The atmosphere iadium was electric as the five hours of rest came to an end. Everyone was eagerly anticipating the match: Kaida from Konoha versus Darui from Kumogakure. The tension alpable, especially for the Kumogakure spectators, who piheir hopes on Darui.

  It was his time to shine as their st remaining partit. Since most of them were from Kumogakure, the cheering for Darui to win was loud, with many people shouting his name.

  As Kaida stepped onto the battlefield, he felt the hundreds of eyes fog on him, most of them wanting him to lose.

  'Suys, I 't grant you this wish. I have to win this,' Kaida thought as he walked ihe stadium, while Darui entered from the opposite side, a fident smile on his face as he waved to the crowd.

  'He’s totally getting his main character moment,' Kaida thought as he watched the se in front of him, where he was the vilin the main character had to defeat for the reputation of his vilge.

  From the stands, the Raikage watched ily, arms crossed. This was the first match of the third round he was actually paying attention to, along with many other elders iadium.

  "Pce your bets, everyone! Kaida from Konoha has already proved his worth in the first match at 1:2.5, and everyone’s favorite, Darui from our own Kumogakure, at 1:3 as well. Let’s see who trusts the strength of our vilge and who doesn’t!" Taking advantage of the excitement, the stall owner was swimming in money.

  Jiraiya himself went to one of the stalls.

  "I want to bet on Kaida."

  "How much, sir?" the owner asked with a business smile on his fabsp;

  "5 million Ryo. Here’s the check. Jiraiya from Konoha," Jiraiya said. The owner almost dropped his expression with the amount. He didn’t evehe check; Jiraiya’s reputation in the ninja world was no joke. He swiftly took the ched gave Jiraiya a ticket.

  "That’s quite a huge amount, Jiraiya-sama."

  "Shisui, you’re here too. How much are you betting?" Jiraiya asked.

  "Well, it would look bad if I didn’t trust my brother enough," Shisui said, a ahead, taking a ticket for five million for himself as well.

  "That bathhouse is making gold for you guys, huh?" Jiraiya said, seeing Shisui betting such a huge amount as well.

  "It’s nowhere near what you make, Jiraiya-sama," Shisui said with a chuckle. Jiraiya, being an active S-rank ninja of Konoha, had taken on more S-rank missions than many ninja would take in their entire lives. With his books being famous as well, he was one of the wealthiest men in the Fire try, and in the world.

  By now, the preparations were done, and the match was ready to begin. The proctor raised his hand, and the crowd fell silent in anticipation.

  "Begin!"

  As soon as the prave the signal, Kaida activated his Sharingan. Even though he wasn’t going to use it extensively, just activating it created a form of pressure on his oppo. Now they had to be careful about genjutsu for the entire fight.

  Along with increased perception and the ability to see chakra, there was no reason not to activate it. Darui, from the start, paid close attention to avoid looking into Kaida’s eyes, so even though he didn’t firm the Sharingan was active, he was going to fight with the assumption that it was.

  Without wasting a sed, Darui uhe first attack. With a series of hand signs, a bolt of Bck Lightning streaked toward Kaida with terrifying speed. Kaida’s Sharingan spun as he sidestepped effortlessly, dodging the attack with a flicker of motion. The ground behind him exploded as the bolt hit, leaving a smoking crater.

  "Not bad," Kaida muttered under his breath, his Sharingan analyzing Darui’s movements. He quickly formed hand seals, ung a Fireball Jutsu at Darui. Even without Sharingan, dodging a fireball wasn’t difficult, especially for someone profit in Lightning Release. Darui flickered away easily, dodging the fireball.

  But Kaida wasn’t done. He followed up with a Wind Bde, slig through the air, aiming to catch Darui off-guard. Darui dodged those as well, showing the true speed of a Lightning Release user. To the audience, Darui appeared like a blur, appearing in various pces and then disappearing the sed. As soon as he disappeared, the position was bombarded with Wind Bdes.

  Seeing Darui easily dodging the attacks, the audience cheered crazily, but those experienced in fighting khe actual battle hadn’t started yet. Both ninjas were just testing each other. After dodging most of the attacks, Darui stopped 20 meters away from Kaida, his hands moving so fast they appeared as a blur to everyone—everyone except Kaida. With the Sharingan active, he could not only see Darui’s hand seals but also the chakra he was molding.

  'A bination jutsu,' Kaida thought, quickly making hand signs of his own.

  "Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration," Darui used his signature B-rank jutsu, with a wave of highly pressurized water going toward Kaida, mixed with Bck Lightning as well. A deadly attaotoriously difficult to block or evade because of its range. But since Kaida had already made his hand signs, he used "Wind Instantaneous Movement Jutsu," disappearing from his position and reappearing just outside the attack’s range.

  'Enough with these ninjutsu battles,' Kaida thought and made a hand sign.

  "Fire Release: Fire Stream Jutsu," a stream of fire was released toward Darui, not only targeting him but evaporating the water ih. Darui easily dodged, but the aim was o hit him in the first pce. With the wall of fire blog Darui’s vision, Kaida appeared behind him with the Body Flicker Jutsu, sword drawn and aimed at Darui’s neck.

  But Darui was very alert. Uchiha were famous for their kenjutsu, so as soon as he sensed Kaida behind him, he took out his sword, effectively blog the attack. After that, they started exging strikes. Kaida's attacks were precise, aiming for vital points with the help of the Sharingan, while Darui’s movements were fast aive, defleg each strike with calm, lethal efficy, using lightning to boost his speed. Both fighters were evenly matched, pushing each other to the limit.

  Seeing the stalemate and no sign of fatigue in Kaida’s movements, even after exging many strikes, Darui leaped back, creating distance, his fingers crag with energy.

  "Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

  Multiple beams of lightning shot out from Darui’s fiips, zigzagging uably toward Kaida.

  'I was waiting for this,' Kaida thought with a smirk. His Sharingan kicked into overdrive, dodging most of the sers. Though he didn’t have time to ter, dodging wasn’t difficult, especially with the Sharingaing their trajectory. Even though Kaida mao dodge the initial barrage, it became increasingly difficult. Darui was ering him with each attack.

  After some time, Kaida realized he was effectively trapped. All the beams now targeted various vital parts of his body, but there was oh he could use to dodge them.

  'There’s no way he left that open. It’s most likely a trap. Sigh, but I don’t have many options. Let’s see what he’s pnned,' Kaida thought and dodged the attabsp;

  "Lightning Release: Bck Panther!"

  The massive panther-shaped lightning attack roared toward Kaida, its dark, crag form too fast to evade pletely. The attack hit its mark, enveloping Kaida in a surge of bck electricity. The croed, watg the smoke rise, obsg Kaida from view.