"Just now, weren't you quite arrogant, kid?!"
Just as he stepped onto the platform, Tatsuma felt countless malicious glares, as well as some angry voices from the ninjas. Although many of them knew Tatsuma, he was still too arrogant.
Tatsuma glanced around at the nearly hundred ninjas in front of him, showing a sincere smile, and said, "To reach this final round, I believe you all are very talented and capable ninjas.
You also have the ability and strength to become the backbone of the village, so I'll give you a piece of advice: don't think about defeating me, but rather defeating those around you. Only in this way,
will your talents be recognized by those Jonins, thus winning opportunities for promotion. If you insist on attacking me alone, then your performance will be unanimously deemed inadequate."
"Hmph! Are you saying I'm not as good as you?!"
One of the Uchiha ninjas angrily said, and Tatsuma raised his hand, looking innocent, and said, "Sorry, I'm not targeting you specifically. I mean everyone here is not as good as me!"
"Ahh~~"
As soon as the words were spoken, the entire platform erupted, even the Jonins watching around showed astonished expressions.
After all, facing hundreds of Genins who were highly likely to be promoted to Chunin, even they might not fare well. A single mistake, if one's rhythm was disrupted by another, could result in being surrounded and defeated.
Among these participating ninjas, there were many from the Secret Jutsu clans, even owners of Kekkei Genkai like Sharingan and Byakugan. Even without any tacit cooperation among them, simply rough group attacks could cause significant damage.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen on the high platform slightly shifted his seat, feeling somewhat uneasy. After all, in his impression, Tatsuma wasn't someone arrogant.
Moreover, as someone who has been seasoned for several years, Sarutobi Hiruzen considered himself familiar with all sorts of human nature. When Tatsuma spoke just now, he surprisingly felt that Tatsuma had no intention of insulting anyone.
He felt Tatsuma was stating the fact: "You all are strong enough to become Chunin, but I am stronger." This was the first time Sarutobi Hiruzen had seen someone like this, or rather, not the first time.
In his youth, there was also someone in the village whose strength was unimaginable, yet hewere extremely friendly, never sparing compliments for others. However, that person wouldn't provoke others' emotions like this.
Moreover, Sarutobi Hiruzen believed that person had the ability to do as they said.
'Could it be... 'S arutobi Hiruzen suddenly remembered a battle report from last year, where Tatsuma killed two Jonins along with forty Chunins, but how could such a thing be replicated?
Through Uzumaki Mito's attitude, Sarutobi Hiruzen actually guessed some of the situation at that time. Unless Uzumaki Mito intervened again, there was nothing that could help Tatsuma defeat so many people.
However, whether it was Uzumaki Mito or Tatsuma, Sarutobi Hiruzen believed they couldn't use that kind of power to harm fellow villagers. But if that was ruled out, what else could it be?
Moreover, even if Tatsuma had some hidden cards, what made him think Minato could also achieve it? It's worth noting that this assessment specifically prohibits the use of Summoning beasts, so the powerful Summoning beasts from Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest couldn't be of assistance.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze shifted to Minato. Although Minato didn't have Tatsuma's confidence on his face at the moment, he didn't show any negative emotions like fear, resentment, or regret either.
Obviously, Minato seemed to believe he could do it too.
"Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama."
At this moment, a Jonin beside Sarutobi Hiruzen reminded him. Sarutobi Hiruzen snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that everyone on the platform was looking at him, waiting for him to announce the start of the match. Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and declared:
"Chunin exam, third round, begin!"
With these words, almost all the ninjas on the two platforms made the same judgment, rushing towards Tatsuma and Minato, seemingly trying to get them off the platform first.
"Swoosh~"
Minato showcased his full speed, continuously darting through the crowd, but he didn't immediately attack. Instead, he kept observing his opponents.
In the midst of chaos with hundreds of people, he maneuvered without any hindrance. This wasn't merely about speed; it also involved route planning, observing, predicting, and avoiding the actions of people on the route.
While some Jonins had Minato's speed, not everyone possessed his level of analysis and reaction. Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in extreme satisfaction.
This kid, Minato, is truly fast!
Then his gaze fell on Tatsuma. Compared to Minato's agility, Tatsuma's performance was more direct.
Tatsuma dodged while grabbing the arms, wrists, or shoulders of one ninja after another, using strength surpassing everyone else in the arena to forcefully throw them off the platform.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow quickly furrowed because, from his perspective, he could tell that the ninjas Tatsuma chose were of lower skill level. While this reduced some ninjutsu, it also left more space for those truly talented and capable ninjas to attack him. These ninjas wouldn't easily reveal their weaknesses for Tatsuma to exploit.
swish!
clang!
As expected, amidst the melee, a ninja blade struck Tatsuma's left shoulder from the side. If it weren't for the ninja armguard tied to his left upper arm, his entire left arm might have been slashed.
Seeing Tatsuma injured, those around him revealed expressions of joy, ready to accelerate their attack rhythm to expose more vulnerabilities. Surprisingly, Tatsuma also smirked.
The injury to his left shoulder just now was intentionally exposed by him. He wanted to see if this situation would be judged as combat, as real combat sparring couldn't be activated otherwise.
Feeling the pain in his left shoulder quickly subside, Tatsuma knew his attempt was successful. Of course, he also prepared for the fact that he couldn't activate the Shiro Yaksha effect.
With his mastery of clinical Medical Ninjutsu, he could quickly heal the wound from the blade just now. However, now he could better enjoy the "combat."
Tatsuma's pace slowed abruptly, seemingly affected by his injury. He no longer displayed the previous continuous barrage that sent over twenty people flying, but instead engaged in constant skirmishes with those around him, no longer eliminating opponents in succession.
"He's going to exhaust himself."
Seeing Tatsuma's conservative pace, one Jonin commented, while another Jonin nodded in agreement, adding, "Without stopping the bleeding, the injury will also accelerate his stamina loss."
The opinions of the surrounding Jonins were similar. However, on the high platform, where Sarutobi Hiruzen had a better view, he felt somewhat puzzled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Tatsuma didn't slow down his pace because of the injury.
Because the current Tatsuma appeared more composed. He also noticed several opportunities to directly eliminate opponents, which Tatsuma chose to forego. Based on Tatsuma's physical reactions, he definitely saw and had the ability to eliminate opponents, but he didn't choose to do so.
On Minato's side, it seems he has observed enough and begun to take action. Unlike Tatsuma's earlier method of swiftly eliminating a bunch of people, Minato's approach is more cautious. He continuously intersperses the use of shurikens, kunais, and explosive tags.
This method saves a considerable amount of stamina and chakra while also limiting the opponents' routes, putting them in a situation where Minato is more composed.
Tatsuma kept observing Minato's side until Minato has gradually eliminated twenty people. Only then did he stop paying attention. He executed the Body Flicker Jutsu, breaking out of the encirclement, causing many attacks to miss.
"Earth Release! Earth Shore Return!"
The moment he landed, Tatsuma has completed his hand seals. The platform trembled as a wall of earth, surpassing the normal size of Ninjutsu, quickly rose. However, its direction is reversed.
Several people were suddenly lifted off the ground by the rising earth, and a few even landed confusedly on the neighboring platform where Minato is. Upon standing up, they charge towards Minato, who is surrounded by others. They have no idea who the surrounded person is.
However, they were quickly caught out by the surrounding Jonins and announced their elimination.
"Smart, not sticking to the conventional use of Ninjutsu."
Sarutobi Hiruzen successfully praised, watching Tatsuma becoming increasingly excited, and Minato, who also showed a confident expression. Suddenly, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that Tatsuma and Minato might not be without a chance of winning.
As long as both can maintain their stamina and not slack mentally, utilizing the lack of cooperation among opponents, even affecting their allies, gradually reducing the opponents.
This kind of situation is almost unseen on the battlefield because even in chaotic battles, someone usually comes out to command, albeit not always effectively, but the formation can still be maintained.
However, this is the Chunin Exam; nobody has the authority to make everyone obey. Moreover, the mindset of those engaged in the battle cannot be as united as in a real melee.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that Tatsuma and Minato should be able to handle the first sixty to eighty people, but the rest... that's the challenge. The remaining individuals have enough space to unleash their respective abilities without fear of accidentally harming allies.
Although there are no allies in a melee, they have now made defeating Tatsuma and Minato a shared task, so they will naturally pay attention, and hitting allies will also reduce the effectiveness of their techniques and the damage inflicted on the real target.
However, once the numbers decrease, this problem is resolved. Moreover, the remaining individuals are the most outstanding in terms of ability and strength among the group, making them much more difficult to deal with.
The situation unfolded as Sarutobi Hiruzen expected. As time passed, both sides of the platform were left with only thirty to forty people each.
At this point, both Tatsuma and Minato were somewhat out of breath, while the remaining people seem to be in better condition. Some of them haven't even attacked from beginning to end and are now at full strength.
Defeating the remaining thirty to forty people is much more challenging than defeating the seventy to eighty people before.
The pace of the battle has slowed down once again, and the remaining individuals were not actively attacking Tatsuma or Minato. The two of them had a rare moment of rest.
Standing on the two platforms, both of them simultaneously took out Military Rations Pills without any prior signal. Suddenly, they turned to look at each other. Tatsuma tossed the Military Rations Pill into his mouth and said
"Minato, it's time to show some real Ninjutsu."
"Yeah, originally I was saving it to defeat you, but now I have to use it."
Swallowing the Military Rations Pill and feeling their stamina rapidly recovering, both of them simultaneously formed the hand seals for Shadow Clone. On the high platform, Sarutobi Hiruzen also stood up. If earlier showcased Taijutsu, tactics, and extraordinary combat talent, Ninjutsu only played a small part.
Now it's time for these two boys to fully demonstrate the results of their years of Ninjutsu training. Sarutobi Hiruzen saw their stance and guessed what the final solution for these two would be.
Because that's also what he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is best at!
----
Check out my Patreon for more advanced chapters up to 50 at patreon.com/HellGolt