Yagura and Hiashi fought intensely, and the Konoha residents in the spectator stands watched with boiling blood.
Compared to the battle between Minato and Terumi Mei, the fight between Hiashi and Yagura was much more compelling to watch.
After all, Minato Namikaze was a pure assassin; when he fought, he would flash here and there, leaving only the faint golden glow of his hair visible on the field.
Terumi Mei, on the other hand, had acted like a
"burrowing demon"
in the previous battle. As a mage-type, she hid wretchedly and constantly released ninjutsu to attack Minato.
In short, while their battle was intense, it lacked the aesthetic beauty of a head-on collision.
But Hiashi and Yagura were different.
Although Hiashi used chakra, his style was infinitely close to that of a warrior.
Yagura, though skilled in Water Style, also possessed formidable Taijutsu abilities, making him an elite "Magic Knight" (proficient in both magic/ninjutsu and martial arts).
Their battle was a mix of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, intense and full of highlights—truly a spectacle where you couldn't look away for a second.
Of course, this was merely the perspective of the Konoha villagers. For someone like Yagyu, it was a different matter entirely.
Yagyu found their battle boring—so boring that he took out his nail clippers and began trimming his nails for who knows how many times.
After finishing his nails, under Terumi Mei's astonished gaze, Yagyu pulled out a sealing scroll. From it, he retrieved a sealed thermos flask.
Unscrewing the cap, he calmly took a sip of tea, his lazy gaze meeting Terumi Mei's.
"I give up on you!"
Terumi Mei looked helpless and sighed deeply.
Before long, the battle between Yagura and Hiashi reached its conclusion.
As expected of the man who would become the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura forcefully defeated Hiashi, albeit at the cost of sustaining injuries himself.
Yagyu sneered as he glanced at the Third Hokage on the high platform. Just because there's behind-the-scenes manipulation doesn't guarantee victory.
While rigging the match could increase the odds of winning... you still need to be tough yourself to forge iron!
Although countering techniques could allow a weaker ninja to defeat a stronger one, it still depended on the disparity in strength between the two sides.
For example, against someone like Hashirama Senju, no amount of countering techniques could stop a Deep Forest Emergence.
While Hiashi was strong, there was still a gap between him and a man like Yagura, who was destined to become a Mizukage.
"Congratulations!"
Seeing the injured but proud Yagura return, Yagyu congratulated him with a smile.
Yagura huffed,
"You should worry about yourself! Your opponent is from the Uchiha clan—the Uchiha who you must flee from in a one-on-one fight."
"To be chosen by Konoha to compete against you, your Uchiha opponent has likely already awakened the Sharingan."
Just then, the announcer on the high platform declared the start of the third match.
"Match 3: Yagyu vs. Fugaku Uchiha!"
A teenager wearing a Konoha flak jacket walked to the center of the stadium. On his back was the fan symbol—the crest of the Uchiha clan.
"Fugaku Uchiha?"
Yagyu sized up the future father of Itachi and Sasuke. In this era, he was still a green youth.
Of course, calling him
"green"
wasn't entirely appropriate, given that the spinning three-tomoe in his eyes already explained a lot.
Whoosh!
A burst of golden light erupted from Yagyu's body. He transformed into particles of light and shot toward the center of the stadium below.
Countless light particles stopped opposite Fugaku, recondensing into Yagyu's form.
"Young man of the Uchiha clan"
"Awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age... truly terrifying"
Yagyu spoke nonchalantly, his rhythmic tone carrying a built-in mockery.
"Are you looking down on the Uchiha? That is because you have not yet witnessed the power of the Uchiha."
Fugaku spoke slowly. The three tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, looking incredibly fierce.
In the Spectator Stands.
A young Obito Uchiha spoke proudly to the girl beside him, Rin Nohara,
"Did you see that, Rin? That is our Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai—the Sharingan that countless people admire and fear!"
"As a member of the Uchiha clan, I will definitely awaken the Sharingan in the future, and I will pass this power down."
As he spoke, Obito stole a glance at Rin.
Rin smiled at him. Obito's face instantly turned red, and his eyes became a little dizzy.
He seemed to envision his and Rin's children being born, inheriting the Uchiha bloodline, and awakening the Sharingan.
"Fugaku Uchiha... I hope you can figure out Yagyu's special abilities."
On the high platform, the Third Hokage puffed on his pipe, deep in thought.
The Uchiha Sharingan excelled at observing enemy weaknesses and could even see through flaws in ninjutsu.
Arranging Fugaku as Yagyu's opponent was primarily for Konoha to probe his abilities.
"'Wicked Eye' Fugaku? So scary~" "Young Uchiha, do you know my ability?"
Yagyu spoke nonchalantly, then his expression straightened.
"I am the Sun!"
As Yagyu's voice fell, a dazzling golden light suddenly bloomed from his body.
Fugaku Uchiha instinctively closed his eyes, and the Konoha villagers in the surrounding stands hurriedly bowed their heads.
"Too dazzling!" "I can't look directly at it!"
...
Gasps of surprise rang out; the Konoha villagers dared not even watch the battle.
"I can fight in this state. Can you?"
"You should be clear on how dependent the Uchiha clan is on the Sharingan, right?"
"Even the Sharingan dares not look directly at me, the source of light. What will you use to fight me?"
Yagyu looked at Fugaku with interest. He wanted to see if Konoha had come up with a solution to this problem.
"It's just strong light. Sunglasses!"
Fugaku huffed coldly and pulled out a pair of large black sunglasses, putting them on to protect his eyes from the intense glare.
With the sunglasses filtering the light, Fugaku was no longer affected by Yagyu's radiance. His three tomoe spun as he locked onto Yagyu.
"What a pity!"
"The most powerful aspect of the Sharingan is its ability to cast Genjutsu through eye contact."
"This type of instant Genjutsu is impossible to defend against and is a major reason why others fear the Sharingan."
"Wearing sunglasses... can you still use that ability? Young Uchiha~"
Yagyu spoke with a smile.
Konoha coming up with the idea of using sunglasses to counter the strong light didn't affect him much.