Naruto: Strength Through Teaching

"This should be our genius Ninja from the Land of Fire." Upon seeing Guy instantly defeat the Mist Ninja, the officials from the Land of Fire smiled.

Although Kisame also won easily, there's no doubt that Guy's instantaneous defeat had a stronger impact.

"Indeed, Konoha's Ninja are superior; he must be the strongest among all the contestants," one spectator remarked.

From the perspective of ordinary people, it seemed like Guy rushed in and eliminated his opponent; they didn't even realize when Guy had moved in front of Noguchi Nobuhide—his speed was too fast.

Without a doubt, Guy's dominant performance is considered the strongest in this exam.

"How could that eternal Genin's son be so strong?" Some Ninjas who knew Duy rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Although they didn't understand why Duy, the eternal Genin, had been promoted to Chunin, those who had looked down on him before still held onto their disdain; under these circumstances, they certainly couldn't believe that Guy would be that strong.

However, baseless speculation would eventually be slapped in the face by reality. Guy demonstrated with his strength that he was very strong, super strong, and he could defeat his opponent in less than half a minute.

The smile on Genji's face vanished; Noguchi Nobuhide lost too quickly, not even managing to land a single blow, which was truly embarrassing for the Mist Village.

At this moment, Hiruzen smiled slightly but said nothing.

Looking at the excited green figure in the audience, Guy closed the Eight Inner Gates and the Breathing Technique, returning a brilliant smile.

Today, he wanted to make his father proud of him.

"The fourth match, Kurosawa versus Inuzuka Midori, please enter the arena quickly."

When Guy returned to the waiting room, Hiruko announced the names of the contestants for the next match.

"Now Midori is the only hope, go for it!" Inuzuka Midori cheered herself on in her heart.

Aburame Naoya had fallen in the preliminaries, and Nara Ensui had lost to Nohara Rin in the second match, leaving her as the only contestant left in the team.

She had also fought against Kurosawa and knew that this Mist Ninja was not easy to deal with, but Inuzuka Midori didn't want to fall here. With the two of them reaching the third match, at least one of them had to make it to the second round; if they both were eliminated in the top sixteen, it would make them seem weak.

Kurosawa stood up with a calm expression and walked toward the arena without paying much attention to this battle.

He wasn't really a Genin; apart from monsters like Hoshigaki Kisame and Guy, Kurosawa didn't think he would lose to anyone else.

"Come on, Midori-chan, you can do it." Having fought alongside her, Obito also shouted encouragement for Inuzuka Midori.

"Call me Inuzuka or just Midori; calling me 'Midori-chan' is too unpleasant," Inuzuka Midori retorted, turning back.

"Okay, Midori-chan," Obito instinctively replied.

If she weren't at such a disadvantage, Inuzuka Midori really wanted to punch Obito.

Not bothering to correct Obito again, Inuzuka Midori quickly walked to the battlefield.

"Why don't you just surrender? It'll save you from getting hurt, since you're going to lose anyway," Kurosawa said calmly.

Hearing Kurosawa's words, Inuzuka Midori instantly gritted her teeth and glared at him. Including the old grudge from the Forest of Death, her anger reached a boiling point, and she swore that even if she couldn't win, she would at least take a piece of flesh from Kurosawa.

Shiromaru on Inuzuka Midori's shoulder seemed to sense her anger and bared its teeth at Kurosawa.

"The battle begins!"

As soon as Hiruko's voice fell, Inuzuka Midori immediately used the Beast Imitating Ninja Technique to crouch on the ground, while Shiromaru transformed to mimic Inuzuka Midori's appearance, stacking on top of her.

"Meaningless struggle." Seeing that Inuzuka Midori had no intention of surrendering, Kurosawa began to form hand seals.

"Hiding in Mist Jutsu!"

A thick mist suddenly enveloped the arena, obscuring the figures of Kurosawa and Inuzuka Midori.

Many spectators were dumbfounded, unable to see anything due to the fog.

"Let's play a guessing game: heart, thigh, head, arm—what part will I attack first?" Kurosawa's voice echoed like a ghost in the mist.

Although Kurosawa was invisible, Inuzuka Midori was not the least bit flustered. While others might fear this Ninjutsu, her Inuzuka Clan Secret Jutsu was precisely the nemesis of such techniques!

"Attack you, you big-headed ghost! Take my punch first!" After sniffing the air to pinpoint Kurosawa's location, Inuzuka Midori charged out with Shiromaru to launch an attack.

Bang! Bang!!

Even though it was two against one, the experienced Kurosawa calmly withstood the attacks.

"What's going on? Is it luck, or something else?" Kurosawa was surprised that Inuzuka Midori could find his location so quickly and accurately.

To test the situation, Kurosawa attempted to use Body Flicker Jutsu to move elsewhere, but he was immediately located by Inuzuka Midori.

Not wanting to waste any more Chakra, Kurosawa decided to cancel the Hiding in Mist Jutsu directly.

If he didn't cancel it, Hiding in Mist Jutsu would only become a boost for Inuzuka Midori.

Then, Kurosawa fought Inuzuka Midori using Water Release and Kenjutsu.

Although Inuzuka Midori was the strongest in one-on-one battles within her team, facing Kurosawa, who participated in the Chunin exams as a Chunin, she clearly found herself at a disadvantage.

Blood gradually stained her body, but Inuzuka Midori did not concede. She had sworn to herself that even if she lost, she would not let Kurosawa have it easy.

Inuzuka Midori adopted a strategy of trading injuries for injuries; she no longer dodged Kurosawa's attacks but instead countered whenever he struck her.

Although Kurosawa was cautious, he ultimately sustained injuries against Inuzuka Midori's reckless fighting style.

Inuzuka Midori gripped Kurosawa's sword with her hand, while Shiromaru seized the opportunity to launch Passing Fang, injuring Kurosawa's right leg.

Seeing Kurosawa hurt, Inuzuka Midori fell back, satisfied.

If her strength allowed, she would have liked to do even better, but this was all she could manage for now.

"The outcome is decided; Kurosawa wins!" Hiruko announced the result of the battle in a timely manner.

Kurosawa shot a glare at Inuzuka Midori but dared not make another move.

"What a hassle; I have to fight against such a monster in the second round." The victory did not excite Kurosawa; what was there to be happy about beating a Genin?

Instead of celebrating this win, he needed to think about how to minimize his injuries in the second round, as his opponent would be Guy.

Injured Inuzuka Midori was quickly taken away by medical Ninjas, while Kurosawa also went to a designated area for contestants to receive treatment.

Watching Kurosawa win the battle, Genji's expression softened a bit.

Now, Konoha and the Mist Village had faced off in three matches, with the Mist Village winning two; they still held the advantage.

"Match five, Uchiha Obito versus Sarutobi Asuma!"

"Sarutobi Asuma, isn't he the son of Third-sama? He's finally old enough to participate in the Chunin exams."

"I haven't heard of Uchiha Obito; it should be Third-sama's son who wins."

The majority of the spectators favored Asuma more, not because they knew what Ninjutsu he could use or how strong he was, but simply because Asuma was the child of the Third Hokage.

As the son of the Third Hokage, it was expected for Asuma to win; losing would be unusual.

"How dare you underestimate us Uchiha." Uchiha Inabi strongly disagreed with these comments.

Having lost to Obito, he understood better than anyone how strong Obito was; he was among the stronger ones even within the Chunin ranks, let alone against a Genin.

"It's fine; Obito will prove the excellence of the Uchiha with his strength," Uchiha Yashiro said calmly.

In his view, while Obito might struggle against Kisame or Guy—those two were indeed monsters—defeating Asuma should pose no problem.

The reason was simple: if Asuma had such powerful strength, his identity as the Hokage's son and his reputation as a genius would have long been known throughout Konoha.

Uchiha Inabi nodded and turned to the center of the arena, preparing to focus on the battle.

In the fighting arena, it was impossible to hear the discussions from the audience; it was mostly Ninjas who were sharp and aware.

Although he couldn't hear clearly, Asuma had already guessed the content of the audience's discussions.

It was nothing more than that as the Hokage's son, he should win. He was all too familiar with this sentiment, having heard it since he was young.

Winning was only natural; that was what a Hokage's son should do. Losing meant he hadn't trained hard enough; how could the Hokage's son be at such a level?

"It's easy to talk, but Obito is not easy to deal with," Asuma thought as he watched Obito, who was smiling and waving at the audience.

He had no confidence in fighting Obito; that Fire Release during the preliminaries left a deep impression on him, and now, a month later, he had no idea what kind of improvements Obito might have made. Asuma truly felt uncertain.

Not winning the battle as those people wished would not make Asuma sad; in fact, he might even feel a bit pleased inside.

However, Asuma wouldn't deliberately throw the match because there were people he cared about watching.

He didn't want Mutsuki to see him lose easily, thinking that his teaching had been in vain. He also didn't want Hiruzen to witness his easy defeat; he wanted to prove himself with his strength.

Asuma looked up at the audience; although it was hard to discern from such a distance, he imagined that among them was a blond figure wearing a gentle smile, watching him.

"That kid's battle, he's definitely going to get completely dominated by Uchiha Obito," Tsunade said when she heard Asuma's name.

"Why?" Mutsuki turned to Tsunade and asked.

"Haha, because Asuma won't say anything and will just call her 'Auntie,'" Jiraiya laughed heartily, answering for Tsunade.

Mutsuki's expression became somewhat complicated; Tsunade's random comment turned out to be quite accurate. The gap in strength between the two was significant, and it would be very difficult for Asuma to win. He would need to be at his best in every aspect, plus Obito would have to underperform significantly for it to be possible.

"However, if you ask me, at Asuma's age to call you..." Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade's slowly rising fist and ultimately swallowed the rest of his words; Tsunade's punches could be quite heavy-handed.

"The battle begins!"

As Hiruko's voice echoed through the arena, Mutsuki shifted his gaze back to the battlefield to watch the fight.

"Flame Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!" Obito quickly entered a state of focused breathing, enhancing the speed of his fire attribute Chakra Nature Transformation.

However, he did not immediately enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, as it consumed too much energy. Instead, he decided to test Asuma's capabilities first before deciding whether to activate it.

Asuma also quickly entered a basic breathing state to enhance his own abilities.

Swish, swish, swish!!!

Asuma took out three Kunai from his ninja tool pouch and used Wind Nature Transformation to imbue them with wind attribute Chakra before throwing them at Obito.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Obito gathered Chakra and quickly completed the Nature Transformation in his throat, releasing a massive wave of flames.

The flames formed a massive fireball that smashed toward the incoming Shuriken.

The Kunai, enhanced with wind attribute Chakra, had considerable power, but it was still lacking compared to Obito's Great Fireball, and it was directly knocked to the ground.

Asuma chose not to take it head-on and instead dodged to the side.

Obito didn't expect the Great Fireball to hit Asuma, so he immediately burst forth with Chakra and charged forward.

Although Asuma lagged behind Obito in terms of Breathing Technique intensity and physical attributes, he hadn't been idle over the past month. Besides mastering the basic Breathing Technique, Asuma had a deeper understanding of Wind Nature Transformation. Under Mutsuki's guidance, he also learned to use Wind Release to accelerate his own movements.

With the speed boost from Wind Release, Asuma didn't instantly fall into a disadvantage; on the surface, it seemed like he was exchanging blows with Obito, appearing evenly matched.

Of course, it was only on the surface.

"Obito's strength is so much greater than mine. When did he become so skilled in Taijutsu?" Asuma thought to himself, feeling puzzled as he had expected to gain the upper hand in Taijutsu with his new techniques.

After roughly assessing Asuma's Taijutsu level, Obito directly activated his Sharingan, his eyes turning blood-red with two Tomoe spinning within.

Once the Sharingan was activated, Obito's insight sharply increased, revealing many flaws in Asuma's attacks.

Asuma, already at a disadvantage, quickly fell further behind, getting pushed back by Obito's relentless assaults.

Some guards noticed Asuma's predicament and instinctively glanced at Hiruzen, but Hiruzen's expression remained largely unchanged, similar to before the battle began.

"To think he could suppress the Hokage's son; this Uchiha Obito is quite strong."

"Could it be that he's going to win?"

No Ninja would be foolish enough to belittle the Hokage's son in such a grand setting. Even if they lost, they might only complain about it in private or while chatting with friends.

Ordinary people might not matter to the Hokage, but a Ninja should know better, and even if the Hokage didn't care, there were still those willing to serve him.

Uchiha Fugaku watched as Obito steadily pressed his attack and gained the upper hand, slightly nodding. From his perspective, it seemed that Obito was set to securely advance to Chunin.

"If he becomes a Chunin, he can directly enter the police department. If he can come to the police department, he will definitely receive the best guidance," Uchiha Yashiro lamented Obito's previous refusal.

He believed that having Uchiha teach Uchiha was the best option since no one could understand Uchiha better than another Uchiha.

Seeing that his Taijutsu was at a disadvantage, Asuma had to change tactics. He pushed his Wind Release Nature Transformation to the limit, accelerating to create distance.

Although he was less confident in Ninjutsu, Asuma had no choice but to use it now; if he didn't, he would be beaten by Obito's Taijutsu.

"Those people must be starting to criticize me for not training properly, thinking I can only talk big. They don't understand how strong my opponent is," Asuma grumbled internally while forming hand signs.

"He's really fast, so I'll just use Ninjutsu," Obito thought, realizing he couldn't catch up to Asuma and that if he kept chasing, he would be facing the Wind Release head-on.

---

Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja