August 5th, the Chunin Examination officially begins.
The third test of the Chunin Examination takes place in a huge circular arena.
In the center of the venue is a large empty area with small patches of trees and ponds with limited water. All the examinees will battle here.
Apart from the fighting area, there are tiered audience seats, filled with many aristocratic officials and wealthy business clients, as well as local residents and ninjas from Konoha.
The Third Hokage is not seated in the ordinary audience area; he has his own special seat, which is even higher than the other seats.
"So many spectators." Nohara Rin exclaimed as she looked at the sea of people in the audience.
Prior to this, the liveliest event Nohara Rin had participated in was the festival, but even that didn't have this many people.
"Don't be nervous, Rin. Just show your true strength, and you'll surely win." Obito thought Nohara Rin might be worried about losing because of the large crowd and comforted her.
Nohara Rin covered her mouth and giggled, "Obito, you underestimate me. I won't be nervous just because there's a crowd watching."
Nohara Rin wasn't the shy and timid type; she might worry about the outcome due to her opponent's strength but wouldn't be nervous just because people were watching.
"Hehe, that's good then." Obito scratched his head and grinned.
Obito was even less concerned about the audience; the more people, the more excited he was. This was a great opportunity to make a name in Konoha.
"Hurry up and go over; it's about time." Kakashi reminded.
Obito and Nohara Rin both nodded, and the three of them sped up through the passage specially prepared for examinees, heading to the arena center, which was the battleground for the examinees.
They arrived neither early nor late, and within three minutes of arriving, sixteen examinees had all gathered.
Seeing all the examinees assembled, some spectators began to cheer, seemingly anticipating the upcoming battles.
"Did you hear that? The cheers are for you all; you are the stars today." Hiruko said with a smile.
Listening to Hiruko's words made Obito's heart surge; if he could seize the top spot in front of the crowd, it would be the first step towards becoming Hokage.
Might Guy's face was filled with a confident smile, giving a thumbs up towards a jumping green figure in the audience.
Terumi Mei clenched her fists; winning this first place would earn her the attention of the master and Mizukage, making her path to becoming Mizukage clearer.
Zabuza looked with a complex expression at Kakashi, who was just a few positions away. If he won, his opponent in the second round would be Kakashi.
Zabuza didn't know how he should fight to win; the opponent even managed to defeat his guiding Jonin.
"The rules for the third test are simple, same as the preliminaries: defeat your opponent until they can't fight or surrender, then it's considered a win." Hiruko continued.
"If there are no questions, except for the first and second examinees, please return to the waiting room until notified."
The waiting room also has a view of the arena battles, so it doesn't affect the examinees' information gathering.
With rules so simple, there were naturally no questions, and everyone started heading towards the waiting room through the examinee passage, leaving behind Hoshigaki Kisame, the number one, and Yamashiro Aoba, the number two.
Hoshigaki Kisame stood expressionless; he was only concerned about two people in this exam, Might Guy and Hatake Kakashi. The other matches pose no problem for him.
Compared to the calm Kisame, Yamashiro Aoba was decidedly less composed, eyeing Kisame with a battle-ready demeanor.
He had seen Kisame's performance in the preliminaries, ranking among the strongest examinees.
Hiruko let the two stand in the designated positions, then, after about a minute, shouted loudly:
"First match, Hoshigaki Kisame versus Yamashiro Aoba. Begin the battle!"
The sound system broadcast Hiruko's voice throughout the venue, grabbing the attention of the chatty spectators and drawing focus to the battlefield.
"This Hoshigaki Kisame is a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. Even though both are part of the Five Great Ninja Villages, you seldom hear about the Mist." said an official in uniform.
"After all, the Hidden Mist Village is in the Land of Water, making it inconvenient to travel up to the mainland." another official said.
"But there are differences among the Five Great Ninja Villages; our Land of Fire ninjas should be stronger."
The nearby officials nodded in agreement, not only because Konoha is the Ninja Village of the Land of Fire but due to Konoha's consistent record of victories in battle.
Although the spectators had confidence in Yamashiro Aoba, it couldn't bridge the gap between him and Hoshigaki Kisame.
As soon as Hiruko shouted "start," Yamashiro Aoba immediately retreated, using ninjutsu to summon a flock of crows.
Aw — Aw —
The crows' harsh, raspy cawing instantly reverberated throughout the entire arena.
A mass of crows circled around Yamashiro Aoba, disrupting Kisame's vision and hearing.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
Yamashiro Aoba immediately flung several shurikens towards Kisame.
Kisame casually swung his longsword, knocking away the shurikens, and then he swiftly planted the sword in the ground, forming seals with his hands at lightning speed.
"Water Release: Bursting Water Wave!"
Kisame gathered a massive amount of Chakra and transformed it into Water Attribute Chakra, spewing out a colossal water stream that surged towards Yamashiro Aoba.
Yamashiro Aoba frowned and retreated rapidly, commanding the crow to fly higher.
The sheer volume of water from Kisame was overwhelming, quickly turning the entire battlefield into a large pond. Yamashiro Aoba managed to evade the water surge but was forced to stand on the water's surface to fight the approaching Kisame.
Bang bang!!
The two exchanged blows rapidly, even with the crow's interference, Yamashiro Aoba was gradually forced into retreat.
This restricted battleground favored Kisame, who could dive into the water anytime to avoid the crow's attack, while Yamashiro Aoba struggled to effectively counter Kisame.
"What a bad lot," Yamashiro Aoba thought to himself, feeling a bit helpless. He happened to have trained in Fire Release, which was countered by Kisame's Water Release.
"You do have some skill; not weak at all." After several rounds, Kisame noted that Yamashiro Aoba was stronger than expected.
Though not outstanding in any area, Yamashiro Aoba was competent overall.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bomb Jutsu!"
With plenty of water in the arena, Kisame effortlessly formed a giant water dragon and hurled it towards Yamashiro Aoba, scattering the crow that interfered with his vision in an instant.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Yamashiro Aoba made a final attempt, first releasing a Great Fireball to block the incoming water dragon, then using the remaining crows to cover himself, as he held his breath and plunged into the water, surging towards Kisame.
But Yamashiro Aoba underestimated Kisame's expertise as a Hidden Mist Ninja. Despite Yamashiro Aoba being cautious and silent, the Great Fireball's collision with the Water Dragon sound masking his approach, Kisame still detected Yamashiro Aoba submerged in the water.
Feigning ignorance, Kisame waited until Yamashiro Aoba closed in, then suddenly dove into the water to engage him in combat.
Splish! Splash!
A massive burst of water erupted—the force from Kisame sent Yamashiro Aoba flying out of the water.
It wasn't over yet—under Kisame's control, another water stream shot straight at the airborne Yamashiro Aoba.
Bam!
Yamashiro Aoba was slammed against the wall at the edge of the battlefield by the force of the water.
To ordinary spectators watching the battle, it seemed like only a short duration had passed. They only saw Kisame use the Water Release to transform the field into a large pond, the two exchanging blows momentarily, Water and Fire Releases clashing, and then Yamashiro Aoba being knocked against the wall—all within minutes.
"Looks like this person is an elite ninja from the Hidden Mist Village, can't be judged by ordinary ninja standards." An official who previously mentioned the Land of Fire Ninja's strength stroked his beard, showing no signs of embarrassment at all.
"Indeed, Hidden Mist surely sent their village's most talented geniuses for this distant journey." Agreed a nearby official.
"Never thought a ninja from Hidden Mist would be so powerful; I wonder how efficient their commissions are." Kisame's strong performance earned Hidden Mist some recognition from wealthy merchants present.
The Hidden Mist members smiled upon hearing this, but the Konoha Ninja in the audience didn't look pleased, having lost the first match.
Sitting to the right of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo frowned at this sight, an expression of displeasure crossing his face.
Though with his keen eyes he could see Yamashiro Aoba wasn't weak, rather Kisame was too strong, Danzo saw this significant occasion loss as an embarrassment to Konoha, an unacceptable outcome.
The counselor sitting on Sarutobi Hiruzen's left showed only a faint smile, neither speaking nor overly joyous.
Sarutobi Hiruzen neither frowned nor smiled, his expression remained unchanged as he watched the field, making his inner thoughts hard to discern.
"Hoshigaki Kisame is victorious!" After determining Yamashiro Aoba had lost his combat ability, Hiruko decisively announced Kisame's victory.
After Hiruko announced the result, a medical ninja quickly took Yamashiro Aoba for treatment, while Kisame walked toward the rest area.
"Go Rin, do your best." Seeing the first match had ended, Obito encouraged Nohara Rin.
"Make sure to use Water Release more at the start, it will give you a field advantage initially," Kakashi calmly advised Nohara Rin as he approached her side.
Though there's a drainage system in the battle arena, it's clearly not efficient. The water level continues to drop, not as abundant as before, but still beneficial for Rin.
Of course, if the battle drags on too long, the water will eventually run dry.
"Alright." Nohara Rin smiled and nodded at the two.
"Second match, Nohara Rin versus Nara Shiomizu, contestants, please enter the arena promptly." Hiruko's voice resonated in the rest area.
Nohara Rin waved goodbye to the two and headed towards the battlefield.
"Midori will be cheering for you." Inuzuka Midori encouraged Nara Shiomizu before the battle.
Nara Shiomizu nodded and turned to walk into the arena.
Though he hadn't gathered much intelligence on Nohara Rin during training with Mokgetsu, his Taijutsu had improved somewhat over there.
PS: Just one update today, I mentioned taking a rest day before, and it only worked for one day, last night again slept late till dawn, today putting in more effort, if it doesn't work out, so be it, prioritizing finishing the book, my writing pace recently really isn't as ideal.