Chapter 722 I fight the Hokage?

With no restrictions on participation, rewards far exceeding the previous one, and the added boost of peacetime, the Shinobi Sect’s second Martial Arts Tournament created an unprecedented spectacle.

Even Six Paths City, which had been continuously expanding, became somewhat crowded with the sudden influx of a large number of people.

The participants certainly wouldn’t fill Six Paths City, as Ninja are a minority group; the main reason was that this grand event attracted many ordinary people.

Some people wanted to find reliable Ninja through this Martial Arts Tournament to complete missions, others simply wanted to watch the exciting battles of Ninja, and some wanted to seize the opportunity to make a fortune in Six Paths City.

In short, for various reasons, the population of Six Paths City reached its peak since its establishment.

“So many people! What if a thousand Ninja participate? How long would the preliminaries be?” Obito couldn’t help but complain as he entered Six Paths City and saw the crowds.

Currently, Six Paths City was bustling with people, and many of them were Ninja.

“A thousand Ninja is probably an exaggeration, but there will definitely be more than last time, especially since the number of spots for the elimination rounds has doubled this time,” Kakashi said, shaking his head.

Even in the last Youth Martial Arts Tournament, some Ninja with Jonin strength barely made it into the elimination rounds and were quickly eliminated.

This Martial Arts Tournament had no age limit, so the competition would inevitably be more intense, enough to deter many ordinary Ninja who knew their limits.

Of course, since there were rewards for just entering the elimination rounds this time, there were certainly still some Ninja fantasizing about sneaking in, so the number of participants would definitely be much higher.

“Isn’t that the Third Raikage and Raikage Candidate from Hidden Cloud Village? Were they also invited to watch?” Obito, looking around aimlessly, spotted a group of muscular, dark-skinned strong men.

“Perhaps,” Kakashi didn’t pay much attention.

It wasn’t wartime; if they met, they met. Besides, Muzuki was here, so what problems could arise?

Due to the large number of people, Konoha had specifically booked a hotel for its Ninja.

They had made arrangements before coming, so they could just check in upon arrival.

Once the team arrived at the hotel and rooms were assigned, Muzuki, as the Hokage, took the Konoha Ninja who needed to participate in the competition to register.

There were so many Registration Ninja that Obito felt dizzy just looking at their headbands.

“Oh, it’s that baby-faced Hidden Mist Ninja who was captured by Teacher Muzuki,” Obito discovered the old acquaintance, Yagura Karatachi.

Yagura Karatachi had led teams into battle against Muzuki’s unit twice: once he was beaten by Muzuki and fled back to Hidden Mist territory overnight, and once he was directly captured.

Because Yagura Karatachi had very distinctive features, Obito had a deep impression of him.

Yagura Karatachi looked like a young genius, but in reality, he was old enough to be Obito’s father.

Obito continued to look in Yagura Karatachi’s direction and soon saw the Third Mizukage, talking to a Registration Ninja.

Just as Obito was curious, something even more captivating to him quickly happened on Konoha’s side.

“No way, old man, are you participating too?” Asuma was dumbfounded, looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi who was registering.

He thought Hiruzen Sarutobi was just accompanying them as a team leader, like Muzuki, but he never expected Hiruzen Sarutobi to actually participate in the Martial Arts Tournament.

Asuma’s words attracted the attention of many Ninja in the Konoha team.

The Sōsuke assassination plan was top secret, and many participating Konoha Ninja didn’t know that Hiruzen Sarutobi was going to participate.

“The path of Ninja is endless. It’s a rare opportunity to exchange ideas with various strong individuals,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said without changing his expression.

Asuma:…

In other words, he really might encounter his father in the Martial Arts Tournament.

Asuma was numb; what kind of situation was this?

“Obito, do you still have confidence in taking first place?” Kakashi couldn’t help but mock him in a low voice.

“Uh, in competitions, participation is what matters. Just give it your all,” Obito replied, feigning nonchalance.

However, his sweating hand still revealed Obito’s inner unease to Kakashi.

“Wait, if that’s the case, then the Third Raikage and the Third Mizukage…” Obito suddenly thought of something a bit terrifying.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was participating, so was there a possibility that the Third Raikage and the others weren’t invited to watch, but were also going to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament?

Fine beads of sweat uncontrollably appeared on Obito’s forehead.

If it was truly as he thought, forget first place, even getting into the Four Finals would be a huge success.

Some Ninja noticed the unusual nature of this Martial Arts Tournament, silently put away their prepared registration fees and documents, and turned to leave.

Although the number of elimination round spots had doubled, there were too many strong Ninja, making it difficult to sneak in.

Any Ninja who had participated in the previous Martial Arts Tournament could easily notice this point.

Because in the last Martial Arts Tournament, there weren’t many participants from the Five Great Ninja Villages; most were Ninja from small Ninja Villages and various Ninja Organizations.

This time was different; a casual glance at the registration desk showed many headbands from the Five Great Ninja Villages.

“Are the Five Great Ninja Villages trying to divide up the Martial Arts Tournament rewards together, with so many Ninja coming?” a deterred Ninja couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

In fact, when registration closed and the list was submitted, the relevant personnel of the Shinobi Sect were greatly shocked and quickly contacted the registration office, asking if there were any errors.

There was no way around it; this list looked too terrifying.

The Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages were all present; except for Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was the former Hokage, Rasa and the others were all the current Kage of their respective Ninja Villages.

And in addition to the Kage, the list also contained many well-known strong individuals from the Five Great Ninja Villages.

For example, Sunagakure’s hero Pakura, Iwagakure’s Kitsuchi, Kumogakure’s AB Combo, Hidden Mist’s Yagura Karatachi…

And the Ninja Sect Ninja at the registration desk very affirmatively told the verifiers that there was no mistake, and the Kage had all come in person to register.

Due to the extremely important identities of the participants, coupled with the presence of many strong individuals, the list of participants was reported layer by layer to the high-level officials of the Shinobi Sect.

“What are these Great Shinobi Villages planning? Why are they all flocking to participate in the competition?” Kakuzu stroked his chin, feeling there was a conspiracy.

The Five Kage had already informed the Shinobi Sect before setting off, so Kakuzu knew they were coming.

However, Kakuzu didn’t believe the Five Kage’s reasons for participating. From any angle, the current Martial Arts Tournament was not worth the participation of Ninja of Kage level.

A Raikage Candidate would be more appropriate.

“Could it be that our arrangements in the Land of Rivers have aroused their apprehension, and they’ve secretly united to deal with us?”

Although it sounded a bit incredible, based on Kakuzu’s experience, nothing was impossible.

“It should be like that, but there’s no need to worry. This will be a successful competition,” Muzuki said, looking out the window.

With his current strength, the Great Shinobi Villages gathering together would only save Muzuki some trouble.

“Anyway, with you here, they can’t cause any trouble,” Kakuzu nodded.

Since Sōsuke was so calm, nothing could go wrong.

“That’s true, but this Martial Arts Tournament is really exaggerated. I feel like if I have a little bad luck, I won’t even make it into the elimination rounds,” Yahiko couldn’t help but scratch his head.

He had wanted to achieve a good result this time, but he didn’t expect the Five Great Ninja Villages to come together for a team-building exercise at the Martial Arts Tournament.

“Just do your best,” Nagato said with a faint smile, comforting him.

If it came to confidence, Nagato was actually the most confident person in the office, besides Muzuki, regarding the Shinobi Sect.

Nagato might still worry if the Four Great Shinobi Villages united, but if the Five Great Ninja Villages united, Nagato felt like laughing.

The Hokage of Konoha was their Shinobi Sect’s leader.

…

The preliminaries officially began on February 4th.

Considering that there would be many participating Ninja this time, the Shinobi Sect had expanded the preliminary venue in advance and re-planned it.

The current preliminary venue had a total of four major areas, with each area having four competition zones.

The promotion rules were still consistent with the previous Martial Arts Tournament: the top four in each competition zone would advance to the elimination rounds.

After drawing lots, Obito and their familiar Konoha Ninja gathered together for pre-match discussions.

“Which competition zone are you guys in? I’m in A1 competition zone, number thirty,” Obito said, holding up the white strip in his hand.

“A4 competition zone, number twelve,” Kakashi replied briefly.

“I’m also in A4 competition zone,” Rin Nohara said, a little surprised.

“Luckily, I’m number twenty-five, otherwise I definitely wouldn’t make it into the elimination rounds this time.”

Since each competition zone had thirty-two participants, according to the Shinobi Sect’s system, every eight sequential numbers would produce one elimination round spot, for example, numbers one to eight would produce one, nine to sixteen another.

Rin Nohara’s number was far from Kakashi’s, so there was no need to worry about being eliminated by Kakashi.

“Obito, I’m in the same competition zone as you, but I’m number eight, so we won’t run into each other,” Asuma said, punching Obito’s chest.

“That’s good. We’ll go together later,” Obito said with some regret.

Being in the same competition zone as a good friend was nice, but being in the same competition zone as Rin Nohara would be even happier, if their numbers weren’t too close.

The others also reported their respective competition zones: Shisui and Yamato were in A3 competition zone, while Might Guy was in B1 competition zone.

“Are they putting Ninja from the same Ninja Village in one area?” Kakashi thought, noticing that most of them were in Area A.

To confirm this, Kakashi asked some other Konoha Ninja about their competition zones, and sure enough, most Konoha Ninja were in Area A.

“To ensure that the Great Shinobi Villages’ elimination round spots don’t differ too much?” Kakashi considered from the Shinobi Sect’s perspective and came up with a possibility.

Just then, the arena broadcast sounded, reminding participants to head to their respective competition zones for preparation.

“See you later,” Obito waved goodbye to his companions and headed to the A1 competition zone with Asuma.

Since it wasn’t a big deal, Kakashi didn’t think too deeply. After waving goodbye, he went to the A4 competition zone with Rin Nohara.

As soon as they arrived at the A1 competition zone, Obito and Asuma froze.

“Looks like our luck isn’t so good today,” Asuma said helplessly, looking at the incredibly familiar figure.

Obito nodded in agreement.

There were sixteen competition zones in total, and by a strange coincidence, Hiruzen Sarutobi was in their competition zone.

“Please don’t let it be number twenty-five or higher,” Obito prayed inwardly.

He didn’t want to be eliminated by Hiruzen Sarutobi in the preliminaries; Kakashi would laugh him to death.

He had boasted before the match that he would fight for first place, but he couldn’t even make it into the elimination rounds. What a joke.

Soon, the preliminaries officially began.

“First round, contestant number one, Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi, versus contestant number two, Kenji Ishida,” the Shinobi Sect referee said, looking at the list in his hand, silently adding a respectful suffix to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s name.

He was, after all, an existence at the pinnacle of the Ninja World, so he deserved some respect.

The Shinobi Sect referee’s single sentence instantly broke the hearts of several Ninja.

Hearing the words “number one, Hiruzen Sarutobi,” Asuma’s vision went black.

Damn!

The contestants not in the one to eight range felt a wave of relief. Regardless of their final ranking, at least they still had a chance to enter the elimination rounds.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his long beard. He didn’t use Body Flicker Technique, but slowly walked onto the battle arena.

And the Grass Ninja Jonin named Kenji Ishida followed with steady steps.

But everyone present was a Ninja, with observation skills far beyond ordinary people, and they instantly noticed Kenji Ishida’s slightly trembling hands and the fine sweat beginning to form on his forehead.

Undoubtedly, Kenji Ishida was under immense pressure at this moment.

When he officially stood on the battle arena and looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi opposite him, Kenji Ishida felt a moment of trance.

No one told him he had to fight the Hokage before he entered the competition. He heard that if he advanced to the elimination rounds, he would get a Ninjutsu scroll, so he came.

“Battle start!” the referee shouted when he saw both ready.

“I surrender!” Kenji Ishida bowed at an extremely fast speed.

He’d be crazy to actually fight Hiruzen Sarutobi.

If it were some young strong individual, he might still try with a “since I’m here” mentality, but this was the Third Hokage, the ultimate form of a genius, at the pinnacle of the Ninja World.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi accidentally used a little too much force, he might just cease to exist.

There was no need to fight hard for that small registration fee; it really wasn’t worth it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi retracted the hand he was about to extend.

“Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi wins!” the referee promptly announced the battle result.

And so, the first match in the A1 competition zone ended at light speed.

None of the onlookers thought there was anything wrong with Kenji Ishida’s actions; surrendering to the Hokage was not shameful.

Normally, a Ninja of Kenji Ishida’s caliber wouldn’t even have the chance to surrender to Hiruzen Sarutobi; they were not in the same league.

Such a scene also occurred in other competition zones.

In the B1 competition zone, facing the fierce-looking Third Raikage, his opponent wisely raised his hand and surrendered.

In the C1 competition zone, the Third Mizukage had just stepped onto the ring, and before the battle even began, his opponent directly forfeited.

In the D1 competition zone, Ōnoki’s opponent left the arena and surrendered the moment the referee shouted “start.”

In the D4 competition zone, Rasa’s opponent forfeited cleanly.

As the pinnacles of the Ninja World, the Kage’s oppressive presence was simply too strong. Since all the Kage were number one, many Ninja who were in the same competition zone as the Kage and were within the first eight numbers directly forfeited their matches and went to different competition zones to watch the Ninja they wanted to see.

Normally, there weren’t many opportunities to watch high-level Ninja battles, so paying the registration fee as a spectator fee was not a loss.

Since most of the contestants within the first eight numbers had forfeited, Asuma also received the same treatment as Hiruzen Sarutobi, being directly advanced to the third round without needing to fight.

Although this was a battle destined to have no victory, Asuma had no intention of forfeiting.

He hadn’t trained for nothing all these years. If Hiruzen Sarutobi underestimated him, he might even suffer a small loss at his hands.

PS: Please vote at the end of the month. If I can stay in the top hundred, I’ll have operating funds to send out points next month…