Upon hearing the Kazekage's words, Ōnoki looked somewhat confused. "What do you mean? Kazekage, your disciple has already sparred with Konan?"
The Kazekage chuckled. "Indeed. On the second day of our arrival in Konoha, I brought Sasori to visit the Hokage. He sparred with both of his disciples, and just like Chōza, he lost quite thoroughly."
Seeing Konan's strength, the Kazekage no longer held out hope for Sasori to win the championship.
Given that Konan had hidden her true power yet still defeated Sasori, Yahiko must also be concealing a great deal of his strength.
However, his own disciple had fought Yahiko and Konan holding virtually nothing back.
Even with the boost from the medicinal herbs, it would be difficult to close the gap, not to mention that the Hokage's two disciples also received the herbs.
Securing a top-three spot, the Kazekage felt, was already quite good. It was fortunate that Sasori didn't encounter Yahiko or Konan in the first round; otherwise, they might as well have gone home directly.
Upon learning this news, Ōnoki looked at the Kazekage with a hint of indignation. "Why didn't you call me? I would have brought my juniors to learn a thing or two as well!"
Seeing how strong the Hokage's disciples were, Ōnoki felt a bit uneasy. The children he had chosen probably weren't strong enough to defeat Konan.
But if there had been a chance to spar, it would have been different. With his own ninja expertise, he certainly could have analyzed their weaknesses.
It was just a shame that the Kazekage had kept such an opportunity to himself!
The Kazekage shook his head helplessly. "Tsuchikage-sama, it's not that I didn't think of you. I originally planned to take Sasori to spar, but you didn't have any juniors with you at the time, so I couldn't very well call you."
Ōnoki grunted, seemingly agreeing with the Kazekage, and promptly changed the subject.
"I must say, Hokage-sama's disciples are truly exceptional. To be able to create so many ninjutsu at such a young age, their future is limitless."
Hearing Ōnoki say this, Torifu also sat up straight. "Speaking of training disciples, I do have some insights. Creating one's own ninjutsu, I imagine you all have a firm grasp on this already and have developed your own understanding."
"I use my own insights to educate my disciples, fostering their mindset and methods for creating ninjutsu. I've been teaching them to develop their own ninjutsu practically from the moment they began their training."
"This method is quite effective. I suggest you all try it as well."
As soon as Torifu spoke, both the Kazekage and Tsuchikage nodded.
They automatically ignored some of Torifu's humble bragging and extracted the useful points for themselves.
"Hokage-sama is indeed right; understanding the mindset behind creating one's own ninjutsu can be a huge help to a ninja's path," Ōnoki agreed.
However, for a ninja to learn to create their own ninjutsu at a young age, they must be a genius; it's the only possibility.
An average ninja, even given a lifetime, might not be able to develop a single self-created ninjutsu.
Self-created ninjutsu also served as the dividing line between geniuses and ordinary individuals.
However, the disciples taken in by the Kage were undoubtedly geniuses among geniuses. They were cultivating high-level combat power for their villages, so they had strict standards for talent when taking on apprentices.
It wasn't absolute, though; there were always exceptions, but such exceptions were ultimately rare.
Using the Hokage's method to educate disciples, training their minds from a young age, was indeed an excellent approach.
While excessive focus on self-created ninjutsu might cause their cultivation to lag, as long as the foundation was laid well, their entire lives would be smooth sailing.
The three Kage began to chat animatedly about the topic of self-created ninjutsu, with only Mifune feeling out of place.
As a samurai, he had absolutely no common ground with these ninja. Listening to them discuss creating ninjutsu didn't quite resonate with him.
Perhaps it was similar to samurai creating their own combat techniques and sword styles?
He tried to voice his opinions a few times, but the three Kage, after hearing them, found that the samurai's training methods differed from ninja, offering no relevant insight.
This led to Mifune being sidelined once again.
It proved that one should not force oneself into a circle where they don't fit, otherwise, they would end up in such an awkward predicament.
Fortunately, the matches soon resumed, and the Kage ended their intense discussion, beginning to watch the competition seriously.
The morning quickly passed. Around a dozen rounds had been completed, with a few still unfinished, to be continued in the afternoon.
It was worth noting that Torifu had gotten the matchups list from Anka, and Yahiko seemed to have received a bye, advancing directly to the next round.
His luck was unbelievable; Torifu could only congratulate him.
After the morning session, Torifu did not take Yahiko and the others home. Instead, he found a restaurant and treated the two Kage and Mifune to a meal.
Konan and Yahiko, meanwhile, went home to cook for themselves. Winning the match did not change Konan's mindset; she simply considered it a very ordinary competition.
It was nowhere near as satisfying as her fight with Sasori that day. After all, Sasori wasn't from their village, so there was no need to worry about injuring him.
But Chōza was one of their own, so she had held back throughout the fight, unable to go all out.
If Chōza knew this, he would be utterly distraught. For him, it had been a grave match where he had given his all.
Yet his opponent felt she had held back—it was truly insulting.
"Alright, Chōza, there's nothing to be down about. Losing to Konan-sama isn't really shameful," Shikaku consoled Chōza.
He had never seen his brother so downcast.
When Chōza fought Konan, Shikaku and Inoichi were both present, initially thinking their brother would dominate.
Instead, he was utterly dominated, eliminated directly without even making it past the first round.
Losing the match under the watchful eyes of the crowd was indeed difficult to bear.
Inoichi also advised, "Shikaku is right; that's Hokage-sama's disciple. We can't compare. Minato and I are the same age, but he's already a Jōnin and even aiming for Elite Jōnin, while I'm just a Chūnin."
And as far as he knew, Minato was found by the Hokage outside the village. Konan, Yahiko, and even Amado were all brought back from outside the village by the Hokage.
Only the Hokage could teach orphans and vagrants to become geniuses who utterly outclassed their peers.
The geniuses of their prominent clans, despite receiving support from their entire families, couldn't compare to the disciples taught by the Hokage.
Inoichi had found it hard to accept at first, but now he had grown accustomed to it.
Minato was now someone he could no longer hope to chase, and his original ambition had naturally been extinguished.
This battle had also allowed Chōza to clearly see his own strength, which was a good thing for him, enabling him to settle his restless heart.