Chapter 517: A Strong Person Worthy of Attention
After all the facilities required for the Martial Arts Tournament were completed, Mugetsu announced the news of Hanzo's attendance, along with the full details of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
The tournament had already gone through several rounds of promotion. People who were interested had been waiting specifically for the official schedule and confirmed guest list. The moment the announcement went out, shinobi who wanted to compete or watch immediately began flooding into the Land of Rain.
In Konoha, it was not just the geniuses Hiruzen had personally asked about. Quite a few young shinobi also wanted to participate, hoping to broaden their horizons.
After all, the registration fee was only 68,900 ryo, a small sum for shinobi. Even if they failed to win prizes, they could still see the legendary Ninja Master Sosuke with their own eyes.
Since leading one group was no different from leading two, Hiruzen gathered the other shinobi who wanted to participate and had Mugetsu lead them to the Land of Rain.
"You guys rank up way too fast. Even Shisui is already a jonin," Asuma could not help blurting out.
He had graduated the year Shisui enrolled, yet Shisui was a jonin while he was still a chunin. That promotion speed was absurd.
"Hehe, want to know our secret?" Obito laughed.
Asuma's eyes lit up immediately. Kurenai and Raido leaned in too.
"First, defeat one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," Obito said with complete seriousness. "Then complete a few S rank missions. That's all."
Asuma's team fell silent.
If they ran into one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and still got promoted to jonin, they would be dead.
Besides, the Hidden Mist currently did not even have seven. There were only two left.
Since the Hidden Mist had shown no intention of making peace, Konoha naturally could not return the swords. To prevent them from being retrieved through any special method, the captured blades had been sealed away.
Without the swords, there was no way to form new members. The Hidden Mist might only have two Swordsmen for a long time unless they were willing to forge new swords.
"The secret is great," Asuma said dryly, then patted Obito on the back. "Just a little exhausting."
Then he sighed again.
"But with you guys entering, Konoha might take all the prizes. I wonder if the Shinobi Sect will mind."
Asuma understood exactly how monstrous Obito and the others were. He trained hard, but the gap only kept widening.
During their special training, Obito had only been slightly stronger than him. By the chunin exams, Obito could already crush him.
Asuma had not seen Obito fight recently, but Obito's ability to assist Kakashi in killing Suikazan Fuguki during the battle against the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist was more than enough proof.
"As long as we don't get unlucky and run into our own people, we'll definitely place high," Obito said confidently.
His experiences across missions and battlefields gave him more than enough confidence.
"Do not underestimate the rest of the shinobi world," Kakashi warned. "The restriction is under eighteen, not under twelve."
Kakashi was neither arrogant nor self deprecating. He never denied he was a genius.
But he also did not believe he could casually defeat everyone in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament outside of Mugetsu's disciples.
He was still too young. Eleven years old.
Other participants might not be as talented, but they had up to seven more years of training. It was hard to say where the line would be.
"Kakashi, do you know anything about the participants?" Obito asked.
Obito also understood the age factor, which was why he only said they would rank high rather than claiming they would sweep first through fourth.
"A little, but not much," Kakashi replied, shaking his head.
Very few shinobi became famous around eighteen. The previous generation that did, like Minato, had already passed that age.
"So you don't know either," Obito complained. "Then why do you always act like you know everything?"
He hated it most when Kakashi showed off, especially in front of Rin.
Kakashi just smiled and did not bother responding.
Since the Shinobi Sect's base was not especially far from Konoha, Mugetsu chose a later departure time.
By the time they arrived at Six Paths City, the place was already bustling. Shinobi filled the streets, and forehead protectors from all kinds of villages flashed everywhere.
Everyone here had their own goals. Only a handful of fools would dare cause trouble, and the Shinobi Sect dealt with them quickly, so the atmosphere remained surprisingly harmonious.
"So many people, and there are even shinobi from enemy villages!" Obito exclaimed.
It was his first time seeing so many shinobi from different villages gathered in one place. Just a glance showed countless different symbols.
In sheer numbers, the shinobi forces on a battlefield looked more overwhelming, but those forces all wore the same forehead protector. This was a different kind of spectacle entirely.
"It proves the Shinobi Sect is competent," Kakashi commented.
With the shinobi world as tense as it was, getting this many shinobi from different villages to coexist peacefully without fighting was not easy.
Even if there were only one or two squads present, clashes were normal.
After settling their lodging, Kakashi and the others formed a group to register.
The Shinobi Sect's guidance was clear, and they easily found the Youth Martial Arts Tournament registration area.
Still, when Kakashi saw the crowd, he felt they could have found it even without directions. There were far too many people packed here, not only competitors registering, but also the people traveling with them.
"That's Kisame from the Hidden Mist," Guy said, spotting a familiar Mist shinobi in the crowd.
Kisame had once cornered Kakashi and the others during the Forest of Death stage of the chunin exams, and he had introduced himself then. Guy remembered him.
"Kisame Hoshigaki?" Kakashi paused at the name Guy said so confidently, and had to think for a moment to make sure he remembered it correctly.
"Wasn't it Kisame Hoshigaki?" Guy asked back, still confident. "I remember we even exchanged a few words during the third exam."
Guy's certainty made Kakashi hesitate. Had he remembered wrong?
"The Hidden Mist came too," Obito said, staring at the Mist shinobi he had narrowly beaten during the chunin exams. "When the time comes, we'll defeat them again, just like on the battlefield."
Even though he had already gotten revenge during the third stage, winning again would feel even better.
At that moment, Kakashi's senses sharpened.
Such powerful chakra.
Kakashi, who had already entered Transparent World, suddenly detected a frighteningly strong presence.
He had only activated it because so many competitors were gathered here, and he expected to run into a few strong opponents. He did not expect to find an unfamiliar powerhouse immediately.
Kakashi subtly shifted his position and deactivated Transparent World, then noticed something else.
That shinobi was not wearing a forehead protector.
No forehead protector.
Either they were unaffiliated, or from a non village background.
There were powerful shinobi outside villages, but they were rare. Under eighteen made them even rarer.
"Lightning Fang Kakashi, Green Beast Might Guy, Shisui the Body Flicker, the Konoha geniuses are all here!" someone shouted.
Kakashi and the others were not yet famous across the entire shinobi world, but they had built reputation in the surrounding lands.
Obito immediately looked around, searching for the speaker.
They praised Kakashi, Guy, and Shisui, but not him.
Were they looking down on him?
Unfortunately, there were too many people. Conversations overlapped everywhere, and Obito could not find who had shouted.
Mei and Hozuki Mangetsu's group turned their heads at the familiar names.
"It really is them," Mei muttered, brows tightening. "The pressure just went up."
Aside from Obito, whom she could somewhat handle, she felt she would definitely lose to Kakashi, Guy, and Shisui.
"Might Guy…" Kisame stared at Guy, the memory of that crushing defeat during the chunin exams still vivid.
"Are those the Konoha geniuses who drove back the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?" Mangetsu's eyes gleamed with interest.
If the Hidden Mist still had its swords, he believed he had the ability to become one of the Seven Swordsmen himself. In his mind, that made Obito's group his peers.
"It's Baki from Sunagakure," a shinobi from a small village said, recognizing the newly arrived Sand shinobi team.
"So many geniuses from the major villages…" Several shinobi from smaller villages began to feel their courage fading.
They had thought the wartime situation might reduce participation, giving them an opening.
But after thinking it through, sending a few young squads would not affect the war much anyway.
Even those who did not plan to compete decided to stay and watch. Since they were already here, they might as well see the matches before leaving.
…
On June 25th, the Youth Martial Arts Tournament began its preliminary rounds.
The preliminaries were not open to spectators. For the audience, the elimination stage after preliminaries was when the tournament truly began.
Since the number of participants exceeded two hundred, Mugetsu split them evenly into eight sections.
Each section would produce four finalists for the elimination stage.
Competitors would fight round after round until only four remained in their section. That was the end of the preliminaries.
After drawing lots, Obito and the others gathered to compare numbers.
"I'm number one in the second section," Obito said, holding up his slip first. "What about you guys?"
"Number fifteen in the eighth section!" Guy said with a bright grin.
Everyone else instantly felt relieved.
If they ended up in the same section as Guy, that was just bad luck.
"I'm number one in the first section," Kakashi said next.
"I'm number ten in the fifth section," Shisui added.
"I'm in the fourth section," Rin said with a smile. "We're all separated."
According to the format, that was good. If they met in the first match of the same section, one of them would be eliminated early and never reach the elimination stage.
Rin's concern was unnecessary, though, because the section distribution was manually arranged by Mugetsu.
The point of preliminaries was to preserve the excitement of the elimination rounds. Mugetsu separated the strongest competitors so that true talents would not get knocked out early by unlucky brackets.
"Kakashi, Obito," Rin reminded them gently, "hurry to the second section's arena. You're both in the first match."
All eight sections fought simultaneously, not one after another.
"Alright," Obito said, then glanced back at Rin. "Rin, do your best too. When it's your turn, I'll be there cheering for you."
"You too, Obito," Rin replied, nodding seriously. "Never underestimate your opponent. Even if they're weaker than you, you still have to give everything."
"After your match, collect information on the other competitors," Kakashi added, then headed toward the First Section arena.
Kakashi moved quickly, so his match began not long after he arrived.
"First round," the referee announced after checking the list, "Competitor Number One, Kakashi Hatake, versus Competitor Number Two, Daizo Ueoka."
Whoosh.
The moment he heard his name, Kakashi used Body Flicker and appeared on the field.
Daizo went stiff when he realized who he was facing.
Kakashi Hatake, the Lightning Fang.
It took the referee calling his name a second time before Daizo stumbled onto the field, panicked.
What a terrible draw, Daizo cursed inwardly. They actually made me fight the Lightning Fang.
"Begin!" the referee shouted once both sides were ready.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Daizo instantly pulled shuriken from his pouch and threw them.
Even though Kakashi had a record of killing one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Daizo could not just surrender once he was already on the battlefield.
Clang. Clang.
Kakashi swung the White Fang short blade lightly, cutting down every shuriken.
Then he focused his breathing and exploded forward with terrifying speed.
Daizo only felt Kakashi accelerate.
Before he could make a second move, the blade was already pressed against his neck.
The gap is this big… Daizo's eyes widened in disbelief.
He knew he would lose, but he never imagined he would be defeated after throwing only one round of shuriken. He had at least expected to last two or three exchanges.
"Competitor Number One, Kakashi Hatake, wins!" the referee declared immediately.
Kakashi sheathed his blade and stepped off the field. He entered Transparent World to scan the shinobi in the First Section. After failing to find anyone worth noting, he left and headed for the Second Section.
"Competitor Number One, Uchiha Obito, wins!"
The moment Kakashi arrived, he heard Obito's victory announced.
Obito stepped off the field in high spirits and happened to see Kakashi walking in.
His smile immediately dimmed.
He had just been thinking he would go cheer Kakashi on, but Kakashi had finished even faster.
"I'm going to check Sections Three, Six, and Seven," Kakashi said. "Are you coming?"
Those sections did not contain Mugetsu's disciples, and Kakashi wanted to see whether there were any competitors worth paying attention to.
The sections where their own group was present did not need much observation. They could exchange information at night.
"No," Obito refused. "I'm going to Section Four."
Kakashi felt he might need to occasionally keep an eye on Section Two as well. Obito did not seem reliable for gathering information.
When Kakashi arrived at Section Three, he spotted someone in the middle of a fight.
That Mist shinobi.
Hozuki Mangetsu.
Kakashi stopped and watched. Mangetsu's chakra was not weak either.
"Fall!" An Iwagakure shinobi, dressed in stone village attire, swung his long sword and thrust straight for Mangetsu.
Mangetsu did not dodge.
He simply stood there with a faint smile, watching the blade stab into him.
He turned into water?
The Iwagakure shinobi froze as Mangetsu's body became liquid.
He yanked his sword out. The hole in Mangetsu's torso regenerated in moments, as if nothing had happened.
Still disbelieving, the Iwagakure shinobi tried to attack again.
Mangetsu casually lifted his hand, forming his fingers like a pistol and aiming at his opponent.
"Water Pistol!"
Bang!
A jet of water fired like a bullet, smashing into the Iwagakure shinobi and sending him flying backward. He crashed to the ground.
"Hozuki Mangetsu wins!"
After leaving the field, Mangetsu noticed Kakashi. Shinobi of Kakashi's build were rare, and the combination of white hair and his distinctive presence made him easy to spot.
"You're Raging Sun Mugetsu's disciple, right?" Mangetsu asked.
"That's right," Kakashi answered calmly, nodding.
Being Mugetsu's disciple was something Kakashi took pride in. There was no reason to deny it.
"Then I remembered correctly," Mangetsu said, eyes sharpening. "Don't lose before the elimination rounds, Kakashi Hatake."
Kakashi's expression did not change.
One of the Hidden Mist's jinchuriki had been eliminated by Konoha. It was normal for Mist shinobi to hate him.
And if Kakashi remembered correctly, Mugetsu had killed a powerful shinobi named Hozuki Mangetsu on the East Bank battlefield. There might be a connection here.
"You look confused," Mangetsu continued, his tone almost smug. "I'm not petty, so I'll tell you. Hozuki Mangetsu is my uncle."
His voice carried genuine emotion.
"We didn't meet many times, but he really is my biological uncle."
Kakashi was briefly speechless.
Why would he be confused?
This Mangetsu looked normal, but the way he talked felt strangely similar to Obito.
Kakashi decided it was not worth entertaining further. He said nothing and headed straight for Section Six.
"Competitor Number Three, Hashori, versus Competitor Number Four, Hisashi Uda!"
Section Six was a little slower.
When Kakashi arrived, they were only on the second match of the first round.
So his name is Hashori, Kakashi thought, stopping to watch.
This was the shinobi he had noticed earlier through Transparent World, the one with unusually strong chakra.
"Begin!"
The referee's command fell, and Hisashi drew his sword and rushed in.
Hashori calmly pulled out a kunai to meet him.
The difference in strength was obvious. Hisashi was quickly caught off guard and kicked down.
Just as he tried to scramble back to his feet, his eyes widened.
His body was moving on its own.
What is happening?!
Before he could even understand it, he watched helplessly as he stabbed his own sword into his abdomen.
The other competitors watching also sucked in breath, stunned. No one understood why Hisashi suddenly turned his blade on himself.
"Sasori wins!" the referee declared immediately, preventing the injury from becoming fatal.
The moment the call ended, Hisashi regained control. He yanked the sword out, clutching his wound in panic.
Chakra threads.
Kakashi, returning to Transparent World for a brief check, saw several thin threads touching Hisashi's body after he fell.
A puppet master?
If there was any group known for mastering chakra threads, it was Sunagakure's puppet users.
High level puppet masters could control multiple puppets at once, attacking from all directions and making them extremely difficult to deal with.
Kakashi was unsure only because Hashori did not wear a Sand forehead protector.
The Youth Martial Arts Tournament was too high profile. Winning would bring honor and potentially missions to a village. There was no reason for a village shinobi to hide their allegiance.
I'll come back and watch again after the second round, Kakashi decided.
If he continued to finish his own matches quickly, he should be able to reach Section Six before Hashori's next fight.
Next, Kakashi moved to Section Seven.
It was a good thing he did.
Because he got the shock of the day.
What terrifying chakra.
The moment Kakashi examined Nagato's chakra through Transparent World, his pupils tightened.
It was not just large.
It was abnormal.
Outside of jinchuriki, Kakashi had never sensed chakra this powerful.
Even that description felt insufficient. Among everyone he had ever sensed, no one felt as unnatural as Nagato.
Kakashi did not constantly scan everyone he met. Konoha had too many powerful shinobi for that, and he was not the kind of person who treated Transparent World like a hobby.
It's that member of Akatsuki, Kakashi realized as he took in Nagato's face and memories resurfaced.
Kakashi had paid attention to Akatsuki because Naruto described it as a terrifying organization that hunted tailed beasts.
But after investigating the Land of Rain, they found the current Akatsuki was not terrifying at all. If anything, it seemed positive.
"Competitor Number Nineteen, Nagato, versus Competitor Number Twenty, Kurosawa!"
Kakashi watched the field carefully.
Kurosawa was a Mist shinobi Kakashi had encountered during the chunin exams. He was not on the level of Kisame or Mei, but he was still solid.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"
The moment Kurosawa stepped onto the field, he retreated and exhaled thick mist that swallowed the arena.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
Nagato formed hand seals calmly and exhaled a compressed sphere of wind.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The moment it landed, the sphere detonated into a violent storm. The thick mist was instantly torn apart and blown away.
But Pressure Damage did not stop there.
A high pressure mass of wind tore across the field, cracking the ground itself.
Kurosawa had not expected such a terrifying technique right from the start.
The pressure slammed into him, and he vomited blood on the spot, thrown backward like a rag doll.
Kakashi stared.
During the chunin exams, these Mist shinobi had been fierce.
So why did they look so weak now, getting dropped instantly by one move?
The technique is strong, Kakashi assessed, but if that's all, it can still be handled.
Compared to Nagato's exaggerated chakra, the level of his ninjutsu did not impress Kakashi as much as he expected.
Obito and Shisui's Fire Release, and Kakashi's own Lightning Release, could all reach that level, and could go even further when boosted by breathing based chakra.
Still, Kakashi's eyes narrowed.
I'll come back during the second round.
Today, besides handling his own section, Kakashi decided he would keep watch on Sections Six and Seven to study Hashori and Nagato.
Hashori had shown too little so far to judge.
But Nagato, with that chakra and his Wind Release, was absolutely someone worth paying attention to.
[TL: Hashori here is Sasori this is his alias during this tournament]
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