Chapter 326 Tsunade’s Discovery (4k)

“Rin, just do your best in the next fight. You performed so well in the first round, you’ll definitely become a Chunin.” Obito said to Rin Nohara after thinking for a moment.

The first match of the second round was Rin Nohara versus Kisame Hoshigaki.

Although they were enemies, Obito had to admit that Kisame was a powerful Ninja. Let alone Rin Nohara, Obito himself couldn’t guarantee a win against him, because his Fire Release was completely countered by Kisame.

“Mm, actually, I’m already satisfied with just making it to the second round.” Rin Nohara smiled and nodded.

Rin Nohara was already very happy to have defeated Nara Shiosui. The battle in Death Forest had fully demonstrated Kisame Hoshigaki’s strength, and Rin Nohara knew her chances of winning were slim.

Her Water Release, which she had practiced for a month, certainly couldn’t compare to Kisame Hoshigaki’s Water Release, and while her Strength of a Hundred Technique was strong, it wasn’t so strong that Kisame Hoshigaki couldn’t handle it.

“Try to use Taijutsu and look for opportunities. Fight with all your might and don’t regret the outcome.” Kakashi also spoke.

In Kakashi’s analysis, Rin Nohara’s slim chance of victory lay in her Strength of a Hundred Technique.

“Second round, first match! Kisame Hoshigaki versus Rin Nohara!” Hiruko’s voice echoed into the resting room.

“Thank you, guys. I’m going to my exam now.” Rin Nohara showed a gentle smile as she thanked Obito and Kakashi for their advice, then walked out of the resting room.

At this moment, Obito wished he could take Rin Nohara’s place, but he knew it was impossible. First, Rin Nohara herself wouldn’t agree. Obito knew Rin Nohara wasn’t someone who would shrink back from difficulties.

Kisame Hoshigaki glanced at Might Guy, who was doing a handstand exercise, and then also walked out of the resting room.

If he won this battle, his next opponent would be Might Guy. As for Kurosawa, Kisame Hoshigaki had already assumed he would lose to Might Guy.

“Begin!” Hiruko announced and immediately retreated.

Rin Nohara immediately entered her Water Breathing state and proactively attacked Kisame Hoshigaki.

To get close to Kisame, Rin Nohara gathered Chakra in her feet and used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly reach Kisame’s side.

“Strength of a Hundred Technique!”

Rin Nohara clenched her fist, instantly releasing a large amount of Chakra contained within it, and threw an extremely heavy punch at Kisame.

This opening surprised many spectators. They didn’t expect Rin Nohara, this seemingly delicate young girl, to proactively engage in a Taijutsu battle against the fierce-looking Kisame Hoshigaki.

After all, in the previous battle, Rin Nohara had given the impression of a Water Release Ninja who relied on Water Dragon Bullet for offense.

But then something even more unexpected happened. Facing the charging delicate young girl, Kisame Hoshigaki actually retreated at high speed, not daring to engage her head-on.

Boom!

Rin Nohara’s punch slammed into the ground, her immense strength directly cracking the earth and sending debris flying in all directions.

“This little girl has quite a bit of your style, Lady Tsunade.” Jiraiya said with a chuckle when he saw Rin Nohara possess such punching power.

Tsunade, who hadn’t been paying close attention to the battle, looked for a moment after Jiraiya’s comment and felt that Rin Nohara’s fighting style seemed a bit familiar.

Kisame Hoshigaki had faced Rin Nohara head-on once before, so he had no intention of trading blows with Rin Nohara. Instead, he rushed in to fight Rin Nohara only after her attack missed.

Without using her Strength of a Hundred Technique, Rin Nohara quickly fell into a disadvantage, taking several punches to her body, which made Obito clench his fists.

Rin Nohara didn’t get discouraged. She deliberately feigned an opening, hoping to trade blows with Kisame, but found that Kisame didn’t fall for it, causing her attack to miss again.

This frustrated Rin Nohara. Her Chakra wasn’t abundant, and Strength of a Hundred Technique consumed a lot. Each missed punch further reduced her already slim chances of victory.

“Rin’s combat experience is too little.” At this moment, Kakashi noticed a fatal weakness in Rin Nohara.

Rin Nohara didn’t have their rich experiences, where an internship would coincidentally lead to encountering Jonin teams or unexpected battlefield situations.

Although the encounter with the Raikage Candidate was dangerous, Minato was basically doing all the fighting, and the intensity of their battle wasn’t actually that high.

Even during the Death Forest incident, Rin Nohara didn’t really fight much; her main role was healing.

Combat experience is a very important thing. Kakashi easily defeated Obito before with little effort precisely because he was taking advantage of Obito’s lack of combat experience at the time.

And now, the current battle was Kisame Hoshigaki taking advantage of the inexperienced Rin Nohara. In front of an experienced Ninja, Rin Nohara was truly fighting with all her cards showing, every thought clearly displayed.

Rin Nohara wasn’t stupid. Realizing that her Strength of a Hundred Technique kept missing, she became even more cautious, not using it easily.

However, caution could only delay Rin Nohara’s defeat, not lead to her victory.

Kisame wasn’t in a hurry to defeat Rin Nohara. The third stage of the Chunin Exams was fast-paced, and he didn’t want any unexpected events to leave him in poor condition and thus lose to Might Guy.

Rin Nohara’s injuries gradually increased, and her condition worsened.

But Rin Nohara did not give up. She used Medical Ninjutsu to heal herself, preventing her speed from decreasing due to injuries.

“Her Medical Ninjutsu is also quite good. This girl named Rin Nohara is interesting.” The more Tsunade watched Rin Nohara, the more she felt that Rin Nohara was training according to her own template.

“I’m curious too. She’s Minato’s student, but these certainly weren’t taught by Minato,” Jiraiya, who was beside her, said.

Minato and Jiraiya had talked about his students, and Minato had also consulted Jiraiya for advice on teaching.

“As for Rin, she’s actually my student too.” Muzuki explained briefly. There was no need to hide some things now.

Jiraiya looked at Muzuki with a hint of surprise. He only knew that Muzuki was learning Medical Ninjutsu from Tsunade, but he didn’t expect Muzuki’s own Medical Ninjutsu to be so advanced that he could teach a student like Rin Nohara.

“So it was you! When did you learn my Strength of a Hundred Technique? Tonight, you must make a Beggar’s Chicken and a plate of Spicy Chicken to compensate me for my loss.” Tsunade said seriously.

Muzuki didn’t even want to point it out. Was she really thinking her Ninjutsu was stolen? She was clearly just craving the chicken he made.

Because Strength of a Hundred Technique isn’t essentially a specific Ninjutsu, but rather a Chakra control technique. This kind of thing can only be taught; stealing it is extremely difficult.

“Cooking is no problem, but Rin admires Lady Tsunade a lot, so she might come with me then.” Muzuki smiled and agreed.

Muzuki was somewhat considering leaving Rin Nohara under Tsunade’s care for a period of time.

Although Tsunade was slacking off now, she was still the strongest in Medical Ninjutsu, and Muzuki believed it was necessary for Rin Nohara to further her studies with Tsunade.

Tsunade readily nodded, while also thinking about whether to let Shizune try learning from Muzuki. Muzuki did seem to have something special when it came to teaching.

Rin Nohara ultimately lost, collapsing from excessive exhaustion of stamina and Chakra.

For the Konoha Land of Fire spectators in the arena, this was yet another frustrating battle. Although Rin Nohara had forced Kisame to retreat at the beginning of the fight, she ultimately lost.

This was the Chunin Exams, a place to showcase strength, and losing meant being a step below the opponent.

“Damn it, Might Guy, you better teach him a good lesson later!” Flames burned in Obito’s heart, but due to the drawing of lots, he couldn’t do anything.

Kisame Hoshigaki would face Might Guy in the third match. Obito believed Might Guy would win, so they wouldn’t even meet.

“Leave it to me.” Might Guy nodded seriously.

Without a doubt, Rin Nohara was also his comrade. He would definitely return Kisame’s strongest kick then.

“Second match, Might Guy versus Kurosawa!”

When Hiruko’s voice reached the spectator stands, many audience members were invigorated.

They had watched so many Hidden Mist and Konoha battles where Konoha lost, precisely because they knew it wasn’t that Konoha Ninja were weak, but that those Hidden Mist Ninja hadn’t yet encountered Konoha’s strongest.

“Might Guy, go! Finish him in one kick like last time!” Someone shouted.

“Might Guy, use all your strength!”

Hearing so many people cheering for his son, Might Duy shed tears of emotion, excitedly standing up to cheer for Might Guy.

The venue was bustling with noise. Due to the distance, Might Guy couldn’t clearly hear what they were saying in the battle arena, but he could vaguely hear someone shouting his name.

Might Guy’s lips curved into a smile. Winning the Chunin Exams was a solid step towards becoming the strongest Taijutsu user.

“This is a tough battle. How can I possibly defeat this guy?” Kurosawa’s mind raced, trying to figure out a way to defeat Might Guy.

He had been thinking about it for a long time, ever since the drawing of lots, but he still hadn’t come up with a solution.

Because the only ability Might Guy had displayed so far was Taijutsu, but this wasn’t ordinary Taijutsu; it was Taijutsu that could knock out even Kisame with a single kick.

To say he didn’t want to win was impossible, because the better he performed, the more rewards he would receive back in Hidden Mist. The problem was, he couldn’t figure out how he could win.

“Begin!”

“Eight Gates, Gate of Opening, open! Gate of Healing, open! Gate of Life, open!”

Might Guy once again instantly opened three Gates and simultaneously challenged his Breathing Technique, entering a Total Concentration Breathing state. As long as he resolved it quickly, he wouldn’t consume much stamina.

“Hidden Mist Technique!”

Kurosawa immediately performed hand signs, summoning a large amount of dense mist to shroud the arena. At the same time, he used the Body Flicker Technique to leave his original position. Otherwise, he was worried he would be instantly defeated by Might Guy’s kick.

Kurosawa’s concern was correct. The moment he left his original position, the ground where he had just stood cracked open. If he had been even a moment later, it wouldn’t have been the ground that cracked open.

But this also made Kurosawa breathe a sigh of relief. This proved that Might Guy couldn’t see clearly within the Hidden Mist Technique, which meant he still had a chance.

But just as Kurosawa created a Water Clone, preparing to use it to distract Might Guy and then attack with his real body, Might Guy moved.

Might Guy poured most of his strength into his leg, followed by the powerful Chakra burst from the Eight Gates, instantly appearing in front of Kurosawa and unleashing a fierce kick.

“Extreme Leaf Hurricane!”

This was Might Guy’s strongest technique in the Hurricane series, using extreme power to execute the Strong Whirlwind. Even thick, hard rock could be easily shattered by it.

Boom!!

This incredibly swift and heavy kick landed on Kurosawa and his Water Clone.

The Water Clone burst open like a water balloon pricked by a needle, water splashing everywhere, while Kurosawa’s real body was heavily embedded in the wall like a cannonball, leaving another imprint on the wall.

Without Kurosawa maintaining the mist with Chakra, it quickly thinned and then dissipated. The audience could then see Might Guy standing in the arena and Kurosawa embedded in the wall.

Kurosawa, his mouth full of blood, looked at Might Guy with an unwilling expression. He wanted to ask Might Guy how he had managed to break through his Hidden Mist Technique, but he couldn’t speak at that moment.

As if seeing through Kurosawa’s confusion, Might Guy proactively spoke: “To defeat a certain person, I once practiced fighting with my eyes closed. I only need sound to determine location.”

For a long time, Might Guy had been helpless against Shisui’s Genjutsu. Shisui’s Genjutsu ability was too strong, and ordinary methods of dispelling Genjutsu weren’t very effective.

So he practiced this fighting style, just in case he encountered an enemy as strong as Shisui’s Genjutsu one day.

His first kick was based on memory, so it missed, but the second kick was based on listening for position, determining their location based on the movements of Kurosawa’s Water Clone.

Kurosawa closed his eyes. He had no reason to complain about his loss; Might Guy was simply too difficult to deal with.

“Might Guy wins!” Hiruko announced the winner’s name.

Although they couldn’t see how Might Guy had dealt with Kurosawa, in a situation where Konoha had lost several matches to Hidden Mist, Might Guy’s overwhelming victory stood out, and many spectators cheered for Might Guy.

Might Guy canceled his Eight Gates and Breathing Technique, and walked back to the resting room with a confident smile. He just needed to win one more match, and Kakashi two more, then they could meet in the finals.

Although Obito had also performed very strongly, Might Guy had an inexplicable confidence in Kakashi in his heart. He felt that Kakashi could do it, that he could defeat all opponents and compete with him for first place.

“Perhaps this is the bond between best friends.” Might Guy thought, his smile growing brighter.

Just then, he walked into the resting room. Might Guy immediately gave Kakashi a thumbs-up before sitting down to rest.

Kakashi didn’t quite understand what Might Guy was thinking, so he just nodded.

“Indeed, Kakashi accepted the challenge. This is our unspoken understanding!” Might Guy was extremely excited.

“Third match, Uchiha Obito versus Mei Terumī!”

“Think with your brain more, don’t get carried away.” Kakashi reminded him.

Mei Terumī countered Obito, so this battle wouldn’t be easy for Obito.

“You don’t need to remind me; I always fight with my brain.” Obito didn’t agree with Kakashi’s assessment of his status.

He felt that he used a lot of tactics in his battles, and each battle consumed a lot of his brain cells.

“Just wait to be defeated by me in the next round!” Obito declared war on Kakashi with a confident smile and then walked out of the resting room.

Zabuza, still sitting in the resting room:…

To just assume he would lose was something else. Although he had lost to Kakashi once before in Death Forest, such a direct assumption was a bit hurtful.

PS: I wrote until 1 AM again. I hope I can fall asleep early.