Chapter 598: The Maiden's Qilin

"Ah! Why are Zhili and Hizhen fighting?"

Sitting beside Uchiha Gin, Senju Itama only just realized the situation in the arena had become more complicated; he had only stepped away for a moment, so why were Uchiha Zhili and his eldest niece already locked in battle?

"Maybe she's settling a score for you?"

Uchiha Gin also didn't know why the usually gentle and calm little Zhili would go looking for trouble with Senju Hizhen, but combining it with what happened before, it was highly likely she was standing up for her best friend.

"Huh?"

What was to be done? One was a best friend he had grown up with, the other was the orphan of his own brother; both were equally precious to him.

Senju Itama wished he could rush down there right now and shout at the two fighting women that the rain was heavy, the rain was heavy.

"Bang!"

In the arena, relying on her rich combat experience, Senju Hizhen fought with ease; she raised her hand to block another attack from the slightly cold-faced Uchiha Zhili and voiced the doubt in her heart,

"You and I have no past grievances or recent grudges, why are you attacking me?"

After successfully sending away her sister, that great Buddha, Senju Hizhen had thought her only remaining obstacles were the two women wrestling on the high platform, but who would have thought another gatecrasher would appear?

"You seem quite familiar with Mr. Gin?"

Expressionless, Uchiha Zhili swiped away Senju Hizhen's arm and retreated two steps, her voice laced with a hint of chill.

Uchiha Zhili, who was adept at reading people, had keenly captured a trace of something unusual the moment Senju Hizhen mentioned the name Uchiha Gin.

Based on her years of experience in dealing with people, this white-haired, red-eyed, big-breasted woman before her was definitely very familiar with Mr. Gin.

Yet, she, his chief disciple, didn't even know the two were acquainted, which was enough to infer that these two had some unspeakable affair behind her back.

"Me and him? Not familiar."

Senju Hizhen shook her slightly numb arm, her delicate brows furrowed slightly as she spoke to distance herself from Uchiha Gin.

In this world, the only person who knew her true identity was Uchiha Gin, so naturally, the two were as familiar as could be.

But now, wearing this body, she generally took the initiative to keep her distance from Uchiha Gin in daily life to avoid revealing any flaws, only contacting him privately when necessary.

"Full of lies."

Clearly, Uchiha Zhili did not believe Senju Hizhen's answer. As she spoke, a faint scarlet color emerged in her black pupils, and three tomoe radiating a deep, cold power began to rotate slowly.

"Tsk!"

As expected of the naturally evil Uchiha.

Besides being a nuisance, what else could they do?

Since the other party had even revealed her Sharingan, Senju Hizhen knew that today's fight was unavoidable. After taking a deep breath, she held two kunai engraved with complex incantations and assumed an attacking stance.

"Looks like it's time to get serious."

Watching the two women at daggers drawn, Uchiha Gin frowned imperceptibly. It was just a small exam, was it really necessary to resort to weapons?

It's just a Tailed Beast card; if it doesn't work, I'll just give you each one.

"It's become a complete mess."

Also paying attention to the situation in the arena was the F6 in the VIP lounge. Sarutobi Hiruzen had been focusing on the wrestling between Uchiha Hikari and Uzumaki Mito, hoping to use this opportunity to witness the strength of the renowned Iron-Fisted Princess.

As a result, the intrusion of Senju Hizhen and the others successfully caught his attention. Watching the white-haired girl entangled with Uchiha Zhili, Sarutobi Hiruzen always felt her style was very familiar.

"Danzo, what do you think?"

"What do I think? I'm sitting here watching."

Danzo, sitting on the sofa, turned his head and replied with a puzzled look.

"Don't be smart. Nothing can happen to the teacher's daughter, otherwise, how will we answer to the Senju clan?"

"Hiruzen, put your heart at ease. Zhili knows how to pull her punches; she definitely won't hurt Miss Hizhen."

"Boom! —"

Uchiha Kagami had just finished speaking with a smile when he saw Uchiha Zhili kick Senju Hizhen away with a whip kick. The latter slammed heavily into the hard ground, and a streak of bright red slowly flowed down her pale lips.

Even so, Uchiha Zhili didn't seem satisfied; she immediately pressed her advantage, forcing the golden-faced Senju Hizhen into a corner, and a scene of inhumane humiliation was about to unfold.

"..."

"Forget I said anything."

Uchiha Kagami scratched his head with a stiff expression; this slap in the face had come too quickly.

"Well fought!"

Danzo, on the other hand, didn't care about Senju Hizhen's safety; he even wished to see this stinky woman get humbled.

Daring to scam our Shimura clan's money—let's see how you like that!

It turned out Danzo was still brooding over the previous election. At that time, his father had spent a large sum of money to trade for an important position from Senju Hizhen.

As a result, a series of subsequent events caused their Ninja Clan Alliance to completely break with Senju Hizhen. If it weren't for the fact that she was the daughter of Senju Tobirama, the Ninja Clan Alliance would have already gone to her door to demand compensation.

"Such a good exam, and it's become a stage for them to perform."

Danzo looked at the four women active in the arena, his eyes growing more solemn.

There were still several contestants left in the exam hall, all of whom were members of their ninja clans, but these people were afraid of damaging the goods and dared not go up to compete with Uzumaki Mito and the others for the Tailed Beast card, only daring to spectate from the corners.

This cowardly performance was no different from smearing the reputation of the Ninja Clan Alliance.

In the F6's initial vision, this exam was an opportunity to demonstrate the abundant martial virtue of the Ninja Clan Alliance, a chance to flex their muscles to the villagers and dilute the inherent impression that Konoha only consisted of the Senju and Uchiha.

Unfortunately, things went against their wishes. The exciting battle in the arena had once again pushed the long-dormant Uchiha and Senju back into the public eye, destroying the layout the Ninja Clan Alliance had worked so hard on for so long.

"Monkey, I'm going to the restroom."

Giving a look to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who also looked gloomy, Danzo left the VIP viewing room first.

"I'm going too."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, catching his meaning, followed closely behind, and the two left one after the other.

"Didn't Danzo just go?"

Uchiha Kagami blinked in confusion. Could it be that Danzo had prostate problems?

"Maybe he didn't wipe his ass clean."

Akimichi Torifu, chewing on snacks, didn't even look up as he provided a reasonable explanation.

"That's possible."

Thinking of Danzo's astonishing hip circumference, Uchiha Kagami dismissed his doubts and continued watching the battle.

"Monkey, this can't go on. The Uchiha and Senju are stealing all the spotlight."

Danzo, unwilling to let the Ninja Clan Alliance become mere background characters, stopped in front of the restroom and whispered with a face full of reluctance.

"Wait for me to arrange it."

Sarutobi Hiruzen also saw it and felt anxious. After nodding in agreement, he raised a hand, and several masked Anbu appeared, and a secret order was issued.

"Let's go, Danzo. It's time for the good show to begin."

Inside the exam hall, in a corner unseen by the audience, several figures landed slowly. One of the masked Anbu looked at the group of ninja clan members gathered in the distance and raised his hand to form a very rare seal.

【Ninja Art: Mind-Connecting Jutsu】

"Listen up, everyone. Lord Hokage has ordered you to join the battle. Even if you can't win, you cannot lose too ugly."

"Huh?"

"Nani!"

The sudden voice in their minds scared the already nervous ninja clan members. Fortunately, there was a ninja from the Yamanaka clan among them who recognized the source of the voice and calmed the restless crowd.

"No way? You want us to fight those monsters?"

The contestants who could pass the first round were no ordinary people; each was a prominent figure in their family, with strength around that of an elite jonin, and they considered their own judgment to be very sharp.

Even someone as strong as Senju Kenta was almost driven to madness by the tyrannical aura of the Tailed Beast card, yet the two women on the high platform were unaffected, and could even pull and tug on the Tailed Beast card from each side, which was enough to prove their unfathomable and terrifying strength.

"Sigh, if I had known, I would have forfeited earlier."

The people entrusted with the heavy task looked like they were attending a funeral; had they known there was such a heavy mission, they should have forfeited from the start.

"Hurry up and act. I will be recording the whole thing."

Everyone was hesitating, and no one made a move. Seeing this, the Anbu sent another message, the content like a death warrant.

"Phew, I'm going. You guys do whatever."

Finally, a ninja clan member could not withstand the psychological pressure and rushed out first.

"Wait, are you tired of living?"

The other members felt a tightness in their chests and hurriedly shouted, only to find that the other party was not heading toward the high platform, but instead turned their guns and rushed toward the two fighting women, Senju Hizhen and Uchiha Zhili.

"You guy, aren't you being too despicable?"

"The order didn't say we had to fight those two guys up there."

The running ninja member turned his head and said seriously, his eyes full of triumph.

"Wait for me!"

The crowd suddenly woke up as if from a dream and hurriedly followed. The commotion they created successfully caught the attention of the audience.

"What do those guys want to do?"

"Oh, so there are still people left. I thought they had all forfeited~"

"Wait, they aren't heading for the Tailed Beast card. What are they trying to do?"

Looking at the ninja clan members with clear goals and uniform steps, the audience looked at each other, unable to guess what they were actually trying to do.

"What the hell are those guys doing?"

Hearing the noisy footsteps suddenly ringing in her ears, the two women in the heat of battle stopped by mutual agreement. After pulling apart, Senju Hizhen, panting slightly, frowned in confusion.

"They seem to be coming for us."

Uchiha Zhili had also calmed down by now. She turned her head and glanced at the approaching team, her confusion only increasing.

They didn't have the Tailed Beast card; had these guys taken the wrong medicine?

"Human Bullet Tank!"

Before the two could resolve their confusion, a massive ball of flesh flew out from the rushing crowd; an impatient member of the Akimichi clan had unleashed a secret family technique and was rolling toward them to crush them.

"We'll settle this later; I'm going to clear the field first."

Watching the menacing ball of flesh, Uchiha Zhili chose to call a temporary truce. A flash of red light flickered in her eyes, and she vanished from the spot in an instant.

"Huh?"

Uchiha Zhili's sudden disappearance caught the members of the ninja clans off guard. They immediately slowed their pace, searching for traces of the purple-haired girl.

"Crackle~ Crackle~"

"Ha, did you guys hear thunder?"

A faint crackling sound rang out. The ninja clan members looked up at the sky, found it still azure blue, and immediately asked in confusion.

"It seems like there was, but what is that in the sky?"

A sharp-eyed member spotted the figure floating in the sky and immediately cried out in alarm.

In the air, Uchiha Zhili held a short gray blade. Her eyes were devoid of joy or sorrow, and her beautiful red eyes were slightly lowered; to her, everything within her gaze was nothing but ants.

"Are you prepared to accept the thunder's punishment?"

The girl held the short blade high. The unremarkable blade instantly erupted with dazzling lightning. Golden plasma surged straight upward, dyeing the azure sky gold.

"Oh no, stop her quickly!"

Among the ninja clan members below, someone keenly sensed that something was wrong and immediately shouted to warn the others. In an instant, countless ninja tools and ninjutsu were unleashed, flying toward Uchiha Zhili in the sky.

"Zhili-jie!"

In the spectator stands, Senju Itama clenched her fists anxiously. If anything happened to Uchiha Zhili, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.

"What will you do?"

Senju Toka, left on the sidelines, took the opportunity to catch her breath. Her gaze fell upon Uchiha Zhili, who was surrounded by countless ninjutsu, and her eyes held an inexplicable gleam.

Calmly watching the attacks flying toward her, Uchiha Zhili had finished channeling the lightning-natured chakra into her electric blade. The lightning light shrouding the heads of the crowd gradually faded, followed by drops of water.

It was actually raining.

"Whoosh—"

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and the crowd vaguely saw a ferocious beast's head within the dark clouds in the sky.

"Look, what is that?"

"Kirin."

There was no need to keep guessing; Uchiha Zhili had already provided the answer for them. The girl swung her arm, and the dense plasma stirred, piercing straight into the clouds.

"Boom— Rumble—"

The pitch-black clouds were torn open by two sharp claws. A massive and ferocious beast's head extended from within. It opened its mouth, which was filled with sharp teeth, and swallowed all the incoming ninja tools and ninjutsu.

"Dodge quickly!"

Everyone was captivated by the giant beast in the clouds. By the time they realized the crisis was descending, it was already too late. The giant beast composed of lightning stepped down from the dark clouds, aiming directly at the ninja clan members.

"Boom! Rumble—"

A thunderclap erupted from the flat ground, and the dazzling lightning light forcibly blinded everyone present.

"Crackle~ Pop~"

When the people opened their eyes, the scene before them completely dropped their jaws.

In the center of the examination grounds, which could accommodate thousands of people, there appeared a bottomless crater. The edges of the pit were covered in scorched soil, and the rising black smoke was pungent.

The ninja clan members who had just been gathered in a group were now nowhere to be found. Could it be that they had been left without a trace under the devastation of the lightning beast?

"Thud! "

The F6 in the VIP room stood up in unison, looking at the scorched earth with eyes full of horror.

"Kagami, this technique..."

Koharu Utatane swallowed hard and turned her head with difficulty to ask.

"I didn't expect Zhili-jie to have actually mastered it."

Uchiha Kagami shook his head with a complex expression.

"This ninjutsu is called Kirin; it is an S-rank forbidden lightning technique. I have practiced it for a long time and haven't even entered the threshold."

Looking at the scorched earth, Danzo, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred, clenched his fists and viciously used a classic formula.

"Damn it! As expected of the naturally evil Uchiha. Kagami, don't mind it; I have always judged the matter, not the person." (End of chapter)