As the murmurs aement from the previous match died down, and repairs were pleted, the proctor once again stood at the ter of the stadium.

  “We will resume the matches now. match: Kabuto from Konoha and Ren from Amegakure.” Unfortunately, the stro testant from Amegakure was already out of the petition, leaving a weaker teammate behind.

  But that was still enough for them, as their goal was o win this petition. It was simply to show that Amegakure could stand shoulder to shoulder with the giants known as the Five Great Ninja Vilges.

  “How a ninja from a minor vilge stay in the petition for this long?”

  “Isn’t he from some minor vilge? What was it called again?”

  “Amegakure. The referee just annouhat, you dunce!”

  Such versations rippled through the crowd as the proctor annouhe match, and now Kaida uood why there was such a strong team from Amegakure in the exams. Pain needed heavy funding for his ‘projects,’ so he’d decided to utilize the vilge he would use as his base as a money-making facility.

  Now, he had shown the world that Amegakure ninjas weren’t much weaker than those from major vilges. The number of missions Amegakure would receive would increase iure as well.

  ‘That’s quite a smart pn. Without doing much, Pain secured a nice side hustle. Akatsuki will be the main one, but still, this isn’t bad at all,’ he thought. With his knowledge from the anime, he could perceive things more clearly than most people present.

  But that didn’t mean others hadn’t noticed.

  ‘A small bird is trying to fly way too close to the sun. It may burn its feathers soon,’ thought A, atg the match. her-ups from various vilges had simir thoughts.

  However, Pain didn’t fear any sequences. If needed, he could take on one or two major vilges alone.

  ---

  Unknown to them, Kabuto and Ren had already appeared iadium, ready to give their all.

  The air was thick with tension as they faced each other in the ter of the arena. Seeing both partits ready, the proctor raised his hand and sighe start. “Begin!”

  Ren dashed forward, immediately eling chakra into his palms. "Lightning Release: Shock Palm!" He thrust his hand forward, sending a surge of lightning toward Kabuto.

  Kabuto sidestepped quickly, weaving signs for ah teique. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" A thick rock wall shot up, blog Ren’s advand defleg the lightning.

  Ren smirked. “You’re hiding already?”

  Kabuto just grinned back, letting the earth wall crumble. Ign Ren’s taunt, he performed another set of hand signs. "Water Release: Water Bullet!" A rapid stream of water shot from his mouth, aimed at Ren’s feet to make him lose his bance.

  Ren jumped, twisting mid-air to dodge the water bullet, and nded gracefully. ‘Water, huh?’ He quickly formed hand seals. "Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!" A bright bolt of lightning shot from his hand, sizzling as it cut through the air toward Kabuto.

  Kabuto dodged, feeling the electricity graze the edge of his jacket. ‘I’m not fast enough,’ he noted. Ren’s lightning owerful and fast but direct. A head-on csh wouldn’t be him, but that wasn’t his pn anyway. "Water Release: Water Trumpet!" Though the water attacks aimed for Ren’s vitals, Kabuto knew his oppo was skilled enough to dodge easily. Streams of water pooled around Ren’s feet, creating patches of mud.

  Ren narrowed his eyes. Kabuto was clearly setting something up—most likely his st attack from the previous round. But Ren had no iion of letting him trol the terrain. After weaving hand signs, Reended his hand forward. "Lightning Release: False Darkness!" Lightning spears shot from his palms, f Kabuto to halt his casting and dodge.

  Kabuto smirked, jumping just out e. “Not bad, but let’s see how you hahis.” He quickly formed hand seals and smmed his hands onto the ground. "Earth Release: Tearih Turning Palm!" The ground trembled as ks of rock rose and broke apart, further ing the mud from his Water Release.

  Ren stumbled but recovered quickly. The battlefield was slowly turning muddy, just as Kabuto intended.

  By now, the earth had softened siderably, and Ren realized Kabuto’s iions. “So that’s your pn? Turn this pto a s?”

  Kabuto chuckled. “Maybe. Or maybe I just enjoy watg you dance around.”

  Ren sneered, weaving signs and eling more chakra than before. "Lightning Release: Lightni Trag Fang!" A snarli made of lightning emerged from his hand, darting toward Kabuto with rapid, erratients. This jutsu homed in on Kabuto’s chakra, making it extremely difficult to dodge.

  After one dodge attempt, Kabuto realized it was futile. He released his termeasure. "Earth Release: Mud Wall!" He molded the earth with moisture, creating a dense wall to absorb the lightni’s impact. The beast struck the mud wall, dissipating into steam.

  Kabuto was about to use his signature jutsu when Ren, who had gained ample time, moved far from the mud.

  “Did you really think I’d fall for that fshy jutsu?” Ren asked, recalling the mud wolf jutsu vividly, as did the audience.

  But Kabuto merely smirked. “That’s not the only jutsu I know.” Kabuto made a series of hand signs and then smmed his hand on the ground.

  “Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Jutsu!” A huge dragon head emerged from the ground, drawing awed gasps from the crowd.

  Without giving Ren a ce to react, the dragon began spewing dozens of mud bullets toward him. With no ce of pletely dodging, Ren used lightning chakra to boost his speed, trying to avoid the bullets. But his speed wasn’t enough to evade hundreds of mud bullets. After getting hit once, he slowed down, suffering hit after hit.

  By the time the jutsu ended, Ren was covered in mud, with a couple of bones broken. Kabuto, not taking any ces, swiftly appeared behind Ren with a kunai at his neck.

  “Winner of the match: Kabuto Yakushi!” the proctor announced.

  “Woo!”

  “Wow!”

  Cheers erupted from the crowd as they withe dragon spewing hundreds of bullets.