Following the intense battle between Aoki Shigeru and Gaara, the subsequent rounds of the tournament progressed in a relatively tranquil fashion.
Uchiha Sasuke and Temari each secured successive victories over their respective opponents to advance smoothly through the bracket.
Next, the singular match remaining that was truly worthy of intense focus was Uzumaki Tomoko versus Akira.
Although Akira's puppet mastery had reached a threshold significantly higher than its historical counterpart over the years, he still suffered a clean, decisive defeat when forced to contend with Tomoko's fierce Shikotsumyaku capabilities.
Nevertheless, Tomoko's grand appearance on the stage triggered an immediate wave of intense scrutiny from both the Konoha and Hidden Mist delegations.
An Uzumaki clan member who had awakened the Byakugan while simultaneously wielding the Shikotsumyaku?
Was this not a complete and utter fairy tale?
Or could it be that due to her unique Uzumaki biology, she was capable of accepting the transplantation of external Kekkei Genkai properties? But a bloodline as violently turbulent as the Shikotsumyaku was something even the standard Uzumaki physique shouldn't be capable of sustaining, right?
In reality, as the latent energies embedded within Tomoko's body grew progressively more dominant over the years, the specialized seal compressing the third eye—the Tenseigan—upon her forehead was rapidly approaching a structural breakthrough. Once it unraveled, she would serve as Sunagakure's absolute hidden trump card.
However, Tomoko's current temperament remained somewhat immature, indicating she still required rapid growth and development.
Ultimately, with Minazuki Haku successfully securing a bye for the final slot, the definitive roster for the finals of the Chunin Exams, scheduled a month from now, was officially established.
Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Akira, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Tomoko, Minazuki Haku, Temari, and Aoki Shigeru—a total of seven contestants. Among them, Sunagakure laid claim to five slots, while Konoha secured two; the remaining foreign villages walked away with absolute zero.
A grand, joint Chunin Exam featuring the combined forces of the Five Great Shinobi Villages had concluded with Suna and Konoha completely monopolizing the final bracket. This seemingly absurd result was, in truth, an accurate projection of the actual strategic balance of power governing the contemporary continent.
Simultaneously, at the exact moment the preliminary matches of the Chunin Exam drew to a close, the Hidden Rain Village inside the Land of Rain was thoroughly engulfed in widespread chaos and ceaseless warfare.
Hoshigaki Kisame and Fire Fist Ace had locked horns on the outer perimeter, igniting a cataclysmic war of raw water against raging fire.
The "Tailed Beast without a Tail," Kisame, was no longer the weak entity who had freshly deserted the Hidden Mist Village years ago; his current strength was vastly superior, allowing him to trade blows with Ace in a magnificent, unyielding collision where neither side yielded an inch.
Mirror Fire Flame!
Under the oppressive heat of the blazing current, a massive firewall shaped like a roaring phoenix tore directly toward Kisame.
The latter exhaled a colossal, sweeping tidal wave, and as the two opposing elements violently canceled each other out across the field, Ace instantly condensed an immense volume of flame around his fist, launching a direct physical assault.
Every single punch and kick thrown by Ace tore through the surrounding atmosphere, generating crisp, rhythmic sonic booms.
His offensive sequence was fierce, wild, and systematically executed—resembling a localized hurricane ripping through the terrain. Kisame could only continuously hoist Samehada to parry the incoming barrages.
Yet, as Ace reached the absolute peak of his combat momentum, every single strike grew progressively more terrifying, detonating against Kisame's defenses like a rolling, roaring torrent that cascaded down from a superior vantage point to submerge everything in its path.
What a truly horrifying Fire Release... it isn't a single fraction inferior to Uchiha Kaede's...
While Kisame and Ace remained completely entangled in their high-frequency perimeter duel, the truly grim engagement inside the Hidden Rain Village initiated.
Confronting the Immortal Duo composed of Kakuzu and Hidan stood Kikyo, clad in her pristine, snow-white shrine maiden vestments.
"A priestess?"
As an ancient monster who had survived across multiple eras of the ninja world, Kakuzu naturally recognized the cultural attire of the woman standing before them. However, he felt deeply perplexed as to why a practitioner of Onmyodo would suddenly manifest deep within the Land of Rain.
Hidan, conversely, lacked the extensive patience possessed by Kakuzu. He violently swung the massive scythe within his grip. Within the Akatsuki organization, Hidan harbored the absolute deepest level of hatred toward Sunagakure.
Hailing originally from the Hidden Hot Springs Village, the specialized Jashin religion he faithfully worshipped had been thoroughly dismantled years prior when Sunagakure established total administrative control over the Land of Rivers.
A vast number of followers and cultists had been systematically arrested and imprisoned. Consequently, whenever Suna was mentioned, Hidan's teeth would itch with pure, unadulterated rage.
Known historically as "The Village That Forgot War," the Hidden Hot Springs was a settlement whose military capacity systematically deteriorated as global conflicts faded, yet it remained a territory exceptionally wealthy in natural resources.
Born as a ninja, Hidan desperately craved active slaughter, which caused him to develop a powerful, suffocating frustration toward the absolute pacifism maintained by his homeland.
As a result, his attention was drawn toward the emerging cult of Jashin. The core doctrine of the faith dictated the absolute slaughter of every living entity within one's surroundings—a specific religious tenant that perfectly validated Hidan's own internal malice and philosophy.
Fueled by absolute hatred for their pacifist ideology, he utilized specialized curses to slaughter his fellow villagers before deserting as a rogue ninja.
He joined Akatsuki primarily to force more people to experience the absolute agony of physical injury and death, with the secondary objective being the propagation of his faith.
Hidan's immortality was by no means a natural birthright. During his time within the Jashin cult, he had been subjected to horrific human experimentation by his fellow cultists, through which he successfully acquired his curse mechanics and undying frame.
He stood as the very first successful human test subject produced by the cult's forbidden experimentation.
An undying frame was by no means a divine blessing; it was an absolute curse whose underlying power required continuous slaughter to actively maintain its potency.
Therefore, losing the localized protection of the Jashin infrastructure made Hidan despise Suna ninja above all else.
Over the past few years, whenever he operated on external missions, he took immense pleasure in specifically targeting Suna's deployment operations, slaughtering a considerable number of Suna shinobi in the process.
The Triple-Bladed Scythe gripped in his hand was his most prized weapon—a deep crimson, three-tiered, colossal scythe outfitted with an integrated extension mechanic. The base of the weapon was anchored to a durable cable that extended directly to the winding ring secured at Hidan's waist.
By exploiting the fluid extension and retraction of the cable, Hidan could effortlessly hurl the massive scythe across immense distances.
The three-tiered blade design was explicitly structured to maximize the mathematical probability of inflicting physical lacerations on an opponent.
So long as he could secure even a single drop of the target's blood upon the blade, he could initialize his terrifying curse routine; exactly how much structural damage the weapon inflicted on the initial strike was entirely irrelevant.
However, before the Triple-Bladed Scythe could even brush against Kikyo's frame, it was violently deflected backward by the spiritual barrier deployed around her perimeter.
A barrier?
Without offering a single word of explanation, Kikyo stood firmly before the Immortal Duo. She had been explicitly designated by Shiraishi as the absolute perfect countermeasure against these two entities.
Having long since received detailed intelligence regarding their exact capabilities and mechanics from Shiraishi, she had zero intention of allowing them to secure a single drop of her blood to fuel their curses.
Though, strictly speaking, she didn't possess any standard blood to begin with...
She remained anchored to a highly specialized variant of the Impure World Reincarnation state...
Not only her innate capabilities, but even her absolute physical condition systematically and flawlessly suppressed the underlying mechanics of the Immortal Duo.
With a thunderous explosion, Kikyo loosed her opening arrow. A wild, storm-like barrage of demon-breaking spiritual energy tore forward, instantly carving a bright crimson laceration across Hidan's physical frame.
This sensation... something is wrong!
Possessing the Curse: Death Controlling Possessed Blood, Hidan theoretically shouldn't feel any standard fear of death. However, Kikyo's strike carried an innate purification function, establishing her as the absolute, definitive natural enemy of his immortal biology.
"Brother Kakuzu..."
"What is it?"
"This woman is deeply terrifying... I'm afraid I might actually be killed by her."
Hidan's sudden confession caused Kakuzu's heart to skip a beat. He had not anticipated that his unyielding companion would display such absolute terror toward the priestess before them. With his thoughts racing, Kakuzu shot countless bizarre, organic tendrils out from his limbs, only to witness Kikyo calmly loose her second arrow.
The moment the arrow flashed across the field, the innumerable tendrils were forcefully shattered into microscopic splinters.
Kakuzu's expression warped violently as his physical body seemed to slip entirely from his control, experiencing a sudden, terrifying trace of physical decay and aging that chilled him to the bone.
"Priestess... what on earth did you just do?"
Gripping her longbow, Kikyo's gaze remained exceptionally icy. "Restoring the absolute natural order. The vibrant life force you have systematically stolen by slaughtering the innocent should rightfully be returned to the world."
Kikyo could see the artificial, pulsing life force overflowing from Kakuzu's frame with a single glance; it was entirely compiled from decades of violently devouring the hearts and lives of others. This disgusting, malevolent methodology had firmly set Kikyo's resolve to thoroughly purify the Immortal Duo out of existence.
"Hidan, we need to go all out!"
"Right!"
The woman standing before them was the absolute greatest counter-enemy they had ever encountered across their entire lives. However, as an established S-rank rogue ninja, the primary thought dominating their minds was not flight, but rather executing a definitive method to slaughter this priestess.
She had to die!
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