Kuro stepped down into the arena, his expression calm with a slight hint of anticipation. Yukio opposite him looked far more nervous. The crowd in the stands fell silent, waiting for the start. Enzo watched from above, his attentive gaze sliding over his grandson, and Orochimaru beside him smiled predatorily.
"Begin!"
Hearing the signal to start the fight, Yukio did not hesitate. He instantly formed hand seals, his chakra flared, and his gaze locked directly onto Kuro. It was a genjutsu technique similar to the one Kabuto would use in the future — a sleep illusion meant to plunge the opponent into a deep, paralyzing slumber.
Kuro felt a slight prick in his consciousness, the world around him began to blur, his eyelids grew heavy, and his body seemed to lean forward. But it lasted only a fraction of a second. Nara sighed slightly in disappointment.
And that's all? The opponent's level is disappointing.
He simply released a burst of chakra, a chaotic, powerful flow that tore the imposed illusion apart like a web. The world snapped back into focus, and Kuro straightened, ready to continue the duel.
"I-Impossible… you broke my technique so quickly," Yukio exhaled.
He had hoped to catch his opponent off guard and end the fight quickly. Soon the confusion on the young man's face was replaced with tension. Yukio formed seals again, pouring all his chakra into the technique. It was his last desperate attempt.
This time Kuro's surroundings changed much more sharply: the arena dissolved, the stands disappeared, the ground beneath his feet turned into endless water, cold and viscous. The cold burned his skin, his clothes grew heavy, his body was pulled downward, and his lungs painfully tightened as if there were no air left in them. Kuro felt himself sinking.
The illusory pressure of the water increased with every second. The sensation was realistic to frightening detail. From the spectators' side it seemed as if Kuro had simply frozen in place.
But inside the illusion he remained calm.
False terrain. Pressure on the sensory channels. Not bad.
His hands formed a seal.
"Kai."
The dispelling worked instantly — the illusion cracked like glass, and space returned to normal: the solid arena floor, the noise of the crowd, the sunlight. Kuro stood in place without even blinking.
Yukio was now openly sweating, his forehead glistened, his breathing was uneven. He had used two of his best techniques and they had produced no effect. And considering Nara's performance in close combat in the previous stage — those powerful strikes and water techniques that smashed opponents, he was not crazy enough to engage in a fight. It was time to surrender. This was hopeless.
But Kuro, on the contrary, looked annoyed by the weakness of his opponent. Too easy. If the fight ends so quickly, what use is it?
A thought flashed through his mind about training with Mikoto — about the new genjutsu technique he had been developing over the last five days. Time to practice on a real opponent.
He stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as his chakra began to flow differently — not roughly as before, but subtly, spreading into the surrounding space. Kuro formed hand seals and the technique activated. The genjutsu he had created relied heavily on his bloodlust.
After his first kill Kuro felt some kind of change. At the time he didn't pay attention to it, but later, on the last mission, when he felt Orochimaru's killing intent he realized that he himself was capable of something similar. Of course it was hard to say whether it was his own desire or Sukuna's, but that did not matter now. His new technique was to combine bloodlust and genjutsu, creating a truly terrifying vision.
The world around Yukio trembled. Now it was not sleep or water but something far worse. Everything around him turned into fire, agonized screams came from everywhere, and before the young man stood a huge four-eyed monster. Yukio felt his body tremble, his mind empty, and fear squeeze his heart.
The crowd in the stands gasped as they felt the intense killing intent. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes with interest, while Mikoto smiled slightly with pride.
He's using what we practiced.
Yukio tried to resist, disrupting the flow of his chakra to dispel it, but Kuro's illusion was quite stable, fueled by the panic and fear of the enemy himself.
"How is this possible?! Let me go, monster!" Yukio shouted in terror, falling to his knees.
The examiner watched tensely and soon decided to intervene before things went too far.
"Enough! Yukio Takada surrenders! Winner — Nara Kuro!"
Kuro dispelled the technique with a single motion. Yukio lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. Nara simply nodded and returned to the stands where Mikoto and Nawaki were waiting for him.
A message flashed in his mind:
Character Power Unlocked: 30%
When Kuro stepped up he met Tsunade's slightly frowning expression.
"That was too heavy a technique for an exam."
"But effective," Orochimaru replied calmly.
"I only recently created this technique, so I didn't fully understand how strong it would be yet."
"Oh, so that's your new technique?" Minato asked excitedly. "And what did you call it?"
"Illusion of Evil."
"Quite a fitting name," Mikoto noted, closing her eyes slightly, she had already felt the effect of this genjutsu herself.
"Next match: Namikaze Minato versus Inuzuka Tsume!"
Minato calmly descended, a light smile still on his face. Tsume, on the contrary, looked like a drawn bowstring — sharp, direct, with a predatory gaze.
"Begin!"
"I'll tear you apart, blondie!" she shouted and together with her dog rushed forward, turning into two blurred silhouettes.
"Beast Human Clone!"
"Four Legs Technique!"
Seeing the approaching opponents, Minato did not panic and simply disappeared from the line of attack. It was not even shunshin, just pure speed and calculation. It was as if he had already calculated the trajectory of her movement.
Tsume did not hesitate. Spinning and sweeping, she tried to deliver a series of strikes. Her tempo gradually increased. Together with the ninken she tried to overwhelm him with relentless pressure.
Namikaze jumped back, throwing dozens of kunai at the opponent and then used the Shadow Clone Technique. An exact copy appeared beside him, after which the fight resumed.
Taking advantage of his reaction speed, Minato used the Substitution Technique and appeared behind Tsume, delivering a strong strike.
The girl was thrown back, rolled across the ground and immediately jumped up again, her eyes burning with fury.
"Fast bastard! Kuromaru, go!"
"Passing Fang!"
Tsume and her ninken began spinning rapidly to deliver a series of fast strikes, but the moment they approached Minato his clone jumped forward blocking their path and, after receiving a nod from the original, simply exploded, throwing the opponent away.
In the stands Kuro frowned slightly at the sight.
Minato decided to use explosive tags? Is he trying to conserve chakra?
The examiner approached the unconscious kunoichi and announced the end of the match.
"The winner: Namikaze Minato!"
From the stands Jiraiya smirked with satisfaction and even Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded approvingly.
After that the examiner announced the next duel.
"Uchiha Mikoto versus Yamanaka Inoichi!"
Mikoto entered the arena with a katana on her back, her gaze confident and focused. On the way she cast a quick glance at her father standing in one of the corners of the spectator stands. Inoichi, however, smiled at her almost friendly.
"Try not to beat me too badly."
"I'll try," Mikoto replied calmly, and her eyes instantly turned crimson as the two tomoe of the Sharingan spun rapidly.
The fight began. Inoichi immediately wanted to try his signature technique — The Mind Body Switch Technique. Anticipating such a move, Mikoto sharply jumped back and instantly formed seals, using a fire technique to block Yamanaka's vision.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The stream of flame not only blocked the view but forced the blond to quickly dodge the attack, but there Uchiha was already waiting. Drawing her katana, she launched a series of deadly movements.
Inoichi tried to defend himself with a kunai, but not only were their levels too different, the Sharingan read all of his movements. Eventually the kunoichi knocked the weapon from his hands and placed the katana against his neck.
"Do you surrender?"
Inoichi exhaled heavily and raised his hands.
"I surrender, damn, you're scary when you're serious."
"The winner — Uchiha Mikoto!"