Chapter 512

In the contestant waiting room, the contestants had varied expressions due to Might Guy's stunning performance.

"What a strong body." Sasori remained outwardly calm, but felt a slight shock inwardly.

With taijutsu of this level, even his strongest defensive puppet would probably have difficulty blocking it.

Originally, Sasori didn't need to pay attention to Guy, because he would only face Guy if he advanced to the semifinals, and after reaching the semifinals, Sasori could slack off, so naturally he had no reason to care.

But because he was planning to assassinate Kakashi, and Guy was Kakashi's teammate, Sasori began to pay attention to Guy.

Once he paid attention, Sasori realized that a direct confrontation would be very difficult.

Both Kakashi and Guy are fast and high-output ninja; if the two join forces, plus Obito makes three, even using the Third Kazekage's human puppet, his combat would be very tough.

Because while the Third Kazekage's human puppet is powerful, he himself as a puppeteer is fragile—if Guy or Kakashi get close, he's finished.

"Once the technique is perfected, I need to modify my body as soon as possible. A body of flesh and blood is far too fragile," Sasori thought to himself.

Sasori didn't like things that bloom and fade quickly; he loved eternity, including humans.

So he developed the human puppet technique, which can transform a human corpse into a puppet.

Since human puppets are made while retaining the person's original chakra, the puppet can use that person's Kekkei Genkai and all their ninjutsu.

Sasori, who loved eternity, was naturally willing to transform himself into a puppet, but his human puppet technique was not yet mature enough, and rashly modifying himself might lead to accidents.

"He's more and more of a monster. Can anyone really beat him?" Mei Terumi once again thanked her luck that her draw was late and she wouldn't have to face Might Guy.

But after being thankful, Mei began to worry again—if Guy continued growing like this, in ten or twenty years he would probably be more terrifying than the current Konoha's Sannin. When conflict arises again between Kirigakure and Konoha, she had no idea how to deal with him.

Although the Hozuki clan's Hydrification Technique heavily counters a pure physical attacker like Guy, it can only protect oneself from injury; it doesn't guarantee a win against Guy.

And on the battlefield, it's not like Guy would have no teammates—pair Guy with a Lightning Release user, and the Hozuki clan ninja would be in deep trouble.

Amid the varied gazes of the many contestants, Might Guy walked into the waiting room with his chest puffed out, head held high, laughing loudly.

"Eternal rival, I'm already fired up!" Guy said excitedly to Kakashi.

As long as Kakashi advanced to the top eight, they would fight in the next round.

Though saying this might hurt Rin Nohara a bit, rationally Guy didn't think Rin could beat Kakashi—he believed Kakashi would win 100%, with no surprises.

"Then you'd better cool down a bit. We've only just finished the third match of the second round," Kakashi said calmly.

What must come will come. Although theoretically his chances of winning against Guy were very low, there was still a possibility of victory.

As a genius, Kakashi believed in his own abilities—he might just seize the opportunity to defeat Guy.

"#13 Rin Nohara vs. #15 Kakashi!"

The referee's call reached the waiting room.

Rin Nohara stood up, looked at Kakashi, and said with a smile, "Kakashi, please don't go easy on me because of our relationship."

Even if it was just a match, Rin hoped Kakashi wouldn't hold back and would take the fight seriously—she wanted to personally feel the gap between her and them.

"Mm." Kakashi nodded.

He hadn't planned to let Rin win anyway; at most he would go a bit lighter because they were teammates.

Kakashi felt that precisely because they were teammates, he shouldn't go easy—otherwise Rin might develop a mistaken understanding of her own strength and make mistakes on missions.

A failed mission is a small matter; Kakashi was worried that Rin might lose her life because of it.

"Rin, do your best! It's not like you have no chance—the current field is very suitable for your fighting style," Obito cheered for Rin.

Besides taijutsu, Rin also had Water Release; the small lake left over from Kisame's large-scale Water Release could make it easier for Rin to use Water Release and increase its power.

"Thank you for your wishes, Obito. If I lose, I'll still be cheering for you two from the audience," Rin said with a gentle smile as she walked toward the battle arena.

Rin had a competitive spirit, but she also knew her limits—beating Kakashi was far too difficult.

By the time she hadn't even started training Water Release, Kakashi had already mastered Lightning Release and Earth Release; while she was just grasping the Constant in Water Breathing, Kakashi had become the first disciple to simultaneously master the Transparent World and the Breathing Chakra Mode.

How could someone like her defeat Kakashi? Relying on a little terrain advantage? Rin didn't think that was realistic.

Standing on the water's surface, looking at Kakashi ahead, Rin felt surprisingly calm—after all, this was a battle she was destined to lose.

"Begin!"

"Water Breathing, Full Concentration!"

Rin Nohara immediately focused her breathing to the utmost limit she could achieve, not daring to hold anything back against Kakashi, exhausting everything to strengthen herself.

"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"

Immediately afterward, Rin Nohara rapidly formed hand seals and created two water clones.

Under normal circumstances, water clones only have ten percent of the user's power, but their strength increases in an environment with water.

"Lightning Breathing, Full Concentration!"

Because of Rin Nohara's words, out of respect for Rin Nohara, Kakashi also highly concentrated his Lightning Breathing and then entered the state of the Transparent World, reaching his hand into his ninja tool pouch.

Swish! Swish!

Several shuriken glinting with cold, eerie light pierced through the air and shot at Rin Nohara at high speed.

Whoosh!

Seeing that the shuriken at strange angles had sealed off all conventional dodging points, Rin Nohara immediately used the Water Body Flicker together with her water clones to leave her original position.

Rin Nohara's Water Body Flicker was not slow, but she could not escape the lock-on of Kakashi, who was in the Transparent World state.

"Flash!"

Kakashi drew his White Fang short blade, used his pre-condensed Lightning-nature chakra to strengthen his body, and swung it at lightning speed toward Rin Nohara's main body.

Under the enhancement of the Transparent World, the immense power of Kakashi's body was perfectly exerted, whether in running or in swinging the blade.

"Water Prison Jutsu!"

Speed was not Rin Nohara's forte; to prevent falling into Kakashi's offensive rhythm, Rin Nohara's main body performed the Water Prison Jutsu to envelop herself inside it.

This way, the water clones could also attack while Kakashi was attacking.

But just as the water clones had condensed chakra and were about to attack, Kakashi suddenly changed his move and cut down one of the water clones.

"Flash Double Strike!"

Lightning flashed, and one water clone instantly turned into liquid and dissipated.

This extremely fast change of move successfully caused the other water clone's attack to miss as well.

"Purple Lightning!"

Immediately after, Kakashi's left hand suddenly emitted a dazzling purple lightning.

Kakashi controlled the purple lightning in his hand, dividing it into bolts of lightning to attack, instantly enveloping both Rin Nohara's main body and her shadow clone.

The Water Prison Jutsu's water style was broken by the lightning, and the only remaining water clone, after being hit by the purple lightning, also turned into liquid and merged with the water.

"Explosion Fist!"

The water prison was broken, but it had successfully resisted the lightning's power; uninjured, Rin Nohara suddenly blasted out the chakra she had been condensing and compressing, striking it onto the water surface.

Boom!!!

A huge explosion sound rang out; under the effect of Rin Nohara's terrifying immense strength, waves surged skyward, and a powerful shockwave carrying water rushed toward Kakashi.

Kakashi had long seen through Rin Nohara's movements and was prepared from the start; he instantly activated Lightning-nature chakra to strengthen his body, dashed to dodge, and counterattacked Rin Nohara.

"Leaf Knife Hand!"

Kakashi channeled all the power of his body into his palm, swung it in the air toward Rin Nohara, and rapidly shot out a blast of air.

Since the Brick Breaking technique was a rare taijutsu that could be used at both long and short range, Kakashi also spent some time learning it.

However, due to the difference in strength, when used at range, Kakashi needed the enhancement of the Transparent World plus Lightning-nature reinforcement to have sufficient lethality.

Bang!!

Hit by the invisible air blast, Rin Nohara flew backward and fell into the water.

"As expected of the naturally evil Kakashi—Rin is so cute and yet you can be so ruthless!" Obito watched as Rin Nohara was being dominated by Kakashi, feeling very distressed.

The blows on Rin Nohara's body pained his heart.

At this moment, Obito's desire for power grew even stronger; he deeply felt the misery of being weak.

His current strength was inferior to Kakashi's. Even if Rin Nohara lost, Obito could only curse Kakashi in his heart; there was no way he could beat Kakashi up in the next internal spar to vent for Rin Nohara.

Gurgle gurgle.

While Rin Nohara was at a loss, she swallowed several mouthfuls of water. Then, enduring the pain, she swam upward while forming hand seals. The moment her head broke the surface, she resumed her breathing technique, gathered chakra on her feet, and stood on the water again.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Rin Nohara quickly unleashed the prepared Water Release to force back the approaching Kakashi.

"Summoning Technique!"

Next, Rin Nohara summoned a slug, intending to use its healing ability to fight a war of attrition against Kakashi.

As a teammate who had been with Kakashi for a long time, Rin Nohara knew his weakness well: he couldn't fight at full strength for extended periods.

Because of his chakra, Kakashi was very cautious with each attack, spending chakra only where it counted, ensuring every technique had its purpose.

Whether it was a powerful Lightning Release slash like Godspeed Flash or a strong Lightning Release like False Dark Purple Lightning, Kakashi wouldn't use them too many times in a fight—usually no more than twice per battle.

But when using the Summoning Technique, Rin Nohara suddenly felt a stir.

She somehow sensed the thoughts of the Ugly Fish, which was far away in Konoha.

The Ugly Fish wanted Rin Nohara to summon it. It wanted to help her fight, even if only to block one or two techniques for her.

Rin Nohara didn't quite understand why this was happening, but she quickly calmed the Ugly Fish in her mind and continued summoning the slug.

How could she summon the Ugly Fish? It didn't even have any attacking ability; it was no different from an ordinary fish.

Summoning the Ugly Fish would only make it a pure punching bag. Rin Nohara couldn't do that.

But then something even more astonishing happened for Rin Nohara. With a flash of white smoke, a white figure and a yellow figure appeared.

The Ugly Fish had actually been summoned together with the slug!

Rin Nohara's ninja knowledge was challenged. It was the first time she knew the Summoning Technique could work this way.

"Please, Lord Slug, heal me with all your strength." Rin Nohara quickly gave the slug its task.

At this point, Rin Nohara couldn't afford to overthink, because Kakashi wouldn't give her that much time.

"Mm, Little Rin, leave the healing to me." The slug crawled onto Rin Nohara's back.

"Little Mei, quickly swim to the edge of the field, or you'll be caught in our attacks." After assigning the slug its combat task, Rin Nohara didn't forget to have the Ugly Fish stay away from the battlefield.

Thankfully, there was the small lake created by Hoshigaki Kisame; otherwise, Rin Nohara would have had to split off a Water Clone to carry the Ugly Fish away.

After swimming far away, the Ugly Fish took advantage of Rin Nohara's inattention to swim back near her. To avoid being discovered, it swam behind her and submerged to a deeper spot.

"Why did Little Rin summon that thing? Doesn't it have no combat power?" Seeing this, Kakashi thought Rin Nohara was hiding some trump card, so he stopped in his tracks.

If he really messed up against Rin Nohara, Obito would laugh at him for life.

Losing when the difference in raw strength was so great—even if Obito didn't say anything, Kakashi himself would feel bad.

Although Rin Nohara didn't understand what Kakashi was planning, she took the opportunity to heal herself a bit with medical ninjutsu, then split off a Water Clone to attack Kakashi.

The slug spat acid at Kakashi, the Water Clone used taijutsu to disrupt him, and Rin Nohara's main body formed hand seals to use ninjutsu.

"Water Release: Torrent Stream!"

Torrent Stream was a B-rank Water Release developed by Mu Yue, and it was currently the most lethal Water Release technique Rin Nohara had mastered.

However, Kakashi, who had mastered the Transparent World, effortlessly dodged the water spear that Rin Nohara had painstakingly concentrated, as if he could predict the future, and also took out her Water Clone in passing.

"Is this the gap between them and me?" Rin Nohara seemed to see an insurmountable chasm.

With the advantage of terrain, she gave it her all, her body injured and most of her chakra spent, yet she hadn't even touched the hem of Kakashi's clothes.

"Konoha Hand Knife!"

Kakashi repeated his trick, once again swinging an invisible air blade at Rin Nohara to end the battle.

In her current state, Rin Nohara couldn't withstand this attack again.

A yellow figure flew backward, drops of blood falling through the air.

The Ugly Fish behind Rin Nohara unleashed its utmost speed and at the last moment swam in front of her to block the attack.

"Hm?" Kakashi was puzzled as he watched the Magikarp being knocked away.

He still didn't know what Rin Nohara was summoning it for.

"Xiao Mei, are you okay?" Rin Nohara didn't have time to scold Magikarp for not following her order to retreat to a safe distance; she quickly turned back to check on Magikarp's condition.

Kakashi hesitated slightly in swinging his sword, as if an unexpected situation had occurred.

If it were a stranger, Kakashi would certainly still choose to put his sword to the other's neck to end the fight, but Rin Nohara was a friend and a teammate, so Kakashi stepped forward wanting to ask what was going on.

Magikarp crashed onto the water's surface and then sank. In its dazed gaze were the reflections of Rin Nohara and Kakashi, with Kakashi approaching Rin Nohara with his sword drawn.

"I have to... have to protect Xiao Lin..."

Magikarp's mind kept replaying the memories of its life with Rin Nohara since birth.

Although it had no fighting ability at all, Rin Nohara had never disliked it and took meticulous care of it every day.

Rin Nohara even considered its mental health, often coming to chat with it and telling it about her own affairs, even though Magikarp couldn't respond.

The pain of its injuries stimulated Magikarp's nerves; it wanted power, it also wanted to help Rin Nohara like the slug did, and wanted to fight alongside its contractor like Rockruff did.

"I can do it! I can still keep blocking attacks for Xiao Lin."

Recalling the encouragement Rin Nohara had once given it, Magikarp ignored its injuries and charged toward Rin Nohara and Kakashi once again.

Even if it used all its strength, it could only splash a little water, but it could still use its relatively sturdy body to shield Rin Nohara from the coming storms.

At the same time, a dazzling white light burst out from the bottom of the water. Both Rin Nohara and Kakashi were stunned and then looked down together toward the water below.

Having seen Charmander's evolution scene, they could easily guess what was happening.

Splash!

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a clear, high-pitched cry, a milky-white figure burst out of the water, charging straight at Kakashi.

Kakashi burst out chakra and dodged aside, curiously examining the evolved form of Magikarp.

At this moment, only one word came to Kakashi's mind: absurd.

Looking at the Milotic, he simply couldn't imagine that the elegant, beautiful snake-like creature before him had previously been a lumpy yellow fish.

"Xiao Mei..." Not only Kakashi, but even Rin Nohara was stunned.

Milotic's appearance could not be said to completely resemble Magikarp; rather, it had no relation at all.

Milotic's body had completely lost the features of its Magikarp period; its body was milky-white, and its red eyes sparkled beautifully like rubies.

Milotic's head was relatively long, with a protrusion on top similar to Charmeleon's, though the style was different and longer than Charmeleon's.

Its brow filaments extended from the body; the part connected to the eyelids was the same milky-white as the body, while the rest was mostly red. From the side, it looked a bit like an unfinished heart, adding a touch of cuteness to Milotic. Additionally, red hair-like fins covered both sides of the head, like red twin-tails.

Finally, Milotic's tail looked very magnificent, featuring not only blue and pink scales of different colors but also black stripes and red patterns as decorations.

In the resting room, Milotic's appearance also caused a huge stir.

"What's going on, where did this thing pop out from?" Due to the angle, Obito hadn't seen the evolution light of Magikarp; seeing the suddenly appearing Milotic, he was momentarily confused.

"It's so beautiful!" Mei Terumi's eyes went wide; it was the first time she had seen such a beautiful ninja beast.

In Mei Terumi's impression, ninja beasts were just ordinary animals that could talk and were a bit bigger; she had never seen a ninja beast as beautiful as Milotic.