Soon, under the gaze of the entire audience and the Hokage, a slender figure slowly emerged from the passage.
Dressed in a black robe adorned with golden lotuses, with a paper flower adorning her blue-violet hair, this person was Konan.
When Konan appeared in the arena, the entire audience fell silent.
Chōza, who had been brimming with confidence just moments before, now wore a face full of shock: "H-how can this be! Why am I so unlucky!"
The next second, a roar of cheers erupted in the arena!
"It's Konan-sama! The Hokage-sama's student! Konan-sama!"
Seeing the audience's overwhelming enthusiasm, Konan was a little surprised. Normally, when she saw everyone in the village, they weren't this excited.
Was it because of today's match?
Without overthinking it, Konan extended her hand and waved to the villagers in the spectator stands. Under the tutelage of Torifu and Naori, Konan, at just eleven years old, was already incredibly polite and well-mannered.
She was a true lady through and through, but once she entered combat, that ladylike demeanor vanished instantly.
Originally, the sentiment in the spectator stands was that Chōza would easily overwhelm his opponent and quickly claim victory.
But after Konan appeared, everything reversed, and the villagers overwhelmingly sided with Konan.
Even the clan members of the three major Leaf clans began to cheer Konan's name.
There was no other reason other than Konan being simply too mysterious, and her missions were always alongside Jiraiya, the village's most enigmatic ninja.
Almost no villager had ever seen Konan in action, let alone participate in any competition!
So they were extremely excited to be able to witness Konan's combat in the arena, the fight of the Hokage's disciple!
"It's over! It's all over! My son!"
The Akimichi Clan Head stretched out his hand towards the arena, as if wanting to pull his son back, unable to bear seeing him disgraced in the match.
It could be said that however joyful he had been a minute ago, that's how despairing and helpless he was now.
The Yamanaka and Nara Clan Heads also had no recourse and could only pat their old friend's shoulder: "Alright, alright, it's just one match. That boy Chōza needs a loss to temper his arrogance; this is perfect."
The Akimichi Clan Head turned to glare at his two old friends, who were barely suppressing their laughter, and snapped: "Why don't you two send your sons up to get beaten by the Hokage-sama's student! All you do is stand here and talk nonsense."
The Nara Clan Head finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing: "Because my son was lucky; he already advanced."
"Because my son was overage and didn't participate."
These two old geezers seemed intent on infuriating the Akimichi Clan Head to death before they'd stop, but the Akimichi Clan Head also knew his two old friends' temperaments.
So he didn't bother arguing with them and resignedly sat down, beginning to ponder how he would comfort his son later.
He didn't believe Chōza could defeat the Hokage's disciple. The Hokage had four disciples in total: one was the First Hokage's grandson, whose Wood Style was now almost on par with the First Hokage's.
Another, Minato, was currently an incredibly powerful young genius within the village.
Only Konan and Yahiko, because of their young age, hadn't made many public appearances, but disciples taught by the Hokage were certainly extraordinarily powerful.
By this time, Konan had arrived in the arena, and seeing the boy before her, who was a head taller and significantly wider than herself, she offered a gentle smile.
"Hello, I'm Konan. What's your name?"
Chōza stammered: "I… I am Akimichi Chōza."
Konan nodded: "I've heard that name. You're a formidable opponent, and I will give it my all."
After she spoke, Konan's gaze grew resolute, and her words were broadcast throughout the entire arena.
Countless people felt a pang of sympathy for Chōza.
Chōza himself was also quite helpless, but in such a setting, he couldn't show cowardice: "I will also give it my all!"
Seeing this, Anka felt a bit sorry for Chōza.
"I declare, the match officially begins!" He then immediately jumped off the platform, making space for the two.
"Chōza, please be careful. My ninjutsu can be quite sharp."
Chōza patted his chest: "Come on! I don't have many strengths, but I'm tough as nails!"
Then, Chōza made the first move, popping some soldier pills into his mouth and rapidly expanding his arms!
His already massive physique became even more terrifying, his arms now large enough to encompass two or three Konans.
But such a large build also meant clumsiness. Without the assistance of other Nara or Yamanaka clan members, Chōza's agility was greatly diminished.
Konan saw those enormous hands bearing down on her like an overwhelming storm, yet she showed no panic.
The next second, a large quantity of white paper burst from her chest, fluttering and dancing across the entire arena!
Instantly, the entire arena seemed to be raining white paper.
"What is this!" Chōza felt a flicker of alarm. He had initially thought they were explosive tags, but a closer look revealed they were all just white paper.
What was Konan doing with so much white paper? The spectators present were all filled with doubt.
But immediately after, they gaped, watching the scene before them in disbelief.
"Dance of Paper Shikigami."
Konan leaped high into the air, and then the countless white papers fluttering in the sky seemed to come alive.
They rapidly swarmed towards Konan, coalescing behind her into a pair of wings, allowing her to soar through the sky.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this!"
Chōza was utterly bewildered. He had no recollection of such a ninjutsu.
Not just him, even the clan heads of the major families were puzzled and shocked. They had never seen such a ninjutsu, one that could even allow a ninja to fly!
Konan ignored Chōza's questions, deftly dodging his attacks in the air.
His massive size meant Chōza couldn't keep up with Konan's speed at all, forcing him to try and predict her landing spots.
But Konan's flight was erratic and unpredictable, leaving Chōza completely stumped.
Yet, this wasn't even the worst of it. What truly frightened Chōza was that Konan was rapidly forming hand signs in the air.
"Paper Shuriken!"
There were at least several hundred white papers still in the air above the arena. Konan could easily control them through the Wind Release chakra attached to the paper.
The chakra consumed was not much.
Under the gaze of the entire arena, the sky-full of white papers folded themselves into shuriken in mid-air.
And they swiftly assailed Chōza!
Chōza tried to block them with his large hands, but the shuriken were imbued with Wind Release chakra and made from a primary substance.
Though they appeared to be white paper, they were in fact no different from steel shuriken.
In just a few strikes, the paper shuriken had already carved out several wounds on him.
Chōza immediately realized that he couldn't withstand these attacks directly. He curled himself into a ball and began to spin rapidly.
"Human Bullet Tank!"