Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

The first batch of examinees entered the circular arena set at the plaza's center. They took their places, eyes nervously fixed on a single figure across the arena. 

"That's Yugito Nii? The monster who completed Death Forest with the fastest time ever recorded?" 

"She's only eight years old—how can her combat strength be this overwhelming?" 

"There are only three Cloud Village ninja here for this match. Maybe we still have a chance!" 

Though Yugito hadn't truly displayed her power yet, her solo completion of Death Forest in just 91 minutes made her the next biggest name after Seiki. 

At that moment, two other Cloud Village ninja stood beside her. 

"Yugito, we'll try our best to intercept enemies for you when the time comes." 

"Don't worry about us. Just preserve your strength as much as possible." 

They didn't know anything about being Jinchūriki, but they understood one thing clearly—Yugito's role in passing this exam was far more critical than theirs. 

However, Yugito confidently shook her head. "You guys just focus on deciding who moves on to the next round." 

"Eh? What'd you say?" 

The arena matches wouldn't allow them much preparation time. Once everyone positioned themselves properly, the Third immediately announced the start of the exam. 

Before the two Cloud ninja could even respond to Yugito's words, she vanished in a blur and burst forward like lightning. 

"Huh? So fast!" A Hoshigakure ninja barely caught a flicker of light before getting hit by an irresistible force that sent him flying outside the arena. 

At that moment, the others finally reacted. 

"Watch out for her Taijutsu!" 

"Stay close together! Don't let her pick us off one by one!" 

For Yugito, worries about having no time to perform Hand Seals in such tight spaces were non-existent. Whether it was Taijutsu or techniques cooperating with the Bijuu, very few required hand seals anyway. 

Seeing the opponents gathering together, she jumped high into the air and spat out multiple mouse-shaped flames. 

"What is this? Is this Seal-less Ninjutsu?" 

"Where are the Mist ninja?! Hurry up and use Water Release!" 

Yet all these struggles proved futile. After Yugito manipulated the flames into a fiery explosion, the others could do nothing else but concede, blackened faces and disheveled appearances marking their defeat. 

Within merely tens of seconds, the first round of the arena battle had already ended. 

"This isn't even on the same level of combat!" Seiki slightly shook his head, unshocked by what he had witnessed. 

Most fake Genin barely mastered more than the Body Replacement Technique, maybe a few D-ranked Ninjutsu at best. But true Genin could instantly unleash jutsu with ease—even A-rank or S-rank attacks. 

Asuma also widened his eyes. "This kid's seriously strong. Taking her down wouldn't be easy—even for me!" 

Seiki looked at him amused. "Let's hope you won't face her in the official tournament." 

Asuma scowled. "You're seriously underestimating me, Seiki! Even if there might be a slight gap in strength, my actual combat experience is definitely beyond comparison against this premature graduate brat!" 

Seiki murmured, "But what if...she, like Kushina-nee (elder sister), has a monster sealed inside her too?"

Asuma shivered like he'd been pulled back to that terrifying moment four years ago when he witnessed the dreadful scene. Trying to keep his voice steady, he asked, "Is she... also one of them?"

Seiki Shimaseki nodded slightly. "When she attacked just now, I sensed a similar aura."

"What gall! The Cloud Village actually dares to..." Asuma ranted furiously but suddenly froze, staring at Seiki Shimaseki. "You know what? I think I finally understand how other ninja villages feel about us."

This arena battle caused many participants' petty calculations due to the match format to gradually fade away.

Indeed, the top-tier experts in strength still held overwhelming advantages over others.

The following two matches were no different. Although not as effortless as Yugito's fight, they still secured victory relatively easily with their village teammates' assistance.

Only the fourth match became exceptionally difficult for Shidotatsu. Under one particular Hokage's deliberate arrangement, he barely won after bursting forth covered in blood.

How could he dare not go all out? If Iwagakure suffered complete defeat in the preliminary round, he would have to worry about the Tsuchikage personally sending him off with a Dust Release technique someday.

Seeing Shidotatsu pass the exam, Sandaime slightly shook his head with mild regret. Since conflict with Iwagakure seemed unavoidable, naturally he wouldn't miss any opportunity to undermine their morale.

Witnessing this from afar, Inoichi Yamanaka couldn't help but feel a cold sweat break out on his forehead. "Did the Hokage somehow find out about what Asuma said during my lecture last time—that he thought he was no match for the Tsuchikage? Wait a minute, does that mean I'm doomed too..."

Immediately shaking off such thoughts, Inoichi hurriedly reassured himself, "No way! The Hokage is wise and broad-minded—how could he possibly target Iwagakure over such trivial matters? Right, this must be retaliation against Iwagakure's operations in Grass Country!"

Next came the fifth match—the most attention-grabbing one.

It wasn't just the candidates who watched closely—even team leaders from every village focused intently on this match.

They all wanted to discover exactly how powerful Seiki Shimaseki truly was—the ninja who killed Zabuza and nearly annihilated Iwagakure.

Seiki Shimaseki remained calm. Accustomed to being the center of attention, this level of scrutiny didn't affect his performance in the least.

"The fifth match—begin!"

Hardly had the words fallen before five Kumogakure ninjas assigned to this group charged forward yelling wildly.

With previous matches as reference points, naturally they never believed they could create any real trouble for Seiki Shimaseki.

Their intention was merely to force him to reveal part of his strength, providing useful intelligence for their successful Cloud Village contestants heading into official competitions.

"Everyone, charge together with us!"

"For the sake of your village's successful candidates, try your best to push Seiki Shimaseki to reveal his power!"

However, the battlefield situation didn't unfold as they expected. Except for one single Mist Ninja answering their call, the other participants from various ninja villages not only refrained from attacking Shimaseki, but instead turned their fiercest assaults directly toward these Kumo ninjas.

The entire Kumo group nearly became so frustrated they spat blood. Fine—those tiny hidden villages attacking us is understandable, but what the hell was Sunagakure thinking, getting involved?

"Fools! Our enemies aren't us Cloud Ninjas!"

"What if Baki of the Sand faces Seiki Shimaseki in the Official Competitions?!"

Yet, the three Sunagakure ninja remained unwavering.

"Fool! You actually think Baki of the Sand needs intel to beat... uh... I mean, he definitely doesn't need anything like that!"

"That's right! With Baki of the Sand's strength, he doesn't need any intel at all!"

The Cloud Village ninja were taken aback. Could Baki of the Sand really be this powerful? Even now, they still believed Baki of the Sand didn't need intel to beat Konoha's Seiki Shimaseki!

Baki of the Sand, truly fearsome!

Outside the arena, seeing ninja from other villages looking at him with admiration and awe... Baki of the Sand began to panic!

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