Four days later
Konoha Village, Hokage Building.
"Minato-sama, this is the list of students who passed the second exam."
In the logistics department, Anko, the chief proctor for the second exam, handed a stack of documents to Minato, the proctor for the third and final exam round.
"There are surprisingly many," Minato remarked, looking at the stack with some surprise.
The third round was originally planned for Konoha's large arena. It wasn't just a simple exam… it was also a stage to showcase the new generation's strength to representatives from various countries and wealthy figures from the Ninja World.
Therefore, it was best to only have elite Genin-level battles.
"In that case, we'll have to add a preliminary selection round," Minato muttered to himself as he flipped through the files of the candidates who had passed the second exam.
"Hmm?" Minato's attention was caught by one candidate's file. The ID photo showed a masked face. The name was...
'Tobi?'
Noticing the change in Minato's expression, Anko spoke up, "He's a candidate from Amegakure."
Minato remained silent for a few seconds before standing up without further comment, preparing to head to the central tower.
For some reason, even just seeing the photo gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this person.
In the blink of an eye, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to arrive at the central tower.
He announced to everyone that a preliminary selection round would be held.
As Minato had anticipated, the preliminary round eliminated the weaker participants like Kiba, Choji, and the still-underdeveloped Sakura, who had barely scraped by with their teammates' help.
Those remaining were high-quality Genin like Trunks, Ichika, Naruto, and the others.
Unlike the original work, after this preliminary round concluded, they weren't given a full ten days of rest.
Instead, they were told to prepare for three days, with the final matches in the arena to be held three days later.
The next day…
The bright morning sun bathed Konoha Village.
It was a rare beautiful day with a gentle breeze, a perfect September day, neither too hot nor too cold, ideal for going out.
Most of Konoha's villagers had woken up early and were streaming towards the village's largest arena.
The three Sunagakure's siblings, also emerging from their inn and heading towards the arena, observed the flow of Konoha's villagers.
Temari was the first to comment, unable to hold back, "These Konoha villagers look... quite unique."
There were Fish-Men with gills, half-human, half-fish.
There were Mermaids with beautiful faces and fish-tail lower bodies.
There were Mink Tribe's members with animal-like fur and features but human body structures.
There were even members of the Giant Tribe, whose standing height rivaled that of summoned beasts, their steps causing the ground to rumble.
"Probably the new Konoha's villagers Uchiha Jin brought in twenty years ago," Kankuro analyzed. He had heard about this from Sunagakure's Jonin like Baki.
After all, this had happened before they were born.
"Where did Uchiha Jin find all these strange people..." Temari muttered under her breath.
The usually silent Gaara suddenly had his expression change drastically, his gaze fixed intently on a red-haired woman across the street.
He sensed it… the aura of a kindred spirit.
"Kyaa… So cute!"
On the other side of the street, Kushina stood facing a stunningly beautiful woman with waist-length orange hair, delicate yet alluring features, and a figure so explosive it could rival Tsunade's.
Looking at the golden-haired baby girl in the orange-haired beauty's arms, Kushina's eyes sparkled, wanting to snatch the baby and hold her dearly.
"Is she your child, Orihime?" Kushina, internally screaming 'So cute! So cute!', barely restrained the impulse to grab the baby and asked Orihime.
"No, Maron is #18-san's child," Orihime replied with a gentle smile.
"#18's... Oh, I remember, that woman who always looks like everyone owes her money, right?" Kushina's expression soured, clearly not having a good impression of #18.
"#18-san is actually very nice, Kushina-san. You just don't know her well," Orihime spoke up in her defense.
"What I don't understand is you all, letting that dog Jin run wild outside," Kushina complained.
She simply couldn't understand how women like Orihime and Tsunade could tolerate Jin constantly picking wildflowers outside.
If it were Minato... forget so many, even just one, and she would smash his head.
"Mom, I need to go," Kazui, who had been holding onto Orihime's pant leg, looked up and said.
"Mhm~ Do your best~" Orihime, holding Uchiha Maron in her left arm, pulled Kazui into a hug with her right, comforting him for a moment before watching her son join up with Trunks and the others who had come over, all heading towards the arena together.
"So I couldn't find you this morning, you came out with Aunt Orihime first. Still a mama's boy even at this age, huh, Kazui?" Trunks teased with a smirk.
"Shut up!" Ichika kicked Trunks from behind, grabbing Kazui's hand, "Let's go! Ignore that idiot!"
"Waa! Waa! Waa!!"
Shortly after Kazui and the others left, Uchiha Maron in Orihime's arms began wailing loudly.
"Oh dear~ There, there~ Don't cry, don't cry~ You must be hungry..." Orihime soothed the baby while efficiently retrieving a bottle from the nearby stroller and bringing it to Uchiha Maron's mouth.
"I thought you would feed her yourself," Kushina couldn't help but sneak another glance at Orihime's astonishing 'assets', even though they were covered by clothing.
'Isn't this just too exaggerated?'
"What are you saying, Kushina-san? H-how could I still have..." Orihime, already the mother of a twelve-year-old boy but biologically just past thirty, also blushed deeply.
"Speaking of which, the women around that guy Jin just keep getting... bigger. That guy really has a type..." Kushina muttered quietly to herself.
Leaving aside Tsunade, the last time she ran into that golden-haired woman named Harribel, she was also shocked by the other party's 'capacity'.
'What kind of hormones are the women around Jin on?'
"W-well, not all of them?" Orihime's expression was a bit strange, 'At least Rukia-san was very small.'
The two women walked leisurely towards the arena. Along the way, Kushina couldn't help but glance a few more times at Orihime's 'capacity'.
She thought about Minato, who had become increasingly obsessed with fishing over the past two years as he aged.
Sometimes he wouldn't give her any for half a month. Meanwhile, Jin kept having children one after another… clearly he never slacked off.
"Orihime! Over here!"
In the spectator stands of the arena, Rukia, wearing a Captain's Haori with the number [13] on the back and her long hair flowing, called out to the arriving Orihime.
"Rukia-chan!" Orihime called out happily, sitting down beside her.
Looking around left and right, she didn't see a certain figure.
Rukia pouted and said, "That guy is practicing some inexplicable new technique with that Goku guy. It's so cringe to watch."
A flicker of disappointment passed through Orihime's eyes.
Seeing this, Rukia teased, "You've become more and more dependent on that guy in recent years, haven't you? Feels like you're already in deep..."
To be honest, the 'relationship' between Jin and Orihime could hardly be called a romantic process.
Orihime was the type of traditional woman who was deeply lacking in love and security, wanting to depend on a man.
Rather than being her lover, Jin was more like a protective umbrella and a tool for providing children.
After all, Orihime was terrified of loneliness. She could be said to be the one among Jin's women who wanted children the most.
As for being used as a tool, Jin was perfectly happy with that.
How many of you in front of the screens wished they had the chance but didn't?
If Orihime wanted more children, Jin would be happy to oblige. Second one's half price.
Orihime lowered her head with an embarrassed smile. She knew she was rather hopeless. But whether she could change was another matter.
Inside the arena, Minato, the chief proctor for the final matches, stood in the center of the ring, not wearing his Anbu Mask. After confirming all candidates were ready, he raised his hand, announced the rules, and declared:
"First match: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Hinata."
"It's finally starting. The first match is Naruto. His opponent is... the Hyuga Clan's main family's heir." Sakura, sitting in another section of the spectator stands, pumped her fist, "Do your best, Naruto!"
"That Hyuga Hinata isn't using the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist at all," Guy recalled the scene from the preliminary round held at the central tower in the Forest of Death, where Hinata had defeated Neji.
The moment his father raised his hand to signal the start of the match, Naruto immediately formed the Ram seal with both hands, his index and middle fingers crossed.
Poof! Poof!
Two shadow clones appeared.
The clone on the left grabbed Naruto's left hand and spun the original like a top.
The clone on the right quickly assisted in gathering Chakra in the original's right palm.
The next second, the left clone suddenly let go.
The original Naruto, tightly gripping a Rasengan in his right hand, shot towards Hinata like a launched rocket.
It was a seamless fighting style!
Naruto's combo was already fast.
But... his opponent was even faster!
Just as Naruto used the Shadow Clone Technique, Hinata had already slightly raised her small right hand, palm facing up, condensing a disc-shaped energy wheel.
As Naruto, propelled by the clone's throw, charged forward, she boldly hurled the golden energy wheel in her hand.
[Destructo Disc]
"Oh no!" Naruto's face in mid-air showed shock.
Fortunately, the two shadow clones behind him, seeing the danger, rushed forward, drawing kunai to try and block.
But it was like trying to parry a dagger with a toothpick.
The moment the kunai touched the Destructo Disc, they were sliced in half.
So were Naruto's two shadow clones.
Even so, they barely managed to alter the Destructo Disc's trajectory, making it pass by Naruto's side, only cutting off a piece of his clothing.
Just as Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, a small fist suddenly struck him in the abdomen, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Lying flat on his back, Naruto looked up at the small figure above him and complained, "Oww... H-how could this happen..."
"First match winner: Hyuga Hinata."
"Second match: Uchiha Trunks and Tobi, please come down immediately."
With Minato's announcement, Naruto slunk back to the spectator stands.
Kushina immediately lost her temper, entering [Red Hot Habenero] mode and delivering a sharp knuckle to the back of her son's head.
"Useless! You can't even beat a girl!"
Naruto pouted, wanting to retort, but seeing his mother's vibrant red hair floating as if in an unseen wind, the innate fear instilled by his bloodline suppression kept him from saying anything.
"Why are you wearing a mask? Is it because you're too ugly?" Trunks asked curiously as he entered the ring.
"No way~ It's just that I'm a bit shy, that's all~" Tobi, who is attached to Obito's body, clowned around.
But beneath the mask's eyehole, Obito's right eye secretly glanced towards the high platform where Kushina was still scolding her son.
'It's about time to make a move.'