Inside the tower!
Watching the battle between the two genius teams on the screen had the gathered nobles and wealthy merchants beyond excited.
Normally, they had no chance to watch this kind of combat up close.
And watching these fights also gave them insight into the future strength of the major Hidden Villages, so the joint Chūnin Exams never lacked an audience.
In the ninja world, where entertainment was scarce, there was no better spectacle.
Well, the great ninja wars were even more spectacular — but who would dare watch those? That wasn't entertainment; that was courting death.
Of course, the top leadership of the three major ninja villages were watching even more seriously.
These genin represented the future of their villages.
If the opportunity arose, they wouldn't mind playing dirty.
But right now, the top leaders were balancing each other. Anyone trying something underhanded would start an open war, no questions asked.
That's also why the Kage themselves were present — to protect their villages' future.
They could die in battle, but not fall to conspiracies.
Well, this only applied to the big villages.
Small villages or scattered candidates? That was another story.
"Akira, Kakashi, Kōji — do your best!"
Standing behind the Hokage's seat, Minato Namikaze silently cheered on his three students, acting as part of the "hype squad."
—
In the Forest of Death!
The battle was fierce.
Not only was Maki's team covered in wounds, but so was Akira's Team 3.
It wasn't that they were recklessly pushing themselves.
It was because, during the fight, people kept jumping out to ambush them.
Whether it was Maki or Kakashi, both were geniuses — naturally, they became prime targets for the hunters.
The rest of their teammates were just collateral damage.
And yet, they couldn't back down.
If they retreated now, it would be hard to explain themselves later.
Let's just say:
The future of the Chūnin Exams was basically an "entertainment event." This was the real "joint Chūnin Exam," serving as a prelude to war.
Without a full-blown ninja world war, only a stage like this could showcase each village's strength.
Clang! Clang!
Weapons clashed as the close-range battle continued.
This was true ninja combat.
Those big flashy battles where people just spammed powerful jutsu? Fake.
Even jōnin didn't have enough chakra to throw around high-level techniques endlessly. The higher the level, the more chakra it consumed.
So, every ninjutsu used was incredibly precious.
Even jōnin were stingy about using ninjutsu. For genin, most of them simply didn't use it at all.
Even though the Chūnin Exam candidates were elite genin, they were still far from casually "washing the battlefield" with jutsu.
Even Akira was conserving chakra.
Once a ninja ran out of chakra, they were just an ordinary person.
That's why close combat, enhanced with chakra, was the most efficient and proper approach.
—
"Croak!"
Suddenly, the summon beast Taiichi, flying in the sky, burst into flames, its aura surging dramatically.
Akira was ready to end this battle of attrition.
If they kept going, not only would they have no chance of victory — more importantly, their safety would be in jeopardy.
There were a lot of hunters lurking nearby.
"You bastard, you're distracted!"
The girl from Maki's team, fighting Akira, puffed her cheeks in anger.
She had originally thought she could easily defeat this guy who was supposedly insignificant in the intel reports — but to her surprise, he was incredibly strong.
And that summon beast — terrifyingly strong.
Even his own strength was nothing like what the intelligence manual described.
"Don't you think we're in serious danger right now?"
Akira dodged her attack and gave a reminder.
Honestly, their close-range fight was more like "two rookies pecking at each other," which was why they were evenly matched.
"Danger?"
The girl sensed the surroundings — and suddenly, her movements slowed.
Because their two teams were now surrounded by a large group of candidates.
If it were just a few, no problem.
But this was dozens.
Terrifying!
This number already accounted for more than one-tenth of all participants in the second exam.
Ordinary candidates might want to make a name for themselves by defeating these "geniuses," but they definitely wouldn't aim to kill them.
At least, they wouldn't dare.
If a big village genius died at the hands of another big village genius, fine.
But if a small village ninja killed one?
Trust me — the moment they left the exam, someone would come "pay them a visit."
So, the only explanation for dozens of small-village candidates surrounding them was:
Hunters.
As for who sent them?
Any of the Five Great Ninja Villages were possible.
Including Konoha — though obviously, their agents wouldn't reveal their identity and would also act as "hunters."
—
"Taiichi, use Sunset!"
Seeing the Sand ninja girl stop fighting, realizing the urgency of the situation, Akira gave the order to his summon beast waiting in the sky.
"Croak!"
Taiichi, now burning fiercely like a miniature sun, plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily into the ground.
The air ignited; plants withered!
Facing Taiichi's near-suicidal, indiscriminate attack, everyone froze.
"You're insane!"
The Sand ninja girl cursed, then quickly retreated to Maki's side.
Taiichi, transformed into a "sun," smashed into the ground.
Boom!
An earth-shaking explosion covered the area in fire and destruction.
This single strike — its power was already comparable to some S-rank forbidden techniques.
Of course, it had many weaknesses.
The noise and preparation time before the attack were obvious flaws.
But with this level of destructive power, none of that mattered.
From this moment on, everyone recognized the terrifying strength of "Taiichi."
—
Inside the tower.
"What… is that?!"
"That summon beast is that powerful?!"
"Isn't that attack on par with an S-rank secret technique?"
The top brass of every major Hidden Village were shaken by the display.
Many were already starting to inquire about information on Taiichi.
Especially the Uchiha clan ninja — their breathing grew heavy.
They were already imagining themselves unleashing such a terrifying attack by commanding Taiichi.
Unfortunately, Akira had no idea what they were fantasizing about — otherwise, he'd have told them they were dreaming.
Because Taiichi was his summon beast, not a shared asset like the ninja cats of the Uchiha clan.
—
Back in the Forest of Death!
As soon as the explosion ended, thick smoke filled the battlefield.
Smoke bombs!
Of course, Akira wasn't about to try a frontal breakout.
With dozens of hunters around, breaking out openly was impossible.
So, Taiichi's all-out attack before vanishing wasn't just to cause damage — it was mainly to disrupt the battlefield and cover Akira's next move.
"Let's go!"
Akira slung the red scroll — their proof item — onto his back and called his two teammates to break out.
The black bear had also been caught in the blast.
With it dead, its proof item was now theirs.
Kakashi, retreating back to them, gave Akira a quick glance.
Despite Akira's tendency to slack off and push responsibility onto others, Kakashi had to admit — he was actually a good captain.
The three of them took up the triangular assault formation they'd practiced countless times.
Kakashi, the strongest fighter, led at the front, with Akira and Kōji positioned at the rear flanks.
This way, they could handle anything.
Figures emerged in the mist.
Whoosh!
Kakashi used the Body Flicker Technique to instantly appear in front of one target, driving his kunai through their throat before they could react.
If it were the heart, the target might have managed to send out a signal before dying.
Assassination knowledge!
Directly taught by Minato Namikaze, along with many combat techniques, had massively boosted Kakashi's combat power.
With this "vanguard," Team 3 advanced smoothly.
Though, of course, not without surprises.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Akira and Kōji simultaneously threw shuriken at the rear.
"Wait!"
A somewhat familiar girl's voice called out, and then another three-person team emerged.
It was Maki's team!
Their intentions were obvious.
They wanted to hitch a ride on Akira's "express escape."
Ninjas didn't care about "saving face" — that was a privilege only Kage-level fighters had.
For small-time ninjas like them, survival came first.
Maki didn't say anything, just locked eyes with Kakashi, full of fighting spirit.
But he didn't make a move.
Though arrogant, he wasn't brainless.
He understood clearly that right now, their priority was breaking out, not settling scores.
Akira didn't mind the extra company.
If anything, it meant extra bodies if things went south — he was more than happy to oblige.
The two teams, working together with silent coordination, forcefully broke through the encirclement.
But as soon as they emerged from the smoke-filled area, the two groups, now ready to turn on each other, stopped in their tracks.
Because they had run into an unexpected situation.
(To be continued…)