Chapter 507

"Cough, that... Yahiko, long time no see." Obito reluctantly stepped forward to greet him.

Hearing someone call his name, Yahiko turned to look.

"Long time no see, Obito." Yahiko replied with a smile.

Although he had only met Obito once, Yahiko had a deep impression of him because Obito had said he wanted to become Hokage and end the war.

Moreover, according to Kakuzu's intelligence, Obito was also a ninja to be taken seriously.

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to meet you here." Obito walked over to Yahiko's side and said.

"Yeah." Yahiko nodded, then thought of something and couldn't help laughing.

"Haha, but it seems our reunion came a bit early; neither of us has made a name in the ninja world yet."

At their last meeting, Yahiko and Obito had agreed that the next time they heard news of each other, both would have become famous in the ninja world. Given the current situation, that clearly failed.

Both Yahiko and Obito were only famous within their own circles, not across the ninja world.

"We're on the road to fame, aren't we? If we both make it to the finals, our reputation will grow." Obito answered with a grin.

The Youth Martial Arts Tournament was different from the joint Chunin Exams of the ninja villages; it had garnered massive attention across the ninja world. If someone took first place, purely in terms of exposure, it would definitely count as becoming famous in the ninja world.

"That's true." Yahiko thought about it and realized it was correct. Given the popularity of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, the top two would certainly gain huge attention.

"Rin, did you see my photo? You didn't lose it, did you?" Kakashi deliberately raised his voice to ask Rin.

He noticed that Obito seemed to be chatting happily and had forgotten that their purpose was to gather intelligence.

"I don't think so." Rin turned her head and looked around before answering.

Obito successfully caught the keyword "photo," remembered Kakashi's order, and quickly asked:

"Yahiko, do you know the ninja master Sosuke? The one who organized this tournament. He's been quite famous in the ninja world lately."

"Teacher Sosuke? Of course I know him. I'm one of Teacher Sosuke's first followers." Yahiko replied proudly.

"Under Teacher Sosuke's leadership, the Land of Rain is gradually improving, moving toward peace and stability."

Kakashi listened to Yahiko's words and fell into thought.

Clearly, Yahiko was now a die-hard fan of Sosuke and had even already joined the Ninja Sect.

Furthermore, judging by Nagato's expression when he looked at Sosuke, Kakashi estimated that he was similar to Yahiko.

"The Akatsuki organization turning into that later evil organization that captured tailed beasts is highly likely related to Sosuke." Kakashi speculated inwardly.

The current Akatsuki organization was too different from the future Akatsuki. Such an extreme transformation was clearly not a normal development trend.

Kakashi believed that the leader and high-ranking members of Akatsuki had undergone some major life change, which caused such a huge contrast in the organization's before and after.

"Obito, how is your path to becoming Hokage going?" Yahiko asked.

Obito scratched his head, "Still working on it."

Becoming Hokage was Obito's dream, but at this point, he actually didn't know how to become Hokage.

He had never heard of any Hokage exam that you could pass to become Hokage.

"Keep it up! As long as you work hard, there'll definitely be a chance." Yahiko encouraged.

Yahiko thought it would be a great thing if Obito became Hokage, after all, someone who loves peace couldn't be a bad person.

"Contestants, please enter the lounge to draw lots and prepare for battle." A Ninja Sect staff member called out to the waiting area.

Seeing this, Yahiko and Obito tacitly stopped their conversation. Obito returned to his team and went to the lounge with Kakashi and the others.

Once inside the lounge, a Ninja Sect staff member brought out a large box and had the contestants draw numbers one by one.

"Number one battles number two, number three battles number four, and so on. The winners advance to the next round." The ninja staff member explained the rules.

The Youth Martial Arts Tournament had the simplest rules possible, so no one raised any questions. After all, the rules were so straightforward that the explanation was unnecessary.

"So far back." Obito looked at the thirty wooden slip in his hand and felt his draw luck was average.

Thirty meant that except for the first round, he would be the last to fight in all subsequent rounds.

"Rin, what numbers did you get? I'm number thirty." Obito walked directly to Kakashi and Rin's side and asked.

After each person drew their number, the Shinobi Temple staff immediately registered it, making it impossible to swap or change, and it was information that had to be made public.

"I'm number thirteen." Nohara Rin replied.

"Fifteen." Kakashi answered briefly.

Obito's eyes widened. Their numbers were so close. If both advanced to the second round, he'd have to face her in the next match.

"That naturally wicked white-haired guy actually wants to stop Rin in the second round!" Obito grumbled inwardly.

Originally, Obito thought Nohara Rin had a decent chance of making it to the top eight. Aside from the few who were also disciples of Mu Yue, only Nagato had shown overwhelming suppression; the puppeteer was merely suspected of being strong.

But today, Nohara Rin's luck was clearly even worse than Obito's, running into Kakashi in the second round.

"No, maybe it's Kakashi's bad luck that dragged Rin down."

Remembering how Kakashi had just threatened him, Obito silently cursed Kakashi again. How could kind and beautiful Nohara Rin be at fault? It must be Kakashi's fault!

"My number is eleven. Very close numbers, Kakashi! Is this the bond between sworn friends?" Might Gai shouted excitedly after the draw ended.

Kakashi did a quick mental calculation, and his expression turned serious.

If both he and Might Gai advanced to the third round, they would meet in the top eight.

"Too little chakra. If I had more, I could use more tactics." Kakashi subconsciously simulated a fight with Might Gai in his mind, then shook his head.

The One-Mind Slash cost him too much; if chakra consumption increased slightly, Kakashi couldn't use it, but without consuming chakra, it was hard to create attacking opportunities.

Might Gai, using the Eight Gates combined with Rock Breathing chakra, possessed not only absolute strength but also tremendous speed.

In contrast to Kakashi, Obito felt a glimmer of hope.

Might Gai was number eleven, while he was number thirty, which meant Obito would only have to face Might Gai in the finals.

Kakashi could still gamble on One-Mind Slash, but Obito truly had no way to handle Might Gai right now; under normal circumstances, his chance of winning against Might Gai was zero.

"I'm number nineteen." Shisui walked over and reported his number.

"The elimination rounds are about to begin. Participants, please pay attention to the broadcast in the lounge. The match order is on the screen." A Shinobi Temple staff member reminded.

As soon as the staff member finished speaking, the large screen in the lounge lit up, displaying the order of the sixteen first-round matches from top to bottom.

"Number one is that Nagato." Maki glanced at the first match on the screen, then at the number two tag in his hand, his expression shifting slightly.

A Suna shinobi had been placed in Nagato's bracket during the preliminaries, so Maki knew Nagato was a tough opponent.

Nagato casually glanced at the large screen, then looked away.

He didn't care who his opponent was. He would keep winning until the tournament ended.

"Skilled in large-scale ninjutsu, mainly using Wind Release and Fire Release..." Maki began formulating countermeasures based on Nagato's intel.

"I can keep dodging, wait for him to slip up, and look for an opening to close in."

Maki was a Wind Release specialist, but he didn't prioritize attack range; he focused on Wind Release's lethality, aiming to kill in one blow.

If he got a chance to output, no matter how disadvantaged he had been earlier, Maki was confident he could turn the tables.

Kakashi didn't look for his own opponent first; instead, he scanned the list from the beginning.

"Sunagani is number eight. That's a good draw for us." Kakashi saw Sunagani's name in the fourth match of the first round.

If both Nagato and Sunagani advanced, they would at worst meet in the top eight, and by then neither Nagato nor Sunagani would likely continue hiding their strength.

"First match: Number one Nagato vs. number two Maki! Players, please enter the arena immediately." The referee's voice came through the lounge.

Nagato greeted Konan and Yahiko before leaving the lounge and heading to the central battlefield.

"Maki, do your best!" Yura encouraged.

Sunagakure hadn't sent many people anyway; only the two of them had advanced to the elimination rounds. If Maki lost, Yura would be the sole survivor, and the pressure would change instantly.

"I'll try my best." Maki replied in a low voice, walking out of the lounge.

As soon as he stepped into the battlefield, Maki could clearly feel numerous gazes fixed on him.

"Maybe the Kazekage-sama should take this more seriously," Maki thought to himself.

He felt that if you're going to participate, you should be serious, or else don't bother at all. This half-hearted showing made it look like Sunagakure's strength was lacking—only two shinobi made it to the elimination rounds, and there was no telling when they'd be eliminated.

Hanzō on the high platform narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of Nagato, recalling some unpleasant memories.

That day, if Nagato had been slightly weaker, and if Kakuzu hadn't been there, perhaps his encirclement plan wouldn't have failed so completely.

Hanzō sighed softly. It wouldn't have been a total loss, but he would still have failed, because even if he were reborn and returned to that moment, he wasn't certain he could kill Sōsuke.

Opposing someone like Sōsuke was just asking for trouble. If he were truly reborn, Hanzō would most likely blast Danzō Shimura out the door, give Sōsuke some title to boost his fame.

That way, not only would they avoid becoming enemies, but Hanzō could still be slightly above Sōsuke in status — after all, he'd be the one giving the title.

In the audience, a Root member quietly took out a small notebook, preparing to record intel on Nagato.

Ōnoki's son saw this and shook his head. Having witnessed that encirclement, he knew Nagato's strength was uncanny; Nagato had already surpassed ordinary shinobi by far.

Once he knew Nagato was among the contestants, Ōnoki's son realized the first-place reward of the Shinobi Sect would not be taken by any other faction.

In the waiting room, the contestants, seeing the match about to start, all focused their attention on the battlefield.

Intel plays a crucial role in shinobi combat. For the participating shinobi, watching the matches is itself part of the competition.

Whoever can gather more intel from the battle details will gain a greater advantage in the upcoming fights.

"Fight start!" the referee shouted immediately after confirming both were ready.

Shhhh!!

Maki didn't rashly advance or retreat; he chose to draw a shuriken and throw it at Nagato.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

Nagato still opted for the strategy from the preliminaries — exploiting his enormous chakra reserves to suppress with wide-area jutsu.

A large amount of wind-natured chakra was compressed into a small sphere and expelled from Nagato's mouth.

Whoosh!!

The moment the wind sphere was expelled, a fierce gale swept the battlefield. The high-density wind sphere burst, creating a terrifying storm of destructive power. The ground was torn apart beneath it, mud and stones flying, dust rising in all directions.

"It's this strong?" Maki secretly trembled.

Hearing secondhand intel is never as direct as seeing it with one's own eyes. At that moment, he understood why that Suna shinobi had been vaguely fearful — this Wind Release was truly frightening.

Maki surged all his chakra and rapidly retreated. In this situation, he could only avoid the brunt and wait for an opening; anyway, his original plan was exactly that.

Fortunately, the battlefield was spacious enough. With swift movements, Maki managed to escape Nagato's attack range.

"Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique!"

Unfazed by the failed attack, Nagato continued forming hand seals. Mugetsu had taught him many high-level five-element nature techniques; this was just the beginning.

Rumble!!

Maki felt the ground tremble and shake. On both sides, the earth suddenly split, rose, and rushed toward him with crushing speed.

Maki disregarded everything else, pushing beyond his limit to burst out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed into 'Maki paste'.

"Mountain Earth Technique isn't very useful in this case," Ōnoki's son commented.

Mountain Earth Technique was Ōnoki's son's specialty. Unless the opponent was very large, or there was a teammate to restrain them, its hit rate was poor.

Of course, its power was truly immense. If it landed, Ōnoki's son believed few in the entire shinobi world could withstand it.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

As Maki escaped the squeeze of Mountain Earth Technique, fierce flames of fire surrounded him, thoroughly pushing him into a hopeless situation.

"Nagato wins!" the referee announced Nagato's victory.

Maki wiped the hot sweat from his face, feeling not the slightest resentment. He accepted this defeat wholeheartedly.

The gap in their strength was too great. From the start of the battle, Nagato had chased him around; finding Nagato's weaknesses as he had imagined was completely unrealistic. Dealing with Nagato's jutsu had exhausted all his energy.

Truly, one shouldn't set flags. It's all Lao Wu's fault (not).

Let me report on the progress of the side story. The framework and outline are all ready; only filling in the specific content remains.

I'll try to write a portion of the Naruto side story before May 10th (the main story continues daily; the side story is extra).

The content of Naruto's side story in May is the Pain arc, roughly Naruto vs Pain using the Sun Breathing style or something.

Currently I'm considering whether to combine the extra content into a single chapter; having too many extras in the main table of contents doesn't look good.

mhtxs

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