Back on the field, Shintaro and Kakashi, two handsome men with white hair, engaged in their third official duel.
The first two failures did not dampen Kakashi's fighting spirit.
Kakashi displayed his fighting spirit and glared with a sharp gaze.
"Why do you look like you're going to kill me?" Shintaro joked.
Kakashi regained his composure and said, "How can I have a chance of winning if I don't take it seriously?"
Shintaro flexed his muscles and said, "You don't need to think about the possibility of winning. It would be better if you didn't end up in the ward with Asuma."
Kakashi complained, "What you said is really hurtful."
Shintaro smiled.
"The battle begins."
Both formed hand seals at the same time.
"[Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu]"
"[Doton: Doryūheki]"
*BOOM*
The fireball hit the earth wall, creating an explosion of fire and dust.
Kakashi seemed to predict the ninjutsu that Shintaro would use.
In fact, it was his comprehensive judgment based on his understanding of Shintaro and his observation of the hand seals.
Before the firelight faded, two whizzing sounds were heard, and two shuriken flew in an arc toward the firelight and behind the earth wall.
Then two clanging sounds were heard, and the shuriken seemed to be blocked.
Almost at the same time, the ground under Shintaro's feet cracked.
He jumped to avoid a pair of hands emerging from the ground.
Kakashi's figure appeared from the ground.
Since the principle of [Kage Bunshin no Jutsu] is to divide one's chakra evenly to create an entity, the Six Eyes couldn't distinguish it directly.
But Shintaro knew without thinking that the one in front of him must be a shadow clone.
Kakashi would never make the same mistake in the same place.
Shintaro raised his hand and struck the opponent with [Rasengan], and the shadow clone vanished violently.
Just after retracting the [Rasengan], Kakashi had already appeared from behind the wall, approaching at high speed while forming hand seals.
"[Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga]."
He released two lightning wolves wrapped in blue arcs, attacking Shintaro from both sides.
The two lightning wolves formed a three-sided attack with the main body, and an ordinary person would be confused.
However, Shintaro was not ordinary. He quickly split into two shadow clones.
The shadow clones formed seals and used [Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu], summoning sharp wind blades to defeat the two lightning wolves.
At the same time, the main body stepped forward to confront Kakashi.
They exchanged blows and kicks for several rounds in a short time when two of Shintaro's clones came to support.
Seeing this, Kakashi formed hand seals to condense chakra and used his undeveloped new technique to force the other party back.
Then six shadow clones were separated again, aiming to gain an advantage through numbers.
Two of Shintaro's shadow clones each took on two of Kakashi's shadow clones, while the main body faced Kakashi and two shadow clones simultaneously.
The scene was very chaotic.
After a brawl, both sides used [Rasengan] in their hands.
Two of Shintaro's shadow clones each held a [Rasengan] in their hands, exchanging them with four shadow clones each.
After the main body defeated two more of Kakashi's shadow clones, Kakashi himself found a weakness and struck him with [Rasengan].
Shintaro fell to the ground, but there was no movement.
Just when Kurenai on the second floor was so worried that she was almost in tears.
Kakashi seemed to form another hand seal to "whip the corpse" of Shintaro.
"[Raiton: Shiden]."
He released blue lightning and attacked through the ground.
Shintaro suddenly jumped from the ground and easily avoided the attack.
"I knew it..." Kakashi was not surprised at all.
The touch of the [Rasengan] earlier was very strange. It felt like it hit, but there was no feedback from touching an entity.
Combined with Shintaro's slightly exaggerated acting, Kakashi concluded that the other party was pretending to be dead.
Shintaro leaped back several steps to avoid the attack.
Everyone thought Kakashi had failed, but they never expected that Shintaro had been forced beyond his limits.
It seemed that facing a stronger opponent, the Limitless Technique he always wanted to hide would still have to be revealed.
Shintaro felt that if the fight continued, all his old secrets would be exposed.
He quickly decided to confront Kakashi head-on.
"[Kage Bunshin no Jutsu]"
Shintaro immediately split into ten shadow clones this time.
This number could not be achieved by ordinary Jonin, or there was no need to achieve it.
After all, after ten equal splits, the chakra retained by each shadow clone might not be enough to sustain a battle.
The shadow clones rushed toward Kakashi, causing him to sweat coldly.
This time, he could only show his real skills.
It was the White Fang sword technique he learned from his father.
Kakashi pulled out a short sword from his back and rushed toward the shadow clones.
The shadow clones cooperated well and surrounded him.
However, he burst out with extraordinary power in the crisis.
With his beautiful and sharp sword skills combined with his natural observation, he could exploit the weaknesses among the shadow clones and defeat them one by one.
The white light flashed in the air, reminding people of the fame of Konoha's White Fang back then.
Shintaro was also fascinated at that moment.
He didn't take action until Kakashi defeated the last shadow clone.
The shadow clones couldn't use Cursed Energy and Six Eyes.
Even so, each shadow clone had almost half of Shintaro's skills.
Kakashi defeated so many shadow clones, so he was naturally exhausted.
This was the moment Shintaro had been waiting for.
He exploded with chakra, directly opening [Hachimon], rushing forward and driving him away.
The battle between these geniuses ended so hastily.
Kakashi hit the battlefield wall, barely weakening some of the impact.
Shikaku came out and announced the end of the fight.
Kakashi rested on the ground for a moment before standing up and sheathing the White Fang.
He limped towards Shintaro, glared at him with displeasure, and said, "You're paying for my medical expenses."
Shintaro laughed, patting Kakashi's shoulder, and said, "Isn't Rin there? Stop squeezing money and go upstairs for treatment."
Treatment was indeed necessary, but there was no need to wait upstairs. Hiruzen walked down and gathered everyone in front of him again.
After a heartfelt speech, he praised Kakashi and Shintaro, and then personally handed certificates and Chunin vests to the candidates on the field.
Shintaro looked at the ugly green Chunin vest and wore it after hesitating.
Fortunately, his appearance was enough to pull off this vest.
Even though with Infinity he didn't need the vest's protection, it was still an identity and a status symbol.
Thus the official Chunin Exam ended.
Everyone dispersed.
The Hokage left with the examiners.
Shikaku took Asuma's Chunin certificate and vest and went to the ward to find him.
The remaining candidates also left in pairs and threes.
This time, Kurenai suggested, "Let's have a celebration party to celebrate our promotion to Chunin."
As a result, this sentence broke Obito's heart, as he was the only one among them who didn't get promoted.
He ran off without saying a word.
Kurenai realized she had said the wrong thing and became very upset. Shintaro gently patted her and said it was nothing.
After treating Kakashi's wounds, Rin said to Kurenai and Shintaro, "I'll go find Obito, so I won't attend the celebration banquet. Enjoy your meal."
Rin then hurried to catch up with Obito and left as well.
Team 7 lost Rin and Obito, and Team 8 lost the injured Asuma.
Only three people were left, and there seemed to be no celebratory atmosphere.
So Kurenai called Anko, who was present as a spectator.
Shintaro suggested having a barbecue, and Anko suggested eating dango.
Kakashi said it didn't matter.
So the decision was left to Kurenai.
She saw Anko's pitiful expression and still leaned toward her best friend.
"Let's eat dango."
Shintaro nodded with a bit of disappointment.
Kurenai quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, it's sweet."
Shintaro's eyes lit up, and he instantly found the joy of food again.