Konoha and Sunagakure had already fought two matches.
In one match, Asuma had lost.
In the other, Kakashi had lost.
Only one match remained.
Sunagakure's contestant had already been confird—
Kisa Hoshigaki.
But on Konoha's side, the contestant had not yet been confird.
More accurately, it was not that he had not been confird.
He simply had not gone up yet.
That gave Hiruzen Sarutobi room to operate and replace him.
Hiruzen did not believe Konoha's originally selected contestant, Uchiha Shisui, would be Kisa Hoshigaki's opponent.
The abilities Kisa had displayed were far too restrictive against ninjutsu-type shinobi.
Uchiha Shisui was not only skilled in ninjutsu. He also excelled in genjutsu and taijutsu.
But his age was still there.
Hiruzen did not believe Shisui's genjutsu and taijutsu had reached a level where they could defeat Kisa.
Therefore, Hiruzen decided to replace him with soone who could counter Kisa.
A pure taijutsu shinobi.
Might Guy.
Most people in the shinobi world did not value taijutsu. So even looked down on taijutsu specialists with disdain.
But during the incident where Kirigakure's death warriors attacked Konoha, Might Duy's outstanding performance had caught Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention.
He had been the first to survive the Kirigakure death warriors and loudly alert the other Konoha shinobi.
Facing three Kirigakure death warriors alone, he had knocked them all down in a few punches and kicks.
He had not even given them the chance to use their explosive tags.
That performance had already surpassed the special jonin who had been killed by those Kirigakure death warriors.
Thus, after seeing Kisa's abilities, Hiruzen imdiately thought of Might Duy.
Chakra absorption techniques were extrely effective against ninjutsu.
But they could be countered by taijutsu.
Might Duy was over the age limit, so naturally he could not be used against Kisa.
But Might Duy had a son.
Might Guy.
He inherited the sa path, the sa style, and the sa training thod from Might Duy.
And his age was just right.
"The sixth match—Sunagakure versus Konoha."
"Kisa Hoshigaki versus Might Guy."
Hearing Konoha's na, Uchiha Shisui had already prepared himself to step forward.
But the na that followed made Shisui freeze in place.
"Not ?"
Shisui subconsciously looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen made a hand gesture, pressing his palm downward.
Shisui retreated back to his previous position.
"Hokage-sama changed my na at the last mont?"
"Why?"
"Because he thinks I'm not Kisa Hoshigaki's opponent?"
"But wasn't the list already submitted long ago? Can it still be changed?"
Shisui's expression turned ugly.
"The chance Minato-sama fought for to gain rit… is gone just like that?"
In the end, Kisa Hoshigaki and Might Guy's fated duel still ended with Might Guy's victory.
After forcibly opening the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates, Might Guy defeated Kisa Hoshigaki.
He secured one victory for Konoha against Sunagakure.
But the price was that Might Guy no longer had the strength to continue into the next match.
Rasa felt as though he had seen the battle between Rock Lee and Gaara.
Kisa's Water Release surged endlessly, flooding the entire arena.
Might Guy opened the Eight Gates and pushed his taijutsu to its limit.
With his chakra absorption technique unable to take effect, Kisa could only rely on Water Release. That alone was not enough to defeat Might Guy.
However, the amount of ti Kisa held on had already exceeded Rasa's expectations.
He perford even better than Rasa had imagined.
Kisa walked down from the arena in disappointnt.
Maki imdiately stepped forward to comfort him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was complicated.
On one hand, Might Guy had indeed won Konoha a match.
But after that one battle, Might Guy had lost the ability to continue fighting. If he forced himself onto the stage again, his injuries would only worsen, and there was basically no chance of victory.
For a mont, even Hiruzen was uncertain whether bribing Mui had been the right decision.
"The seventh match—Iwagakure versus Sunagakure."
"Bunya versus Hyena."
A battle without suspense.
Even Kakashi had not been Hyena's opponent, let alone Bunya.
In Rasa's eyes, Bunya's strength might be the weakest among the nine contestants.
For Bunya to encounter Hyena was actually a gain for Iwagakure.
Otherwise, Iwagakure might not have obtained a single victory against Sunagakure.
The remaining two matches ended quickly.
Within a single day, the results were decided.
Sunagakure achieved a record of four wins and two losses.
Hyena defeated both Bunya and Kakashi.
Maki lost to Gari but defeated Asuma.
Kisa Hoshigaki lost to Might Guy but defeated Akatsuchi.
Konoha achieved a record of two wins and four losses.
Kakashi had one win and one loss.
Asuma lost both of his matches.
Might Guy had one win and one loss.
Iwagakure achieved a record of three wins and three losses.
Gari won both of his matches.
Akatsuchi had one win and one loss.
Bunya lost both matches.
On the surface, Iwagakure was only one victory behind Sunagakure.
But anyone who watched the matches understood that Sunagakure's three contestants were stronger overall than Iwagakure's.
Iwagakure had actually benefited from luck.
By comparison, Konoha's luck was rather poor.
Konoha's strongest contestant, Kakashi, just happened to run into Hyena, whose strength had already exceeded the level of his peers.
"Tsuchikage. Hokage. Thank you for yielding."
Rasa stood, smiling.
Having the most victories ant Sunagakure could obtain the largest share of Kusagakure's compensation.
Compared to simply dividing the compensation evenly, this brought Sunagakure even greater gains.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, anwhile, felt sowhat regretful.
If there had been no tournant, Konoha would definitely have obtained more than this.
Not to ntion the hidden losses that would follow after the tournant's results spread.
Onoki felt unwilling.
But when he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his mood improved considerably.
At least Iwagakure had not suffered a loss.
The three shinobi villages turned their attention back to Kusagakure and began dividing up Kusagakure's compensation.
The leader of Kusagakure watched helplessly as Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha took away his village's possessions little by little.
He felt as if his heart were bleeding.
Yet he could do nothing.
"Damn it!"
"If only I hadn't done that to Sunagakure."
"No… even then, they simply wouldn't have found that excuse this ti."
"I did nothing to Konoha or Iwagakure, but they still ca."
"This is the sorrow of being a small shinobi village."
"If every small shinobi village in the world could unite, we wouldn't be bullied by these great shinobi villages anymore!"
The leader of Kusagakure clenched his fists.
But whether it was Rasa, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or Onoki, none of them paid him any attention at all.
Rasa found Mui alone.
"Kazekage-sama?"
Mui looked at Rasa in front of him and quickly lowered his head.
"Mui, let's talk about your collusion with Konoha and your alteration of the list."
Mui's face changed dramatically.
User Comments
0 comments from readers