As the two chatted, the cleanup in the arena finished, and the next match was about to begin. The electronic screen began to flash with names before finally stopping.
Uzumaki Naruto vs. Yome.
"Are they determined to pit Sand Ninja against Konoha ninja?" Daigan chuckled, got up, and walked forward.
His teammate was up. He had to pay attention. The current Uzumaki Naruto wasn't strong, so Yome wasn't completely without a chance of winning.
***
The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style that restrained the Nine-Tails was now overlaid with Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal, disrupting the conversion of the Nine-Tails' leaking chakra and making Naruto's chakra control extremely unstable. The Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails was currently at a low point in his power.
Although Yome had no outstanding strengths aside from her incredible eyesight, she wasn't bad either, and certainly a cut above a rookie Genin.
The Sand Ninja had already won three matches in a row. Naruto's opponent was a small girl who didn't look very strong, but no one was really sure if Naruto, the dead-last of the Ninja Academy for several years, could secure a win for Konoha.
Apart from Naruto himself, who was brimming with confidence, no one else had high hopes for him.
Gekko Hayate called the two contestants down and immediately announced the start of the match.
This wasn't their first meeting. On their first day in Konoha, Team Otokaze had clashed with Konoha's Team 7. Although it ended with the Sand Ninja apologizing, the grudge between the two teams had not been settled. Furthermore, Yome was a teammate of the highly disliked Daigan, so Naruto didn't have a good impression of the short Sand Ninja either.
"Watch this, shorty..."
Naruto formed a hand seal, about to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, when he was caught off guard by Yome, who suddenly vanished from sight and slammed into his side, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"You idiot who only knows Shadow Clone Jutsu. I've known about your little tricks for a long time."
Over the past ten-odd days, Yome had thoroughly investigated the special abilities of any Genin candidate who posed even a slight threat. Aside from Naruto's stamina and chakra reserves, which were a bit concerning, Yome didn't think she was any weaker than this guy in the orange jumpsuit.
*Damn it, she's not even giving me time to make hand seals?*
Scrambling to his feet, Naruto hastily dodged a spray of senbon, only for the agile Yome to close the distance, a kunai in hand, and thrust it at his chest. With no time to dodge, he was forced to block it with his arm.
Blood flowed from the wound, and Naruto took the opportunity to retreat and create some distance, clutching his injured arm.
"Don't stop now, kid!"
Against anyone else, Yome wouldn't have been so aggressive. But based on her intel, the longer this fight dragged on, the worse it would be for her.
Also... Yome, whose eyesight far surpassed that of any other ninja present, could clearly see that her opponent's self-healing ability was extraordinary. The cut on his arm was quite deep, but the bleeding was already slowing down after just a moment.
Because of the Five Elements Seal, although the process of converting the Nine-Tails' chakra into his own more easily controllable chakra was interrupted, the Nine-Tails' chakra was still there. In fact, this chakra, with its Tailed Beast properties, was more likely to stimulate the Jinchuriki's physical potential and accelerate wound recovery.
*This is trouble. In a battle of attrition, there's no way I can win against a stamina monster like this.*
Yome glanced down at the blue kunai in her hand, still dripping with her opponent's blood.
*I'll just have to see if the poison works.*
Thanks to chakra, ninja had a much higher resistance to poison than ordinary people. The larger one's chakra reserves, the higher their body's vitality, and naturally, the better their recovery ability. A poison that would be fatal to an ordinary ninja could probably be eaten like a condiment by Senju Hashirama.
The same poison had different effects on different ninja, but at least Yome hadn't noticed any adverse reactions from Naruto yet. Although it wasn't a potent poison, his reaction was far too calm.
"His constitution and chakra reserves have gotten stronger," Daigan, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but mutter.
During the Land of Waves mission, when Naruto was poisoned by the Demon Brothers, Meizu and Gozu, Zabuza's two Chunin subordinates, he had needed to let blood to get rid of the poison. Now, not long after, he already had such a high resistance to common poisons. "Such a gifted guy. I'm so jealous."
With a constitution like that, even without the Nine-Tails and Asura's reincarnated chakra, he would have a high chance of becoming a powerful ninja. The Sage's body was just that unfair. In no time at all, it could effortlessly surpass the lifelong efforts of many other ninja.
"You think highly of that blond kid? Even though Yome has the upper hand?" Chi asked, confused. "It seems like aside from being able to take a hit, he's not that great."
"Don't look down on being able to take a hit. Durability is a remarkable trait. The ninja who can survive until the end is the superior ninja. Once you're dead, it's all over."
How many promising geniuses had died before their time? The brilliant Hyuga Neji was killed by the Ten-Tails' Wood Release: Cutting Technique, and everything turned to dust.
"And me. If I wasn't durable, I would have been killed by Rock Lee long ago. How would I be standing here talking so casually?"
"Female ninja really are at a natural disadvantage..." Chi said with a smile, looking at the seemingly frail Yome.
At the end of the day, being a ninja was a combat profession. Although there were exceptions, on the whole, male ninja had a clear advantage.
Team Otokaze had passed the second stage in the Forest of Death more than three days early, so Yome was well-rested and in much better condition than the exhausted Naruto. But in a fight, the petite Yome was at a clear disadvantage.
The two fought for a while. Naruto was covered in wounds, but Yome was also panting, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.
"Chi, you and Yome trained in taijutsu with Shira, right?"
"How did you know?"
"Just a guess."
Daigan had known Yome and Chi for a long time and knew of Shira, but he had never interacted with him. It wasn't that Daigan had been merciful to Shira; rather, other kids had bullied him so much that Daigan never got the chance.
However, Yome and Shira had a decent relationship, probably because they were kindred spirits—she was looked down on for her small size, and he for his inability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu.
"Yome is a good kid."
*She's going too easy on him.*
Unlike Daigan, whose victory had been hard-fought but never truly in doubt, Yome hadn't capitalized on her advantage when her stamina was still high to deal a decisive blow to Naruto. That basically sealed her defeat.
Daigan sighed.
Losing the match wasn't so bad. It would be a good chance to get away from a troublesome place like Konoha.
Because she lacked a finishing move, Yome was unable to end her opponent's resistance even when she had the upper hand. It was a helpless situation.
But then again, where was a commoner ninja with no background supposed to learn powerful ninjutsu? A Genin without a good lineage or a skilled teacher was the norm.
But Uzumaki Naruto was not a conventional ninja. When Yome saw him shakily get to his feet once again, a sense of powerlessness washed over her aching limbs.
***
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