"Winners: Uzumaki Naruto's team!"
Kitazawa stepped out and announced the result.
Naruto and Rock Lee immediately stopped spinning. The two giant green dragons vanished.
Normally, the "Leaf Dragon God" was supposed to be blue, but because they were both wearing green bodysuits, the color ended up changing.
"Any of you hurt?"
Kitazawa looked at Hyuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, and Haku.
"No."
The three of them shook their heads and answered in unison.
"Then go down and rest for now."
Kitazawa had watched the whole fight up close. He knew they were really fine, so he didn't bother doing a check-up.
He still had one more thing to do—make the bald patch of the Forest of Death sprout dense trees again.
Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!
Kitazawa formed a string of hand seals.
Centered on him, the ground heaved, and giant trees burst out one after another.
In the blink of an eye, the area Naruto had blown completely bare was once again covered by forest.
Good thing he was a Wood Release user. Anyone else would've had no way to deal with it.
If they'd just let this area of the Forest of Death regrow naturally, it would've taken decades to return to normal.
Kitazawa didn't leave right away.
Under his control, the forest "woke up" and dragged back the trees that had been blown away.
Those trees would rot and eventually turn into nutrients.
Wood Release wasn't like other releases. It wasn't dead matter.
Trees accelerated by Wood Release were no different from trees in the natural world.
Even without chakra, they could go on living.
Once he'd finished fixing the field, Kitazawa turned and walked out.
Before long, he was back in front of the genius class.
"The first round of team battles is over. Advancing to the second round are Uzumaki Naruto's team, Uchiha Sasuke's team, and Hyuga Neji's team."
Kitazawa paused, then said, "Since there are three teams, one team will get a bye. The teachers will vote to decide which."
They hadn't voted yet, but he could pretty much guess which team would be getting the bye.
Most likely Naruto's team.
Simply because, overall, their squad was the strongest.
"The second round starts in thirty minutes."
Kitazawa went on, "Use the time to rest and recover your chakra."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto and the others answered in unison.
Kitazawa nodded and went back up to the viewing platform on top of the wooden dragon.
"Kitazawa, was Naruto's team's strategy something you set up for them?"
Maruboshi Kosuke asked curiously.
"They're all taijutsu-type ninja. Hinata has way too big an advantage over them, especially since Jugo and Lee are pure close-combat fighters."
Kitazawa chuckled and replied, "If Naruto didn't do it that way, winning would've been very hard."
With Naruto's raw strength, he could have just tanked it head-on.
But that would've taken too long; it was much simpler and more efficient to just use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu plus Wind Release and blow everything away.
And the longer it dragged on, the more chances for things to go wrong—Hyuga Hinata's team still had that super-genius Nara Shikamaru in it.
If Shikamaru came up with something that caused Naruto's team to flip the match and lose, then Kitazawa wouldn't be able to complete his "system mission."
"The first round's over. Let's drop that and vote first. Whichever team gets the most votes gets a bye in the second round."
Kitazawa took out a stack of blank cards and handed them to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kakashi, and the others.
"There are six of you. It's possible you'll tie."
Tsunade stretched out her hand. "I'm voting too."
Kitazawa nodded and placed a small card in her palm.
Once everyone had a card, they wrote down the name of the team they wanted to give the bye to.
Kitazawa had already decided, so he wrote "Uzumaki Naruto's team."
He pulled out a ballot box and put his card inside.
The others finished writing and dropped their cards into the box as well.
"I'll have Iruka read the results."
Holding the box, Kitazawa jumped down in one smooth motion.
To keep things fair, he handed the ballot box to Iruka and had him announce the outcome.
"Naruto's team: five votes. Sasuke's team: one vote. Neji's team: one vote. Naruto's team gets the bye in the second round."
Iruka announced.
Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke both let out a small sigh of relief.
To them, that result was just about perfect.
They'd put the toughest team—Naruto's team—at the end.
They would fight each other first, then face Naruto's team for first place. No matter who lost or won, there'd be nothing to complain about.
Naruto scratched his head.
He actually wasn't that eager to get a bye.
It was still one less chance to fight.
But it was already decided; there was nothing he could do but wait for Neji's team and Sasuke's team to settle things first.
If you asked Naruto to choose, he'd definitely pick to fight Sasuke's team.
Because that meant close combat.
Neji's team was basically full of long-range fighters—fighting them was a pain.
Unless he used Kitazawa's plan again.
But to Naruto, that just wasn't satisfying enough. He liked battles where fists met flesh.
"You guys keep resting."
Kitazawa went back up to the viewing platform on top of the wooden dragon.
Time ticked by.
Half an hour later, Maruboshi Kosuke and Sarutobi Hiruzen rose to their feet and entered the Forest of Death.
With them were the teams they mentored: Uchiha Sasuke's squad and Hyuga Neji's squad.
"I feel like Neji's team has the advantage."
Inuzuka Kiba watched them disappear into the forest and couldn't help asking, "What do you guys think?"
"I think so too."
Akimichi Choji nodded.
In the first round of team battles, Hyuga Neji's team had left an extremely deep impression on them.
"Sasuke doesn't have Naruto's chakra pool. He can't just blow up the entire field."
Yamanaka Ino thought for a moment. "I really can't think of how he's supposed to win this."
"Sasuke might not be as strong as Yakumo, but he's a lot more well-rounded and can use more kinds of tactics."
Shikamaru mused, "And Neji's team's strategy is already exposed."
"Neji's strategy is definitely built around his Byakugan and the Fatefeather Bow. Changing it now would be really hard."
Aburame Shino agreed.
"Listening to you guys, it feels like Neji's team is going to lose instead?"
Kiba looked surprised.
"Not necessarily."
Shikamaru said casually. "I'd call it fifty-fifty."
While they were talking, Sasuke's team was also discussing.
"Sasuke-kun."
Haruno Sakura asked, frowning, "How are we supposed to deal with Neji?"
The combination of Byakugan and the Fatefeather Bow's ultra-long-range barrages made her feel totally helpless.
Aside from passively defending and counterattacking, she couldn't think of any approach.
"We definitely can't just sit there and take it like Yakumo's squad did."
Kaguya Kimimaro couldn't help saying.
He really didn't want to stand there and get shelled.
"Exactly."
Sasuke paused, then said, "Neji's bow techniques don't hit hard enough at close range. As long as we get into their faces, we're fine."
"But on the way there, Neji can use his bow techniques to disrupt us."
Sakura blinked, pointing out.
"There's no way around that. In this terrain, he can just lock onto us."
Sasuke shook his head. "Once we start running, it'll actually be less dangerous."
A moving target was always harder to hit than a stationary one.
"Right!"
Sakura suddenly thought of something. "We can pick a route with the most obstacles!"
"Yeah."
Sasuke nodded. "I'll leave route selection to you."
"Got it!"
Sakura immediately took out a map.
She'd drawn it from memory after scouting the field yesterday.
On the right side of the Forest of Death—
"Hurry and set up traps."
Neji had seen Sakura's movements through his Byakugan.
Combined with Sasuke's strength and personality, it wasn't hard to guess what they were planning.
One reason Yakumo's team hadn't tried this was simple.
They weren't fast enough.
Yakumo was born frail, and Ino and Karin were a bit weaker overall.
If they didn't hold their ground and defend, they'd probably get worn down to exhaustion halfway there by Neji's bow techniques.
But Sasuke's team was different.
Aside from Sakura, Sasuke and Kimimaro were both very fast, and they weren't afraid of arrows.
"This time we're not moving in on them ourselves?"
Tayuya asked, puzzled.
"Because they're planning to come to us."
Neji replied. "This time the team battle turns into us playing defense."
"As expected of Sasuke."
Tenten didn't look surprised at all.
"It's fine. On defense, we've got a big advantage too."
Neji said seriously, "I attack from long range, you cover mid-range, Tayuya handles close range—we can maximize how much we wear them down."
"Sounds like it's going to be a tug-of-war."
Tenten nodded. "Tayuya, let's go set traps."
"Relax, we're definitely taking first this time!"
Tayuya clenched her fist.
Ever since joining the genius class, she'd never gotten first place.
This team battle was her best shot yet.
Fifteen minutes passed quickly. Kitazawa's voice rang out.
"I'll take point. Sakura in the middle, Kimimaro at the back."
Sasuke spoke, then drew the Sword of the Thunder God.
Sakura nodded, tightening her grip on her kunai.
Kimimaro raised his arms; five snow-white bones sprouted from his forearms and palms.
"Move out!"
Sasuke leapt forward, following the route Sakura had planned.
A sharp ripping sound cut through the air.
A Yin Release arrow exploded above their heads.
An invisible wave of mental shock spread toward them like ripples over water.
But Sasuke was ready.
His three-tomoe Sharingan shuddered, pouring out pupil power.
The two invisible mental forces collided in midair.
Sakura and Kimimaro both felt uncomfortable for a moment.
But that was it. They didn't get dizzy or lose coordination.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He immediately flooded the Sword of the Thunder God with Lightning Release chakra.
Without hesitation, he slashed into the air—lightning flared, instantly wiping out the six Yin Release arrows.
"He's amazing, Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura exclaimed, unable to hold back her excitement.
"Save your breath. Conserve your strength."
Sasuke shot her a look and reminded her.
Sakura quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and shut up.
"Kimimaro, be ready. We'll switch off later."
Sasuke needed to conserve some chakra to deal with the final clash.
Taking turns with Kimimaro to handle Neji's bow techniques was the best way to keep their team's strength up.
"I can help too."
Sakura said quickly, "I can use medical ninjutsu to ease your fatigue."
"Use it during our breaks."
Sasuke said, then raised the Sword of the Thunder God in front of him.
A spinning Yin Release arrow slammed into it.
The impact pushed him back a step before he could stabilize.
Right then, another Yin Release arrow came screaming in.
Kimimaro rushed forward, crossed his arms, and swatted the arrow aside with his bone blades.
"Keep moving!"
After knocking aside the spiral arrow, Sasuke burst forward again.
"I can't hold them back."
Neji said as he kept firing, "Tenten, be ready."
Tenten was a throwing-weapons specialist. Once Sasuke's team entered her range, she and Neji could blanket them in a joint barrage.
"When do I bring out the summons?"
Tayuya asked, eager.
"Wait a little longer."
Neji explained, "My attacks and Tenten's attacks are both indiscriminate. If you call out a summon now, it'll just get hit by us too."
On the viewing platform atop the wooden dragon—
"This team fight turned into a straight offense-defense match, huh."
Kurenai said with feeling.
"At the moment, Sasuke's side has the upper hand."
Kakashi commented casually.
"It's still early."
Chen Baojun thought for a moment. "Once Tenten and Tayuya join in, Sasuke's team will be under a lot more pressure."
"If Tenten and Tayuya can hit Sasuke's team, it means they're also entering Sasuke's attack range."
Kitazawa reminded them.
"That's true."
Kurenai blinked. "Put that way, it's not necessarily Sasuke who's under more pressure."
"Risk and opportunity are the same thing."
Kakashi summed up.
As time passed, Sasuke's team had already covered more than half the distance.
"Tenten!"
Neji judged the range and called out at just the right moment.
Manipulated Tools: Heavenly Chain Disaster!
Tenten had long been ready.
At Neji's shout, she grabbed a huge scroll and hurled it with all her strength.
In midair, the scroll snapped open, pouring out a dense rain of weapons that darkened the sky.
"Sakura!"
Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan had been running the whole time.
He spotted the scroll the instant it appeared.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Sakura quickly formed hand seals.
Water sprang up around her, rapidly spreading into a ring-shaped wall encircling them.
The shower of weapons pounded the water wall, making it shudder violently.
Using that brief second, the three of them sprinted out from under it.
Even while he ran, Sasuke reached into his pouch and flicked out a handful of shuriken.
Six shuriken whistled away.
Multiple Arrow!
Neji saw them and immediately drew his bow again.
The Yin Release arrow in his hand trembled, splitting into six arrows that perfectly intercepted the six shuriken.
"So they really are over there."
Sasuke snorted. "We finally pinned down their position."
Twin Rising Dragons!
Tenten threw out two scrolls.
Under her control, the scrolls twisted like twin dragons.
They opened their "mouths" in the air, spewing an endless stream of weapons.
"Get over here, fast!"
Sakura quickly formed seals again and raised another Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
Kimimaro body-flickered to the back of the water wall.
He didn't just dodge. Tenten's attack was far too dense; the water wall didn't block everything.
Brandishing a bone blade, he knocked down the weapons that slipped through.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Sakura saw Sasuke standing still and looked puzzled.
"I've locked in their position. I'm going straight at them."
Sasuke tossed back, then started forming hand seals.
Shrill chirping filled the air.
Lightning flared, wrapping his whole body.
He shot toward where Neji's team was like a bolt of lightning.
Tenten's rain of weapons struck him, only to be blasted away by the lightning field without leaving a scratch.
That was Lightning Release: Chidori Current.
Its defense wasn't as sturdy as Water Formation Wall, but it was more than enough to block ordinary throwing weapons.
"Once Sasuke-kun gets close, they'll be forced to focus all their attention on him."
Sakura took a deep breath. "That'll ease the pressure on us. We can take the chance to rush over and back him up."
Kimimaro nodded.
He could have left too.
But Sakura alone couldn't stand up to Neji and Tenten's ranged attacks, so he had to stay with her.
"Tayuya, bring out your summons."
Neji said grimly, "Sasuke is almost here."
Tayuya's heart gave a hard thump. She grabbed her bamboo flute.
She was very clear on how strong Sasuke was.
Just thinking about facing him made her nervous.
"Tenten, I'll fire a Burst Arrow first. Then you use Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu. We'll take out Kimimaro and Sakura."
Neji said after a moment's thought.
If they could eliminate Kimimaro and Sakura, Sasuke would be forced into a three-on-one.
Compared to fighting Shino, Neji actually had a better matchup against Sasuke.
He had the Byakugan and Gentle Fist—if he got in close and landed clean hits, he could win.
Neji finished and pulled back his bowstring.
Tenten took out a shuriken and readied herself to weave signs.
At the same time, Sasuke had finally entered their line of sight.
He was incredibly fast, and with Chidori Current around him, he looked like a streak of lightning tearing straight toward them.
Boom!
Sasuke triggered an explosive tag trap.
He jumped, tanking the explosion with his lightning armor without slowing at all.
Demonic Flute: Illusionary Warriors Manipulating Melody!
Tayuya raised her flute and blew. Three Dokis charged at Sasuke.
Burst Arrow!
Neji released his shot.
Tenten hurled her shuriken and flashed through hand seals.
Sasuke spotted both Neji and Tenten's movements.
He frowned slightly and immediately changed priorities to support his teammates.
A one-against-three might look cool, but it was risky.
And Neji's team was much stronger than Shino's; he wasn't confident going in alone.
Boom!
The club-wielding Doki smashed down.
At the last second, Sasuke vaulted upward, stepping on the massive club and launching himself into the air.
He whipped his arm, sending the Sword of the Thunder God flying with pinpoint accuracy into the Burst Arrow.
The arrow detonated early.
Because it exploded too soon, Sakura and Kimimaro came out completely unscathed.
But Sasuke also lost the Sword of the Thunder God.
Another Doki seized its chance, its bone claws stabbing toward him like three giant blades.
Chidori Current's defense was good, but taking those claws head-on would be pushing it.
Sasuke twisted, dodging quickly.
"Watch out!"
Kimimaro's pupils shrank. Dozens of bones sprouted all over his body.
By now, Tenten's shuriken had multiplied into a storm, pouring down on him and Sakura.
"Kimimaro, go!"
Sakura formed hand seals as she shouted.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
A water dragon twice its usual size surged up in front of her.
It roared and crashed into the sea of shuriken.
Sakura retreated, not even pausing to catch her breath before forming seals again.
Even with its increased size, the dragon couldn't hold.
In barely a second, it was riddled with holes and burst apart into spraying water under the force of the shuriken.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Sakura barely managed to raise a water wall in time.
Under the assault of the shuriken, the wall shook violently and began to crumble.
Sakura sighed inwardly. She'd done everything she could.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu was an A-rank technique; its power was insane.
Her telling Kimimaro to abandon her and run was exactly because of that.
If at least one of them escaped, combined with Sasuke's power, two-on-three still had a high chance of victory.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!
Kimimaro didn't hesitate. He rushed out.
All the bones in his body moved at once, like dozens of blades deflecting the shuriken.
Once he got out of the impact zone, he looked back just in time to see Sakura being pulled to safety by Maruboshi Kosuke.
Which meant she'd been eliminated.
Kimimaro only spared her a glance, then sprinted at top speed toward Neji's position.
On the way, he took out a pair of earplugs and shoved them in.
He didn't have three-tomoe Sharingan; he couldn't just ignore Tayuya's sound-based genjutsu.
Physical isolation was the best solution.
"What a pity."
Neji felt a stab of regret that they'd only managed to take Sakura out.
He didn't have time to dwell on it, though, because Sasuke had slipped past the now sluggish Dokis and closed the distance.
"You two go handle Kimimaro."
Neji said seriously. "I'll hold Sasuke off."
Even with the Fatefeather Bow, beating Sasuke would be tough.
The best scenario was Tenten and Tayuya defeating Kimimaro first and coming back to support him.
With their interference, Neji was confident he could take Sasuke down.
Tenten and Tayuya didn't argue. They moved immediately.
"Like I'll let you."
Sasuke heard Neji's orders and raised his hand.
Lightning surged outward from his body, rolling across the ground.
Tenten reacted instantly.
She yanked a trigger cord.
A trap near Sasuke exploded—first an explosive tag, then shuriken that burst out through the flames.
The lightning was forced back in a chunk.
Sasuke frowned and pulled out a white short sword.
The Sword of the Thunder God had been a gift from Kitazawa.
The white short sword was from Kakashi.
Since he'd thrown away the Thunder God Sword to stop the Burst Arrow, there was no way he could go back for it now. He had no choice but to switch weapons.
Sasuke slashed the incoming shuriken aside and lunged forward.
The sound of air splitting rang out.
Six Yin Release arrows sealed off his surroundings.
Sasuke had no choice but to knock them away one by one with the white short sword.
Meanwhile, Tenten and Tayuya had already slipped out of the lightning zone and moved to intercept the bone-covered Kimimaro.
Sasuke gave them a quick glance, then refocused on Neji.
The two of them locked eyes.
Spiral Arrow!
Neji didn't hold back. He loosed an arrow.
Sasuke moved at once.
He chopped into the spinning arrow.
The twisting force made his right hand tremble slightly.
Bracing his feet, he shoved with his arm, knocking the Spiral Arrow aside.
Multiple Arrow!
Neji didn't let up, stringing another Yin Release arrow.
It split into six and rained down on Sasuke.
Hatake Sword Style!
Sasuke suddenly exploded in speed.
His body turned sideways as he slipped through the gaps between the six arrows.
At the same time, the white short sword flashed toward Neji like a bolt of lightning.
So fast!
Neji felt the pressure instantly.
He twisted his right hand, using the Fatefeather Bow to block the short sword.
Clang!
Neji's left palm shot out.
Sasuke reacted just as quickly, snapping a kick into Neji's wrist.
The white short sword flipped and stabbed again.
Neji retreated, pulling back to widen the gap.
Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!
He thrust his right palm at Sasuke.
A shockwave blasted toward him.
At this distance, an ordinary fighter would never have had time to respond.
Luckily, Sasuke had three-tomoe Sharingan.
He caught the chakra flow and instantly used Body Flicker to dodge aside.
Neji drew again.
Burst Arrow!
The Yin Release arrow exploded midair.
Sasuke grunted as he used his three-tomoe Sharingan to force his way through the blast.
Genjutsu: Shiranui!
They were too close. Neji was caught in the genjutsu on the spot, freezing where he stood.
Hatake Sword Style!
The instant Sasuke sensed the genjutsu had landed, he swung without hesitation.
At the brink, Neji shattered the illusion—but he was still a step too slow.
Blood sprayed.
His sleeve split open, and a deep cut appeared along his right arm.
Gritting his teeth, he raised the Fatefeather Bow again to block the white blade.
Clang!
Using the rebound, Neji sprang back, opening up space again.
"Neji!"
Smelling blood, Tenten whipped her head around and went pale.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!
Kimimaro seized her brief distraction, slipped free of the three Dokis, and glided toward her like drifting willow fluff.
"Tenten!"
Tayuya shouted.
Because Kimimaro was wearing earplugs, her genjutsu had lost its edge.
All she could use it for now was controlling the three Dokis.
Seeing Tenten in danger, she hurriedly changed her tune.
Revolt of the Demon World!
The three Dokis froze and spat out three monsters made of pure mental energy.
They had long, snakelike bodies and huge teeth, like three bizarre worms.
They weren't solid, but they moved like real creatures, chasing Kimimaro through the air.
"What is that…?"
Kimimaro glanced back reflexively and felt a jolt in his chest.
He gritted his teeth and kept pressing Tenten anyway.
Another Yin Release arrow whistled in.
Kimimaro frowned and dodged.
That brief delay was all it took for the three monsters to catch up.
Their maws opened to bite his limbs.
Kimimaro's scalp prickled. He didn't dare take the hit and pushed his speed to the limit, trying to shake them.
But they were just as fast, sticking to him doggedly.
"Neji!"
Tenten threw a scroll.
A pile of weapons flew toward Sasuke.
Neji quickly pivoted, drawing and nocking again.
Sasuke leapt back, forming seals and spewing out a massive fireball.
Seeing Neji temporarily safe, Tenten focused back on helping Tayuya deal with Kimimaro.
She knew very clearly that they had to beat Kimimaro before they could go help Neji.
Right now, Kimimaro was being hounded by the three monsters and looked pretty ragged.
Fortunately, he was still a bit faster than they were.
He charged straight at Tayuya without hesitation.
If he could take her down, the three monsters would lose their controller.
But Tenten's weapons arrived right on schedule.
Sasuke spared Kimimaro a quick glance.
His teammate was locked into a chaotic chase with Tayuya and Tenten again.
Sasuke felt a bit more at ease.
At least from his team's perspective, the situation was still acceptable.
Neji watched him with a heavy expression.
Tenten and Tayuya couldn't break away.
Neither of them could beat Kimimaro alone; they had to work together.
Which meant Neji couldn't count on their support at all.
On top of that, he was injured.
Blood kept seeping from his right arm, and he was growing more and more exhausted.
Worse, that right arm was exactly the one he needed to draw his bow.
Which only made the injury worse.
Neji clenched his jaw and simply dropped the Fatefeather Bow.
He squared up to Sasuke in a Gentle Fist stance.
"With your right arm like that… how long do you think you can keep going?"
Sasuke raised the white short sword, speaking calmly.
Neji didn't answer. He just stared him down.
The piercing chirping sound rose again.
Lightning surged over Sasuke's body.
Neji's heart tightened.
Lightning was a bad match-up against Gentle Fist.
Sasuke didn't waste breath. He rushed Neji down.
The short sword thrust out in a crescent arc.
Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!
Neji's twin palms flew out.
His left palm struck toward the short sword; his right aimed for Sasuke's arm.
"Your right palm is too slow!"
Sasuke snapped a kick into Neji's right hand, booting it away.
At the same time, he twisted his wrist, cutting sideways at Neji's left palm.
Even with chakra shielding it, the hand still took damage.
A faint line of blood opened in Neji's palm.
He ignored it, instantly changing tactics—he gave up on striking chakra points and focused on entangling and evasion.
With the Byakugan, he managed to hang in there despite being on the back foot.
Sasuke glanced at Neji's bleeding right arm.
As Neji's condition worsened, Sasuke abruptly stopped using Hatake Sword Style.
Leaf-Style: Willow!
The white short sword in his hand trembled.
Neji suddenly felt his body lock up.
All he could see were overlapping afterimages of the white blade.
He realized what was happening at once and hurriedly dispelled the illusion.
But Sasuke's short sword moved faster than his mind.
The blade afterimages disappeared—only the real one remained, resting lightly against his neck.
Neji had just broken free of the genjutsu when he saw the sword at his throat.
He opened his mouth, then finally said helplessly, "I concede."
Sasuke nodded slightly and turned to go help Kimimaro.
"I'm going down for a bit."
Up on the wooden dragon, Kitazawa vanished from where he stood.
In the next instant, he appeared in front of Neji.
Mystical Palm Technique!
Kitazawa placed both hands over Neji's right arm.
Neji instinctively glanced toward Tenten and Tayuya.
Now that Sasuke had joined the fight, the two of them had gone down quickly.
Neji sighed, but he didn't blame them.
Their team had pretty much gone all-out. The simple fact was that Sasuke's team was just stronger overall.
"Alright, two days of rest and you'll be fine."
Kitazawa withdrew his hand.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
Neji flexed his fingers and found his right arm completely back to normal.
Kitazawa walked over to Tayuya and Tenten.
The fight was already over; Sasuke and Kimimaro had both stopped.
"Winners: Uchiha Sasuke's team."
Kitazawa announced the result as he healed Tayuya.
She'd been chased hard by Kimimaro and had several bone cuts on her body.
Tenten, on the other hand, was fine.
The moment Sasuke showed up he'd locked her down with his Sharingan. She hadn't even had time to resist before being knocked out of the match.
With Tenten no longer keeping him busy, Kimimaro had immediately pinned Tayuya down.
The battle ended in a flash.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
Tayuya hesitated for a couple of seconds. "I want to learn genjutsu."
"Aren't you already learning genjutsu?"
Kitazawa asked back.
"I mean normal genjutsu."
Tayuya bit her lip. "They just put in earplugs and my sound-based illusions were useless. I couldn't do anything."
"I'll teach you some after the break."
Kitazawa couldn't help laughing. "That actually saves me some trouble."
He'd originally thought about creating a couple of new sound-based illusions just for her, but he'd been too busy to sit down and work them out.
Teaching her standard genjutsu would be easier.
Sound-type illusions really did have their limits.
"Let's head out."
Kitazawa withdrew his hand.
They all left the field together.
By now, thanks to Iruka, the rest of the genius class already knew the result.
"As expected of my lifelong rival!"
Naruto stuck up a thumb. "Looks like we're in for another hot-blooded showdown!"
"Neji already did great."
Shino adjusted his glasses. "They didn't make any mistakes in the team battle."
"Yakumo, if we'd used the same strategy as Sasuke's team, do you think we could've won?"
Ino's eyes lit up. She asked without thinking.
"Not likely."
Yakumo shook her head. "If it were us, Neji and Tenten would've crushed us in the first two phases."
"True."
Ino paused, then nodded. "Sasuke's Sharingan and Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku aren't afraid of bow techniques or tools at all."
"Right."
Yakumo gave an example. "In long-distance running combat, we're probably about on Sakura's level."
Sakura had lost to Tenten's Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Yakumo and Karin were about the same.
"In the end, Sasuke's just too strong."
Shikamaru sighed.
Normally, with Byakugan and Gentle Fist, Neji would have a huge advantage in close combat.
But unfortunately for him, Sasuke wasn't a normal ninja.
Lightning Release, Hatake Sword Style, Sharingan, and Leaf-Style swordsmanship all stacked together meant that in close quarters, Sasuke actually came out ahead.
"Kimimaro's super important too."
Kiba argued. "If he hadn't kept Tayuya and Tenten busy, Sasuke probably wouldn't have won."
After all, while Neji wasn't quite at Sasuke's level, the gap wasn't huge.
And with Byakugan, he could keep up with Sasuke's movements.
Compared to Neji's team, Shino's squad really did fall short.
"Looks like you've all finally grasped how important teamwork is."
Kitazawa appeared in front of them.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
Hinata and the others hurried to greet him.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto couldn't wait. "When's the next team battle?"
"Two in the afternoon."
Kitazawa replied.
"Huh? That late?"
Naruto looked shocked.
The others also seemed puzzled.
"You've been fighting this long. You're not hungry?"
Kitazawa smiled. "Go eat lunch, take a proper rest, and then come back at two for the final."
"I'm not hungry!"
Naruto clenched his fist.
"Team battles have to be fair."
Kitazawa looked at him. "Sasuke and the others just went through a tough fight. Are you sure you want to fight them right now?"
"…Then this afternoon it is."
Naruto finally got it and nodded hard.
"Two o'clock, same place. Don't be late."
Kitazawa said with a smile.
"See you later, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto and the others waved goodbye and headed home.
"Then we'll go eat too. See you this afternoon."
Hiruzen, Maruboshi Kosuke, and the rest didn't linger either. They turned and left.
Soon, only Tsunade and Kurenai were left.
"Want me to treat you two to lunch?"
Kitazawa blinked and asked.
"Tsunade-sama, what do you think?"
Kurenai looked over at her.
She herself didn't mind either way.
But Tsunade was the Hokage; her opinion came first.
"How about eating at the casino?"
Tsunade rubbed her chin. "We've got two hours before the team battle anyway."
"Eh?"
Kurenai stared. "Casinos serve lunch?"
"Is that the point here?"
Kitazawa's mouth twitched. "Tsunade-sensei, you're the Hokage. How can your head be full of nothing but gambling?"
Tsunade glared at him on reflex.
Then she remembered—without Kitazawa, there was no point going to the casino.
Because she had no money.
Forget it. She'd wait until the team battles were over.
"Fine, we'll go home and eat. You're cooking."
She pouted.
Taking the chance to get back at him?
Kitazawa glanced at her and made a mental note to settle this score later.
Tsunade headed back toward the village.
Kurenai gave Kitazawa a thumbs-up.
She was close to Tsunade too, but her traditional ninja mindset stopped her from being as casual with the Hokage as Kitazawa was.
After all, Tsunade was the Hokage.
In theory, one sentence from her could decide whether Kurenai lived or died.
Kitazawa froze for a second, then realized what that thumbs-up meant.
He coughed lightly. "Let's go home."
~~~
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