Ninth match. The one representing the Advanced Class was Tayuya.
Her opponent was a genjutsu user, but the way she won was entirely thanks to her three summoned beasts, the Doki.
You had to admit, the combo of illusion and summons was incredibly effective against ordinary ninja.
"Tenth match, Nara Shikamaru vs. Aburame Muta!"
Umino Iruka shouted loudly.
"An Aburame clan ninja, huh?"
Nara Shikamaru froze for a second, then sighed. "What a troublesome opponent…"
"He's a special jōnin. His role is more of a sensor," Aburame Shino reminded him.
"Thanks."
Shikamaru nodded.
"Even Sakura could beat a special jōnin. You can do it too, Shikamaru!"
Yamanaka Ino waved her little fist.
"What do you mean 'even I' can beat a special jōnin?"
Haruno Sakura gave a soft huff, tilted her chin up, and said proudly, "I'm really strong, you know!"
"Sakura is really amazing!"
Uzumaki Naruto grinned, teeth sparkling.
"It just sounds weird coming out of your mouth," Sakura muttered.
She'd never actually beaten Naruto before, so where was this "really amazing" coming from?
"Good luck, Shikamaru!"
Akimichi Chōji cheered him on.
Shikamaru said goodbye to them and walked to the center of the training field.
Aburame Muta had already arrived.
Like the other members of the Aburame clan, he wore a long white cloak, sunglasses, and carried a jar on his back.
Aburame Muta was one of the members of the Sea Exploration Team Kitazawa had formed.
When he'd returned to Konoha earlier to report on their work, he just happened to be picked out by Kitazawa and sent to join the Advanced Class's final exam.
"Feels like it'll be hard for him to win."
Nara Shikaku frowned.
"Have a little faith in Shikamaru. He's your son, after all," Akimichi Chōza comforted him.
"I do have faith in him. His opponent is just really strong," Shikaku shook his head. "The Aburame clan's secret techniques counter the Nara clan's pretty well."
If it were a team battle, he wouldn't be worried at all.
The Ino–Shika–Cho trio's secret techniques complemented each other perfectly, with almost no weaknesses.
But right now, Shikamaru was on his own.
"In the face of the Nara clan's high IQ, there's no such thing as a 'bad matchup,'" Aburame Shibi said, shaking his head.
"The match begins!"
Iruka's voice made everyone look back toward the field.
"Secret Technique: Parasitic Insects!"
Aburame Muta raised his hand.
He knew the Nara clan's techniques very well.
Once you were caught, you were basically one step away from losing, so the best countermeasure was to maintain a certain distance.
That way, the moment Shikamaru's shadow moved, he'd notice.
Then he could dodge in time and use his insects to wear Shikamaru down from afar.
Seeing this, Shikamaru immediately flicked out two shuriken.
But just as the shuriken were about to hit, the swarm of insects split into four streams and easily slipped past them.
"As expected."
Shikamaru wasn't surprised.
The moment he threw the shuriken, he'd already started running to the left.
Muta saw this and immediately directed the insects to chase after him.
Shikamaru was forced into a miserable scramble, rolling and diving across the field to evade the Insects.
Muta let out a quiet breath of relief.
The previous Advanced Class students had all given him a strong sense of danger, but this Nara Shikamaru seemed a little weaker by comparison.
There was a sharp whoosh!
Shikamaru seized an opening and threw six more shuriken.
But this time, he didn't aim at the insects—he aimed straight for Muta.
"Secret Technique: Insect Wall!"
Muta stood his ground.
Parasitic insects poured out of the jar on his back like thick smoke.
They rapidly gathered into a solid wall of Insects.
The six shuriken hit the insect wall, instantly losing all momentum and clattering uselessly to the ground.
One of those shuriken landed right in Muta's shadow.
"Shadow Imitation Shuriken."
Shikamaru's jutsu activated at once.
Muta immediately felt something was wrong—his body suddenly refused to move.
His eyes swept over the shuriken on the ground and finally found the one that had pinned his shadow in place.
"A miscalculation!"
As he struggled to regain control of his body, he ordered the insects forming the wall to bite apart the shuriken on the ground.
"Leaf Body Flicker!"
Shikamaru's body blurred into fluttering leaves and vanished.
The insects chasing him lost their target and all froze midair.
Muta's expression changed drastically, but in the end, he was still a step too slow.
Shikamaru appeared beside him, a kunai pressed to his neck.
"Winner: Nara Shikamaru!"
Iruka announced.
"As expected of your Nara clan," Aburame Shibi said after watching the whole match. "Feign weakness at first, then finish it in one move."
"Shikamaru really is clever," Akimichi Chōza agreed.
"The key was the Leaf Body Flicker," Shikaku said, finally smiling but still modest. "Kitazawa deserves most of the credit."
"It was Kitazawa's arrangement," Hyūga Hiashi nodded. "He must have thought it through."
Uchiha Fugaku gave him a look.
Hiashi had been openly supporting Kitazawa from the very beginning today. Had something happened between them that he didn't know about?
Fugaku felt a subtle sense of pressure.
If nothing unexpected happened, Kitazawa would become the next Hokage.
Whoever built a good relationship with him now would get a huge head start—especially because he'd have a say in who became the Hokage after that.
In theory, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Neji, and Uchiha Sasuke all had the qualifications to become Hokage.
Hinata and Neji might not be quite on Sasuke's level, but in terms of talent and strength, both of them were still among the standouts of their generation.
Neji had the Caged Bird Seal, so his chances of becoming Hokage were lower.
But when it came to Hinata… that was another story.
Especially now that they'd already had a female Hokage like Tsunade.
Shikamaru returned to the Advanced Class lineup.
"Why are you Nara people all so smart?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.
"Born this way. Nothing I can do," Shikamaru replied with a little shrug.
"Damn it!" Inuzuka Kiba said, full of envy. "If I had Shikamaru's IQ, there's no way I'd have lost!"
He'd been this close to winning his match against Hagane Kotetsu.
"It's not just about IQ," Shikamaru explained. "I only managed to win because of the Leaf Body Flicker Jutsu that Kitazawa-sensei taught me."
Without even discussing it beforehand, he and Shikaku gave the exact same answer.
Ino nodded. She thought that sounded about right.
Without the Leaf Body Flicker, Shikamaru wouldn't have been able to seize that split-second opening to strike at Muta.
Tayuya subconsciously clenched her fists.
She had won too, but her opponent had only been a chūnin.
Shikamaru and the others had defeated special jōnin; in the final ranking, they'd probably end up above her.
And their growth rate was terrifying. If this kept up and she dropped out of the top eighteen, what would she do?
Looked like she really needed to ask Kitazawa for help.
"Eleventh match, Yamanaka Ino vs. Uzuki Yugao!"
Iruka glanced at the match list and called out loudly.
"It's your turn, Ino," Shikamaru said right away. "Be careful out there."
"Hmph, I want to see how you're planning to lose this one," Sakura said with her arms crossed.
"Lose? Just wait for my glorious victory!" Ino shot her a glance, full of confidence.
"Don't get cocky too soon," Sakura snorted. "I heard from Kosuke-sensei that this Uzuki Yugao-senpai has really strong Leaf-Style swordsmanship. There's no way you can beat her!"
Hearing that, Uchiha Sasuke shut his mouth again.
When Kosuke Maruboshi had been teaching him Leaf-Style swordsmanship, he'd mentioned Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate.
Aside from Sasuke himself, those two were the best Leaf-Style swordsmen in the village.
But since Sakura had already given the warning, there was no need for him to repeat it.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Ino said, elbowing Sakura before walking out to the field.
Uzuki Yugao took her place opposite her.
Looking at Ino, Yugao's mind instantly went to the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques.
The earlier match between Inuzuka Hana and Yamanaka Fu had already shown her how to fight against a Yamanaka clan ninja.
With that in mind, she quickly formed a plan.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
As soon as the match began, Yugao split into two shadow clones.
Shadow clones were a natural counter to the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer and Mind Body Switch techniques.
Ino frowned slightly.
That move was definitely a headache for her.
Luckily, she wasn't just a "pure" Yamanaka clan ninja anymore.
"Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty!"
Ino stayed where she was and scattered a huge cloud of flower petals.
"Leaf-Style Sword Style!"
Yugao and her two clones charged in with their blades.
Halfway in, all three suddenly stopped.
Because Ino had vanished from right in front of them.
Yugao and her clones glanced around on instinct, but Ino was nowhere to be seen.
Just then, the sound of something cutting through the air came from above.
Yugao looked up on reflex and saw countless ninja flowers raining down on them.
"Dance of the Crescent Moon!"
Yugao reacted decisively.
She and her two clones leaped up to meet the attack.
Their blades sliced through the flowers and in a flash shifted into a ring, closing in on Ino.
"Sly Mind Affect Technique!"
Ino didn't dodge. She released her genjutsu head-on.
Yugao and her two clones suddenly veered off course.
Their straight-line charge turned into diagonal paths, barely brushing past Ino instead of hitting her.
That was the effect of the Sly Mind Affect Technique—making the target unconsciously wander, as if bewitched by a fox.
"Genjutsu: Release!"
Yugao was still a special jōnin. She snapped to her senses almost immediately.
Right at that moment, Ino spun around and threw three specially crafted ninja flowers at them.
Yugao had just broken free of the illusion when she caught the familiar smell of explosive tags.
Her face changed, and she jumped back.
Her two clones, forced to cover her, had no choice but to swing their blades at the flowers.
There was a loud boom.
The ninja flowers exploded, blowing the clones apart into smoke.
Yugao felt something was off.
From start to finish, Ino hadn't used a single Yamanaka clan secret technique, completely invalidating all the counters she'd prepared.
She didn't hesitate any longer, jumping into the air and swinging her blade.
"Hazy Moon Night!"
Her sword reached frightening speed, the afterimages forming the shape of a full moon.
Yugao flashed down from the sky, appearing right in front of Ino, a storm of sword slashes enveloping her.
"Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly!"
Ino's lips curved up. A wave of pure mental impact hit Yugao at point-blank range.
Yugao's body jerked. Her head spun, and her grip on the sword loosened. With a clatter, her blade hit the ground.
"I win."
Ino immediately pulled out a kunai and held it to Yugao's neck.
Yugao shook her head a little.
When her mind finally cleared, the first thing she saw was the kunai in front of her.
"You really don't feel like a typical Yamanaka," Yugao said with a wry smile as she picked her sword back up.
"It's all thanks to Kitazawa-sensei's teaching," Ino said proudly.
"I see," Yugao nodded. "Then I lost fair and square."
"Winner: Yamanaka Ino."
Iruka announced.
"When did Ino turn into a full-on genjutsu specialist?" Chōza glanced unconsciously at Yamanaka Inoichi.
"That was Kitazawa's idea," Inoichi said with a faint smile. "I never expected her to have such talent for genjutsu either."
"I have to say, Ino's performance was really impressive," Shikaku praised. "Even without the Ino–Shika–Cho combo, she could make jōnin on her own."
"What was that last secret technique Ino used?" Aburame Shibi asked curiously. "I don't remember your Yamanaka clan having anything like that."
"It's a Yin Release secret technique Kitazawa created," Inoichi replied.
"Feels like Kitazawa already has the vibe of the Second Hokage," Shikaku couldn't help but sigh.
"Seriously," Inuzuka Tsume agreed.
Kitazawa had invented several new jutsu just for Kiba alone.
"Twelfth match, Aburame Shino vs. Uchiha Tekka!"
Iruka glanced at the match list, his pupils contracting slightly, but he kept his expression calm as he called it out.
The spectators, on the other hand, all looked visibly shocked.
"Shino's opponent is Tekka?" Tsume blurted out in disbelief.
She'd had a feeling Shino's opponent would be a jōnin, but she hadn't expected an Uchiha jōnin.
An Uchiha jōnin's strength was far beyond that of an ordinary jōnin.
In the ninja world, there was a saying: one-on-one, the Uchiha are invincible.
"This setup is… tricky," Shikaku said. What he really wanted to say was that it was unreasonable, but as soon as he remembered that this was Kitazawa's arrangement, he changed his wording.
"Not just tricky," Chōza shook his head. "Even for us, facing Uchiha Tekka would be dangerous."
After all, he had a fully developed three-tomoe Sharingan. One careless mistake and you'd be in serious trouble.
"Kitazawa wouldn't set up a sparring match with such an obvious gap in strength," Fugaku said calmly. "The only explanation is that he believes Shino has the ability to stand up to Tekka."
Hiashi glanced at him.
Look at you, stealing my dialogue now?
The reason he'd been so supportive of Kitazawa all day was because Kitazawa had gifted the Hyūga clan two invaluable ninja tools.
Of course, that was only on the surface.
The deeper reason was that Kitazawa had given those priceless tools specifically to Hinata and Neji. That alone showed how much he valued them.
Hiashi had never really thought about the Hokage position before.
The Hyūga had always been a "non-competing" clan, focused on preserving their status rather than chasing the top seat.
But thanks to Kitazawa, he was starting to entertain the idea.
What if?
If Hinata or Neji became Hokage, the Hyūga clan would enter an era of unprecedented prosperity.
Shikaku glanced around and had a vague guess at what was going on.
But all he could do was feel envious.
Realistically speaking, the Nara clan was never going to produce a Hokage.
They just didn't have the raw power.
"Shibi, why are you so quiet?"
Shikaku suddenly noticed the missing piece.
"I don't have anything to say," Shibi replied with a slight smile. "Let's just watch the match."
Not many people knew that Shino had learned the Kamizuru Clan's secret arts.
As his father, Shibi naturally did.
On top of that, there were the Fire-Feeding Insects and Explosive Insects.
Counting everything, Shino really did have a chance to win.
"So you're that confident, huh," Shikaku realized.
The others all grew curious, including Fugaku himself.
He personally did not think Shino could beat Uchiha Tekka; he was only talking that way out of respect for Kitazawa.
Shino took a deep breath and stepped onto the field.
Tekka's presence weighed heavily on him.
After all, in the Advanced Class, he'd never once managed to defeat Uchiha Sasuke.
By contrast, Tekka had always seemed relaxed and untouchable.
Even though the Advanced Class students had all shown shocking strength today, there was still a visible gap between them and jōnin.
Tekka did not believe that Aburame Shino had reached jōnin level.
"The match begins!"
Iruka's gaze fell on Shino.
As his teacher, he knew what Shino was capable of, but with Uchiha Tekka as the opponent, he honestly didn't have much confidence in him.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Tekka formed hand seals and spat out a massive fireball that roared toward Shino.
"Secret Technique: Insect Wall!"
Shino immediately released a huge swarm of Parasitic Insects.
The fireball slammed into the insect wall with a thunderous boom. Under the intense heat, the insects caught fire one after another, burning to ash in seconds.
Even after shrinking in size, the fireball still pushed on toward Shino.
He quickly dodged left.
Tekka gave a faint, confident smile. As far as he was concerned, the match was already his.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!"
The moment Shino reappeared, Tekka hurled a spread of shuriken and breathed out flames.
Flames wrapped around the shuriken, turning them into blazing projectiles that sealed off every escape route around Shino like a shower of fiery petals.
"Summoning Jutsu: Giant Bee!"
Shino bit his thumb and slammed his hand onto the ground.
A massive queen bee, four to five meters long, appeared with a buzz.
It immediately flung out a beehive, which landed in front of Shino as a shield.
The flaming shuriken crashed into the hive, and all the chakra inside them was rapidly absorbed.
"What?!"
Tekka's expression changed at once.
"Is that… the Kamizuru clan's Queen Bee?" Shikaku stared for a moment, then asked uncertainly.
"Exactly," Shibi nodded. "Kitazawa took Shino out on a mission and they happened to run into a Kamizuru clan ninja."
"Kitazawa again?" Chōza couldn't help but sigh. "Feels like every Advanced Class student only got this strong because of him."
~~~
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