"Next match: Konoha's Minato Namikaze versus Sunagakure's Sasori!"
"Minato—!"
The Konoha genin seated in the spectator stands all showed traces of worry.
Minato Namikaze was widely acknowledged as the strongest among their generation—an undisputed genius. Yet after witnessing Pakura's overwhelming display, even they could not be certain that Konoha would maintain its dignity in the very first round.
Minato turned back and offered them a gentle smile, silently signaling them to calm down.
Across the field, Sasori's expression remained unchanged. His eyes were as still as stagnant water, betraying not the slightest hint of emotion.
"Begin the match!"
The moment Umino Ikkaku's voice fell, Minato moved.
There were no hand signs and no probing maneuvers. His body leaned forward slightly, and in the next instant he shot out like an arrow released from a bowstring. A golden afterimage streaked across the arena as he closed the distance at a speed the naked eye could barely track.
So fast.
An astonishing Body Flicker Technique.
The pupils of both Kage in the viewing stand narrowed almost imperceptibly.
Another genius.
"That speed…" the Third Kazekage said slowly. "To achieve this level at such an age—Hiruzen, Konoha truly produces geniuses without end."
Whether it was praise or something else was impossible to tell.
Hiruzen Sarutobi merely smiled, offering no response.
On the battlefield, Sasori reacted instantly. He did not retreat. His wide sleeve shifted slightly.
With a muffled bang, four puppets appeared, positioning themselves at the four cardinal points around him. Sasori's fingers twitched, and two of the puppets lunged forward, blades flashing.
"Four puppets," Hiruzen said cheerfully. "As far as I know, a puppeteer only needs to control one proficiently to be promoted to chūnin. It seems Sunagakure's genin are no less impressive than ours."
The Third Kazekage remained silent.
Ōnoki, however, glared furiously at the arena below, his face dark and flushed as his cheeks puffed with suppressed anger.
"Clang!"
Minato did not alter his trajectory. He charged straight through.
A nearly invisible layer of chakra clung to his kunai.
With a sharp swish, the iron blade of the puppet was cleanly severed.
Wind Release chakra transformation.
A chakra blade.
Hiruzen and the Kazekage watched in silence. Ōnoki's expression grew darker with every passing second.
Minato destroyed the second puppet just as swiftly and continued advancing toward Sasori. The remaining two puppets behind Sasori did not move, as though he had failed to recall them in time.
Just as Minato's kunai was about to strike, Sasori's body bent backward at an angle no human body should have been capable of achieving, collapsing like a marionette with its strings cut. At the same time, dozens of poisoned senbon shot from his sleeve in a dense spray.
Minato frowned slightly and formed hand seals.
In the next instant, his position swapped with a wooden stake several meters away.
Substitution?
Ōnoki's eyes widened. "No—! That's not right. Konoha's Substitution Technique is supposed to be nothing more than a prerequisite for the Body Flicker!"
The one who answered him was the Third Kazekage, his gaze fixed on Minato.
"Konoha teaches two types," he said calmly. "The first relies on high-speed movement combined with a summoned object to obscure the user before retreating with the Body Flicker. It is meant for those whose mastery is incomplete."
"But the second," he continued, "is a simplified form of space-time ninjutsu. A mark is placed on a prepared object beforehand. At the critical moment, the object is summoned, and reverse summoning is used to exchange positions."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"It is the foundational technique for the Flying Thunder God, the signature jutsu of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama—is it not, Hiruzen?"
Hiruzen chuckled lightly, scratching his cheek. "You're giving it too much credit. It's nothing more than a clever trick."
He did not answer directly.
Minato landed steadily on the ground, now ten meters away from Sasori.
And then—
"I surrender."
Sasori raised his hand calmly.
The declaration stunned the arena.
Hiroki's eyes narrowed slightly in surprise, but understanding followed almost immediately.
A puppeteer's strength lay entirely in their puppets.
If Sasori lost the remaining two, he would be unable to continue in later rounds. Preserving them was the rational choice, especially since the elimination stage allowed for a single failure.
Continuing the fight against Minato would only waste time and resources.
"Winner: Minato Namikaze," Umino Ikkaku announced.
"Next match: Konoha's Sawada Hiroki versus Iwagakure's Oishi."
In the stands, Ōnoki finally exhaled, his tense expression easing.
Oishi was fifteen years old this year. Though his appearance made him look closer to twenty, his age was genuine. He possessed a camouflage technique that rendered his body transparent and concealed his chakra entirely—an ability that made him extraordinarily difficult to detect.
While he lacked the overwhelming brilliance of Pakura, Minato, or Sasori—each of whom already possessed jōnin-level strength—Oishi was undeniably an outstanding chūnin.
If his opponent underestimated him, assassination was not impossible.
The Konoha genin facing him appeared to be around ten years old. Another prodigy, perhaps—but surely not every child in Konoha could be a monster.
Ōnoki allowed himself a cold snort. Sunagakure had produced two anomalies. Konoha had produced one.
There was no way this one was the same.
"Begin the fight!"
A dull thud echoed across the arena.
Oishi collapsed.
The silence was instantaneous and absolute.
No one understood what had just happened.
The entire arena—tens of thousands of spectators, including the three Kage on the highest platform—fell into a suffocating stillness. Time itself seemed to freeze.
On one side lay Oishi, sprawled face-down on the ground, unconscious before he had even assumed a fighting stance.
On the other stood Sawada Hiroki, unmoving. He had not taken a single step. He merely stood there calmly, gazing at his fallen opponent without the slightest change in expression.
There were no hand seals.
No physical exchange.
No ninja tools.
No detectable chakra fluctuation.
Oishi had collapsed the instant the match began.
After a moment, confusion erupted into chaos.
"What just happened?"
"Did he faint on his own?"
"You've got to be kidding—he just dropped?"
Boos and furious shouts rippled through the stands. The audience felt cheated, robbed of a battle they had anticipated.
"Oishi!"
Two Iwagakure genin leapt to their feet in panic. One of them jumped down into the arena without thinking and rushed toward the battlefield.
"What did you do to him!?" he shouted, pointing at Hiroki with bloodshot eyes.
Iruka Umino instantly appeared between them, his voice cold and sharp. "Step back! Are you attempting to violate the exam rules?"
But before anything further could happen—
Iruka's pupils suddenly dilated.
Without warning, he collapsed to the ground.
The arena fell into silence once more.