Chapter 331: End of the Chunin Exam

“Damn it, he still won.” Obito was already popping champagne for Might Guy when he used Leaf Dragon God, but Kakashi managed to unleash an even stronger slash at the last moment.

And Kakashi only collapsed a little later than Might Guy, clearly also at his limit.

Listening to Hiruko announce the battle results, Obito felt incredibly bitter. When he saw Rin Nohara smiling and then looking worriedly at Kakashi below, his mood worsened.

In his mind, the person standing there should have been him.

“I must master Flame Breathing Chakra Mode as soon as possible. Then let’s see if he can withstand my Fire Release!” At this moment, Obito’s motivation for training was at its peak. He wished he could train all night to improve his strength, and then defeat Kakashi in front of Rin Nohara.

“Those two are really strong,” Asuma exclaimed, marveling at how the two fought to the very end, displaying strength that shouldn’t appear in the Chunin Exams.

Those who had special trained with Might Guy before were even more shocked. Many of them were Might Guy’s classmates and had witnessed him go from being a dead last to first in his class, and now second in the Chunin Exams.

During special training, they could still see the gap between themselves and Might Guy. Now, that gap was so immense that they didn’t know how many years of training it would take to reach Might Guy’s current strength.

“Might Guy, today your youth burned to its climax! I am proud of you!” Might Duy gave Might Guy a thumbs up, tears of emotion streaming down his face.

Although Might Guy lost the final match, Might Duy did not think Might Guy’s efforts were in vain.

On the contrary, in this Chunin Exams, Might Guy made a name for himself, letting many Konoha Ninja know that there was a Taijutsu Ninja like Might Guy who could defeat many geniuses using only Taijutsu.

Even in defeat, Might Guy only lost in the very last second. After the final move, everyone was at their limit.

As a father, Might Duy naturally hoped his child would be first, but he didn’t feel that second place was shameful, because second place had already surpassed countless Ninja. Next, as long as Might Guy continued to work hard and surpass first place, that would be enough.

In fact, Might Guy’s rapid growth to this level had already far exceeded Might Duy’s expectations, getting the opportunity to participate in the Chunin Exams at nine years old and then achieving second place.

“Might Guy, if you keep this up, you’ll definitely achieve your goal!” Might Duy decided he would definitely make a big meal tonight to celebrate properly.

The audience in the arena discussed the battle with lingering excitement, the final performances of both fighters were stunning and unexpected.

“Letting Kakashi follow Minato was indeed the right decision,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a chuckle to Minato behind him.

Today’s Kakashi was truly dazzling, even more so than when he was at the Ninja Academy.

At the Ninja Academy, he merely suppressed the students of Konoha, but the Chunin Exams had excellent Ninja from other major Villages participating, making this first place particularly valuable.

Kakashi’s performance truly exceeded Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expectations. He had only wanted Kakashi to emerge from his shadow, but he didn’t expect him to not only emerge from it, but also undergo a complete transformation, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

Through these few exams, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to see the next Konoha White Fang.

“I didn’t do much. Kakashi’s excellence is mainly Muzuki’s credit. In fact, by the time I became his instructor, Kakashi’s inner shadow had already been mostly healed by Muzuki, and all the core training content was taught by Muzuki,” Minato explained, shaking his head.

Minato would not take credit for something that wasn’t his. Kakashi’s current state truly wasn’t very related to him.

At the very beginning, Minato was worried about how to teach Kakashi, but after taking over, he found that Kakashi had already been taught well by Muzuki. Aside from speaking a little less, he was normal in all other aspects.

In terms of Ninja training, Kakashi mainly focused on Breathing Technique, Lightning Release, and Earth Release. Minato certainly didn’t understand Breathing Technique, and although he had mastered a bit of Lightning Release, he wasn’t proficient in it. As for Earth Release, he simply didn’t know it at all.

For new Ninja like Obito and Rin Nohara, Minato could still teach them various knowledge about Ninja missions and how to handle different situations. Kakashi was different; he had already been a Ninja for several years, so there wasn’t much Minato could teach him.

Of course, it’s not to say there was no connection at all. Minato just felt that Muzuki played a more significant role compared to him.

“I see. But Minato, you don’t need to be modest. I see they like you very much. If there was really a big difference between you and Muzuki, Obito, with his personality, would have come to complain to me long ago,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a thoughtful expression, then chuckled.

Since Minato said so, it must be that Muzuki played a crucial role. After all, although Minato was humble, he wouldn’t be so humble as to push all his credit onto others.

“Muzuki truly has unique abilities in education, and it’s not just evident in large group instruction,” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded inwardly.

This was also one of the reasons Hiruzen Sarutobi had previously refused Danzo’s request.

Someone like Minato, who could quickly kill enemies on the battlefield, was still in the Village. How could he send out a special talent like Muzuki?

“What do you think about the final being an internal battle between your students? Did you guess that Kakashi would win?” Jiraiya asked Muzuki curiously.

Obito and their excellent performance made Jiraiya acknowledge Muzuki’s teaching level, which was almost on par with his own.

“If I had any thoughts, it would be happiness for them. As for who would win, I didn’t think about it, after all, they are both my disciples,” Muzuki replied after thinking for a moment.

He truly hadn’t speculated on who would come in first, because Kakashi and the others were all similar in strength. Anyone could win; it completely depended on their performance. In such a situation, Muzuki found it difficult to guess, and as they were all his disciples, he couldn’t favor one over the other.

During the recent battle between Might Guy and Kakashi, as soon as Might Guy used Leaf Dragon God, Muzuki immediately activated his Byakugan. He saw that Might Guy had indeed forcibly opened the Fourth Gate.

Actually, if it were a normal Fourth Gate plus Leaf Dragon God, Kakashi wouldn’t have won, because Transparent World also depends on one’s own strength; the stronger one is, the better the Transparent World works.

However, Might Guy forcibly breaking through the Fourth Gate caused significant damage to his body, which is why Might Guy collapsed first in the end. This was no longer a matter of willpower; his body simply couldn’t withstand it, and being able to speak a few words was already an extraordinary display.

“Since they are all your disciples, it doesn’t matter who wins. It’s all over, hurry up and buy groceries,” Tsunade said, expressing her anticipation for tonight’s dinner.

“Lady Tsunade, my disciples are so badly injured, do you think it’s appropriate for me to go grocery shopping now?” Muzuki subtly hinted to Tsunade.

Without Tsunade’s treatment, Muzuki felt Might Guy would be bedridden for at least a month.

Kakashi wasn’t much better off. Might Guy was injured from forcibly opening the Fourth Gate, but Kakashi was also severely injured after being hit by Leaf Dragon God, and then overexerted his body while already in a severely injured state.

“I see they’re indeed very seriously injured. Tsunade, why don’t you help treat them first?” Jiraiya chimed in.

At this moment, both Kakashi and Might Guy looked extremely miserable, clearly having sustained severe injuries.

“I’ll help treat them first, alright? But you’ll have to make even more delicious food tonight,” Tsunade emphasized.

“Hehe, what’s the point of just eating? I’ll bring a bottle of good sake and we can eat and drink,” Jiraiya chuckled.

“You just want to freeload off my meal!” Tsunade said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, instantly seeing through Jiraiya’s true intentions.

“Haha, sharing good things is more fun, isn’t it?” Jiraiya, exposed, continued shamelessly.

Tsunade stated that the sake had to be good; if he dared to bring ordinary sake to freeload, she would make Jiraiya taste her fist. This was a grand meal she earned through her work.

Jiraiya chuckled and agreed, then the group headed to Konoha Hospital.

Shisui stayed for a while, then bid farewell to Muzuki. After watching their battle, Shisui couldn’t sit still for a moment.

Forget about being first in his team, he probably could only consistently win against Rin Nohara now. Shisui wasn’t confident he could beat any of the three, Obito included.

Shisui couldn’t comprehend this speed of improvement but was greatly shocked. He had to train even harder to catch up.

“Muzuki-sensei, I’m heading back too,” Obito said, preparing to slip away after seeing Shisui leave.

Why stay and wait for Kakashi to wake up and mock him? Obito didn’t want to be verbally assaulted by Kakashi.

He had no way to retort against Kakashi, who took first place. When you win, anything you say is fine. When you lose, even your breathing can be picked apart.

At this moment, Obito had only one thought: to seize the time to train, surpass Kakashi while he was recovering from injuries, and then defeat Kakashi. That way, he could continue to mock Kakashi.

Obito had already thought of his lines: on the day of the Chunin Exams, he didn’t eat breakfast at his usual spot, which affected his performance, allowing Kakashi to win by fluke, but in reality, he had always been stronger.

Muzuki nodded. There were people to take care of them at the hospital, and with Might Guy and Kakashi in the same room, Kakashi wouldn’t be lonely.

Once he had some free time, Muzuki glanced at his system panel.

【Disciple Uchiha Obito has diligently trained under your guidance and gained some strength, receiving the reward — Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet (Mastery Level)】

【Disciple Might Guy has diligently trained under your guidance and gained some strength, receiving the reward — Reverse Lotus (Mastery Level)】

Both Obito and Might Guy had earned upgrade rewards.

The rewards were good, but they weren’t of much use to Muzuki at the moment. The mastery-level Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet was very powerful, but Muzuki wasn’t really lacking in offensive Fire Release right now; the mastery-level Great Fireball Annihilation was equally powerful.

The Reverse Lotus was slightly more useful, because while it was useless to Muzuki, it was a good taijutsu for the current Might Guy. He could teach the Reverse Lotus to Might Guy.

Muzuki didn’t see any rewards related to the Chunin Exams. He guessed that the system would only settle them after the results were out.

Muzuki was a little excited about this, after all, his three disciples had all performed very well, with Obito, the lowest ranked, still making it to the Four Finals.

…

After the third exam ended, Genshi summoned the Hidden Mist examinees who had entered the third exam.

Mei Terumī felt a bit uneasy, thinking that Genshi would most likely criticize them. After all, none of them had made it to the finals this time, and there was only one in the Four Finals. She, who had aimed for first place, had fallen in the quarterfinals.

Facing an influential Hidden Mist Village elder like Genshi, even Kurosawa, who was extremely arrogant in front of Kakashi and the others, lowered his head and walked into the designated room like an obedient child.

Zabuza, on the other hand, looked indifferent, playing the rebellious type.

Kisame Hoshigaki was expressionless; he was already the best performer in Hidden Mist, so even if there were punishment, it would be the lightest.

But to Mei Terumī’s surprise, Genshi did not criticize them. Instead, he smiled and said, “Everyone worked hard this time, and the Village will remember your contributions.”

“Although the final results were a bit worse than Konoha, this was after all a battle in Konoha, so they had an advantage.”

Genshi’s actions surprised the Mist Ninja. Genshi did not blame them for failing to get first place, but rather comforted them that Konoha had home advantage and that they should not be sad about the defeat.

This instantly made some Mist Ninja feel flattered. This was Elder Genshi, who was second only to the Mizukage in Hidden Mist Village.

In fact, if Genshi had cursed them, no one would have objected, as they knew they had indeed messed up this time, and their later performance was completely dominated by the Konoha Ninja.

“However, we cannot forget our failures because of this. We must deeply remember the image of our defeat and use it as motivation to train and improve our strength,” Genshi continued.

With his discerning eye, he could tell that it wasn’t that the Mist Ninja were incapable, but rather that the Konoha Ninja participating in the Chunin Exams were incredibly strong.

Therefore, he had no intention of blaming the Hidden Mist examinees; he merely wanted to promote a few geniuses and gain some goodwill in the process.

The Mist Ninja nodded in agreement, feeling that Genshi was indeed a highly respected elder of Hidden Mist.

After some encouragement and a few words of wisdom, Genshi’s image grew benevolent and grand in the hearts of many Mist Ninja.

After all, in the Village of the Bloody Mist, there were very few high-ranking officials with such approachable personalities. If you didn’t complete a mission well, it was already good if they didn’t kill you.

Mei Terumī breathed a sigh of relief. Not being criticized should not affect her path to Mizukage later.

But Genshi’s next words made Mei Terumī a little nervous again.

“Kisame, Mei Terumī, Zabuza, you three stay. Everyone else can leave,” Genshi said when he felt it was time.

Soon, only Genshi and Mei Terumī and the others remained in the room.

“You three are all geniuses of Hidden Mist,” Genshi said with a smile.

Obito was already so strong, yet even in his quarterfinal battle with Mei Terumī, he was suppressed for a period of time, which was enough to show Mei Terumī’s strength. As for Kisame, there was no need to mention him; he almost defeated Might Guy in the Four Finals.

As for Zabuza, although his performance was far from Mei Terumī and Kisame, he was already the youngest and best performing among the remaining people.

Kurosawa’s performance was similar to Zabuza’s, but Kurosawa was older than Zabuza.

“Kisame, your abilities are very strong. I think you can train in the Anbu. Also, if you two have any doubts about Water Release that you can’t understand, you can come to me for questions,” Genshi finally said.

Mei Terumī instantly beamed with joy and nodded repeatedly. Being able to follow Genshi greatly increased her chances of becoming Mizukage.

Sorry, I watched the game today, so the update is late. Although I had anticipated it, I still didn’t expect to be defeated 3-0. I feel a bit sad and got stuck writing. I’ll write more tomorrow.