Chapter 131: Preliminaries, Playing Along with the Best Actor
Seeing the name frozen on the screen, Haruko's eye twitched slightly.
"Troublesome, truly troublesome..."
Haruko had originally wanted to find an opportunity to search for Karin, but now he had to go on stage.
—His opponent was the one he least wanted to face.
Except for Yakushi Kabuto, Haruko was confident he could defeat any of the other candidates without using his real skills.
But when facing Yakushi Kabuto, how much strength he would need to use depended on how serious the other man was.
"Ahem, candidates, please enter the arena." Following Gekko Hayate's urging, Yakushi Kabuto walked down from the stands, wearing his signature gentle smile.
"Haruko~kun, please go easy on me. Although I am just a mediocre Genin, I would like to witness the strength of a genius."
'Keep acting, just keep acting. The Oscars owe you a golden statue."
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Haruko responded perfunctorily: "You are too modest, Yakushi Kabuto-senpai. I am not worthy of the name of a genius; I should be the one learning from you."
"Begin!"
As soon as Gekko Hayate finished speaking, Yakushi Kabuto raised his hand and threw a few shuriken to restrict him, while simultaneously retreating.
After all, Haruko had displayed the Superhuman Strength Technique and carried a ninja sword on his back. The last time they met, he was covered in blood, so it was logical to assume he was a close-combat fighter.
However, Haruko did not attempt to close the distance as Yakushi Kabuto had expected. Instead, he also retreated, easily dodging the shuriken while forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."
It was still a standard opening move; the wide-area fire pellets blocked Yakushi Kabuto's evasion space.
As a "Genin," Yakushi Kabuto did not break through this move without injury like a Jonin would.
While evading, he used a Kunai to knock down a few fire pellets, but one still landed on him, leaving a charred burn.
"Ugh—"
Yakushi Kabuto used Medical Ninjutsu to treat the burn while retreating further to increase the distance between himself and Haruko.
"Stalling for time, huh... But my range is longer than yours; you'll have to come over sooner or later." Haruko was not in a hurry at all.
It was a pity that low-level Earth Release could not be used on this tiled ground. If Yakushi Kabuto were to run away with all his might, it would be difficult to restrict him.
"Then, how about this?" Haruko formed hand seals again, "Water Release: Water Syrup Bubble."
The sticky bubbles floated toward Yakushi Kabuto. Although slow, they were numerous.
Yakushi Kabuto tried to use shuriken to break the bubbles, but the speed at which Haruko created them was clearly much faster than the speed at which he could break them, with no sign of stopping.
Although these bubbles were not fatal, if he were covered in the sticky liquid and lost his mobility, he would not be far from defeat.
Yakushi Kabuto clearly realized this as well. He moved quickly, trying to bypass the bubbles to get close.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."
As soon as he entered range, Haruko did not hesitate to unleash the fire pellets again.
This time, Yakushi Kabuto did not retreat to evade; he forced his way through the flames, risking injury.
Seeing this, Haruko retreated while forming hand seals to use his next Ninjutsu.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
A wild wind blew past. Yakushi Kabuto lowered his body to prevent himself from being blown away, but his progress was stalled.
"Wind Release: Kitchen Knife."
As Haruko pointed his fingers like a sword, invisible wind blades mixed into the gale.
As a daily-life Ninjutsu, the power of the Kitchen Knife wind blades was far inferior to the Vacuum Sword, but they still left several cuts on Yakushi Kabuto's body.
"Hiss..."
Yakushi Kabuto finally couldn't hold on and was blown away by the Wind Release. He flipped in the air to stabilize his body, but he had once again returned to a distance where he could only be beaten one-sidedly.
"As expected of a genius." Yakushi Kabuto panted and pulled a black pill from his ninja tool pouch.
"I originally wanted to save this for the finals... but there's no other choice."
People in the stands looked over one after another.
"What is that? A Soldier Pill?"
"It shouldn't be. Soldier Pills only replenish Chakra, but look at his aura; he has clearly become stronger!"
Watching Yakushi Kabuto's aura forcibly rise a notch, Haruko rolled his eyes.
'Heh, truly the best actor in the Ninja World."
Haruko saw it very clearly; it wasn't some secret medicine, just a Soldier Pill.
Yakushi Kabuto simply used his original strength and then claimed it was the effect of taking the drug.
Yakushi Kabuto suddenly looked up, his figure turning into an afterimage as he lunged at Haruko, a faint blue light glowing on his palms.
'Whoa, he's even using the Chakra Scalpel. He's serious now."
Not daring to be careless, Haruko drew his sword and met him head-on, with Chakra also wrapped around the blade—mainly to protect it.
The ensuing battle far exceeded the level expected of a Genin.
The "drugged" Yakushi Kabuto fought with increasing courage, gradually displaying a level of Taijutsu approaching that of a Jonin.
Haruko's physical abilities were also impressive, and combined with his sword techniques that blended the Konoha style and the Kaguya Clan style, he was actually evenly matched with Yakushi Kabuto.
Yakushi Kabuto's expression became increasingly grave.
—No, this was an artificially created stalemate.
He certainly hadn't used his full strength, but it was obvious that Haruko hadn't either.
Every time he used one more point of strength, Haruko would counter with one more point of strength in the next move.
But unlike Yakushi Kabuto, who had to care about the gazes of the people around him, Haruko seemed not to care about exposing his strength; he was clearly just playing with him.
He had originally wanted to test Haruko's strength, but instead, he had been tested by the other party.
Thinking of this, Yakushi Kabuto no longer had any desire to continue fighting—he hadn't wanted to participate in the third round anyway; showing his face in front of dignitaries from various countries was too high-profile, which was not something a mole should do.
After the last clash, Yakushi Kabuto leaped back.
"I concede." Yakushi Kabuto held his knees, panting heavily, "The drug's effect has worn off... and I have no more Chakra."
"The winner is Haruko." Gekko Hayate looked at Yakushi Kabuto, "Do you need me to call the medical team?"
"No need... I, I'll be fine after resting for a while." Yakushi Kabuto staggered toward the stands.
On the contrary, Haruko raised his arm, revealing a wound.
"Ah... well. I have to go to the infirmary."
Those who heard this all wore expressions that said, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Ahem, isn't this... just to go see how that guy Ichi is doing?" Haruko scratched his head and muttered loudly.
Gekko Hayate looked at the Third Hokage, and seeing the Third nod, he waved to Haruko: "Go and come back quickly."
"Alright." Haruko darted out of the arena, not looking like he had any problems at all.
Glancing back at the arena for the last time, Yakushi Kabuto was already sitting back in the stands, head lowered, wondering what he was thinking.
'This guy, he should continue to collect information..."
...
After walking only two steps out of the arena, the bleeding from Haruko's wound stopped—the wound itself had even been intentionally let Yakushi Kabuto make.
"Then, for the seventh match, Muta Aburame versus Katai, candidates please enter the arena."
Gekko Hayate's announcement came from behind. Haruko couldn't help but quicken his pace, but he did not go directly to the infirmary.
Having moved slightly away from the arena, Haruko avoided the surveillance and found a place where no one was around, then closed his eyes.
"Byakugan."
In the black-and-white field of vision, the entire Central Tower was in full view, and the light of Chakra in the human body appeared particularly clear, like a candle flame in the dark.
"So... where is Karin hidden?"
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