Uhe civilians, various other people were not happy with the result at all. Not only was Konoha in the lead in the exam, but there was also a very high ce that only Konoha ninjas would reach the finals. So all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions would belong to Konoha.

  If Konoha wao show its domihen this was the perfect way; other vilges weren’t even in the petition anymore. Such monstrous talent is the reason Konoha has been able to handle four vilges attag it at the same time, and now it was showing off that talent.

  The pce where the Daimyo were sitting was silent. There was a smile on the Fire Daimyo's face, while the Earth Daimyo looked a little tense, but the person most unsatisfied was the Lightning Daimyo.

  “It’s alright, my friend. Winning and losing are part of the tour. Kumo did its best; it's just that my nd is blessed with talent, hohoho,” the Fire Daimyo gloated with a silly smile. For a few years, Konoha had been losing tinuously—Vilge Sunagakure even woime—but not Konoha.

  During that time, he could only listen to such words from others, but now that he got a ce to return the favor, there was no way he was going to miss it.

  The Lightning Daimyo could only put up a fake smile. “Of course, the match was a close one. Konoha ninjas sure are lucky,” he said.

  “Close one? If it was close, then both of them should have been in the hospital. But maybe you are correct, and I’m just too happy to win so much moo think things through,” the Fire Daimyo said, painfully bringing up the topic of Darui being admitted to the hospital, not giving the Lightning Daimyo any way out.

  ‘Kumogakure will have to face the brunt of the money I lost because of them,’ the Lightning Daimyo thought, unknowingly sealing his fate with rese.

  “Well, it’s not like you won; Iwagakure is still in the petition,” the Earth Daimyo said. Most of the time, he was like Onoki, a feter, but when it came to money, he became the most active person around.

  “Yeah, yeah, but his match is against Itachi, right?” the Fire Daimyo said, putting on a thinkiure. “Well, I wish you the best of luck.”

  “Same to you.”

  ---

  “Bro, we won so much! This is the easiest money possible!” Kaida shouted, to which Shisui just nodded his head.

  Due to the low version rate, they only got 1.5 times their betting price, but still, 5 million ryo in just minutes is no small amount by any means.

  “Yeah, with this much we could resume our pn for expanding the business,” Shisui said.

  Kabuto, who was listening, wao ask something but kept his mouth shut, as what he wao say was something he wouldn’t take pride in. But Kaida, who knew Kabuto quite well from both the anime and from living with him for so long, could guess what he wao ask.

  “Brother, si was because of Kabuto that we won this much, shouldn’t we do something for him as well?” Kaida asked.

  “Sure, what do you want to do?” Shisui uood what Kaida was trying to do.

  “Let’s donate 1 million to his orphanage. How about it, Kabuto?”

  “…Thanks,” Kabuto could only say this, too moved to say anything else.

  Shisui and Jiraiya just smiled at that, while Itachi shifted his attention to the stadium, which was ready for the match.

  As the proctor stepped forward, the crowd settled, and a hush fell over the arena. “ match: Itachi Uchiha of Konoha versus Deidara of Iwagakure!”

  The moment the match was announced, excitement rippled through the stands. Stall owners shouted the test betting odds, their voices blending into a cacophony of numbers as fans made st-mis, torween the genius Uchiha and Iwagakure’s explosive artist.

  In the ter of the arena, Itachi and Deidara faced each other, both calm. However, Deidara looked toward the audience, especially at Kaida, with visible killing i in his gre. Kaida just responded with a wave and a smile, further angering Deidara.

  “Because of your teammate, you will die today. But don’t worry; I’ll make it quick,” Deidara said, turning back toward Itachi.

  “You try,” Itachi responded without expression.

  “Begin!” the proctor called.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Deidara reached into his pouch, pulling out a handful of d molding it with rapid, expert movements. Small cy spiders and birds formed in his hands before he sent them toward Itachi, eae enrging on its own as it moved, being bigger and deadlier to test his oppo’s defenses.

  Itachi calmly reached into his poud pulled out a single shuriken. Holding it with a practiced grip, he sent it spinning through the air. “Shuriken Shadow e Jutsu!” With a series of hand seals, the single shuriken multiplied mid-flight, being a rain of gleaming steel.

  Each e hit a target precisely, pierg through the moving imals as if individually guided by Itachi’s hand.

  The audience held their breath, stunned by the mastery of Itachi’s teique. It wasn’t just the sheer number of shuriken—it was the impeccable precision, eae striking its target as if calcuted down to the millimeter. It was the pinnacle of throwing teique, not less deadly than any elemental jutsu itself.

  Deidara ched his teeth, impressed but unfazed. “Not bad… but let’s see how you handle something bigger!”

  Once agai his hand in his pouch, pulling out a rge amount of cy with both hands to craft a rger cy bird, one agile enough to evade attacks acc to Deidara’s ands. trolling it with swift haures, he directed it to soar and twist through the air, dodging the shuriken that came its way.

  Itachi responded immediately, his hands weaving into seals. “Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Teique!” He released a massive torrent of fme shaped like a dragon, r through the sky with intense heat and speed.

  The fire drago Deidara’s bird mid-air, and the impact was instantaneous—a blinding explosion that sent shockwaves through the arena. A wave of heat and light washed over the spectators, who shielded their eyes from the brilliance of the bst.

  For a brief moment, Deidara was stunned, awe-struck by the fiery explosion. ‘This… this is art,’ he thought, captivated by the beauty of the fmes resulting from the collision of two jutsu capable of mass destru alone. bihe effely increased. ‘One of the most beautiful creations I’ve ever made.’

  Deidara regained his posure, eyes narrowing with determination. Unlike what most thought, his carefree personality didn’t mean he didn’t use his brain in battle.

  No matter how hot-headed he was, he remained calm during fights; otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived this long. Seeing his attack doing no damage, Deidara quickly ged his pns.

  “I was saving this for ter, but… you’re worthy of seeing my test masterpiece!” A massive cy bird appeared o him, big enough to carry several people. He climbed onto its back, and with a powerful leap, soared into the sky.

  The croed as Deidara took flight. In the shinobi world, such a feat was rare and feared. Flying ninjas had a tremendous advantage otlefield, and with Iwagakure already boasting one, Deidara’s ability made them even more formidable.

  From above, Deidara ughed like he had already woch, tossing smaller bs down at Itachi. Eaoved with such speed that it hit the ground within seds, far heavier than they looked.

  With no time to terattack, Itachi could only dodge. Explosioed around him, f him to tinuously move.

  Realizing the disadvaachi thought, ‘I o even out our pying field.’ He remembered their training with Jiraiya.

  He formed a shadow e and jumped on its palm. The e used its strength to throw Itachi upward, while Itachi timed his jump perfectly, using precise chakra trol. As he asded, the e used Gale Palm Jutsu, a powerful burst of wind that propelled Itachi even higher—just as Kaida had done during their st sparring session against Jiraiya.

  Now in mid-air, Itachi formed signs. Fire Release: Great Fme Flower! Thirty massive fireballs formed around him, crag with iy as he targeted Deidara from multiple angles.

  Now the situation was reversed; Deidara’s bird wasn’t nimble enough to dodge the fireballs, which were carefully guided by Itachi himself. Deidara’s eyes widened as the fireballs closed in. He maneuvered his cy bird skillfully, evading two simultaneous fireballs, but the third hit its mark. The impact bsted the bird to pieces, sending a massive explosion of d fme through the stadium.

  At the st sed, Deidara leapt off, but he hit the ground with a painful thud, his legs bug as a shockwave of pain surged up his legs, nearly fracturing them. Pain fshed in his eyes as he struggled to stand. Realizing his predit, he decided to head skyward once more.

  But before he could craft another bird, Itaded in front of him, his Sharingan bzing. With a calm, unshakable gaze, he pointed his finger directly at Deidara’s forehead.

  “You lost,” Itachi decred, his voice a quiet storm.

  Deidara froze, his eyes locked onto Itachi’s fiime seemed to slow as he stared, uo react. For the audie seemed like a simple gesture. But for Deidara, what he saw was a nightmare.

  In the blink of aachi vanished from his line of sight and appeared directly in front of him, his hand plunging through Deidara’s chest, ripping out his heart, still beating in his palm. Blood dripped from his fingers as Deidara looked on, horrified and helpless.

  But it was all an illusion. Itachi had cast him into a brutal genjutsu, a touch harsher than usual due to the irritation he felt from the burns sustained in the fight. He had decided to return the favor to Deidara.

  Iy, Deidara remaianding, staring bnkly at Itachi’s fihe match had been decided the moment Itachi pointed; Deidara was frozen, lost in the vision of his owh, and then colpsed to the ground after losing sciousness.

  Itachi withdrew his hand, satisfied, as the proctor stepped forward. “Winner of the match: Itachi Uchiha!”

  The crowd erupted in cheers, their voices mingling in a thunderous ovation as they celebrated Konoha’s prodigy. Itachi gave a slight bow and turned, leaving Deidara to process what he had seen.