"There's no question about Obito losing this time. Aside from being a bit weaker in Taijutsu, Nagato basically has no weak points at all; he's really hard to deal with." Kakashi shook his head as he spoke.
Nagato's performance gave Kakashi a kind of unfathomable feeling. At this point it wasn't even about whether he was a genius or not—this was already the level of a Ninja World powerhouse, just lacking the battle record to prove himself.
Kakashi felt that even that Minazuki Kan they ran into on the Hidden Mist Battlefield might not be able to beat the current Nagato.
Heavenly Attraction plus Almighty Push, offense and defense in one, and on top of that the ability to absorb Ninjutsu—if he patches up his Taijutsu, he really won't have any weaknesses.
"Mm, Obito and Charizard both did their best." Nohara Rin nodded in agreement.
"It's just, it feels like Obito totally forgot what I told him before." Nohara Rin showed a helpless smile.
She'd specifically reminded Obito not to push himself too hard, yet he still ended up fighting like crazy.
But Nohara Rin could understand. In the fight, Obito really did create a chance for himself to win; he just didn't seize it.
When you have a chance to win, who would calmly accept defeat.
"When you treat his injuries later, you could tell him 'I'm really disappointed in you.' Obito would probably take everything you say extra seriously for a long time." Kakashi thought for a moment and said.
Even though Obito had never said it out loud, his behavior was way too obvious. In Kakashi's eyes, Obito might as well have written the words 'I like Nohara Rin' across his face.
Nohara Rin waved her hand. "How could I say that? Obito still got a great result with second place. Saying that would hurt him too much."
She was actually planning to comfort Obito later, to tell him not to get discouraged and to keep working hard to surpass Nagato.
Kakashi didn't press the point; he'd just been joking. If Nohara Rin really said that, Obito would probably be depressed for at least half a month.
Kakashi could already picture what Obito would be like then.
Absolutely dead eyes, muttering nonstop, "I'm such an idiot. Since I was going to be second anyway, I should've just..."
"Since Nagato is this strong, could he be the future leader of that evil Akatsuki?" Thinking about the future, Kakashi raised his head and glanced at Kakuzu up on the high platform.
According to the intel from Yamato and the others in the future, Kakuzu was one of the members of the future evil Akatsuki, who together with his Akatsuki partner Hidan killed Asuma of that era.
In Kakashi's view, for a group that's entirely composed of S-Class Traitorous Ninja, the leader has to possess absolute power; otherwise there's no way he could suppress those traitors under him.
After all, S-Class Traitorous Ninja are definitely not the type to be easy to get along with. Without overwhelming strength to keep them in line, the organization would fall apart in a few days—how could it ever grow big and strong.
Nagato was already at the level of a Ninja World powerhouse at such a young age. If he kept up his cultivation, he was basically charging straight toward the peak of the Ninja World, so it wouldn't be strange at all if twenty years later he had the strength to suppress S-level traitors.
"Deidara, Sasori, Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan." Kakashi wore a pensive expression.
Ninja Sect not only had current Akatsuki members like Nagato and Yahiko, but also future evil Akatsuki members like Kakuzu, which gave Kakashi a constant feeling that Ninja Sect might eventually fall and degenerate into the evil Akatsuki.
"There's still just not enough information." Kakashi pressed down the thoughts in his heart.
In fact, he'd already met quite a few members of the evil Akatsuki.
For example, Hoshigaki Kisame, who was still a Hidden Mist Ninja and hadn't defected yet, and Uchiha Itachi, who was still just a brat who hadn't even started cultivating.
But for now, nothing really stood out about them; they were still acting fairly normal.
"As expected of a ninja with a Sage Eye, his growth speed is just too fast." Nagato's performance made Hanzo secretly startled.
Back when they besieged Ninja Sect, Nagato had erupted once. Compared to that time, the current Nagato was without a doubt a true powerhouse.
Absorbing Ninjutsu, repelling attacks—these two abilities might not be invincible, but they're extremely useful in actual combat.
"Since the tournament is over, I won't stay any longer. There are still many matters in the Rain Village that require my attention." Hanzo spoke with a serious expression.
Now that the tournament was finally over, Hanzo didn't want to stay a second longer; every extra minute he sat there felt like torture.
A Sosuke giving him mental pressure, a Kakuzu giving him real-world pressure—who could endure that.
Even though he essentially hadn't done anything all day, Hanzo felt like he'd been undergoing some kind of ascetic training.
"Official business comes first. In that case, senior, you should head back and deal with your affairs." Seeing that Hanzo was about to snap, Mokgetsu didn't try to make him stay.
After all, Hanzo had both boosted the Martial Arts Tournament's popularity and helped Ninja Sect with publicity; they couldn't push him too far.
"Come by often, all right? Ninja Sect and Rain Ninja are one big family." At the moment of parting, Kakuzu dropped his usual aggressive posture and waved Hanzo goodbye.
Hanzo's mouth twitched. If he could beat Mokgetsu, and if Mokgetsu didn't have dirt on him, he wouldn't have wanted to come at all.
Pretending not to hear, Hanzo hurriedly led his guards and trusted aides back to the Rain Village. As for the regular Rain Ninja, they would make their own way back.
"This Martial Arts Tournament is far more interesting than the Chunin Examination." With the tournament over, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire lightly fanned himself, looking quite satisfied.
Konoha also invited the Daimyo when they held large-scale Chunin Examinations, but clearly the level of excitement couldn't compare to this Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
Most of the contestants in the Martial Arts Tournament's elimination rounds could rampage through the Chunin Examination, even those who got knocked out in the first round.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire felt he could give Konoha a suggestion: they should also start holding this kind of fun event in the future.