"Third match: Rock Lee versus Keiji!"
Once Iruka Umino called it out, Rock Lee and Keiji walked to the center of the field.
Keiji hadn't appeared in the original story, but among Konoha's genin he had a bit of a name.
Because he was a rare taijutsu specialist.
Of course, he wasn't pure taijutsu only.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Rock Lee yelled and rushed in.
Body Flicker!
Keiji slipped aside in a blur, dodging the kick.
Calmly closing the distance, he clenched his fist and swung at Lee.
"Leaf Rock-Destroying Rise!"
Rock Lee met him with an elbow strike.
Bang!
A flicker of surprise crossed Keiji's face.
In both speed and power, Rock Lee was almost on par with him.
Keiji reacted quickly, raising his leg and driving his knee toward Lee's stomach.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Rock Lee swept low with a kick, blocking the incoming knee.
Borrowing the momentum, he sprang up, spinning at high speed and snapping his heel toward Keiji's neck.
Keiji's heart lurched. He instinctively stepped back, hurriedly crossing his arms to block the kick.
"Leaf Gale!"
Rock Lee twisted again midair, using the recoil to whip out a spinning kick that sent Keiji skidding backward.
Keiji was just about to pull farther away when a second roundhouse was suddenly already on top of him.
He had no choice but to block with his forearms again.
And then the final kick—also the strongest of the three—came crashing in right after.
Keiji was blasted clean off his feet.
"Nice one, Lee!"
Master Chen couldn't help shouting.
Leaf Gale was a taijutsu technique he'd passed on, and seeing Rock Lee use it so perfectly naturally made him proud.
"Thank you, Chen-sensei!"
Rock Lee immediately gave him a thumbs-up. "You've added even more green to my youth!"
"That's our Lee alright!"
Naruto cracked his knuckles, fired up. "I'm dying to have a youthful spar with him right now!"
The Advanced Class students all wore identically helpless expressions.
"The winner: Rock Lee!"
Iruka quickly cut off their chatter.
With this many Konoha bigwigs watching, if those two started hugging and sobbing in the middle of the field, what would that look like?
"Fourth match: Inuzuka Hana versus Yamanaka Fū!" Iruka called out without pausing.
In the original story, Yamanaka Fū was a jōnin.
He and Aburame Torune had served as Danzō Shimura's bodyguards, and in the end, both had been killed and sacrificed by Kabuto for the Impure World Reincarnation.
But thanks to Kitazawa's butterfly effect, Root had been dissolved.
Now Fū hadn't joined Root at all and had instead become a somewhat well-known chūnin.
"Big sis, watch out for the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques," Kiba quickly reminded her.
"I know," Hana said with a gentle smile.
"Relax, Kiba," Ino waved a hand. "Your sister's not you—she's got three ninken with her."
Mind Body Switch works on only one target at a time.
And that target doesn't just mean "ninja"—it includes summons too.
Even Mind Clone Switch tops out at two targets.
Hana plus three ninken made four total targets, which was pretty hard for the Yamanaka techniques to deal with.
"I'll get my ninken for sure!"
Kiba felt like he'd just been stabbed in the heart and snapped, offended.
"Let's go," Hana said, heading onto the field with her three ninken.
"Begin!"
Once Iruka saw they'd formed the seal of confrontation, he started the match.
Quadruple Fang Over Fang!
Hana dashed toward Fū.
She and her three ninken spun into four roaring whirlwinds.
Fū instantly sensed danger.
He'd originally been looking down on Hana, since she was just a student from the Academy, not even a genin yet.
But after that first exchange, he realized how badly he'd misjudged her.
Body Flicker!
Fū hurriedly pulled back.
After dodging the four drilling whirlwinds, he immediately hurled a barrage of kunai.
But Quadruple Fang Over Fang just smashed the kunai aside and came roaring at him again.
Cold sweat beaded on Fū's forehead.
His best technique, Mind Body Switch, was useless in this situation.
The problem was that he couldn't tell which of the four whirlwinds was Hana and which were the dogs.
Fū let out a quiet sigh and started running laps around the field.
A moment later, the four whirlwinds spun down and stopped.
Hana was breathing hard; Fū looked disheveled, but his hit-and-run tactic had worked.
Hana was simply too young to maintain Quadruple Fang Over Fang for long.
Mind Body Switch Technique!
Seeing his chance, Fū raised his hands.
Awooo!
A sudden howl shook the practice ground.
Human Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!
A gigantic white Double-Headed Wolf appeared in front of Fū.
It was the combined form of Hana and her ninken Haimaru.
Haima and Haigo flanked them on both sides for support.
Fū's Mind Body Switch shot out in time.
But Haima and Haigo leapt up together and intercepted the mental shockwave.
At the same time, the white Double-Headed Wolf raised its massive claw and slapped down toward Fū.
It stopped just short of hitting him.
Fū had successfully used Mind Body Switch—but he'd only managed to seize control of one dog.
Right now he had no option but to cancel it and snap back to his own body.
"I surrender," Fū said after steadying himself.
Hana immediately released the Man-Beast Combination: Double-Headed Wolf.
"The winner: Inuzuka Hana!"
Iruka was briefly stunned, then announced the result.
"Big sis actually learned that secret technique?"
Kiba stared, dumbfounded.
Before this, he'd barely managed to edge out Hana using his Three-Headed Hellhound.
Now, that wasn't a sure thing at all.
After all, his Three-Headed Hellhound technique was based on improving Inuzuka-Style Man-Beast Combination: Double-Headed Wolf.
Tayuya's expression went stiff. She didn't even know what to say.
Haku had powered up, Jūgo had powered up, now Hana had powered up too—yet she herself hadn't made any huge leaps.
"Looks like the Inuzuka clan has another prodigy coming up," Aburame Shibi remarked.
"Still not as monstrous as the geniuses from your clan," Inuzuka Tsume said with a broad grin. "The Advanced Class really lives up to its name."
Whether it was Hana or Kiba, their strength had already exceeded her expectations.
You really could say joining the Advanced Class had been more than worth it.
"That much is true," Hiashi and the others all agreed.
"Tsunade-sensei," Kitazawa said, blinking at her, "that makes three wins and one loss."
"I'm keeping count. I don't need you to remind me," Tsunade said darkly, stomping on his foot.
"You should be thinking about what you'll have to pay," Kitazawa said calmly, bumping her thigh lightly with his knee.
"Don't start talking like you've already won," Tsunade glared. "We've only done four matches."
The exam went on.
Kitazawa had arranged the match order according to the previous practical exam rankings, starting from eighteenth place and working backward up to first.
After Hana came Akimichi Chōji.
His opponent was a chūnin from the Akimichi clan.
The two of them used Partial Multi-Size and Human Bullet Tank, slamming into each other over and over across the field.
The sight reminded Kitazawa of a yo-yo from his previous life for no good reason.
In the end, Chōji's control was just a bit worse, and his Human Bullet Tank went careening toward the audience, only to be stopped by Akimichi Chōza.
"Sixth match: Haruno Sakura versus Ebisu!" Iruka shouted.
"Sakura, if you lose here, there's no way you're overtaking me anymore!" Ino said, using her own very special style of cheering.
"Hmph, I'm not going to lose!" Sakura clenched her fists immediately.
"Don't underestimate him. He's a tokubetsu jōnin," Shikamaru reminded her.
Sakura nodded once and walked out to the center.
"Hello, cute little lady," Ebisu greeted her with a pleasant smile.
After watching the first five matches, he'd already shed his earlier contempt for the Advanced Class.
Even so, seeing someone as young as Sakura, he still couldn't quite believe she could have tokubetsu jōnin-level strength.
"Careful, Ebisu-san."
Sakura brought her hands together in seals.
"San?" Ebisu's expression twitched. "Do I really look that old?"
But a second later, his face changed completely.
Sakura unleashed Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet.
A massive surge of water twisted together into a ferocious dragon.
Ebisu felt like he was seeing a ghost.
That's a B-rank Water Style jutsu at her age?!
The roaring water dragon crashed down on him. Ebisu reflexively used the Body Flicker.
Appearing a short distance away, he immediately flung six shuriken.
Under his precise control, the six shuriken cut off every avenue around Sakura.
Ebisu had become a tokubetsu jōnin for a reason. Like Kitazawa, he specialized in instruction.
He wasn't an Academy teacher, though—he was a private tutor.
His fundamentals in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and tool throwing were all solid. He just lacked higher-level techniques.
Sakura instantly answered with six shuriken of her own.
Clang, clang, clang!
The shuriken collided midair.
But Sakura's throwing wasn't on Ebisu's level; she only knocked aside three of them.
Fortunately, that opened a gap. With a flash of movement, she slipped past the remaining three.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
Ebisu tilted his head back and spewed out a huge fireball the moment she reappeared.
Heat washed over her.
Sakura's heart jumped. She quickly retreated as she flashed through more hand seals.
Water surged out of nowhere, swirling around her like a shield.
When the fireball hit the water barrier, a huge cloud of steam exploded outward.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall?" Ebisu was stunned again.
Steam filled the field.
He didn't hesitate and rushed in.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Two more Ebisus burst out of the steam.
They sprinted straight for Sakura, planning to overwhelm her with taijutsu.
Water Style: Water Barrage!
Sakura took a breath, her hands spitting out a rapid stream of water bullets like a machine gun.
All three Ebisus scrambled to dodge, but they couldn't completely avoid the barrage.
One clone took a direct hit and vanished in smoke.
Leaf-Style Taijutsu!
Ebisu seized the opening and drove a punch toward Sakura.
His remaining clone threw a punch from her left at the same time.
Water Style: Heavenly Weeping!
At the last split second, Sakura snapped her mouth open.
Three senbon made of water shot out like lightning.
Ebisu and his clone were less than half a meter away.
The attack came so suddenly they had no time to react.
At the crucial moment, the clone stepped in front of Ebisu.
Bang!
The clone was nailed by the three water senbon and puffed away into smoke.
The needles kept going.
Ebisu finally reacted, whipping out a kunai to block them.
But Sakura was just as fast. Her own kunai was already pressed straight toward him.
"I surrender," Ebisu said, shaking his head. "Geniuses these days are downright terrifying."
"My teacher's just really good," Sakura said, letting out a long breath as she lowered her kunai.
"Your teacher? You mean Kitazawa-sama?" Ebisu asked, curious.
"My Water Style teacher is Maruboshi Kosuke," Sakura answered.
"…Huh?"
Ebisu suddenly put it together.
Those Water Style techniques came straight from the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
Losing to one of the Second Hokage's students… that wasn't too shameful.
With that thought, he instantly felt a lot better.
"Looks like Sakura really might inherit sensei's Water Style," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a satisfied nod.
"She's just a bit lacking in chakra," Maruboshi Kosuke said regretfully.
"As long as she has enough, that's what matters." Hiruzen chuckled. "You're the one being too picky. Among kids her age, her chakra's already top-tier."
"As long as we don't count Naruto and that lot," Kakashi added dryly.
"This generation of Konoha really is packed with geniuses," Master Chen sighed.
"Being able to see a sight like this… I could die without regrets," Hiruzen said, stroking his beard, deeply pleased.
Right now, Konoha had solid backbone figures in three different age groups. He honestly didn't have much left to worry about.
Hard to imagine that just a few years ago, he'd been wracking his brains over Konoha's future.
Back then, Tsunade hadn't returned, Kitazawa hadn't stepped into the spotlight, and Naruto and the others hadn't started shining like they did now. The village's prospects had looked murky at best.
"Seventh match: Inuzuka Kiba versus Hagane Kotetsu!" Iruka's voice cut off their reminiscing.
"Crap…"
Kiba remembered Kotetsu had shown up together with Izumo.
If Izumo had the Cursed Seal of Earth, what about Kotetsu?
With a very serious look on his face, Kiba walked onto the field.
Kotetsu didn't feel relaxed either.
Just because Izumo had won didn't mean he would.
"Still no ninken, huh?" Kotetsu asked curiously.
He and Izumo had come to watch the student council election at the Academy before.
Back then, Kiba hadn't had a ninken yet and had turned himself into a dog instead.
"…"
Kiba stayed silent and formed hand seals.
Shadow Clone Technique!
With a pop, two shadow clones appeared at his sides.
Triple Fang Over Fang!
Kiba went with almost the same strategy Hana had used.
Three roaring whirlwinds tore across the field.
Summoning Technique: Conch Shell Mace!
Kotetsu had been ready for this. He quickly summoned a massive club shaped somewhat like a seashell.
Gripping it in both hands, he smashed it down toward the whirlwinds.
Kotetsu opened the first three layers of the Eightfold Cursed Seal of Earth—entering Cursed Seal of Earth, Stage One.
The stalemate broke instantly.
The three spinning drills were knocked back by his overwhelming strength.
"That's insane…"
Kiba sucked in a deep breath and started forming seals again.
Three-Headed Hellhound!
He didn't hold back this time and went straight to his trump card.
In a heartbeat, he and his two clones fused together into a gigantic hellhound.
War Stomp!
The Three-Headed Hellhound raised its forelegs and slammed them down.
The ground shattered, sending a storm of rubble flying at Kotetsu.
Kotetsu stepped back and whipped out a scroll.
A storm of kunai and shuriken poured out, colliding with the flying rocks.
In this respect, he really was similar to Tenten.
Fang Bullet!
Seeing this, Kiba opened his jaws wide.
Three massive chakra bullets shot toward Kotetsu.
Kotetsu hurriedly brought up the shell-like club to block.
Every time a chakra bullet crashed into the staff, his whole body jolted—but in Cursed Seal of Earth, Stage One, he still managed to block them all.
The Three-Headed Hellhound sprang high, slamming its huge paws down toward Kotetsu.
Kotetsu braced the staff under the descending claws once more.
This time he pushed farther, unlocking Cursed Seal of Earth, Stage Two.
Terrifying power erupted. He heaved, and the hellhound was thrown off and smashed into the ground.
"Not good!"
Kiba scrambled to his feet.
Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique!
Kotetsu seized the moment and formed more hand seals.
Earth Style: Earth Fang Bullet!
The Three-Headed Hellhound's three mouths spat out three huge boulders.
But under the illusion's effect, Kiba misjudged Kotetsu's position.
All three boulders missed, slamming into empty ground and gouging out three deep craters.
Kotetsu's scalp prickled just looking at them.
Thank goodness he'd used Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings first.
Without saying a word, he swung the giant staff straight down.
Kiba blacked out on the spot, and the Three-Headed Hellhound dispersed.
"Shame… he just needed a bit more luck," Inuzuka Tsume said, a hint of regret in her voice.
"He already did really well," Akimichi Chōza said with a broad smile. "He's definitely outperformed my kid."
Not that he was blaming Chōji.
At that age, he himself had been nowhere near his son's level.
"The farther we go, the tougher it gets," Shikaku said, worry creasing his brow.
Shikamaru's turn was coming up soon. Who knew how he'd do?
"Harder for who, exactly, is the real question," Aburame Shibi shook his head.
"True enough," Chōza said, thinking of Naruto and Sasuke.
They were the ones whose performances were truly outrageous—having jōnin-level ability at this age.
Compared to them, Kiba, Chōji, and Shikamaru all seemed downright ordinary.
"I see Asuma's in the combat area too," Shibi said with interest. "I wonder who his opponent is."
"My money's on Sasuke or Naruto," Tsume said, glancing at Fugaku.
Fugaku paused for a moment.
He didn't say anything, because he'd been thinking the same.
If Sasuke managed to defeat Asuma Sarutobi… that would be pretty interesting.
"Ahem," Shikaku reminded them quietly. "The Third Hokage is sitting right over there, you know."
"The winner: Hagane Kotetsu!"
Once Kiba had been revived, Iruka announced the result.
The eighth match was Tenten's.
Her opponent was a tokubetsu jōnin, but she still managed to win.
Because she'd used the Shiromari.
Its appearance left many in the audience stunned.
Kitazawa had actually given Tenten such a powerful summon?
"Tsunade-sensei," Kitazawa said with a grin, "we're at five wins and three losses now."
"…"
Tsunade bit her lip.
At this rate, it was looking more and more likely that she'd lose.
So what price was she going to have to pay?
~~~
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