"How are we supposed to watch the match?"
Tsunade looked at the dense Forest of Death and asked.
"From up in the air."
Kitazawa replied.
"You can fly?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"I can't."
Kitazawa formed hand seals. "But it can."
A seed dropped to the ground. The earth trembled, and vines shot up from the soil.
Driven by Wood Release chakra, they grew higher and higher into the sky.
It was Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu, but in a weakened form.
The wooden dragon stopped midair. Its back, originally covered in spikes, folded together into a wooden staircase.
"Whoa!"
The Advanced Class immediately burst into exclamations of awe.
Kakashi, Master Chen, Iruka, and the others were also stunned.
"Is this really how you're supposed to use Wood Release?"
Tsunade stared for two seconds, then couldn't help roasting him.
"Ninjutsu is just a tool."
Kitazawa shook his head. "As long as it gets the job done, that's enough."
"That's a pretty fresh way of thinking."
Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled.
It really didn't match the traditional shinobi mindset at all, but he was retired now, so he wasn't going to nitpick how Kitazawa used his jutsu.
"Please."
Kitazawa lifted an arm and gestured.
Hiruzen, Kakashi, and the others walked up the wood dragon and ascended into the air.
Once they were high enough, the wood dragon sprouted countless branches, forming a broad viewing platform.
"Kitazawa-sensei, what about us?"
Naruto couldn't help asking.
Ino, Hinata, and the rest all looked at him expectantly as well.
"You don't get to watch."
Kitazawa shook his head. "If you watched, you'd see the exact layout of the terrain, and that wouldn't be fair to Sasuke's team."
The students all pulled long faces at that.
No spectator view and no riding the wood dragon—what a waste.
"Iruka will relay the progress of the fight to you."
Kitazawa thought for a moment. "You can also use this time to think about your own tactics."
"Got it."
Iruka agreed immediately.
"Tsunade-sensei."
Kitazawa turned and walked up to the wood dragon. "Were you waiting for me to go up together?"
"No."
Tsunade snorted and stepped onto the wooden stairs, climbing up.
Kitazawa followed behind her. The two of them quickly reached the viewing platform in midair.
From up there, the Forest of Death spread out beneath them in full view.
There were still some blind spots, of course—the forest was too thick.
But for people like Hiruzen and the others, that didn't matter much.
With their level of strength, they could clearly sense Sasuke and the rest.
"Tsunade-sensei, have a seat."
Kitazawa opened a summoning storage scroll and took out several office chairs.
"Is there a time limit for the team battle?"
After sitting down, Tsunade suddenly thought of something. "What if they just hide the whole time? How do you decide the winner?"
"There's a hard cap of two hours."
Kitazawa answered. "Once two hours are up, no matter what, the winner is decided based on performance."
In his previous life, all those battle royale games had shrinking "poison circles" to prevent matches from dragging on too long.
Left side of the Forest of Death.
Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Sakura stopped at the foot of a mountain.
This was one of the peaks Kitazawa had created with Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop from the Heavens.
"Our opponents are Shino's team. In a forest environment, Shino's kikaichu are really convenient."
Sasuke stopped and said, "But there's no grass or trees on this mountain. If his Insects come close, I'll notice."
Kimimaro and Sakura nodded; they weren't surprised.
Their instructor, Maruboshi Kosuke, had already analyzed each team's strengths and weaknesses for them.
"But sitting on this mountain isn't a long-term plan."
Sasuke continued.
"This place is wide open. That means our position is obvious."
Sakura said seriously, "Shino's team can set traps all around and box us in here."
"Sakura's right."
Sasuke glanced at her, a bit surprised.
On second thought, it made sense.
She'd been second place in theory exams for as long as he could remember. In terms of shinobi-related knowledge, she actually understood more than either of them.
"What's your plan?"
Sasuke asked.
"I do have an idea!"
Seeing the look in his eyes, Sakura grew excited.
"Go on."
Sasuke nodded.
"Use their expectations against them."
Sakura said, "Sasuke-kun's shadow clone transforms into Kimimaro and stays here with us, while the real Kimimaro circles behind them."
"With Shino's Insects, sneaking around behind them will be hard."
Sasuke thought for a moment.
"All Sasuke-kun needs to do is keep Shino too busy to handle everything."
Sakura paused, then added, "The key to this plan is Sasuke-kun's strength."
Sasuke fell silent.
The plan was only so-so on paper, but it fit him perfectly.
If it worked, he'd almost certainly get top marks as team leader.
Of course, there was a chance Kimimaro might steal that spot—if he successfully wiped out Shino's team from behind.
But that seemed unlikely.
"Kimimaro."
Sasuke looked over. "Got any better plans?"
Kimimaro hesitated for two seconds, then shook his head.
He wasn't the kind of shinobi who excelled at strategy.
Back in the Sound, all he'd known was killing and following orders.
"We're short on time. We'll go with Sakura's plan."
Sasuke formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.
The clone used Transformation Jutsu and turned into Kimimaro.
"To avoid giving ourselves away, I suggest we use long-range jutsu to pin them down from here."
Sakura offered energetically.
She wasn't trying to hog credit; she just wanted Sasuke's attention.
She'd discovered the advantage of team battles: everyone had chances to stand out. It wasn't like usual, where Sasuke barely even acknowledged her existence.
"Kimimaro."
Sasuke looked at him seriously. "Be careful."
"Understood."
Kimimaro replied solemnly.
Unlike Sakura, he was seriously aiming for those leader points.
Sneaking around behind them was a perfect opportunity.
If he could take out Shino's team ahead of Sasuke, he'd very likely get top marks.
Sasuke activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.
He scanned the area and found no kikaichu.
"Head that way."
Sasuke pointed. "Don't go too far just yet, in case you run into any Insects."
Kimimaro nodded and slipped off to the rear.
"For now, we just stand here and wait openly."
Sasuke turned back and said.
"Sasuke-kun, what if they never show up?"
Sakura asked, remembering another potential problem.
"Then we go to them."
Sasuke frowned slightly. "Worst case, I'll use Fire Release to flush them out."
The rules of the team battle hadn't said anything about not burning the Forest of Death.
"No surprise there. Sasuke-kun is so cool!"
Sakura instantly went full fangirl.
Meanwhile, on the right side of the Forest of Death—
Shino crouched by a stream.
He reached into the water.
Special water-borne insects flowed with the current in all directions.
"When I was scouting the terrain yesterday, I found there were streams running all through this area."
Shino adjusted his glasses.
"Too bad I don't have a ninja dog."
Kiba sighed. "If I did, we could just follow their scent and find them."
"It's not that simple."
Shino answered calmly. "If they know you have a ninja hound, they definitely won't leave any scent traces."
His water Insects were different—almost no one knew about them.
If Sasuke's team only guarded against his kikaichu, they'd be in for a rude awakening.
"True."
Kiba nodded. "Aren't you going to use your kikaichu?"
"I already did when we entered the field."
Shino said.
"As expected of you!"
Kiba looked impressed. "I didn't notice a thing!"
"Shino's always reliable."
Choji nodded in agreement.
He hadn't noticed anything either.
"Sasuke's got the Sharingan. The kikaichu can't follow too close, so I released the water Insects as a backup. Maybe they'll pick up something unexpected."
Shino said evenly.
"I feel like, knowing Sasuke's personality and strength, he might just charge straight at us."
Choji thought aloud.
"But Sasuke's team doesn't have a sensor-type. They can't find us."
Kiba disagreed. "I think they'll just set up camp somewhere and wait for us to walk into them."
"If that's the case, we can use kikaichu to surround them."
Choji said.
"That's not a good idea."
Shino shook his head. "Even with the initiative, beating them head-on would be difficult."
"Then what do we do?"
Kiba frowned. "Just sit here and wait?"
"Exactly. Don't forget, we've got a two-hour time limit."
Shino countered. "If we just stay put, who's going to get impatient first?"
"That'd definitely be Sasuke."
Kiba and Choji answered in unison.
Both teams had the same two-hour limit, but Sasuke's would be a lot less patient.
Because Sasuke cared about winning. He wanted first place.
And with their strength, they did have a legitimate shot.
Shino's team didn't have that kind of obsession.
Their odds of getting first place were low anyway.
For them, doing their best was enough.
"Begin!"
Once the fifteen-minute prep time was over, Kitazawa's voice boomed across the field.
"I've already spread kikaichu around the area. If anything happens with Sasuke's team, I'll know."
Shino stood up. "Next, we lay traps nearby and wait for them to blunder in."
Choji and Kiba nodded.
Time slid by.
"This is annoying. They're thinking the same thing we are."
Sasuke rubbed his brow.
"Then we go on the offensive?"
Sakura reminded him, "We only have half an hour left."
"Yeah."
Sasuke got to his feet. "That's the only option now."
If two hours passed without a fight, it would be declared a draw and they'd have to rearrange the matchups.
Sasuke didn't want to waste time like that.
In his mind, their strength was overwhelmingly superior.
"Should I go call Kimimaro back?"
Sakura asked.
"No need."
Sasuke replied after a moment's thought. "We stick to the original plan. We draw their attention head-on, and Kimimaro flanks them."
"They're weaker than we are. I bet they've set up traps somewhere and are just waiting for us."
Sakura said as they walked.
"I'm planning to use Fire Release."
Sasuke looked around. "Anywhere with a dense concentration of Insects will be their hiding spot."
"Sasuke-kun, you're so smart!"
Sakura's eyes lit up.
"Let's go."
Sasuke said calmly.
A short while later, Shino's eyes narrowed.
He immediately called Choji and Kiba over.
"They're heading for us?"
Kiba, ever the impatient one, asked first.
"Yeah."
Shino nodded. "My kikaichu detected all three of them moving."
"I knew it!"
Kiba grinned.
"You only got half of it."
Shino took a deep breath. "My water Insects just found another Kimimaro."
"What?"
Kiba's heart skipped. "Two Kimimaros? A shadow clone?"
"I'm guessing the one with Sasuke's group is the clone."
Shino instantly saw through their tactic. "The real Kimimaro is coming around to hit us from behind."
"Good thing you had the water Insects."
Choji said with relief.
"Yeah."
Kiba agreed. "Without them, we'd assume all three were together and totally misread the situation."
"So what now? Just wait for them to trigger the traps?"
Choji didn't like thinking and tossed the question back at Shino.
"No."
Shino's eyes suddenly sharpened. "We take out Kimimaro first, then deal with Sasuke and Sakura!"
"Use time and numbers to pick them off one by one?"
Kiba got excited. "We might actually win this!"
"You two stay here and use the traps to stall Sasuke's team."
Shino made his decision quickly. "I'll go handle Kimimaro."
"Can you do it alone?"
Kiba asked, worried.
"The forest is home turf for the Aburame."
Shino paused. "And if you don't stay, these traps won't be enough to stop Sasuke and Sakura."
"Be careful, then."
Kiba didn't argue further.
Shino nodded, but didn't leave immediately. First, he left behind a clone made entirely of kikaichu.
Only after that did he move out to intercept Kimimaro.
Somewhere in the Forest of Death—
Kimimaro moved quickly but carefully.
Kikaichu were troublesome, but not impossible to detect.
They weren't normal Insects; they carried chakra.
Fortunately, he hadn't sensed any along the way so far.
He relaxed a bit—then, as he jumped over a stream, the water suddenly exploded.
Several bees burst out from below the surface.
"Bees?"
Kimimaro didn't have time to think. Bone spikes shot out from his palms as he stabbed forward.
The bees popped when he hit them.
Sticky yellow-and-black wax spread over his arms and legs.
Kimimaro's expression changed.
The wax was incredibly adhesive, like glue, making it hard for him to move.
Worst of all, he recognized it as Shino's Honey Technique.
The next second, familiar kikaichu swarmed toward him from all directions.
Kimimaro roared, forcing himself into Earth Curse Mark, Second Level.
Power flooded his body, letting him leap despite the wax binding him.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!
Dozens of white bones burst out of his body.
Kikaichu were knocked away one after another.
A buzzing roar came from above.
Kimimaro instinctively looked up and saw more yellow-black wax raining down.
His pupils shrank. He tried to speed up.
But the kikaichu around him and the existing wax slowed him down by at least half.
The wax poured over him completely.
He toppled like a person encased in amber, unable to move.
"Sorry."
Shino stepped out of hiding.
"…"
Kimimaro was speechless.
He wanted to ask how Shino had found him, but it was pointless now.
Under team battle rules, once you lost the ability to resist, you were out—you'd officially retired from the match.
Shino walked over and took his ID tag.
Right then, he suddenly turned his head and saw thick smoke rising in the distance.
"Sasuke's Fire Release?"
At the sight, Shino immediately rushed back toward Kiba and Choji.
Five minutes earlier—
In the Forest of Death, fallen leaves carpeted the ground.
One Great Fireball from Sasuke set them ablaze, and the flames spread rapidly.
Sakura stood beside him, watching their surroundings for anything strange.
"Roughly three hundred meters to our left, the flames hit resistance."
After a moment, Sasuke's expression sharpened.
He spoke, then he and Sakura hurried in that direction.
"Kikaichu."
Sakura took one look at the charred bodies on the ground and identified them immediately.
As soon as she finished, a loud boom sounded to their right.
Flames shot skyward.
"Exploding tags."
Sasuke's lips curled. "Found them at last."
Exploding tags could only be one thing: traps set by Shino's team.
They'd been triggered by his Fire Release.
The two of them headed right.
Soon, they reached an area where the trees were even denser than elsewhere.
"We know you're here!"
Sakura shouted.
No one answered.
"Stay here."
Sasuke activated his Sharingan and walked into the thick trees.
A flurry of whistling sounds echoed.
A storm of shuriken flew out of the dark.
Sasuke snorted, used Body Flicker, and dodged cleanly.
A piercing bird-cry split the air.
Lightning Release: Chidori Senbon!
With a snap of his wrist, the lightning in his hand scattered into countless senbon that shot into the trees.
The next second, three figures flickered through the shadows.
Sakura caught their movement and immediately launched Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.
A huge water dragon smashed through the trees and crashed forward.
The trees toppled, revealing a three-headed hellhound.
It opened its mouths and spat three earth bullets, smashing into the water dragon.
Sasuke locked onto Shino.
He was the most dangerous one.
Sasuke drew the Sword of the Thunder God and charged.
Shino raised both hands. Kikaichu poured out in swarms.
Sasuke didn't hesitate, swinging his blade down.
Lightning chakra surged into the Sword of the Thunder God. Lightning flared out and annihilated the Insects.
Sasuke was about to press the attack when something felt wrong.
Exploding tags under his feet detonated, sending flames roaring up around him.
His expression changed and he retreated quickly.
Luckily, Sakura had been watching. She promptly raised Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
Water surged up around Sasuke, forming a protective ring.
Sasuke let out a breath of relief.
He glanced at Sakura—and his face immediately darkened.
Because she had saved him, Sakura had no way to defend against Choji's attack.
In Human Bullet Tank form, he slammed into her and sent her flying.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and had no choice but to give up on Shino.
This was a team battle. Losing a teammate hurt their evaluation, even if they won.
More importantly, without Sakura, he'd have to fight three on one.
Kimimaro had gone off to flank them, after all.
Lightning exploded from his body.
Sasuke accelerated and dashed to Sakura.
One slash, and blazing lightning from the Sword of the Thunder God covered Choji.
He was forced out of the Human Bullet Tank.
His hair stood straight from the shock.
Fortunately, he was still enlarged by the Expansion Jutsu; his toughened body meant he wasn't as badly hurt as it looked.
"Sakura, you okay?"
Instead of pressing his attack, Sasuke helped her up.
"I… I'm okay. Just a little dizzy."
Sakura shook her head to clear it.
Earth Release: Continuous Fang Bullets!
The three-headed hellhound Kiba had become spat rapid-fire earth bullets.
"Watch yourself."
Sasuke twisted his wrist.
The Sword of the Thunder God blurred, smashing every earth pellet to pieces with fast, precise cuts.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!
Sasuke sheathed his sword and expelled a massive fireball.
Heat washed over them.
Kiba didn't dare take it head-on and dodged aside.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura suddenly shouted. "Behind you!"
Sasuke turned and saw a massive shadow looming.
Super Open Hand Slap!
Choji's enormous hands came crashing down.
Body Flicker!
Sasuke vanished.
Seeing that, Choji twisted his wrists and slammed down toward Sakura instead.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Sakura's expression tightened. Ignoring the pounding in her head, she raised another wall of water.
But Choji's hands were too big; he crushed her and the wall together.
At the last moment, Sasuke used Body Flicker again and reached for her—
But somebody was faster.
Shino stepped between them.
His whole body dissolved into kikaichu and surged toward Sasuke like a black cloud.
"Damn it!"
Sasuke had no choice but to thrust his sword forward.
Terrifying lightning erupted, frying the Insects into charred fragments.
"A Insect clone?"
Sasuke's eyes widened.
Only now did he realize Shino hadn't shown his real body.
Boom!
While he was distracted, Choji's Super Open Hand Slap smashed into Sakura.
In a puff of smoke, Maruboshi Kosuke appeared and carried her out.
His intervention meant Sakura was officially out of the match.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
Sasuke snapped back and rushed at Choji.
"Choji!"
Kiba panicked. He opened his mouths and spat three earth bullets, trying to force Sasuke to stop.
Sasuke ignored him completely.
Choji was in a terrible position.
With his hands pressed to the ground and his giant body, he couldn't dodge in time.
In the shadows, Kurenai was just about to step in—but then she stopped.
A dense swarm of bees flew in from the left.
As they neared Sasuke, they suddenly exploded.
He was forced to stop.
Chidori flowed outward, transforming into Chidori Current and forming an armor of lightning around him.
Seeing that, Choji immediately released Expansion Jutsu and scrambled back.
Shino reappeared at his side.
Together with Kiba, the three of them surrounded Sasuke.
"Shino."
Sasuke couldn't help asking, "Where's your real body been?"
Shino didn't answer. Instead, he held up Kimimaro's ID tag.
Sasuke's heart sank.
Kimimaro's tag in Shino's hand only meant one thing.
He'd already been defeated.
On the viewing platform atop the wood dragon—
"I did not expect things to end up like this."
Master Chen looked stunned.
"I thought Sasuke's team would dominate."
Hiruzen stroked his beard. "Who knew they'd lose two members in a flash."
"Sasuke's team lost on intel."
Kakashi commented.
"They were careless. They should at least have heard rumors about the water Insects."
Kitazawa shook his head.
The Aburame's mutated-Insect experiments weren't exactly secret; a lot of the Advanced Class knew about them.
Even if Shino hadn't used the water Insects before, he'd used other variants.
"You're expecting too much from them. Still, Shino's performance this time is excellent."
Tsunade said with a smile. "If this were a real Chunin Exam, I'd definitely promote him."
"The situation looks pretty bad for Sasuke now."
Master Chen sighed.
"One against three—Kakashi, do you think he can win?"
Hiruzen asked after thinking it over.
"Hard to say."
Kakashi paused. "But he's got a shot."
"I remember he learned your Hatake sword style, right?"
Hiruzen mused. "He really might pull it off."
Sakumo Hatake and Namikaze Minato were the kind of shinobi who could one-shot regular jonin.
Even though Shino's team had three members, Kiba and Choji would struggle to land a meaningful hit on Sasuke.
Then again, with group fights, you never knew.
Meanwhile, the Advanced Class were hearing the live updates from Iruka.
"This is unbelievable!"
Rock Lee flashed a thumbs-up. "Is this the power of Shino's team's youthful spirit?!"
"This has nothing to do with youth."
Shikamaru shook his head. "It's Shino's Insects doing the work."
"This is all thanks to Kitazawa-sensei!"
Ino snorted, hands on her hips.
"That's true."
Yakumo agreed. "Shino's mutated kikaichu completely flipped the situation."
"We need to be careful of those mutated Insects if we run into Shino's team later."
Tenten said seriously.
"We still don't know who'll win."
Neji shook his head.
"Sasuke can win a three-on-one?"
Tenten looked skeptical.
"No idea."
Neji explained, "But either side could win. With Sasuke's strength, though, he's not going down easily."
Inside the Forest of Death—
The standoff continued.
"Sasuke, you're out of teammates. Just surrender."
Shino adjusted his glasses.
Choji and Kiba were visibly excited.
They'd never thought they'd be in a position to beat Sasuke's team.
On paper, their strength gap was obvious.
"'Surrender' isn't in the Uchiha vocabulary."
Sasuke gripped the Sword of the Thunder God, face blank. "You're the ones who're going to lose."
"I figured it'd come to a fight."
Shino wasn't surprised.
He made hand seals without hesitation.
Honey Technique!
Several bees flew out of his sleeves.
Sasuke knew he had two types of bees—explosive and wax-spitting.
With his three-tomoe Sharingan, he looked once and confirmed these were the wax ones.
The explosive bees had wildly chaotic chakra.
Instead of retreating, Sasuke surged forward.
The Sword of the Thunder God flared, lightning lashing out and reducing the bees to blackened dust.
"What?"
Kiba had assumed Sasuke would back off—but he didn't.
In a blink, Sasuke was in front of Choji.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
Caught off guard, Choji was instantly enthralled.
Human Bullet Tank!
He slammed straight toward Kiba.
Shino's eyes narrowed.
He didn't rush to save Kiba. Instead, he took the chance to release a swarm of bees.
Thousand Bee Stings Technique!
Their stingers shot toward Sasuke like a storm of needles.
Sasuke vanished on the spot.
The Sword of the Thunder God glowed faintly white.
He slipped past every single needle and thrust straight at Shino.
This was the lightning-fast Hatake sword style.
Shino's pupils shrank.
Secret Technique: Insect Wall!
Kikaichu surged from his sleeves and formed a barrier.
The Sword of the Thunder God pierced the wall and stopped only five centimeters from his chest.
Shino unconsciously let out a breath.
Then lightning blazed in his face as the sword roared to life again.
He scrambled backward, more Insects pouring out.
In his haste, he managed to block most of the lightning, but some still struck him, locking his muscles up.
Sasuke moved to finish it—then saw Kiba.
Facing the entranced Choji, Kiba had immediately canceled the Three-Headed Hellhound.
He sent one shadow clone to dispel Choji's genjutsu while he and another clone launched Fang Over Fang.
Two tornadoes howled toward Sasuke.
Sasuke gave up on Shino.
He used the Hatake sword style again, Body Flickering into the space between the two funnels.
The Sword of the Thunder God pierced Kiba.
Kiba popped with a puff of smoke.
The remaining tornado crashed into Sasuke—
But once again, he Body Flickered and dodged.
He reappeared behind Kiba, and the tip of the Sword of the Thunder God stopped at his throat.
"I… I surrender."
Kiba muttered, unwilling but defeated.
Fortunately, his other clone had already freed Choji from the genjutsu.
Kiba dispelled his clone and joined Sakura on the sidelines as a spectator.
Shino shook off his paralysis and moved to flank Sasuke with Choji.
Both of their faces were tense.
They'd had a three-on-one and still lost one of their own.
Now it was two-on-one. The outcome was even more uncertain.
Were they going to lose?
Shino forced the thought out of his head and immediately used Summoning Jutsu.
A huge queen bee appeared.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly but stayed calm.
This wasn't Shino's first time using her.
The queen bee took to the air and rained wax down from above.
Bee Bomb Technique!
Shino raised his hand, releasing the explosive bees.
Partial Multi-Size Jutsu!
Choji's arms and hands swelled massively. He didn't attack; he focused entirely on reading Sasuke's movements.
Bee, Insects, and Choji all moved almost simultaneously.
An ordinary shinobi would have been overwhelmed—but Sasuke had the three-tomoe Sharingan.
He could see everything clearly.
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Sasuke responded instantly.
One clone charged Shino, the other went for the queen bee.
He himself appeared in front of Choji.
You hit the softest target first—that was only sensible.
Sasuke's plan was to take Choji out quickly, then turn all his attention on Shino.
The air whistled.
As soon as Choji saw him, he swung down his giant palm.
Leaf-Style: Willow!
In that brief eye contact, Sasuke saw his opening.
Choji froze in place.
Sasuke thrust the Sword of the Thunder God forward, halting the tip in front of his heart.
Two pops sounded behind him as both clones were dispelled by Shino.
But Shino didn't look happy.
Because Choji was out, leaving a one-on-one between him and Sasuke.
Shino could only feel helpless.
A winning position had evaporated in seconds.
He didn't blame Kiba or Choji.
The full three-tomoe Sharingan was terrifying, Lightning Release was famous for its speed, and the Hatake sword style was known across the shinobi world.
With those three combined, Sasuke beating Kiba and Choji was completely normal.
Shino knew he was likely to lose, but after coming this far, surrender wasn't an option.
He still had a chance. Three-on-one had drained Sasuke's chakra a lot.
Sasuke could feel it too. That was why he stuck with the relatively chakra-efficient Hatake sword style.
Having seen it once, Shino instinctively raised Insect Wall to block the Sword of the Thunder God.
When it hit, he flicked both sleeves and sent bees flying.
But Sasuke didn't retreat.
To Shino's surprise, he used Leaf Great Whirlwind.
His kick smashed into the bees.
They exploded, spraying wax.
Shino snapped back, instinctively retreating to avoid the wax.
He'd planned to bind Sasuke with it at close range.
Instead, Sasuke had read him and turned the wax against him.
Sasuke let go of the Sword of the Thunder God and punched its hilt.
The blade shot out like a thrown shuriken, straight toward Shino.
At the last moment, Kurenai appeared and grabbed the Sword of the Thunder God.
Shino stopped and exhaled in relief.
Sasuke collapsed onto the ground, soaked in sweat as if he'd been hauled out of a river.
But his spirits were high—he'd won a three-on-one.
"We still lost."
Shino had expected this, so he was calm.
"You did great."
Kurenai praised him. "You were just missing a bit of luck."
If Shino's team had drafted Kimimaro instead, they might really have beaten Sasuke.
On the viewing platform—
"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke's team."
As the fight ended, Kitazawa announced the result.
"Sasuke's strength is solid jonin level."
Tsunade nodded, satisfied.
She could already imagine the joint Chunin Exam two years from now. For genin from other villages, it would be downright brutal.
"The synergy between the Hatake sword style, Lightning Release, and three-tomoe Sharingan is pretty impressive."
Hiruzen couldn't help praising him.
He didn't say the rest—that Sasuke would very likely surpass Sakumo Hatake in the future.
He didn't need to. Kakashi was already thinking the same thing.
Shinobi with kekkei genkai did have higher ceilings.
And Sasuke's talent was one in ten thousand.
"Tsunade-sensei."
Kitazawa produced the lottery box again. "You draw first, then I'll go heal the kids."
"Hyuga Neji's team versus Kurama Yakumo's team."
Tsunade pulled out two slips, glanced at them, and read the names.
"Looks like my team's not so lucky."
Hiruzen laughed.
He was Neji's team's instructor.
"Having the stronger lineup on paper doesn't guarantee anything."
Kakashi shook his head. "Sasuke nearly lost to Shino's team."
He was Yakumo's team's instructor.
"I'll go down first. I'll announce the next match when I'm done."
Kitazawa jumped down and landed smoothly.
The Advanced Class were buzzing over Sasuke's win.
Plenty of them had thought he'd lose that three-on-one, and now he'd turned it around completely.
"Neji's team and Yakumo's team, get ready. You start in fifteen minutes."
Kitazawa said, then walked into the Forest of Death.
Neji's expression turned serious.
He didn't say anything, just headed into the forest with Tenten and Tayuya.
Yakumo, Ino, and Karin entered as well, heading in the opposite direction.
~~~
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