The date became May 1st.
Eight o'clock in the morning.
Kitazawa walked into the Hokage Office.
The reason he went to work an hour early today was that the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament was to be held within the God Tree Game.
Its official start time was nine o'clock in the morning.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Ino stood up when she saw him, a smile on her face as she said, "Good morning."
"How long have you been waiting?" Kitazawa walked up to her and asked.
"Not too long, about ten minutes." Ino took out a document and said, "Kitazawa-sensei, here is the document you wanted."
"Thank you." Kitazawa took the document.
"You go to the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament first," Kitazawa said, "I wish you good results."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino took her leave.
After she left, Kitazawa picked up the document on the Hokage's desk. The contents of the document were related to the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
Part of it was the list of participating Ninjas, and part was the list of specially invited spectators.
Meanwhile, within the God Tree Game. The Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament was being held in a massive arena.
Its area was vast, far exceeding any training ground or arena in the Ninja World, capable of accommodating fifty thousand spectators.
At this time, there was still about an hour before the start of the first day of the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
But the participating youth Ninjas had all arrived.
Besides Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata from Konoha Village, there were also geniuses from the Four Great Villages.
Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro from Sunagakure.
Suigetsu Hozuki and Chōjūrō from the Hidden Mist Village.
Kurotsuchi and Deidara from Iwagakure.
Darui from the Hidden Cloud Village.
Of course, the Four Great Villages now existed in name only.
In fact, judging from the number of geniuses alone, even without Kitazawa, it would be difficult for the Four Great Villages to surpass Konoha Village.
It could only be said that Konoha Village was too blessed, having geniuses like Naruto and Sasuke.
In addition to the participating Ninjas, many spectators had also arrived. The high-level officials of Konoha Village were all present.
Because it involved the Genius Class, the retired Sarutobi Hiruzen and Maruboshi Kosuke also came to watch the matches.
Only the former Konoha Sannin—Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—had not arrived.
Tsunade was busy taking care of her pregnancy and occasionally went to gamble.
Jiraiya was somewhere in the Ninja World gathering material.
Orochimaru rarely left his laboratory. Especially after entering the new era, much of his research could now be put to use.
The high-level officials of the other Four Great Shinobi Villages were also present, such as Terumī Mei, Rasa, Ōnoki, and the Fourth Raikage.
This had been specifically requested by Kitazawa.
The reason was simple. To let them witness the gap between the younger generations of the Five Great Villages.
Kitazawa knew they were unwilling and still hoped for Konoha Village's downfall a hundred years later.
But unfortunately, Kitazawa intended to make them abandon such thoughts completely.
"Who do you think will get first place?" Akimichi Choza asked.
"The answer is beyond doubt." Inoichi Yamanaka said firmly, "One of those in Team Seven led by Hokage-sama."
"Neji isn't bad either." Uchiha Fugaku suddenly praised, "Especially his Tenseigan, which possesses earth-shattering power."
Hyuga Hiashi was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Why was he praising Hyuga Neji?
Did he think Sasuke had already secured victory? Hyuga Hiashi thought about it and didn't dwell on it.
In fact, since the unification of the Ninja World, there was no longer any competition between the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan.
Because the Ninja World was so vast, both sides had gained immense benefits, and there was no need to compete anymore.
"Other shinobi villages also have geniuses participating." Nara Shikaku said with a smile, "They should not be underestimated either."
"One step behind, every step behind." Hyuga Hiashi said indifferently, "They can no longer keep up with Konoha Village's geniuses."
"That is true." Uchiha Fugaku agreed, "They have no idea how terrifying the current strength of Naruto and the others is."
Time passed during everyone's casual conversation.
Nine o'clock in the morning.
Kitazawa appeared in the arena. With him was Uchiha Izumi.
Today was only the first day of the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament—more precisely, the preliminary rounds.
He planned to show himself briefly and then leave. He would watch the full event during the second day's semi-finals.
Bringing Uchiha Izumi along was to have her serve as today's referee.
Tomorrow's referee would be Kabuto. As for Aburame Torune, since he was young, Kitazawa had him participate directly.
"Lord Supreme!" Everyone shouted in unison.
"Thank you all for coming today," Kitazawa spoke briefly, "I won't say anything unnecessary. The Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament begins now!"
After speaking, he stepped down, leaving only Uchiha Izumi.
"I am today's referee, Uchiha Izumi." After introducing herself, she explained the rules of the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
Because it was within the God Tree Game, there would be no death.
There was only one rule: between the two sides in combat, whoever lost the ability to resist would be declared the loser.
As for how one lost the ability to resist, both severe injury and death were within the permitted range.
Kitazawa exited the God Tree Game and returned to the Capital of the Land of Fire.
Because most people had gone to watch the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament, the palace was unusually quiet.
However, Konan was still there. Kitazawa walked into the Hokage Office and sat on the sofa, letting her do as she pleased.
---
The sun set in the west.
The first day of the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament ended successfully.
After a full day of competition, the twenty winners were finally decided. They would move on to tomorrow's semi-finals.
At this time, the spectators had already left one after another, leaving only the Fourth Raikage, Rasa, and the others.
They stood silently where they were, speechless for a long time.
The reason was simple. Among the twenty winners, all except Gaara were Ninjas from Konoha Village.
They naturally understood what this meant.
When they had surrendered to Konoha Village, they had believed that after Kitazawa's death, the Ninja World would once again be split into five.
But now, that idea seemed nothing more than a distant illusion.
Judging from today's performance, the strength of Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and Hyuga Neji had already surpassed them.
In terms of the number of Kage-level fighters, Konoha Village was already firmly in first place.
And they were still young—only eighteen years old. The future ahead of them was still long.
---
Hokage Office.
Konan had already finished her work and gone to rest.
Kitazawa was still sitting on the sofa, quietly waiting. Soon, a knock sounded at the door.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata pushed the door open and walked in.
"How were today's matches?" Kitazawa asked.
Hinata spoke about the twenty winners of the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
"It's about the same as I guessed." Kitazawa nodded and said with a smile, "There are still many hard battles tomorrow; you should rest early."
Hinata nodded and left the office.
The next day arrived.
Nine o'clock in the morning.
Kitazawa appeared at the Ninja World Youth Martial Arts Tournament on time.
After thinking for a moment, he didn't go to the spectator seats but instead came to the preparation area.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto was as enthusiastic as ever. "Kitazawa-sensei, sit here!"
Kitazawa sat down with his students.
"First round, first match." Kabuto stood at the center of the field and said, "Gaara versus Rock Lee."
As his voice rang out, the spectators fell silent and turned their gaze toward the preparation area.
Rasa's expression changed upon hearing this. Could it be that the only remaining seed of the Four Great Ninja Villages wouldn't even make it past the first match?
Kitazawa, however, revealed a look of interest. This match could be considered a grudge battle.
Of course, this referred to the joint Chunin Exams in the original story, where Gaara had beaten Rock Lee into the hospital, nearly ending his career.
If it hadn't been for Tsunade, Rock Lee might never have been able to become a Ninja again.
Kitazawa stroked his chin.
The current Gaara's strength was not weak. He was the only Jinchuriki whose strength actually surged after losing his Tailed Beast.
In the original Fourth Great Ninja War, he had already displayed Kage-level power.
At that time, he was seventeen; now, he was eighteen.
But Rock Lee wouldn't necessarily lose. Because, unlike in the original story, he had not been delayed.
On the contrary, he had become Might Guy's student ahead of time. Whether he could win depended on how many of the Eight Gates he could open.
"Eight Gates!"
Rock Lee went all out the moment the battle began. He knew very well that any Ninja who could enter the semi-finals was no weaker than him.
"Sixth Gate, Gate of View, Open!"
Rock Lee roared, and the Chakra around his body surged violently.
Gaara couldn't help but take a breath, his expression turning extremely serious.
"Konoha Gale!" Rock Lee moved.
Gaara only saw a blur before his eyes as a triple kick struck him. Fortunately, his Shield of Sand activated automatically.
A tremendous force hit him, and Gaara was forced to retreat. Before he could stabilize himself, Rock Lee appeared in front of him once again.
His speed was so fast that Gaara could barely track his movements. He quickly adjusted his strategy.
A large amount of sand surged up, surrounding him and forming a defensive shell like a hedgehog.
Rock Lee's attacks landed on it but were completely blocked.
Gaara understood the Eight Gates to some extent and knew it was a heavy burden that couldn't be maintained for long.
He chose to focus on defense.
"Morning Peacock!" Seeing this, a vast amount of Chakra erupted from Rock Lee's body.
Countless fists tore through the air at high speed. Because of their speed, the friction ignited flames, forming the image of a peacock spreading its tail.
Terrifying power poured forward.
The Shield of Sand around Gaara began to crack. Sensing danger, he immediately formed hand seals.
QuickSand Waterfall Flow!
With him at the center, the ground transformed into a desert. Endless sand surged toward Rock Lee like raging waves.
But Rock Lee, like a sharp arrow, pierced through the sand waves and struck Gaara with a direct blow.
Gaara was sent flying.
After landing, he struggled back to his feet. However, the skin exposed on his body showed cracks, revealing his true flesh beneath.
In many places, blood seeped out.
"Only the Sixth Gate; it seems it's hard to defeat Gaara," Kitazawa commented calmly.
"Seventh Gate, Gate of Wonder, Open!"
Rock Lee realized this as well and forcefully opened the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates.
Under normal circumstances, he would never dare to do so. The strain on his body was simply too great. But this was the God Tree Game.
"Daytime Tiger!"
After opening the Seventh Gate, Rock Lee didn't hesitate and launched his attack immediately.
Because if he delayed even slightly, his body would collapse.
The air compressed to its limit. A giant white tiger roared forward, crashing into Gaara.
In an instant, the heavens and earth trembled. Violent air currents spread in all directions.
After a long while, the battlefield finally calmed down.
Gaara had fainted.
But Rock Lee also collapsed shortly after.
"The winner, Rock Lee," Kabuto announced.
Although both had lost consciousness, Rock Lee had fallen a moment later.
The competition continued.
To Kitazawa, most of the battles were not particularly exciting. After all, his strength had already reached an entirely different level.
But for the other spectators, it was a shocking display.
This included the Fourth Raikage, Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Fugaku, and others.
The minimum strength of the twenty Ninjas who entered the semi-finals was at least Elite Jonin, with many already reaching Kage-level.
Aside from Kitazawa, all the spectators felt as if their horizons had been broadened.
--
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Read the complete novel on P@treon: P@treon / Arvinstorm
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