That said, Simu could now enhance his constitution by consuming food like crazy.
Thinking of this, he didn't bother sleeping and went straight out to ask the hotel owner to serve him a hundred pieces of sushi.
As for why he was eating at this time?
Of course, because all expenses during this competition were covered by Konoha's funds.
If he didn't take advantage of it now, then when?
Under the suspicious gazes of many ninjas, stacks upon stacks of empty plates were carried out of Simu's room.
He finally exhaled in satisfaction after finishing his 300th serving.
"Alright, that should be enough for tonight. Bring me a whole pot of tea."
"O-Okay!"
The waiter sighed in relief.
Even though they made a lot of money tonight, they really couldn't handle Simu's monstrous appetite.
To keep up with his eating, they had even woken up the chef, who had already gone to bed.
It took two full hours of hard work to prepare two hundred more servings of sushi.
Just then, Tsunade walked in, her face covered in black lines.
She slammed a hand down on the table and said coldly,
"Hanyu Simu, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"You ate 600,000 taels worth of food tonight! That's more than I spend in an entire month!"
Simu lazily poured the entire pot of tea into his mouth before responding,
"Senior Tsunade, I'm in my growth phase right now. Isn't it natural to eat a little more?"
Tsunade's eyebrow twitched.
"A little more? Do you even hear yourself?!"
She angrily plopped down into the chair.
Simu looked at her suspiciously.
She wasn't the one paying for this meal—Konoha was. So why was she so worked up?
After a moment of thought, he tentatively asked,
"Tsunade-senpai… don't tell me… you gambled away all of Konoha's funds at the casino and now you don't have money to pay for your own food?"
Tsunade's expression stiffened for a second before she angrily retorted,
"How is that possible?! Do I look like someone who's addicted to gambling?!"
Bang!
Tsunade slammed the table again, then got up and stormed out.
If Simu wasn't mistaken, she was probably heading straight for Jiraiya to borrow money.
And seriously, next time she claimed she wasn't a gambler, she should probably remember to take off the big "GAMBLING" sign hanging behind her.
Simu shook his head.
His evaluation? Not even close to passing.
But his little food stunt was just a minor episode.
The real challenge came the next day—the second round of the Jonin Exam.
Out of all the participants, only 16 ninjas had successfully passed the first round.
The next phase was a knockout tournament to determine the final winner.
The champion would be granted a direct promotion to Jonin.
As for the others, their performances would be comprehensively scored by the Jonin examiners.
Konoha had performed spectacularly. Out of the 16 remaining contestants, eight were from Konoha!
Uchiha's team had two members, Lu Jiu's team had three, and Simu's team also had three.
Konoha alone occupied half of the spots!
The remaining two major nations each had three contestants, while the last two spots were taken by other villages due to Cloud Shinobi's early withdrawal.
Mifune, the Admiral of the Land of Iron, stood at the center of the arena, preparing to announce the matchups.
All contestants would draw lots to determine their opponents.
Simu casually reached into the lottery box and pulled out a ball.
Number 7.
There were eight numbers in total—whoever had the same number would be his opponent.
As he twirled the ball between his fingers, a man in full red armor and a helmet locked eyes with him.
It was Han of Iwagakure, the Five-Tails Jinchūriki.
Simu sighed.
Good grief, am I just destined to fight Jinchūrikis?
First, he fought Matatabi, the Two-Tails, and now he had to face Kokuō, the Five-Tails?
With Kushina's Nine-Tails, this tournament had three Tailed Beasts in total.
If the Akatsuki showed up now, they could complete one-third of their KPI right here.
Too bad the Akatsuki was still preaching about peace in Amegakure at this time.
And "Fake Uchiha Madara" was still a clueless brat getting scolded by his ninja school teacher in Konoha.
Snapping back to reality, Simu glanced at Kushina.
Her opponent was Ye Lun from Sunagakure.
As for Minato's opponent?
It didn't matter. That guy could beat anyone except for Simu himself.
"You have to be careful," Simu warned Kushina. "Ye Lun's Scorch Release is dangerous. If you get hit, you'll be in real trouble."
Kushina waved him off confidently.
"Got it! Don't worry, I'll take her down in one hit!"
Then, she suddenly leaned in close to his ear and whispered,
"Simu, have you grown taller again?"
Kushina was 1.6 meters tall, while Simu was already pushing 1.8 meters at this point.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe it's because I ate so much last night. I'm in my growth phase, you know."
Mifune's voice boomed across the arena.
"All contestants, prepare yourselves. The second round of the Jonin Exam will now begin!"
With that announcement, the matches officially started.
The first to step into the ring was Uchiha Fugaku.
Even though he had been severely beaten down by Simu before, he was still a powerful ninja.
His performance was steady and composed, allowing him to easily defeat his Sunagakure opponent.
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