Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

After a while, the audience stand finally erupted into excited exclamations.

"What was that just now? It's terrifying!"

"Come on, you're kidding, right? I feel like as a chunin, I'd be instantly defeated if I fought against any of them!"

"Be confident! Remove the 'feel' part!"

"It seems this time the top spot of the chunin exams will go to Yugito Nii from Cloud Village!"

"Not necessarily—Suna's veteran shinobi Baki is still in the running!"

After Yugito Nii released that horrifying level of chakra, people's opinions gradually tilted toward her side.

After all, Seiki Shimaseki's illusion techniques appeared too weak compared to the breathtaking battle between Yugito Nii and Might Guy.

When the referee announced the end of the fight, Seiki Shimaseki jumped down and rescued Might Guy. After a brief examination, he slightly shook his head. "That was reckless. Fortunately, he didn't open the fifth gate."

At this moment, Yugito Nii, who had transformed back into human form, spoke in a low voice, "Let him know once he wakes up… I lost this match."

Before Seiki could ask, she continued, "I used power that doesn't belong to me. This match should rightfully belong to him!"

"I'll tell Guy that, but honestly, you're overthinking," Seiki said while carrying Might Guy, walking straight up along the wall. "Ninja only care about results. Power obtained through personal effort shouldn't be a source of shame. At least, I understand clearly the pain jinchuriki endure during this process! Rejecting their power is nothing more than denying your own existence and effort!"

He had to admit, he truly admired that nobleman's attitude: "Why shouldn't I use my hard-earned cheat abilities?"

Yugito Nii remained silent. Even in Cloud Village, known for supposedly treating jinchuriki the best, she was seen as a monster by many who knew the truth. The effort she put into controlling her chakra under Bijuu influence had been immense, only getting slightly better after reaching an initial understanding with Two-Tails.

"Was it precisely because I feared being ostracized that I deeply resisted using this power?" Yugito murmured to herself, recalling what Might Guy had said before the fight, "'To earn his respect, you must be stronger than his current self. Looks like without Bijuu assistance, I don't even qualify for a fair fight against you!"

Regardless of her feelings, the exam continued.

More than an hour later, the official competition entered its second round.

"The first match of Round Two: Mei Terumi from Mist versus Seiki Shimaseki from Konoha!"

Upon hearing the announcement, Mei Terumi nervously stood up from the spectator platform.

Shiyaya sitting beside her asked worriedly, "You okay?"

"None of this feels certain!" Mei Terumi managed a bitter smile, then quickly straightened her expression with resolve. "But I'll give it my absolute best!"

"Be careful about his taijutsu skills. Oh, and his genjutsu too!"

"I know."

"They've witnessed his exceptional taijutsu skills, and didn't believe his genjutsu abilities could match that level. So they instinctively attributed Samui's immediate defeat to weak willpower.

Landing on the arena, Seiki Shimaseki was already waiting there.

After brief preparations, the match officially began.

"His taijutsu is just too powerful," Mei Terumi reasoned in her mind. "Even if Samui hadn't been defeated by his genjutsu, rushing straight at him like that would've only ever ended one way — in defeat!" In Mei Terumi's opinion, taijutsu was his strongest point. Therefore, unlike what everyone expected, she didn't rush forward for close combat. Instead, as soon as the match started, she immediately retreated backward.

"This distance should be sufficient," Mei Terumi thought cautiously. "Now I just need to be careful about his gen..."

Suddenly, an intense sleepiness overwhelmed her.

"So... sleepy... No, wait, it's genjutsu..." Mei Terumi barely maintained a sliver of consciousness. "Break!"

However, nothing happened.

The gap between their souls was simply too vast. With her own strength, she had no way of breaking free!

"How is this possible? This genjutsu is completely unbreakable!" A sudden sense of fear arose within Mei Terumi, something she had never experienced before.

"You can still hold on?" Calmly intensifying his technique output, Seiki Shimaseki saw Mei Terumi collapse just like Samui did in the next moment.

Witnessing this scene, almost every spectator shot up from their seats in shock.

Comparisons are necessary when evaluating battles!

Unlike the previous exam battle where Samui hadn't demonstrated much power, which made her immediate defeat less shocking, Mei Terumi had actually defeated Shidotatsu — Iwagakure's strongest contender — with overwhelming strength in the last examination round.

Yet such a powerful fighter had still been instantly defeated without any suspense against Seiki Shimaseki.

Just how powerful was this Konoha prodigy?

"Incredible! I didn't expect his genjutsu skills to be this impressive!" Baki felt astonished internally. The jutsu Seiki showed back in the Death Forest had already crushed any hope of competing, and now, even the urge to chase after him was gone. "Perhaps there's a gap equivalent to a thousand Shidotatsus between us!"

"So amazing! No wonder he has Nagato's approval!" Yahiko affectionately put an arm around Konan. "Konan, do you think you could defeat him?"

Nagato weakly replied, "He's really strong. I'm afraid I wouldn't stand much of a chance against him."

Even Mizukage in the audience stood angrily pointing at Seiki Shimaseki and turned to Hokage asking, "Is this what you call a medical ninja?"

"Isn't it perfectly normal for a medical ninja to know a bit of genjutsu?" Homura chuckled. "How about you? Don't you train your Mist ninja similarly?"

"That brat's genjutsu ability is too exaggerated!" Raikage was startled at first, but then secretly relaxed a bit.

It's a common knowledge in the shinobi world that regular genjutsu doesn't work on jinchuriki who can communicate with their tailed beasts!

This is because jinchuriki have two types of chakra — one being controlled, and the other assisting in disrupting chakra flow to help awaken the jinchuriki.

Meanwhile, Kitsuchi also looked stunned. Didn't Magze claim that Shimaseki's strength came entirely from the Flying Thunder God Technique?

Now, though, it looked like he could wipe out every last competitor—except maybe the Jinchuriki—with nothing but Genjutsu!

"Although Konoha has weakened in recent years, its deep roots and untapped potential still surpass those of other ninja villages!" Witnessing this scene, Rasa couldn't help but secretly calculate. "Perhaps temporarily forming an alliance with Konoha isn't a bad choice either!"

The next few fights looked flashier at first glance—but none packed the same punch as what came before.

Even villagers who couldn't tell a kunai from a shuriken saw the truth plain as day – no matter how flashy their moves, anyone facing Seiki was down in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't until the fourth fight that things finally started to get interesting.

"Shingakure kunoichi, this is where your journey ends! I am not like the foes you've faced before – I hail from Cloud Village, the mightiest in all of shinobi no sekai!"

Though embarrassingly arrogant, the Cloud ninja who spoke these words was undeniably powerful. His training in Taijutsu surpassed that of many Chunin. His incredible speed and precision perfectly countered Natsuhoshi's seemingly mighty yet somewhat clumsy Peacock Technique.

"Guess there's no helping it then."

Natsuhoshi's Chakra took on a new form behind her, morphing into wings as she soared into the sky.

The Cloud ninja who'd boasted just moments ago was left stunned – this had to be cheating, right?

All the watching ninja were equally shocked. In the shinobi world, flight-capable techniques were extremely rare.

Besides riding Summoned Beasts, it seemed only [Ultra Light-and-Heavy Rock] allowed someone to defy gravity like this.

"The fourth match? If she wins her next fight, she'll be my opponent in the semifinals!" Seiki murmured, glancing at Asuma standing beside him with a dark expression. "Of course, that depends on whether she can beat Asuma in the next round first."

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