"Number Twenty-Five Terumi Mei versus Number Thirty Uchiha Obito!"
With the referee's voice echoing into the resting room, Terumi Mei and Obito quickly walked to the battlefield.
"Currently, I am the highest achiever among all Hidden Mist Ninja, I shouldn't let Master Gen down, but I still need to strive to reach the semifinals. Only the top four in this match can receive a reward," Terumi Mei thought.
Even the worst fourth-place reward is worth million ryo's Chakra Blade.
Terumi Mei wouldn't need to resell it; the money received could easily fund a commission to collect ice cream of all varieties from the Ninja World.
"I absolutely cannot lose, there is still one punishment quota left," Obito thought with a serious expression.
The rules they set were that the first two disciples eliminated would face a punishment similar to losing an intra-clan fight. Since Nohara Rin wasn't involved, one more disciple needed to be eliminated for Obito to avoid the agony of solving questions.
For the sake of his beautiful life, he must not fall here, no matter what, he must advance to the semifinals!
Thinking of this, Obito looked at Terumi Mei, and Terumi Mei was also looking at him. Both saw strong fighting spirit in each other's eyes, realizing that the other had a reason to win.
"This Terumi Mei's Water Release is strong, and Hidden Mist Jutsu can obscure the Sharingan's vision, seems like a good counter against Obito." Watching from the audience seats, Nohara Rin was a bit worried about Obito's upcoming battle.
"This is the battle intensity that the quarterfinals should have; previously, he was lucky because his opponents were too weak," Kakashi said.
Reaching the quarterfinals, one could say there are no weak ninjas; even Asuma, purely on personal power, could be considered quite capable as a Jonin, but the others are more exceptional.
Obito really drew an excellent lot this time; his opponents in the first and second rounds were at the bottom of the elimination level, even in the quarterfinals, it's not much different.
Among the eight quarterfinalists, Terumi Mei's power was relatively low, but due to countering relationships, it was a level harder for Obito.
However, compared to opponents like Nagato or Might Guy, even with attribute countering, Terumi Mei was a bit easier to deal with.
"Ah-choo." Obito suddenly felt an itch in his nose and sneezed, suspiciously looking around.
He always felt like Kakashi was speaking ill of him behind his back.
"Come to think of it, Kakashi is eliminated now too; maybe he's watching the fight with little Rin and intentionally derogating me!" Obito thought of a very bad possibility.
Obito cursed the damn white-haired bastard under his breath, his expression becoming serious; now he not only had to win but also had to win beautifully, so Kakashi couldn't pick faults.
"Begin the match!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Although the opponent is a defeated foe, this is a match he cannot lose. Obito was exceptionally steady; he didn't enter Breath of Flame Chakra Mode with grand moves like in the first and second rounds, but instead opened with the classic Uchiha Fire Release.
The Great Fireball isn't always the best choice, but it is a good choice most of the time.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Terumi Mei quickly formed hand seals and exhaled a dense mist; within a few breaths, the battlefield was shrouded in thick fog.
The failure of the Chunin Examination and Obito's elimination match let Terumi Mei understand Obito's fighting style.
At times, Obito and Terumi Mei are quite similar; both are cannon-type ninjas, though Obito uses Fire Release while Terumi Mei uses Water Release.
Theoretically, both being cannon-type ninjas, Terumi Mei with Water Attribute should have an advantage.
However, Terumi Mei can only act as a cannon-type ninja, while Obito also possesses decent Taijutsu, which is deadly for Terumi Mei.
Therefore, Terumi Mei's strategy for this match is to use Hidden Mist Jutsu to prevent Obito from approaching, then use large-scale Water Release attacks to strike Obito remotely.
Even in the Hidden Mist Jutsu, Terumi Mei lacks vision, but the Hidden Mist has special training that allows them to stealth and locate by sound within dense mist.
"I dislike this ninjutsu." Watching the battlefield engulfed in mist, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire couldn't help but complain.
Even the Sharingan couldn't see through the mist, let alone an ordinary person like him.
"Me too, it's too murky," the Daimyo of the Land of Rain nodded in agreement.
The officials all chimed in.
On the high platform, Kakuzu was contemplating whether to ban large-scale vision-obscuring ninjutsu in future martial arts tournaments; it's hardly worth watching.
"It's that annoying jutsu again." Seeing Terumi Mei disappear within the thick mist, Obito sighed lightly.
He found that not only was the Fire Attribute inferior, but the Sharingan seemed useless too; ordinary people couldn't see through the mist, nor could his Three Tomoe Sharingan.
"Water Release: Water Array Pillar!"
After dodging Great Fireball Jutsu, Terumi Mei quietly approached Obito's right side, releasing a massive water ball towards him.
Swish!
Although Terumi Mei could stealth, the loud water sound from the large-scale Water Release didn't escape Obito's notice, who used Instant Body Jutsu in advance to evade the incoming massive water flow.
"Ah, if only Charmeleon were a dog." Obito thought of his Summoning Beast, realizing it was of no use.
If it were Rockruff, it could track Terumi Mei in the dense mist by smell.
But Charmeleon doesn't have the keen nose of a dog, and given that Charmeleon only knows Fire Release, it's restrained by Terumi Mei's Water Release. Summoning it would merely make Charmeleon share the pain.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bomb Jutsu!"
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