Chapter 509

The rest room was completely silent.

Except for people like Kakashi and Obito who clearly knew Might Guy's strength, only Nagato and Sasori could remain calm due to their own formidable strength; all the other contestants were amazed by Might Guy's power.

"With such power and speed, he has gotten a lot stronger!" Kisame Hoshigaki's pupils contracted as he said in surprise to himself.

"And besides, just now, how exactly did he block that explosion?"

What puzzled Kisame Hoshigaki the most was Might Guy's current condition.

The victorious Might Guy had only slight damage to his clothes, with no obvious injuries on his body, completely unlike someone who had taken an Explosion Release blast head-on.

"He's even more of a monster than last time. Good thing I won't run into him before the finals," Mei Terumi thought with relief.

The number she drew was No. 25, which was toward the back, so either she wouldn't meet Might Guy at all, or she would meet him in the finals.

But honestly, if Mei Terumi could make it to the finals, she wouldn't care who she faced, because that would already be exceeding her goal.

Mei Terumi's goal was the top four, to earn a placement reward—either third or fourth would be fine, so it wouldn't be a wasted trip.

Mu Yue had already proven with his battle record that Lightning Release swordsmanship was a good way to deal with the Hozuki clan's Water Transformation Technique; against a ninja he had an advantage over, Kakashi would do his utmost to maximize that advantage.

"Begin the battle!"

"But with me here, you won't make it past the round of eight."

Rin Nohara's opponent was not one of the strong ones in their gathered intelligence, just an ordinary Iwa-nin who had passed the preliminaries, and Obito believed Rin could handle it.

Thinking this, Mangetsu Hozuki looked at Kakashi—Kakashi was No. 15, his opponent in the first round.

Rin Nohara smiled, waved to her teammates, then walked into the battleground and assumed a fighting stance.

In truth, Rin Nohara was not as lacking in confidence as Obito thought; the four battles in the preliminaries had given Rin a grasp of the overall level of the martial arts tournament.

Although she wasn't among the top echelon, she could still be considered above average.

Mangetsu Hozuki was No. 16; he and Might Guy both advanced to the top eight, so they would meet in the quarterfinals.

"Thank you for the reminder, Kakashi."

"Little Rin, do your best! You have to believe in yourself; you're actually really strong!" Obito cheered for Rin Nohara.

Sensing Mangetsu Hozuki's gaze, Kakashi glanced back calmly.

"He does have some brute strength," Mangetsu Hozuki admitted that Might Guy's taijutsu was indeed powerful.

The Hozuki clan's secret technique, the Water Transformation Technique, specifically countered all physical attacks—no matter how strong the taijutsu, it would be useless against the Water Transformation Technique—so even though Might Guy had displayed extraordinary taijutsu, Mangetsu Hozuki was confident of victory.

"Mm, thank you for the encouragement, Obito," Rin Nohara said with a gentle smile, standing up to head to the battleground.

Huiyan was not deceived by Rin Nohara's delicate appearance; having intelligence, he knew that Rin possessed formidable taijutsu that didn't match her build and looks.

The moment the referee called out "Start," Huiyan immediately used Body Flicker to retreat and then threw several shuriken at Rin Nohara.

Clang! Clang!

"No. 13 Rin Nohara versus No. 14 Huiyan!"

"No matter what happens in battle, stay calm. If you do that, it'll be fine," Kakashi reminded her.

After Might Guy entered the rest room, the referee's voice soon came into the rest room again.

Rin Nohara immediately took a kunai from her ninja tool pouch and knocked down the shuriken.

Besides her medical expertise, her fundamentals were also solid.

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar!"

As Huiyan rapidly performed hand seals, the ground where Rin Nohara stood began to tremble repeatedly.

Sensing this, Rin Nohara focused her breath to enhance her physical strength and leaped up fiercely.

The next instant, rock pillars shot up rapidly.

"Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!"

Seizing the opportunity that Rin had no way to dodge in midair, Huiyan spat out a pebble.

The pebble rapidly grew larger during flight, like a stone cannonball.

"Strange Power Fist!"

Rin Nohara suddenly punched out with a fist condensed with chakra.

Boom!!

Under Rin Nohara's immense strength, the stone cannonball was shattered into pieces, and some blood stains appeared on Rin Nohara's fist.

Standing on the stone pillar, Rin Nohara performed a Medical Ninjutsu on herself, and instantly, her slightly injured hand became completely healed.

Gray Rock frowned. This would be a tough fight — the enemy was not only a taijutsu expert but also mastered Medical Ninjutsu and could heal herself.

While Gray Rock was quickly thinking about how to fight Rin Nohara, Rin Nohara launched her attack.

She condensed a large amount of chakra onto her feet, then kicked and broke off the stone pillar that Gray Rock had created, sending it crashing toward Gray Rock. At the same time, she rapidly formed hand seals while running.

"Water Release: Water Rampage!"

Rin Nohara spat out a massive stream of water nearly one meter thick, letting the water flow forward together with the rock pillar.

Water Rampage is a very basic Water Release technique, but if one's foundation in Water Release is solid enough, it can still have considerable power.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

Gray Rock did not move rashly; instead, he chose to use a defensive jutsu, creating a thick earth wall on the ground.

Boom!

The rock pillar slammed heavily into the earth wall, but still did not breach its defense.

Then, something Gray Rock had not expected happened: the stream of water that accompanied the rock pillar, under Rin Nohara's control, underwent a shape change again, transforming into a water dragon that jumped over the earth wall and struck Gray Rock.

Mei Terumi's eyes widened. That was her technique! When had this Leaf Village kunoichi stolen it?

Rin Nohara seized this opportunity to use Water Body Flicker to get close to Gray Rock and ended the fight with a Strange Power Fist.

"Rin Nohara wins!"

When Rin Nohara returned to the lounge, before she could share the joy of victory with her teammates, the referee quickly announced the next pair's names.

"No. 15 Kakashi Hatake vs. No. 16 Mangetsu Hōzuki!"

Hearing his name, Mangetsu Hōzuki immediately stood up, puffed out his chest, and walked to the battlefield.

Mei Terumi's mouth twitched. She felt that her village's prodigy had some serious issues — why was he acting like he had already won before the fight even started? That was a big taboo.

"Kakashi, good luck." Rin Nohara let out a sigh and said with a smile.

Kakashi nodded in response and also walked to the battlefield.

"My rival, I look forward to competing with you in the quarterfinals!" Might Guy encouraged Kakashi with his words.

Although Might Guy's words sounded very arrogant — he was confident he could make it to the quarterfinals when not even half of the first round was over — all the ninjas in the lounge felt it was no problem.

No other reason: Might Guy had the capital to be arrogant.

So far, a total of seven battles had taken place, and Might Guy was the fastest to finish his fight — even Nagato was slower than Might Guy. And this was even though his opponent was not weak.

Kakashi's steps slightly paused, then he continued forward.

Obito couldn't help but laugh a couple of times. He guessed a bit of Kakashi's current mood, so he was very happy.

"Kakashi, Kakashi, you just wait for your punishment." Obito was in a very cheerful mood.

Since the Youth Martial Arts Tournament's date was close to the originally scheduled internal competition, the internal competition was cancelled, replaced by the two disciples with the worst performance in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament receiving punishment.

Because Rin Nohara had never participated in the internal competition, this time Rin Nohara set her own goal.

And the goal Rin Nohara set for herself was to enter the elimination tournament and not be eliminated in the first round.

Obito was glad that Rin Nohara had not set too big a goal for herself. If she had added a goal like making it to the quarterfinals, Rin Nohara would have to be punished.

Mei Terumi focused her attention on the battlefield. Although Mangetsu Hōzuki was a bit neurotic, he was truly a genius, and his strength was reliable.

Standing in the center of the arena, Kakashi looked up at the tournament organizer, Sousuke, who was in the high seat.

"Sousuke, what exactly is your goal?" Kakashi was curious about Sousuke's purpose in hosting the tournament.

"Is it because you have excellent students like Nagato, so you think your ninjutsu will never be taken by others?"

But if the second custom ninjutsu isn't developed properly, the ninja master's reputation will suffer.

The moment he thought of the connection between Nagato and Sōsuke, Kakashi remembered the evil Akatsuki organization that would later plunge the ninja world into chaos, and he felt a headache—there were too many problems to solve, and what he knew was too little.

Kakashi suppressed his cluttered thoughts and looked at Hōzuki Mangetsu.

For now, his strength was not enough to interfere at the level of a ninja master; he should first focus on the matter at hand.

"Begin the battle!" the referee shouted immediately after seeing that both were ready.

Hōzuki Mangetsu swiftly drew his sharp blade, burst out chakra, and charged at Kakashi.

Kakashi calmly drew the White Fang Short Blade to block the incoming blade, and the short blade and long sword clashed, producing a crisp metallic sound.

"Water Release: Great Water Arm Technique!"

Hōzuki Mangetsu concentrated all the water in his body into his right arm holding the sword; the right arm instantly bulged with muscle after being reinforced, its power increasing explosively.

Feeling a hint of pressure, Kakashi focused his breathing to enhance his strength, then quickly pulled back and retreated.

"Water Release: Water Gun Technique!"

Hōzuki Mangetsu raised his left hand to form a pistol shape; a drop of liquid shot from the tip of his left finger, speeding toward Kakashi's chest.

But Kakashi was extremely cautious; the moment he retreated, he entered the state of the Transparent World, allowing him to predict every action of Hōzuki Mangetsu. He slightly sidestepped and dodged the bullet-like water droplet.

"Hm? He even dodged that." Hōzuki Mangetsu was surprised by Kakashi's reaction speed.

Swish! Swish!

While dodging, Kakashi threw several shuriken at Hōzuki Mangetsu.

Seeing that they were ordinary shuriken, with no nature transformation or explosive tags attached, Hōzuki Mangetsu stood still without dodging, trying to lure Kakashi into further attacks.

However, Kakashi, who knew some information about the Water Transformation Technique, was certainly not going to fall for it. He just silently gathered chakra and watched as the shuriken passed through Hōzuki Mangetsu's body and struck the ground.

"Tch, boring."

Seeing Kakashi so cautious, Hōzuki Mangetsu took the initiative to attack again.

"I've gathered enough information. It's my turn to attack."

Kakashi had already figured out Hōzuki Mangetsu's approximate strength and planned his battle strategy.

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