Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 224 Preliminary Rounds

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened in the following days. Except for the next morning, when Sakura was also sent back to the tower by Naruto using the Flying Thunder God Technique, she noticed that Satsuki's expression was unusually pale, and a low-pressure atmosphere surrounded him, so she didn't dare to ask any further questions.

Although the five-day wait was quite boring, Class 7 decided to make full use of this time to recharge and be in the best condition for the upcoming assessment.

Subsequently, the other Konoha teams arrived one after another. To everyone's relief, Naruto's classmates from Team 8—the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga—all successfully passed the second test without any serious injuries.

It seems Orochimaru has indeed left, and Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru's right-hand man, is also nowhere to be seen, presumably having fled with him. This discovery brought Naruto some relief.

The five-day deadline finally passed. The final tally showed that 18 candidates had passed the second round of assessments. They were guided by the Konoha Anbu to another location, a spacious plaza. In front of the plaza stood a massive, imposing stone arm adorned with hand seals. The Jonin instructors from each team, as well as the examiners for this exam, were all present.

Naruto even spotted Fugaku Uchiha among the examiners. But what struck him as odd was that Satsuki never looked in her father's direction, nor did she approach him to greet him. This unusual silence bothered Naruto.

In the team training the Jonin, Might Guy excitedly said to Kakashi, "Kakashi! Every time I think about your subordinates, I really envy you! Although my subordinates are equally excellent, they still have a long way to go compared to Naruto."

Kakashi replied without turning his head, "To say such discouraging things? That's so unlike you."

"This isn't meant to be discouraging, but rather to face the facts! After all, the path of youth is sometimes filled with bitterness and harshness! But speaking of which, even your other two subordinates, that genius from the Uchiha clan, are probably still slightly inferior to my adorable disciple Rock Lee in terms of taijutsu!"

"...Hmm?" Kakashi finally turned his head, his one exposed eye filled with pure confusion, and slowly asked, "What did you just say?"

This completely heartfelt, harmless disregard instantly froze Kai's enthusiasm on his face. The frustration of being utterly ignored made veins bulge on his forehead, and he clenched his fists tightly.

Damn it... Is he deliberately trying to provoke me with this tactic of ignoring me? Kai roared inwardly. As expected of... my eternal rival! I'll remember this tactic!

Immediately afterwards, the Third Hokage, standing at the very front, began to explain the rules of the final exam.

Hiruzen Sarutobi first explained the deeper meaning of the Joint Chunin Exams, which essentially stated that the performance of the examinees in the exam directly symbolized the strength and potential of their respective ninja villages, thus affecting the host country's evaluation of the village and the subsequent allocation of missions.

This is essentially a miniature war disguised as an exam, but in reality a competition between nations, much like a sports meet... a brutal sports meet where lives could be lost at any moment.

Immediately afterwards, a man who was coughing incessantly, pale-faced, and wearing a standard ninja vest walked forward unsteadily.

"Ahem... I am the examiner for this preliminary round, Hayate Gekko. Just to let you know, what follows is the preliminary round of the third exam. Ahem... Since the official competition is an individual battle, and considering the number of participants, you may choose to withdraw now."

He coughed incessantly as he explained the rules, looking as if he might cough himself to death at any moment, which made some candidates worry – is this examiner really okay? It seems that even the most exhausted candidates who have been in the Death Forest for five days are in much better condition than this man!

Although some candidates were somewhat dissatisfied with Gekko Hayate's explanation—that the third official examination would invite daimyo and important figures from various countries to attend, and the competition time was limited, so more than half of the candidates needed to be eliminated through the preliminary rounds—no one raised any objections, perhaps because even if they did, it would be useless.

"It seems... cough cough... no one has chosen to withdraw," Moonlight Gale said weakly. "Then, the qualifiers will begin now. The rules are individual matches, with exactly 6 teams and 18 players in total, for a total of 9 matches."

"There are no extra restrictions in the rules. The battle will continue until one side dies, falls, or voluntarily surrenders. If you don't want to die, surrender in time. The players for each match will be randomly matched by that electronic screen."

Naruto looked up at the huge LED electronic display screen... Good, he no longer even had the desire to complain. It seems he has gotten used to the distorted technology tree of this world.

As the names on the screen began to scroll rapidly and the lights flashed quickly, the screen finally settled, revealing the opponent for the first match.

However, when the two groups of names were seen, the entire examination room fell into an eerie silence, and everyone froze in place.

[Naruto Uzumaki VS Sasuke Uchiha]

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