Naruto: The Teaching System - 216

Chapter 216: Rasa: How Do I Watch? I'll Just Sit and Watch!

The Fourth Raikage, acting as host, stood up and shouted, "The elimination tournament's over! All genin who passed, gather at the designated location!"

His voice echoed in the distance. Sawada looked around, guessing this was specially designed for amplification. The guy's voice definitely carried throughout the entire venue.

After the Fourth Raikage finished speaking, he turned and sat back down while Samui stepped forward.

"After all genin reach the designated location, there'll be a 3-hour rest period," she announced. "During this time, Kumogakure will provide all necessary supplies to help you fully recover and prepare for the finals."

After Samui finished speaking, she didn't leave. Only then did the Fourth Raikage speak up.

"Hokage, don't you think waiting three hours would be too boring?"

Here it comes.

Sawada, Kakashi, and the others had mentally prepared themselves, ready to see what exactly Kumogakure wanted to pull.

"Oh? I wonder what Raikage-sama has in mind?" Hiruzen pulled out his pipe, lit it, and asked slowly.

"Why don't we have our respective Kage guard squads come forward? After all, these distinguished guests below can't just sit here doing nothing, right?" Fourth Raikage A said in a very casual tone.

Sawada couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. If you, Raikage, actually cared about these distinguished guests, you wouldn't have made such arrangements.

No wonder they'd said the written exam was cancelled. So this was what they were waiting for.

Hiruzen glanced at the Raikage without speaking.

"I agree. Kitsuchi, you'll go first later." Onoki directly nodded in agreement, then turned to Hiruzen. "Even someone like me who's about to be buried has agreed. As the Hokage of Konoha, the first ninja village, you have no reason not to participate, right?"

These words directly implied that if Hiruzen didn't agree, Konoha would face criticism. Especially those words, 'first ninja village.' Sawada could feel that Onoki spoke them through gritted teeth.

"Hehe, what does Kazekage-sama think?" Hiruzen ignored Onoki and turned to look at Rasa beside him.

Feeling the gazes of Onoki and the Fourth Raikage, Rasa couldn't help but mutter to himself: How do I look? I'm just sitting here watching!

If he dared to refuse, Hidden Sand Village would inevitably face various restrictions from the two great nations after returning. But if he refused Hiruzen, Rasa was also somewhat hesitant. In that case, future procurement deals would be completely impossible.

"Everything follows Hokage-sama's arrangements. I'm fine with anything here." Having no choice, Rasa could only humbly kick the ball back to Hiruzen.

Ignoring the cold smile at the corner of Onoki's mouth, Rasa didn't care about losing face at all.

"Well..." Hiruzen wasn't surprised. If Rasa had dared to directly refuse, he would've found it strange. "Why doesn't Tsuchikage-sama's side start first?"

Although he agreed, Hiruzen let Onoki's side go first.

"No problem," Onoki said without hesitation.

Only then did the Fourth Raikage look at Samui standing at the front. Samui nodded and took out a signal flare.

Bang.

People in the venue all looked up, not understanding why a signal flare was suddenly fired.

Rumble.

Standing halfway up the mountain, Sawada felt vibrations under his feet. Below the venue's spectator stands, several large rock plates sufficient to cover the entire mountain base slowly rotated out.

"Quite a grand scale," Sawada couldn't help but sigh again. Such a project couldn't be solved with just a bit of military funding.

As the stone plates moved into position, the screens in the spectator stands also changed. The location displayed was precisely the rock plates at the mountain base.

"During the waiting time, the Kage guard squads from each village will provide combat demonstrations for everyone!" Samui's voice carried directly throughout the entire venue.

The venue was first dead silent, then erupted in huge cheers.

The distinguished guests below the mountainside were all amazed. After all, this was also a rare sight. Kage guard squads were responsible for the Kage's safety, so their strength was naturally not to be underestimated.

The problem was, although everyone knew they were powerful, they'd never truly seen them in action.

"Kitsuchi, go down," Onoki said flatly.

"Yes!" Kitsuchi nodded and immediately appeared beside Samui, then fell toward the mountain base as if defying gravity.

This display directly shocked everyone in the venue.

Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock jutsu, huh?

Sawada watched Kitsuchi's figure disappear, thinking about this technique. A jutsu developed by the Second Tsuchikage, then enhanced by the Third Tsuchikage into Earth Release: Ultra-Light-Weight Rock jutsu.

It could change the gravity of objects or even oneself, thus achieving high-speed movement and flight capabilities. The downside was that it would reduce the user's physical strength.

It had to be said, this was indeed a genius invention.

"Since we're going in order, shall we choose our opponents first?" Onoki turned to ask the other Kage beside him.

Although it was phrased as a question, the meaning was definitive. Onoki wanted to designate the combatants.

Neither the Fourth Raikage nor Hiruzen objected, but Rasa's eyes narrowed slightly. If there were no accidents, Onoki would probably choose someone from Hidden Sand Village as an opponent.

"It's the Kazekage. You choose someone to go down."

Sure enough, seeing no one object, Onoki spoke directly.

The two jonin from the Kage guard squad behind Rasa looked at each other. Kitsuchi was no ordinary opponent. During the Third Ninja War, there were rumors that he'd defeated enemies by manipulating the earth itself.

Rasa withdrew his gaze. Since they were coming for him, he couldn't ignore it no matter what.

"Baki, you go."

Baki, with white cloth covering the left side of his face, immediately responded upon hearing Rasa's instruction. "Yes, Kazekage-sama!"

Then he slowly walked to the high platform and leaped down, using Wind Release to cushion his landing and touching down steadily.

This action amazed the audience watching the screen.

Kitsuchi, directly opposite him, was adjusting the bandages on his wrists. Seeing it was Baki, he wasn't surprised.

Halfway up the mountain, Sawada watched the two confronting figures on screen with interest.

Kitsuchi, as the Third Tsuchikage's son, possessed wide-range Earth Release and super-strong power suppression abilities.

Baki, as someone who'd become Gaara's jonin instructor in the future, was skilled in Wind Release and had a clear tactical mind.

Although Wind Release could counter Earth Release, it wasn't always absolute. The scale and quality of Kitsuchi's Earth Release far exceeded typical conventional Earth Release, enough to offset some disadvantages.

Moreover, Kitsuchi didn't just use Earth Release. He could also use it to turn his hands into hard rock fists. In the original work, he'd directly sent the Gold and Silver Brothers in Tailed Beast transformation flying with one punch.

Baki would very likely lose, but the question was only how Kitsuchi would make him lose.

The judgment Sawada made was based not just on information, but more on the attributes of the two fighters. The strength gap was too large, unless Baki could successfully deliver a fatal blow to Kitsuchi.