While Seii was busy dodging the throwing ninja tools in the evasion training room, many other participants from the remaining three second-year S-classes were making their way to the tower.
After all, not all teams were as lucky as the Class 1-S team, who had no one left to enter the tower anymore.
At least half of the participants from the Class 2-S, 3-S, and 4-S were held back due to nurous reasons.
And now, they were trying to reach the tower as soon as possible.
Among them was the leader of the current class 2-S, Hyuga Itsuki.
Although he had every opportunity to reach the tower last night, he chose not to go.
Why?
Because he was searching for his remaining teammates.
Last night, he and Senju Naoki looked for other mbers of their team.
After a whole night of searching, they discovered three more mbers of their team, thanks to his pure Byakugan and Senju Naoki's sensory skills.
Unfortunately, two of them were injured due to their battles with Chakra Beasts and occasional skirmishes with students of other classes.
So, he ordered Senju Naoki and another classmate with less visible injuries to carry the two injured ones to the tower to receive treatnt as quickly as possible.
This way, they wouldn't be disqualified and would be fresh as a lettuce before the second round could start.
After sending them away, Hyuga Itsuki circled the forest alone for the rest of the night. However, he couldn't even find the faintest shadow of his other two teammates.
Whether they had already reached the tower or had been eliminated was sothing he could only figure out after reaching the tower himself.
With this in mind, he raced toward the tower as soon as the first ray of the morning sun hit the Forest of Silence.
Since he was just 8 kiloters away from the tower, he could reach his destination within 15 minutes even if he strolled through the forest leisurely.
Everything was fine. Nothing could stop him from reaching the tower.
Until he found himself facing an obstacle just 2 kiloters away from the tower…
"Is my luck really that bad?"
Hyuga Itsuki sighed a little as he stared at the group of C and D-rank Chakra Beasts blocking his path.
If it were any other day, he wouldn't mind obliterating these beasts.
However, right now, he was physically and ntally fatigued. To search for his teammates, he didn't even get a wink of sleep, causing his ntal state to deteriorate.
Ninjas were still humans after all.
Unless you have a physique similar to a Senju or Uzumaki, or a large amount of chakra to offset ntal fatigue, not getting enough sleep can leave any 10-year-old kid like Hyuga Itsuki fatigued.
And because of that very sa reason, he didn't want to activate Byakugan. After all, activating Byakugan ant spending ocular power, which ant even more ntal fatigue.
What's more, he didn't think that he would find a group of Chakra Beasts so close to the tower.
If this wasn't bad luck, he didn't know what was.
"But there is no other choice."
"I need to finish them off first before I can reach the tower."
"Running doesn't seem like a good option now."
Since that was the case, he decided to finish them off without activating his Byakugan or using techniques that required the assistance of Byakugan.
Don't think that just because Hyuga Shinobi focus on Taijutsu ans they never thought of learning elental Ninjutsu.
In fact, Hyuga clan ninjas have a basic affinity with Wind and Lightning.
Plus, their Byakugan blessed them with great chakra control, making it easier for them to develop other elental affinities and master many difficult and hard-to-control elental Ninjutsu.
It was just that most of their secret techniques were close-range, giving others the illusion that the Hyuga Shinobi didn't use long-ranged elental Ninjutsu.
"Since that is the case, I will finish you all off in a jiffy."
As soon as he said that, he quickly ford a series of hand seals and puffed his chest with a dense amount of Wind Release chakra.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
Whooosh!!!!
Hyuga Itsuki expelled a gust of wind that quickly turned into a fierce storm, ready to blow everything away.
The storm of wind hid multiple sharp wind blades inside it and rushed toward the unsuspecting Chakra Beasts while carrying dust and stone fragnts with them.
Although the beasts tried to dodge and run away from the powerful gusts of wind, they still failed in the end.
The wind reached them and engulfed most of the Chakra Beasts.
The hidden wind blades sliced the necks and limbs of many C and D-rank beasts while the stormy gusts of wind slamd their bodies into the nearby trees and stones with trendous force, causing them to suffer from severe bone fractures.
Thud!!
Slice!
Squelch!
Thud!!
"Rooooaaaar!!!"
Without even waiting for the storm to subside, Hyuga Itsuki threw a dozen kunai, each laced with multiple explosive tags, at the storm with a calculating glint in his pure white eyes.
Boom!!
Boooooom!!
Booooom!!
Sizzle!
Sizzle!
As soon as the kunai entered the storm, the explosive tags detonated, unleashing countless powerful shockwaves and fiery crimson flas in all directions.
The crimson flas rged with the shockwaves and the gusts of wind from Itsuki's Wind Release Ninjutsu, turning the dusty storm into a scorching firestorm.
The firestorm unleashed its wrath and burned the trees, the ground, and the beasts trapped in it, turning the area within a 40-ter radius into a fiery hellscape.
As the storm and fire finally subsided, the pitiful figures of the Chakra Beasts were finally revealed.
All the D-rank beasts and the majority of the C-rank beasts were burned to death, leaving behind their charred and foul-slling bodies.
Only the C-rank Chakra Beasts who had water affinity or those who successfully escaped the epicenter of the explosion and storm were still breathing.
However, they were still charred and barely clinging to their dear life.
They had lost all their combat abilities and were only waiting for their death or to beco food for the other Chakra Beasts in the vicinity.
So, Hyuga Itsuki ignored them and dashed toward the direction of the tower.
"Fortunately, I caught those beasts off guard with my Wind Release Ninjutsu and had enough explosive tags to end the battle quickly."
"Otherwise, it would have been a tough fight."
"Those beasts were no joke."
That's right.
He could end the fight decisively because the beasts were gathered together, and he used that opportunity to execute the battle plan perfectly.
Shinobi battle had always been 40% strength, 30% information, and 30% wit.
Unlike Samurai and other classes of warriors, a capable ninja would always try to end the fight as soon as possible while expending the least amount of their strength.
And that's exactly what Hyuga Itsuki did.
Fighting them head-on?
Heh!
Only a fool would do that.
Of course, having the backing of a renowned clan also helped.
Otherwise, who would have the guts to throw away dozens of explosive tags recklessly in a single battle against C and D-rank beasts?
Each explosive tag costs at least 800 Ryo.
Each kunai Hyuga Itsuki threw had at least 5 explosive tags.
That's at least 60 explosive tags = 48,000 Ryo.
In Konoha, the average monthly living cost of a relatively well-off civilian family of three mbers was no more than 25,000 Ryo.
And Hyuga Itsuki spent almost double that amount in just a single battle against chakra beasts.
If other civilian Shinobi or ninjas from small clans heard that, they would have vomited blood already.
Most Shinobi just couldn't afford that.
Of course, that was none of Hyuga Itsuki's concern.
He was from the Main family of his clan. Spending this much in a battle to avoid being even more tired was perfectly justified.
(Civilian Shinobi: M*therf*cker! If you're so loaded, then bless us with so of your money, too. We are dying here.)
---------------
Hyuga Itsuki arrived at the tower within five minutes after his battle against the Chakra Beasts.
And all the remaining candidates, except for the students who had already been disqualified for various reasons, returned to the tower before the sky turned dark on the second day of the current round.
Once the proctor, Inuzuka Hiro, who was already in the tower, confird that all the qualified students had entered the tower with their special sealing scrolls, he declared the conclusion of the first round.
As a result, students who were supposed to spend one more day in the tower were permitted to leave ahead of ti to prepare for the second round.
And so, the first round of the interclass competition between the second-year S-class students finally ended.
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