Chapter 525: Pokémon Evolution

Inside the competitor’s lounge, the competitors had various expressions due to Might Guy’s shocking performance.

“So strong,” Sasori thought, his expression unchanged, but he was slightly startled.

Such powerful Taijutsu would likely be difficult for even his most defensive puppet to withstand.

Originally, Sasori didn’t need to pay attention to Might Guy, because he would only encounter Might Guy if he advanced to the Four Finals, and after entering the Four Finals, Sasori could just give up, so he naturally didn’t need to care.

However, because he needed to assassinate Kakashi, and Might Guy was Kakashi’s teammate, Sasori paid attention to Might Guy.

With this attention, Sasori knew that a frontal battle would be very difficult.

Kakashi and Might Guy were both Ninja with high speed and high output. Once the two teamed up, plus Obito and the other two, even if he used the Third Kazekage’s Human Puppet, he would have a very difficult battle.

Because while the Third Kazekage’s Human Puppet was powerful, he, as a puppeteer, was very fragile; if Might Guy or Kakashi got close, he would be finished.

“After perfecting the technique, I need to quickly undergo self-modification. A body of flesh and blood is too fragile,” Sasori thought to himself.

Sasori disliked fleeting things; he liked eternity, which included humans.

So Sasori developed the Human Puppet technique, which could transform human corpses into puppets.

Because Human Puppets were made with the Chakra of the person’s living body, they could use the Bloodline Limit and all Ninjutsu of their former life.

Sasori, who loved eternity, was naturally willing to transform himself into a puppet, but currently his Human Puppet technique was not mature enough, and rashly modifying himself might lead to accidents.

“He’s becoming more and more of a monster. Can anyone really beat him?” Mei Terumī once again felt lucky that her draw number was late, so she didn’t have to face Might Guy.

However, after her relief, Mei Terumī became worried again. If Might Guy continued to grow like this, in ten or twenty years, he would probably be much more terrifying than the current Konoha Sannin. If Hidden Mist and Konoha had conflicts again, she truly didn’t know how to deal with him.

While the Hozuki Clan’s Hydrification Technique was very effective against Ninja like Might Guy who relied entirely on physical attacks, it could only protect oneself from injury and didn’t guarantee a win against Might Guy.

Moreover, Might Guy wasn’t without teammates on the battlefield. If Might Guy was paired with a Lightning Release teammate, the Hozuki Clan Ninja would suffer greatly.

Amidst the various gazes of numerous competitors, Might Guy strode into the competitor’s lounge with his chest out, head held high, and a loud laugh.

“My dear friend, I’m already getting fired up!” Might Guy said to Kakashi excitedly.

As long as Kakashi advanced to the top eight, their battle would take place in the next round.

Although it might sound a bit hurtful to Rin Nohara, rationally, Might Guy didn’t think Rin Nohara could beat Kakashi. He believed Kakashi would win one hundred percent, without any surprises.

“Then perhaps calm down a bit. It’s only the second round, third match that just finished,” Kakashi said calmly.

What was meant to come would eventually come. Although theoretically his chances of winning against Might Guy were very low, there was still a possibility of victory after all.

As a genius, Kakashi believed in his own abilities; he might be able to seize an opportunity to defeat Might Guy.

“Number thirteen Rin Nohara versus number fifteen Kakashi!”

The referee’s shout echoed into the lounge.

Rin Nohara stood up, looked at Kakashi, and said with a smile, “Kakashi, please don’t hold back because of our relationship.”

Although it was just a match, Rin Nohara hoped Kakashi wouldn’t go easy, but would treat the battle seriously. She wanted to personally experience the distance between her and Kakashi.

“Mm,” Kakashi nodded.

He hadn’t intended to go easy on Rin Nohara anyway; at most, he would be a little less harsh because they were teammates.

Kakashi felt that precisely because they were teammates, he should not go easy, as it might give Rin Nohara a wrong understanding of her own strength, leading to mistakes during missions.

Mission failures were minor matters; Kakashi was worried Rin Nohara might lose her life because of it.

“Rin, you can do it! You’re not without a chance. The current terrain is very suitable for your battle,” Obito cheered for Rin Nohara.

Besides Taijutsu, Rin Nohara also had Water Release. The small lake remaining from Kisame’s large-scale Water Release would make it easier for Rin Nohara to use Water Release, and its power would be greater.

“Thank you for your blessings, Obito. If I lose later, I’ll still be cheering for you guys from the stands,” Rin Nohara smiled gently and walked towards the battleground.

Rin Nohara had a desire to win, but she also knew her limits. It would be too difficult to win against Kakashi.

Kakashi had already mastered Lightning Release and Earth Release before she even began training in Water Release. When she had just mastered the Constant State of Water Breathing, Kakashi had already become the first disciple to master Transparent World and Breathing Technique Chakra Mode simultaneously.

How could she defeat Kakashi with just a little geographical advantage? Rin Nohara felt this was unrealistic.

Standing on the water, looking at Kakashi in front of her, Rin Nohara’s mind was surprisingly calm, as this was, after all, a battle she was bound to lose.

“Battle start!”

“Water Breathing, Full Concentration!”

Rin Nohara immediately concentrated her breathing to the limit she could achieve. Facing Kakashi, she dared not hold anything back, strengthening herself with all her might.

“Water Release: Water Clone Technique!”

Immediately after, Rin Nohara quickly formed hand seals and created two Water Clones.

Normally, Water Clones only possessed ten percent of the original’s strength, but their power would increase in a watery environment.

“Thunder Breathing, Full Concentration!”

Because of Rin Nohara’s words, and out of respect for her, Kakashi also highly concentrated his Thunder Breathing, then entered the Transparent World state and reached into his Ninja tool pouch.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Several Shuriken, gleaming with a cold light, pierced through the air and shot rapidly towards Rin Nohara.

Swoosh!!

Seeing the oddly angled Shuriken block all conventional dodging positions, Rin Nohara immediately used Water Instant Body with her Water Clones to leave her original spot.

Rin Nohara’s Water Instant Body was not slow, but it couldn’t escape Kakashi’s lock-on in his Transparent World state.

“Flash!”

Kakashi drew his White Fang Short Blade, using the pre-condensed Lightning Release Chakra to reinforce his body, and swiftly swung it towards Rin Nohara’s main body.

Under the enhancement of Transparent World, Kakashi’s powerful physical strength was perfectly utilized, whether running or swinging his blade.

“Water Prison Technique!”

Speed was not Rin Nohara’s strong suit. To prevent falling into Kakashi’s offensive rhythm, Rin Nohara’s main body cast the Water Prison Technique, enveloping herself within it.

This way, the Water Clones could still attack while Kakashi was attacking.

Swish!

But just as the Water Clones gathered Chakra and prepared to attack, Kakashi suddenly changed his move and cut down one of the Water Clones.

“Flash: Double Strike!”

A Flash of lightning passed, and one Water Clone instantly turned into liquid and dissipated.

This extremely fast change in tactics successfully caused the other Water Clone’s attack to miss as well.

“Purple Lightning!”

Immediately after, Kakashi’s left hand suddenly burst forth with dazzling Purple Lightning.

Kakashi controlled the Purple Lightning in his hand, splitting it into streams of lightning to attack, instantly enveloping both Rin Nohara’s main body and the Shadow Clone.

The Water Release of the Water Prison Technique was shattered by the electricity, and the only remaining Water Clone also turned into liquid and merged with the water after being struck by Purple Lightning.

“Exploding Fist!”

The Water Prison was broken, but it successfully resisted the lightning power, and the unharmed Rin Nohara suddenly slammed the Chakra she had been condensing and compressing onto the water surface.

Boom!!!

A huge explosion sounded, and under Rin Nohara’s terrifying immense strength, waves surged skyward, and a powerful shockwave, carrying water, swept towards Kakashi.

Swoosh!

Kakashi had already seen through Rin Nohara’s movements and was prepared in advance. He instantly activated Lightning Release Chakra to reinforce his body, swiftly dodged, and counterattacked Rin Nohara.

“Leaf Hand Blade!”

Kakashi channeled all his strength into his palm and swung it through the air at Rin Nohara, rapidly unleashing a burst of internal energy.

Because ‘Tile Breaker’ was a rare Taijutsu that could be used both at close range and from a distance, Kakashi had spent some time learning it.

However, due to differences in strength, if used from a distance, Kakashi would need the Transparent World enhancement along with Lightning Release reinforcement to have enough killing power.

Bang!!

Rin Nohara, struck by the transparent burst of energy, flew backward and fell into the water.

“As expected of the inherently evil Kakashi! Rin is so cute, and you’re still willing to be so ruthless!” Obito felt extremely distressed watching Rin Nohara being suppressed by Kakashi.

The pain inflicted on Rin Nohara was pain in his heart.

At this moment, Obito’s desire for strength intensified; he deeply felt the patheticness of being weak.

His strength was inferior to Kakashi’s now, so even if Rin Nohara lost, Obito could only curse Kakashi in his heart. He couldn’t beat Kakashi in their next internal battle to avenge Rin Nohara.

Gurgle, gurgle.

While Rin Nohara was at a loss, she drank several mouthfuls of water, then she endured the pain, formed hand seals, and swam up.

The moment her head emerged from the water, she resumed her Breathing Technique, gathered Chakra in her feet, and stood on the water surface again.

“Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!”

Rin Nohara quickly released the prepared Water Release to force back the attacking Kakashi.

“Summoning Technique!”

Immediately after, Rin Nohara summoned Katsuyu, intending to use Katsuyu’s healing ability to engage Kakashi in a war of attrition.

As a teammate who had spent a long time with Kakashi, Rin Nohara was well aware of Kakashi’s weakness: he couldn’t fight at full power for extended periods.

Due to his Chakra, Kakashi was very cautious with every attack, spending his Chakra wisely to ensure every Ninjutsu served its purpose.

Whether it was a powerful Lightning Release slash like Flash or a strong Lightning Release like Pseudo-Darkness Purple Lightning, Kakashi wouldn’t use them too much in battle, typically not more than twice in a single fight.

But when using the Summoning Technique, Rin Nohara suddenly felt a ripple.

She somehow sensed the thoughts of Feebas, who was far away in Konoha.

Feebas wanted Rin Nohara to summon it; Feebas wanted to help her fight, even if it was just to block one or two Ninjutsu for her.

Rin Nohara didn’t quite understand why this was happening, but she quickly soothed Feebas in her mind and continued to summon Katsuyu.

How could she summon Feebas? Feebas didn’t even have any attacking ability and was not much different from an ordinary fish.

Summoning Feebas would undoubtedly just make Feebas a punching bag, and Rin Nohara couldn’t bring herself to do something like that.

But then, something even more surprising happened to Rin Nohara: a Flash of white smoke, and two figures, one white and one yellow, appeared.

Feebas had actually been summoned along with Katsuyu!

Rin Nohara’s Ninja knowledge was challenged; it was the first time she had known that the Summoning Technique could work like this.

“Please, Lady Katsuyu, please heal me with all your might,” Rin Nohara quickly stated Katsuyu’s mission.

At this point, Rin Nohara didn’t have time to think too much, because Kakashi wouldn’t give her that much time to think.

“Understood, Rin. Leave the healing to me,” Katsuyu crawled onto Rin Nohara’s back.

“Little Beauty, quickly swim to the edge of the arena, or you’ll be caught in our attacks.” After assigning Katsuyu her combat mission, Rin Nohara didn’t forget to tell Feebas to stay away from the battlefield.

It was fortunate that Kisame Hoshigaki had created the small lake, otherwise Rin Nohara would have had to send out a Water Clone to carry Feebas away.

After Feebas swam far away, it took advantage of Rin Nohara’s inattention and swam back to a spot not far from her.

To prevent Rin Nohara from noticing, it swam behind Rin Nohara and submerged itself in a deeper position.

“Why did Rin summon it? Doesn’t it have no combat power?” Kakashi, seeing this, thought Rin Nohara was hiding some trump card and stopped in his tracks.

If he really messed up against Rin Nohara, Obito would laugh at him for a lifetime.

To mess up in a situation with such a large difference in raw strength, even if Obito didn’t say anything, Kakashi himself would feel bad.

Although Rin Nohara didn’t understand Kakashi’s calculations, she took the opportunity to heal herself with Medical Ninjutsu, then sent out Water Clones to attack Kakashi.

Katsuyu spat acid at Kakashi, the Water Clones interfered with Kakashi using taijutsu, while Rin Nohara’s main body formed hand seals to use Ninjutsu.

“Water Release: Raging Stream Blast!”

Raging Stream Blast was a B-rank Water Release developed by Muzuki, and it was currently the most destructive Water Release Ninjutsu Rin Nohara had mastered.

However, Kakashi, who had mastered the Transparent World, easily dodged the water spear that Rin Nohara had painstakingly condensed, as if he could predict the future, and also casually dealt with Rin Nohara’s Water Clones.

“Is this the gap between me and them?” Rin Nohara seemed to see an unbridgeable chasm.

With the advantage of the terrain, she fought with all her might, her body injured and much of her Chakra depleted, yet she couldn’t even touch Kakashi’s clothes.

“Leaf Hand Blade!”

Kakashi used the same trick again, swinging a transparent energy wave towards Rin Nohara, preparing to end the battle.

In Rin Nohara’s current state, she couldn’t withstand such an attack again.

Bang!

A yellow figure flew backward, drops of blood falling in the air.

Feebas, behind Rin Nohara, unleashed its extreme speed, swimming in front of Rin Nohara at the last moment to block the attack for her.

“Hmm?” Kakashi looked at the knocked-back Feebas, somewhat puzzled.

He still didn’t know why Rin Nohara had summoned it.

“Little Beauty, are you alright?” Rin Nohara didn’t have time to scold Feebas for not retreating to a safe distance as she had told it to, and quickly turned back, wanting to check Feebas’s condition.

The blade Kakashi was about to swing hesitated slightly, as if an unexpected situation had occurred.

If it were a stranger, Kakashi would certainly still choose to put his blade to their neck to end the battle, but Rin Nohara was a friend and a teammate, so Kakashi walked forward, wanting to ask what was going on.

Feebas crashed into the water and then sank, and in its dazed eyes were the reflections of Rin Nohara and Kakashi, with Kakashi holding his blade, gradually approaching Rin Nohara.

“Must… must protect Rin…”

Feebas’s mind kept replaying every moment of its life with Rin Nohara since its birth.

Although it had no combat ability, Rin Nohara had never disliked it, taking meticulous care of it every day.

Rin Nohara even considered its mental health, often coming to chat with it and tell it about her own affairs, even though Feebas couldn’t reply.

The pain in its body stimulated Feebas’s nerves; it wanted power, it also wanted to help Rin Nohara like Katsuyu, and it wanted to help its contractor fight like Rockruff and the others.

“I can do it! I can still continue to block attacks for Rin.”

Recalling Rin Nohara’s past encouragement, Feebas disregarded its injuries and once again rushed towards Rin Nohara and Kakashi.

Even if it exerted all its strength, it could only splash a little water, but it could still use its relatively strong body to shield Rin Nohara from the coming storm.

At the same time, a dazzling white light erupted from the bottom of the water; Rin Nohara and Kakashi both froze, then looked down at the bottom of the water together.

Having seen Fire Dragon evolve, they could easily guess what was happening.

Splash!

“Awoo!”

Accompanied by a clear, high-pitched cry, a milky-white figure broke through the water surface and charged straight at Kakashi.

Kakashi unleashed his Chakra and instantly dodged, curiously observing Feebas’s evolved form.

At this moment, Kakashi’s mind was filled with only one word: absurd.

Looking at Milotic, he couldn’t imagine that this elegant and beautiful snake-like creature in front of him was previously a yellow fish with a bumpy body.

“Little Beauty…” Not just Kakashi, but even Rin Nohara was stunned.

Milotic’s appearance couldn’t be said to be completely similar to Feebas; it could only be said to be completely unrelated.

Milotic’s body completely lost the characteristics of its Feebas period; its body was milky white, and its red eyes shone beautifully like rubies.

Milotic’s head was relatively long, and the top of its head also had protrusions like Charmeleon, but the style was different and longer than Charmeleon’s.

Its eyebrow-like hair extended from its body, with the part connected to its eyelids being the same milky white as its body, and most of the rest being red, looking somewhat like an unfinished heart from the side, adding a touch of cuteness to Milotic.

Additionally, there were red hair-like fins covering both sides of its head, resembling red twin pigtails.

Finally, Milotic’s tail looked incredibly magnificent, not only having two different colors of scales, blue and pink, but also adorned with black stripes and red patterns.

In the lounge, Milotic’s appearance also caused a huge stir.

“What’s going on? Where did this guy pop out from?” Due to the viewing angle, Obito hadn’t seen Feebas’s evolution light, and seeing the sudden appearance of Milotic, he was momentarily confused.

“So beautiful!” Mei Terumī’s eyes widened; it was the first time she had seen such a beautiful Nin-Beast.

In Mei Terumī’s impression, Nin-Beasts were just ordinary animals that could talk and were a bit larger; she had never seen such a beautiful Nin-Beast as Milotic.

PS: This chapter is also 5k, which counts as a small daily ten thousand, please give monthly votes.

After the seventh, the double monthly votes will be gone.