"You…"
Kakashi frowned slightly as he looked at Shien, whose entire body was nearly soaked in blood, heat still radiating faintly from his skin.
They might just be teammates, but he couldn't help feeling a twinge of concern.
"I'm fine."
Shien waved a hand casually and sat down to recover his breath as quickly as possible.
That fight against Maki might have ended fast—just a few brief exchanges—but the drain on his chakra and stamina had been immense.
Even with healing elixirs, recovering from those injuries would come at a cost.
Trading wounds for victory!
That was the only reason he'd been able to finish Maki so quickly.
The opponent had never expected him to charge head-on through a ninjutsu assault—such ruthless resolve had caught Maki completely off guard.
Being an unknown "nobody" had finally worked to his advantage.
No one really knew what Shien was capable of.
Then came the draw for the semifinals.
Kakashi's expression grew grim.
He'd been matched against Gangtu, while Shien was paired with the last remaining contestant—a small-village genin who'd barely scraped through by luck.
"At least I'm lucky this once."
Shien couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He'd just fought through back-to-back battles against Suna's top talents—Juan and Maki—the latter being one of Sunagakure's most renowned prodigies.
Even now, many still couldn't accept that loss.
Facing a severely drained and injured minor-village contestant instead of Gangtu or Kakashi was a genuine stroke of good fortune.
For once, there was no "rigging" involved.
At this stage—among the final four—strong vs. strong was inevitable. There was no point manipulating the brackets anymore.
But that didn't mean there was no bad news.
First match:
This time, Shien wasn't slotted for the later bout—he was up first.
In other words…
No time to rest at all.
Dragging his exhausted body, he had no choice but to step back onto the field immediately.
And unlike the fight against Maki, he had no intelligence advantage this time.
His opponent, a slippery genin named Otozen from a small village, refused to give him any opening for a swift finish.
If not for his Fists of Blazing Flame, Shien would've burned through far more chakra and energy than he could spare.
At the critical moment, he blocked an incoming strike with the back of his hand, then countered with a Wild Bite, blasting the opponent away and securing victory.
Once that match ended, the long-awaited clash between titans began—
Kakashi vs. Gangtu!
Compared to Maki's shocking defeat, this was the match everyone had been dying to see.
To most spectators, it was the real final.
And it drew every pair of eyes in the arena.
The result, but surprised no one.
Kakashi—lost.
His attacks simply couldn't break through Gangtu's defense.
Against the Weighted Rock Technique, a B-rank earth-style jutsu, his usual speed-based fighting style was crippled.
No matter how fast you were, once you were several times heavier, speed became meaningless.
And when speed vanished, Kakashi's entire offensive edge vanished with it.
If he were fourteen, he might have taken the win easily.
But at just seven years old, his physical power and chakra reserves were too limited—Gangtu overwhelmed him in a straight-up brawl.
Still, though defeated, Kakashi's performance was nothing short of glorious.
"Though defeated, still honorable"—that phrase fit perfectly.
In tactics, skill, and ninjutsu mastery, he had done everything right.
Had Minato not intervened at the last second to stop the fight, Kakashi might have literally fought to the death.
The loss didn't harm his reputation—it boosted it.
After all, he was seven. His opponent was twice his age.
While other kids his age were just entering the academy, Kakashi had fought his way to the semifinals of the Joint Chunin Exams.
If that wasn't a "super genius," what was?
He'd won everyone's respect.
The legend of Super Prodigy Kakashi became an instant, universal truth.
Even shinobi from Suna and Iwa looked at him with unconcealed killing intent.
His potential was even greater than that of the White Fang.
If allowed to grow, he'd become "White Fang Plus."
Who could tolerate that?
Especially Suna-nin, still smarting from the massacres by the White Fang. They didn't even bother hiding their murderous intent.
When Kakashi went down, Yecang rushed forward as if to "rescue" him—but who knew what she really did? Onoki's right-hand man Huangtu also seemed to "help" in a suspiciously convenient way.
If not for Minato—the future "Fastest Ninja in the World"—intervening in time, Kakashi might have died on the spot.
Big villages might have pride, but when given a chance to eliminate an enemy prodigy, they'd toss that pride aside in a heartbeat.
Konoha almost went to war on the spot.
If not for Iwa and Suna's combined restraint, the arena might have turned into a battlefield.
Now it made sense why both the Third Tsuchikage and the Third Kazekage had come personally, bringing so many elite guards— to ensure that even if a fight broke out, they wouldn't be crushed outright.
Yes, Konoha held home-field advantage and could win in a drawn-out fight— but that was also the biggest risk.
If war erupted here, even in victory, Konoha would be razed to the ground.
That delicate balance of fear was the only reason the two Kage dared attend.
Had the exams been held outside the Leaf, neither would've risked showing up.
Eventually, after tense negotiations and certain "exchanges" among the three Kage, the incident was smoothed over.
With Kakashi's defeat, the final matchup was set—
Gangtu vs. Uchiha Shien!
The former's presence surprised no one—he was the undisputed powerhouse of this year's Joint Chunin Exams.
But the latter… shocked everyone.
The dead last. The useless one. The guy living off others.
Those titles weren't secrets—you could ask any Leaf villager and they'd tell you the same.
No wonder no one had ever questioned his unimpressive stats in the intel files.
Yet this "nobody" had clawed his way into the finals, leaving countless jaws on the floor.
And some people had lost a lot of money because of it.
A certain blonde twin-tailed girl was reportedly throwing a fit.
As for the nobles and merchants running the betting pools, they still made a modest profit despite the upset—not a loss, but far from the windfall they expected.
The real winner?
Uchiha Mei, who had blindly bet everything on Shien from the start.
Though she'd skipped the semifinals due to the low payout odds, she jumped right back in for the finals—where the odds had skyrocketed.
1.3 to 2.5.
Bet one hundred million ryō on Shien, and you'd walk away with two hundred fifty million. A net profit of one hundred fifty million ryō.
With enough bettors in play, the odds stabilized—and that meant the jackpot was ripe for the taking.
On the main stands—
"I hope we won't see a repeat of what happened earlier," said Sarutobi Hiruzen, his tone carrying a sharp warning.
In other words, if the great villages tried any tricks again—Konoha wouldn't hold back.
He was still in his prime—not yet the "Old Monkey" of the future, but the Hero of the Shinobi.
"Of course, that was all a misunderstanding," said the Third Kazekage, face calm as if Yecang hadn't just nearly assassinated a child.
"Indeed, a misunderstanding," Onoki echoed smoothly.
The two Kage had conveniently allied for now, their murderous rivalry forgotten.
"It had better be a misunderstanding," Sarutobi muttered, taking the diplomatic out.
At least Konoha had extracted some compensation—and there was no point starting a war here and now.
Finally, the grand final, the match everyone had been waiting for, was ready to begin.
This time, though, the perimeter of the arena and the audience stands were lined with shinobi guards.
To prevent "accidents."
Taijutsu or genjutsu was one thing—but the destructive power of high-level ninjutsu was no joke.
And so, under a feverish, roaring atmosphere—
the final showdown began.
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