Hoshigaki's opponent?"
"But wasn't the list already submitted long ago? Can it still be changed?"
Shisui's expression turned ugly.
"The chance Minato-sama fought for me to gain merit… is gone just like that?"
In the end, Kisame Hoshigaki and Might Guy's fated duel still ended with Might Guy's victory.
After forcibly opening the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates, Might Guy defeated Kisame Hoshigaki.
He secured one victory for Konoha against Sunagakure.
But the price was that Might Guy no longer had the strength to continue into the next match.
Rasa felt as though he had seen the battle between Rock Lee and Gaara.
Kisame's Water Release surged endlessly, flooding the entire arena.
Might Guy opened the Eight Gates and pushed his taijutsu to its limit.
With his chakra absorption technique unable to take effect, Kisame could only rely on Water Release. That alone was not enough to defeat Might Guy.
However, the amount of time Kisame held on had already exceeded Rasa's expectations.
He performed even better than Rasa had imagined.
Kisame walked down from the arena in disappointment.
Maki immediately stepped forward to comfort him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was complicated.
On one hand, Might Guy had indeed won Konoha a match.
But after that one battle, Might Guy had lost the ability to continue fighting. If he forced himself onto the stage again, his injuries would only worsen, and there was basically no chance of victory.
For a moment, even Hiruzen was uncertain whether bribing Mui had been the right decision.
"The seventh match—Iwagakure versus Sunagakure."
"Bunya versus Hyena."
A battle without suspense.
Even Kakashi had not been Hyena's opponent, let alone Bunya.
In Rasa's eyes, Bunya's strength might be the weakest among the nine contestants.
For Bunya to encounter Hyena was actually a gain for Iwagakure.
Otherwise, Iwagakure might not have obtained a single victory against Sunagakure.
The remaining two matches ended quickly.
Within a single day, the results were decided.
Sunagakure achieved a record of four wins and two losses.
Hyena defeated both Bunya and Kakashi.
Maki lost to Gari but defeated Asuma.
Kisame Hoshigaki lost to Might Guy but defeated Akatsuchi.
Konoha achieved a record of two wins and four losses.
Kakashi had one win and one loss.
Asuma lost both of his matches.
Might Guy had one win and one loss.
Iwagakure achieved a record of three wins and three losses.
Gari won both of his matches.
Akatsuchi had one win and one loss.
Bunya lost both matches.
On the surface, Iwagakure was only one victory behind Sunagakure.
But anyone who watched the matches understood that Sunagakure's three contestants were stronger overall than Iwagakure's.
Iwagakure had actually benefited from luck.
By comparison, Konoha's luck was rather poor.
Konoha's strongest contestant, Kakashi, just happened to run into Hyena, whose strength had already exceeded the level of his peers.
"Tsuchikage. Hokage. Thank you for yielding."
Rasa stood, smiling.
Having the most victories meant Sunagakure could obtain the largest share of Kusagakure's compensation.
Compared to simply dividing the compensation evenly, this brought Sunagakure even greater gains.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, meanwhile, felt somewhat regretful.
If there had been no tournament, Konoha would definitely have obtained more than this.
Not to mention the hidden losses that would follow after the tournament's results spread.
Onoki felt unwilling.
But when he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his mood improved considerably.
At least Iwagakure had not suffered a loss.
The three shinobi villages turned their attention back to Kusagakure and began dividing up Kusagakure's compensation.
The leader of Kusagakure watched helplessly as Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha took away his village's possessions little by little.
He felt as if his heart were bleeding.
Yet he could do nothing.
"Damn it!"
"If only I hadn't done that to Sunagakure."
"No… even then, they simply wouldn't have found that excuse this time."
"I did nothing to Konoha or Iwagakure, but they still came."
"This is the sorrow of being a small shinobi village."
"If every small shinobi village in the world could unite, we wouldn't be bullied by these great shinobi villages anymore!"
The leader of Kusagakure clenched his fists.
But whether it was Rasa, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or Onoki, none of them paid him any attention at all.
Rasa found Mui alone.
"Kazekage-sama?"
Mui looked at Rasa in front of him and quickly lowered his head.
"Mui, let's talk about your collusion with Konoha and your alteration of the list."
Mui's face changed dramatically.