Naruto let his arms drop with a long sigh. Toru was too strong, there was no doubt about that, but was he really so strong that he could make Kabuto surrender?
'It doesn't make sense...'
Naruto scratched his head as he thought. He had seen Kabuto's true strength and was certain that he could have put up a better fight. Although it wasn't like he was upset about the result, since Toru had advanced to the final exam, and that was something impressive.
'He really managed to beat Kabuto... I'm sure that if Sasuke and Toru fought, it would be a complete massacre.'
With some heavy thoughts on his mind, Naruto rested his arms on the metal railing and looked at Toru.
"Yakushi Kabuto has surrendered. Asahi Toru is the winner and advances to the final exam," Hayate said, raising his hand.
"Toru-kun! You did great!" Hinata said.
When she realized that she had literally shouted her words, her face turned an intense shade of red. Although she was embarrassed, she wanted to see Toru's reaction.
Toru raised his hand, looked at Hinata with a calm expression that was very typical of him, and said:
"Thanks."
That was all, just one word and a small gesture with his hand, but somehow, it was enough to make Hinata's heart feel incredibly warm inside her chest. Was this some kind of illness? A heart attack? Nah. Hinata smiled proudly, still a little red in the face from her previous embarrassment.
'There they go again...' Ino thought, crossing her arms. For some reason, she felt annoyed.
The next moment, Toru jumped back toward his team, but stopped right in front of Ino, standing on the metal railing that separated the arena from the spectators.
Ino looked him in the eyes with a frown. She was supposed to celebrate her teammate's victory, but her previous irritation led her to say... things.
"What? What do you want? A kiss on the forehead?"
Toru casually shook his head.
"Although that would be a nice gesture on your part, I don't need one, but thanks for the offer."
"You seriously get on my nerves," she said, but Toru merely shrugged casually and stepped down from the railing.
Approaching Hinata, he silently looked toward the arena, as they were about to announce the next names, but, still embarrassed, Hinata said:
"Congratulations, Toru-kun. You really deserved to win."
"Thanks. I did what I could, and luckily, it worked out. I hope things go well for you when you fight too."
Hinata nodded. Those words made her feel more confident.
Meanwhile, Hayate said:
"Since the second fight ended quickly, it's time to continue. I don't need to explain how the names will be chosen, so let's just look at the screen."
Everyone looked at the screen, and the names began moving randomly. The next match would be between:
Hoki Hakuto vs. Onikuma Enko
"Yes! It's my turn," Enko said excitedly. She jumped into the arena with great confidence, expecting to be the winner.
Meanwhile, Hakuto hid behind Shikamaru. She knew that Enko possessed tremendous physical strength and was highly skilled in close-quarters combat, which frightened her quite a bit.
On the other hand, for Hakuto, using genjutsu against someone who relied solely on physical strength could give her an advantage, but her own physical strength was also her greatest disadvantage.
Even if she managed to make Enko fall into her genjutsu, which caused horrible nightmares designed to make the enemy destroy themselves, she wouldn't be able to do anything to her if Enko managed to land a hit. Her only option would be to use a sharp weapon to end her opponent's life, but doing something like that to her former teammate from the Shinobi Academy felt horrible.
"I think I'm going to surrender, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru sighed tiredly and brought a hand to his forehead.
"Hakuto, I think this is your chance to stop being such a coward. If you get through this, you could say you're the strongest member of the team."
Although they were nothing more than empty words, Hakuto's eyes widened in surprise. Somehow, as she looked at the ground and reflected on what he had said, she felt motivated enough to go into the fight.
'Then... I just have to try...'
Patting her cheeks a few times, Hakuto slowly walked down the stairs until she reached the battle arena.
"She's going to lose, right?" Chouji said, chewing on the snacks in his hand.
"No idea. Most likely, yeah, but she'll at least put up a good fight. Either way, expecting anything more is such a drag."
Shikamaru frowned. Beside him sat a Jounin with short black hair, a thick beard, and dark skin, who looked at Hakuto thoughtfully. This was Shikamaru and his team's sensei.
'Hakuto is strong with genjutsu, much stronger than the others might imagine, but... Her timid personality works against her. I hope it will at least be easier for her to use everything she has against someone she already knows,' the sensei thought.
"Don't worry, Hakuto-chan. I'll make sure I don't hurt you, so let's have some fun for a while," Enko said as she cracked her knuckles.
Hakuto looked at this and felt a little intimidated, but then she looked at her sensei and Shikamaru, who seemed to be supporting her from the sidelines. Thanks to that, she focused on fighting Enko.
Hayate approached the two participants.
"Let's not waste any more time. It's time to begin the third fight of the preliminary round."
He looked them both in the eyes and then said:
"Begin!"
Hayate jumped backward, putting distance between himself and the participants. At the same time, Enko charged forward, Hakuto brought her hands together into a hand seal, and the fight began.
Later, covered in wounds, Hakuto collapsed onto the arena floor, while Enko, with her arms swollen from the physical enhancement granted by her kekkei genkai and accompanied by a small bear cub whose claws were stained with blood, knelt on the ground, staring blankly into nothingness with an expression of terror.
'A genjutsu that makes you see your worst nightmares... What could Enko have seen to react so violently?' Toru wondered. Then, he imagined what his own worst nightmare would be.
His breathing trembled just from thinking about it.
[Third Fight Summary:
Time: 7.24 minutes.
Winner: Onikuma Enko.
Decisive Move: Kumazume.]