Itachi, who had been standing just 100 meters away, noeared kilometers away, and thehrew a shuriken from that distant position. Kaida was initially surprised, as Itachi would never normally do that—he could easily dodge from such a distance.

  But to Kaida’s shock, the shuriken traveled nearly 2 kilometers in a sed, appearing right in front of him as if it had teleported. Using his full speed, Kaida dodged sideways, but he moved much farther than he would have liked.

  'What the hell is happening? And what is… wait, I ’t form any thoughts,' Kaida realized. Itachi khat if he gave Kaida just a few more seds, he would break free of the genjutsu, as the Sharingan was that effective against it. Not even an S-rasu could keep an Uchiha with a 3-tomoe Sharingan us effect for long.

  Not wanting to give Kaida the precious time he needed, Itachi ran forward at full speed. With everything happening around him, Kaida could only dodge and flee, trying to make sense of the situation, but Itachi was stantly on his tail. He cursed his luck—had he not used most of his chakra, a sisu would have ehe mat his favor.

  While running, Kaida forced himself to calm down and think. Clearing his mind made things clearer, and he quickly dispersed his chakra. Normally, that would have been a good move, but in an S-rasu, even breaking free had sequences. If a regur shinobi tried that, they would likely pass out from the aftereffects, but with the Sharingan's formidable defense, Kaida only felt slightly disoriented and had a mild headache.

  Before he could regain his band crity, he felt etal against his neck.

  “ you heal yourself, even if your neck is sliced?” Itachi asked.

  “Maybe, but I don’t want to find out now,” Kaida replied, raising his hands. “I surrender.”

  “Winner of the match: Itachi Uchiha,” the proctor announced, and the whole stadium erupted iement. Many who hadn’t bet simply ehe intetle; it was a rollercoaster of emotions, with no clear victor until the end.

  Even those who lost money betting on Kaida weren’t too disappoihe match had been that eaining. And those who won by betting on Itachi were thrilled.

  “Man, I should have followed the old advice about never looking an Uchiha in the eyes,” Kaida muttered as he and Itachi made their way back to their team, where Jiraiya, Shisui, and Kabuto were waiting.

  When they arrived, Kaida saw Shisui and Jiraiya clutg their checks as if they were precious treasures about to be snatched away.

  “What are they doing?” Kaida asked.

  “They nearly lost their mohey had bet och. They’re just happy it didn’t e to that,” Kabuto expined with a chuckle.

  A vein bulged on Kaida’s forehead as he thought about how his own brother had bet money on his losing. But before he could say anything, Itachi also headed toward the betting stalls.

  “Where are you going?” Kabuto asked.

  “To collect my winnings,” Itachi said as casually as talking about the weather.

  'He *bet* on himself winning? Now I really wish I had woch,' Kaida thought. But then, sidering that Itachi’s money would have been lost too, he simply sat at the er in resignation.

  Shisui and Jiraiya overheard this but were too delighted to care, as both had made a fortune in the in Exams.

  After sav their winnings, Shisui approached Kaida to sole him.

  “You did really well, Kaida; you almost won. There’s o be down.”

  “How much?”

  “32 million.”

  “Profit?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then that’s great!” Kaida replied, going from gloomy to fully excited. Thirty-two million was a fortune—even a Kage would be envious. Losing for that much was no issue at all.

  In fact, he was even happy now that he thought about it. If he had woch, there would have been no reward. There wasn’t even a prize for this petition; it was just an exam to bee a in.

  With this much money, everythi worthwhile.

  Itachi returned after colleg his prize, just as a judge responsible for analyzing the battles stepped forward to annouhe results.

  “The matches have been truly exceptional in this in Exam, with some partits perf well beyond what we expect from a in,” he announced. “However, some fell short of the standard for now, though I’m sure they’ll reach it in the ing years. Now, those who have qualified to bee a in will be called forward to receive a gift from Lord Daimyo himself.

  “First: Itachi Uchiha

  Sed: Kaida Uchiha

  Third: Kabuto Yakushi

  Fourth: Deidara

  Fifth: Darui

  ...

  Ninth: Suiren.”

  The judge annouhe list, with Konoha seg the top three spots. It became clear that the “tiger” was emerging from its den.

  After a brief speech, the Daimyo presented a box to eainja called to the stage, and the event cluded. Kumogakure clearly didn’t want to prolong it, as their own partit hadn’t made the top three.

  …

  “I am sorry, Raikage-sama. I failed your and everyone’s expectations,” Darui said, bowing before A.

  “It’s not your fault, Darui. Those two are out of your league. Even a veterae Jonin would struggle against them. You just weren’t ready for this challenge. Don’t dwell on it—focus on rec your health,” A said, still gazing toward the y stadium.

  Darui bowed o time ahe room.

  “We lost face this time, didn’t we?” A remarked.

  “Yes, sir. Even Lord Daimyo is upset, as he lost a lot of money due to us,” Mabui replied.

  “That greedy fool, still thinking about money. Make sure the pn to dethrone him is put in motion as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, sir. Also, many merts who attehe in Exam are now sidering giving missions to Konoha, further hurting our reputation. Some even said it feels like the era of other vilges is ending, with Konoha rising again,” Mabui reported, sharing the observations gathered by ninjas within the crowd.

  “Games, huh! Let’s see how much they’re willing to pay to py games like this against us,” A said.