Chapter 325: Tsunade's Discovery (4k)

"Rin, try your best in the next match. Since you did so well in the first round, you're sure to become a Chunin." Obito thought for a moment and said to Rin Nohara.

The first match of the second round was between Rin Nohara and Hoshigaki Kisame.

Though he was the enemy, Obito had to admit that Kisame was a powerful ninja. Not to mention Rin, even Obito himself wasn't confident of winning against him, because his Fire Release was completely countered by Kisame.

"Mm, actually, I'm already satisfied just making it to the second round." Rin Nohara nodded with a smile.

Beating Nara Ensei had already made Rin very happy. The battle in the Forest of Death had fully demonstrated Hoshigaki Kisame's strength, and Rin knew her chances of winning were slim.

There was no way the Water Release she had trained for only a month could compare with Hoshigaki Kisame's Water Release. And although her Strange Power Fist was strong, it wasn't so strong that Kisame couldn't handle it.

"Try to create opportunities with taijutsu as much as you can. Give it your all so you won't regret the outcome." Kakashi also spoke up.

In Kakashi's analysis, Rin's faint hope of victory lay in her Strange Power.

"First match of the second round: Hoshigaki Kisame versus Rin Nohara!" Hiruko's voice reached into the waiting room.

"Thank you both. I'm going to take the exam." Rin gave a gentle smile, thanked Obito and Kakashi for their advice, and walked out of the waiting room.

At that moment, Obito wished he could take Rin's place in the match, but he knew it was impossible. First of all, Rin herself wouldn't agree. Obito knew Rin wasn't someone who backed down from difficulties.

Hoshigaki Kisame glanced at Might Guy, who was training by doing handstand exercises, and also left the waiting room.

Winning this match would make his next opponent Might Guy. As for Kurosawa, Kisame already assumed he would lose to Guy.

"Begin!" Hiruko shouted and immediately retreated.

Rin immediately entered the Water Breathing state and took the initiative to attack Hoshigaki Kisame.

To get close to Kisame, Rin gathered chakra in her feet and used Shunpo to explosively accelerate, appearing right beside Kisame.

"Strange Power!"

Rin clenched her fist, releasing all the massive chakra stored within it at once, swinging a tremendously heavy punch at Kisame.

This opening surprised many spectators. They hadn't expected such a delicate-looking girl like Rin to proactively engage the ferocious Hoshigaki Kisame in taijutsu combat.

After all, in her previous match, Rin had left the impression of a Water Release ninja who relied on the Water Dragon Bullet for offense.

But then something even more unexpected happened. Facing the charging, delicate girl, Hoshigaki Kisame actually retreated rapidly, unwilling to clash head-on.

Boom!

Rin's punch crashed into the ground. The tremendous force directly cracked the earth, sending shards of stone flying in all directions.

"This girl has quite a bit of your style, Tsunade." Jiraiya laughed as he watched Rin display such punching power.

Tsunade, who hadn't been paying close attention to the fight, looked over properly at Jiraiya's cue and felt that Rin's fighting style seemed somewhat familiar.

Having clashed head-on with Rin before, Hoshigaki Kisame had no intention of trading punches with her. Instead, he waited until after Rin's attack missed before charging in to fight.

Without using Strange Power, Rin quickly fell into a disadvantage, taking several blows to the body. Watching this, Obito clenched his fists.

Rin didn't give up. She deliberately left an opening, hoping to trade injuries with Kisame, but found that Kisame didn't fall for it, causing her attack to miss again.

This frustrated Rin. Her chakra wasn't abundant, and Strange Power consumed a lot. Every punch she missed made her already slender chance of victory even smaller.

"Rin lacks combat experience." At that moment, Kakashi noticed a fatal weakness in Rin.

Rin didn't have the rich experiences they had—being a trainee, occasionally encountering Jonin squads, or battlefield accidents.

The encounter with the Raikage candidate was dangerous, but it was mostly Minato doing the fighting. The intensity of their battle was actually not very high.

Even in the Forest of Death, Rin hadn't fought much; her main role was healing.

Combat experience was extremely important. Earlier, Kakashi had beaten Obito without exerting much effort simply because Obito lacked combat experience back then.

And now, Hoshigaki Kisame was taking advantage of Rin's inexperience. In the eyes of an experienced ninja, Rin was practically playing with her cards on the table—every intention was plainly obvious.

Rin wasn't stupid. When she realized her Strange Power kept missing, she became more cautious and stopped using it recklessly.

However, caution could only delay Rin's defeat, not secure her victory.

Kisame wasn't in a hurry to defeat Rin either. The pacing of the third exam was tight; he didn't want any accident to leave him in bad condition and then lose to Might Guy.

The wounds on Rin's body gradually increased, and her condition worsened.

But Rin didn't give up. She used medical ninjutsu to heal herself, preventing her speed from dropping due to injuries.

"Her medical ninjutsu is also not bad. This girl named Rin Nohara is interesting." Tsunade looked at Rin Nohara more and more and felt that Rin Nohara was training according to her mold.

"I'm also quite curious. She is Minato's disciple, but this is definitely not taught by Minato." Jiraiya beside her said.

Minato had talked to Jiraiya about his disciples and had also asked Jiraiya for advice on teaching experience.

"As for little Rin, actually she is also my disciple." Mu Yue explained briefly. Now some things don't need to be hidden.

Jiraiya looked at Mu Yue with some surprise. He only knew that Mu Yue was learning medical ninjutsu from Tsunade, but he didn't expect that Mu Yue's own medical ninjutsu was also not low, able to teach a disciple like Rin Nohara.

"So it was you. When did you steal my 'Monstrous Strength'? Tonight you must make a Beggar's Chicken and a plate of Spicy Chicken to compensate for my loss." Tsunade said sternly.

Mu Yue didn't even want to expose it: you think you have lost a stolen ninjutsu? Obviously you are just craving the chicken he makes.

Because Monstrous Strength is essentially not a specific ninjutsu, but a chakra control technique. This thing can only be taught, and stealing it is extremely difficult.

"Cooking is no problem, but little Rin admires you, Lady Tsunade. She might come along with me at that time." Mu Yue smiled and agreed.

Mu Yue was somewhat thinking of leaving Rin Nohara with Tsunade to be taken care of for a while.

Although Tsunade is very slack now, she is still the strongest in medical ninjutsu. Mu Yue thinks it is necessary for Rin Nohara to study further under Tsunade.

Tsunade directly nodded happily, while thinking about whether to leave Shizune with Mu Yue to try teaching. Mu Yue seems to have some skill in teaching.

Rin Nohara eventually lost, falling because of excessive consumption of physical strength and chakra.

For the audience from the Land of Fire, Konoha, this was another unsatisfying battle. Although Rin Nohara pushed Kisame back at the beginning of the battle, she ultimately lost.

This is the Chunin Exam to show strength. Losing means being inferior to the opponent.

"Damn it, Might Guy, you need to give him a good beating then." Obito's heart was burning with anger, but due to the drawing numbers, there was no way.

Kisame Hoshigaki would meet Might Guy in the third match. Obito thought Might Guy would win, so they wouldn't encounter each other at all.

"Leave it to me." Might Guy nodded seriously.

Without a doubt, Rin Nohara was also his comrade. At that time, he would surely repay Kisame with his strongest kick technique.

"Second match, Might Guy vs. Kurozawa!"

When Hiira's voice reached the audience, many spectators' spirits were shaken.

They had kept watching despite so many battles between Kirigakure and Konoha being lost because they knew it wasn't that Konoha ninja were weak, but that those Kirigakure ninja hadn't yet encountered the strong ones of Konoha.

"Might Guy, go for it! Like the last match, one-kick instant kill!" someone shouted.

"Might Guy, use all your strength!"

Hearing so many people cheering for his son, Might Duy shed tears of emotion, stood up excitedly, and cheered for Might Guy.

The venue was buzzing with voices. Due to the distance, Might Guy couldn't clearly hear what they were saying in the battlefield, but he could faintly hear someone calling his name.

The corners of Might Guy's mouth lifted. Winning first place in the Chunin Exam was a solid step he took towards becoming the strongest in taijutsu.

"This is truly a tough battle. How can I possibly defeat this guy?" Kurozawa's mind was rapidly thinking of a way to defeat Might Guy.

He had been thinking for a long time, since right after the draw, but up to now he still hadn't thought of a way.

Because the only ability Might Guy had shown so far was taijutsu, but it was not ordinary taijutsu; it was a taijutsu that could knock even Kisame down with one kick.

To say he didn't want to win in his heart was impossible, because the better his performance, the more rewards he would get when he returned to Kirigakure. The problem was he couldn't figure out how he could win.

"Battle start!"

"Eight Gates: Gate of Opening, open! Gate of Rest, open! Gate of Life, open!"

Might Guy again instantly opened three gates while adjusting his breathing to enter the Total Concentration Breathing state. As long as he finished it fast enough, he wouldn't consume much stamina.

"Hidden Mist Technique!"

Kurozawa immediately formed hand seals, summoning a large amount of thick fog to cover the arena, while using the Body Flicker Technique to leave his spot. Otherwise, he worried he would be instant-killed by Might Guy's kick.

Kurozawa's worry was correct. The moment he left his spot, the ground at where he had just stood directly cracked. If he had been even a little later, what cracked would not have been the ground.

But this also made Kurozawa sigh in relief. It proved that Might Guy couldn't see clearly inside the Hidden Mist Technique, so he still had a chance.

But just as Kurozawa was about to create a Water Clone, intending to use the Water Clone to attract Might Guy's attention while the real body launched a sneak attack, Might Guy moved.

Might Guy poured most of his power into his leg, and then, with the powerful chakra explosion of the Eight Gates, instantly appeared in front of Kurozawa and kicked out fiercely.

"Ultimate: Leaf - Gutsy Tornado!"

This is Might Guy's strongest move in the Tornado series, executing Gutsy Tornado with maximum power — even thick, hard rock can be easily kicked to pieces.

Boom!!

This incredibly swift, heavy kick landed on Kurosawa and his Water Clone.

The Water Clone burst like a water balloon pricked by a needle, water splashing everywhere, while Kurosawa's real body slammed into the wall like a fired cannonball, leaving another human-shaped imprint on the wall.

Without Kurosawa maintaining it with chakra, the mist quickly thinned and dispersed, and the spectators saw Might Guy standing in the arena and Kurosawa embedded in the wall.

Kurosawa, his mouth full of blood, looked at Might Guy with unwillingness; he wanted to ask Might Guy how he had broken his Mist Concealment Technique, but by then he could no longer speak.

As if seeing through Kurosawa's confusion, Might Guy took the initiative to explain: "I once trained to fight with my eyes closed to overcome a certain person — I can determine positions just by sound."

For a long time, Might Guy had no way to deal with Shisui's genjutsu; Shisui's genjutsu ability was too strong, and the usual methods to dispel genjutsu weren't very effective.

So he practiced this fighting style, worried that one day he would encounter an enemy with genjutsu as strong as Shisui's.

His first kick was aimed from memory, so it missed, and his second kick used sound to discern position, locating them based on the movements of Kurosawa's Water Clone.

Kurosawa closed his eyes. He had lost without regret — Might Guy was simply too hard to deal with.

"Might Guy wins!" Bīrūrū announced the victor's name.

Although they hadn't seen at all how Might Guy had taken down Kurosawa, Might Guy's decisive victory stood out after Mist had won several matches in a row against Leaf, and many spectators were cheering for Might Guy.

Might Guy dispelled the Eight Gates and Breathing Method, walked back to the rest area with a confident smile — if he won one more match and Kakashi won two, they could meet in the finals.

Although Obito also performed strongly, Might Guy had an inexplicable confidence in Kakashi; he felt Kakashi could do it, could defeat all opponents and vie for first place together with him.

"Maybe this is the bond between close friends," Might Guy thought, his smile growing brighter.

At that moment he just entered the rest area; Might Guy directly gave Kakashi a thumbs-up, then sat down to rest.

Kakashi, not quite understanding what Might Guy was thinking, just nodded.

"As expected, Kakashi accepted the challenge — that's our mutual understanding," Might Guy thought, extremely excited.

"Third match: Uchiha Obito vs. Terumī Mei!"

"Use your head more, don't get carried away," Kakashi reminded.

Terumī Mei counters Obito; this match won't be easy for Obito.

"I don't need you to remind me — I always fight with my brain," Obito didn't acknowledge Kakashi's assessment of him.

He felt that he used plenty of tactics in battle, and a single fight cost him many brain cells.

"Just wait until I beat you in the next round!" Obito declared to Kakashi with a confident smile, then walked out of the rest area.

Momochi Zabuza, still sitting in the rest area: …

Just automatically assuming he'd lose — that's fine, although he had lost to Kakashi once before in the Forest of Death, this direct assumption was a bit disheartening.

PS: It's past one in the morning again while writing; hope I can sleep soon.