XX-level Hokage

"Both of them performed well," Ino said from the stands.

"It's alright. As far as Lutai is concerned, they've already tried their best," Shouhan said with a hint of pride.

This caused Sakura and Ino to look at Temari with helpless expressions again. "Wind Mastery: Gale Palm"

Boruto used a kunai to deflect the Shikadai (a type of Japanese ninjutsu) and then unleashed a ninjutsu.

Shikadai quickly dodged, then instantly unleashed the Shadow Imitation Technique. The shadows continued to spread and attack, while Boruto created four shadow clones.

Five Borutos surrounded Shikadai, spinning around him and distracting him. This is it!

Boruto seized on Shikadai's momentary opening, and five Borutos rushed towards him simultaneously.

But just as Boruto's hand was about to strike Shikadai, his body suddenly became unable to move.

Boruto looked down and saw that Shikadai's shadow had somehow turned into a giant circle, binding all five Borutos inside! Seeing this, Shikamaru became somewhat excited.

"Hey, what's going on? Why is the shadow so big?" Naruto asked Shikamaru. "Boruto isn't the only one who's undergone special training," Shikamaru said with a smile.

Boruto was unable to move. Shikamaru walked up to him and held a kunai to Boruto's neck. "Give up, Boruto," Shikamaru said with a smile.

"Damn it!" Boruto thought of Naruto, and of his encouragement. Boruto's eyes hardened, and the scientific ninja tool activated at his wrist. A clone suddenly appeared outside the circle, throwing a kunai at Shikadai.

Shikadai had no choice but to dodge, and his Shadow Imitation Technique was dispelled. Then, his five clones simultaneously held kunai to Shikadai's neck. "Shall we continue?" Boruto asked.

"I lost," Lu Tai sighed, stretching out his hands. Seeing this, Xiao Li announced the result.

"The winner, Boruto Uzumaki, advances to the finals."

"Brother is so handsome!" Sunflower jumped up from the audience and said happily.

Soon, the second match of the semifinals began. The three members of Lutai also came to the stands.

"You've worked hard. It's a pity about those matches you played," Raimon said to Shikadai.

"Forget it, there's no use regretting it now. Aren't you all in the same boat? Let's just give it our all from now on," Lu Tai said. The others all looked towards the arena.

"The second match of the semifinals, Konoha, Uchiha Sarada, yes, Konoha, Hyuga Mashiro, begin!"

As soon as Xiaoji Li announced it, Sarada instantly threw several shuriken at Mashiro. Mashiro simply turned slightly to the side, dodging Sarada's attack.

Sarada started running around Mashiro, throwing shuriken continuously. She activated the unique throwing techniques of the Uchiha clan, and the arc of the shuriken kept changing.

But Mashiro remained completely calm, dodging the attacks with unhurried ease, even glancing up at Guan Kong.

"It's getting closer and closer. That familiar feeling... is it the Rinnegan? Or the Otsutsuki?" Mashiro muttered to himself.

Seeing that the shuriken attack was completely ineffective and that Mashiro was even looking up at the sky, Sarada became somewhat annoyed. She instantly activated her Sharingan, grabbed a kunai, and charged towards Mashiro.

"Don't ignore me! Be serious."

Facing Sarada charging towards her, Mashiro stepped forward lightly. A single glance.

Sarada flew over and fell to the ground.

"What just happened?" Ino asked, puzzled, from the stands. "No, it was too fast," Koro said, frowning.

"A technique of the Hyuga clan?" Temari asked softly.

On the other side, Hinata asked in great surprise, "That's... Rebirth? No, it doesn't seem like it." Hanabi was also very puzzled.

On the Five Kage Platform, Kurotsuchi asked Naruto, "Her move just now was so strange, Hokage, was it a Hyuga clan secret technique?" "It seems to be a Hyuga clan secret technique, Rotation, but it's not complete," Naruto replied, having clearly seen Mashiro's movements.

Naruto was right. Mashiro did use the Rotation Technique just now, but it was a special Rotation Technique. It utilized the principle of high-speed rotation and deflection of attacks, and chakra was spiraled through the pressure points in the palm. It was a technique created by Mashiro himself, the Rotation Palm.

Sarada stood up from the ground, staring intently at Mashiro not far away. Then she threw down the kunai in her hand; she understood that close combat would inevitably lead to defeat.

Sarada formed hand seals, looked at Mashiro, and her Sharingan lit up.

She cast a Sharingan genjutsu on Mashiro. The power of her eye entered Mashiro's body through the genjutsu.

In an instant, Sarada saw a pair of pale blue eyes, followed by a surge of immense pupil power. "Cough."

Sarada bent over, supporting herself with one hand on the ground, blood flowing from her mouth. "Saraza!" Sakura cried out in the stands, her voice filled with worry.

"Backlash from the genjutsu." Ino's eyes were extremely serious. As the head of Konoha's sensory department, she had many genjutsu ninjas under her command, so she naturally understood the reason instantly.

"To think that Sarada, who possesses the Sharingan, would suffer a backlash from a genjutsu... just how could she..." Namino muttered to himself.

On the other side, Naruto also noticed this and whispered, "Is this what Sasuke meant by powerful eye power? Shall we try again?" Mashiro asked softly.

Sarada stood up again, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked incredibly white. Physical attacks were useless, illusions were useless; she was truly powerful.

However, I absolutely cannot lose! "Lightning Release: Lightning Ball"

Sarada quickly formed hand seals, and a golden ball of lightning appeared out of thin air, hurtling towards Mashiro. Mashiro did not dodge.

Sheets of white paper fluttered down from her body.

The lightning bolt struck the paper, instantly turning the white paper to ash.

But it shrank and disappeared in just a moment. Paper? A perfect opportunity!

"Fire: Great Fireball Technique!"

Sarada quickly formed hand seals, and a huge fireball shot out of her mouth.

This fireball consumed all her chakra; it was her final strike. Facing the incoming Great Fireball...

Upon seeing this, Sarada collapsed to the ground.

"The winner of the second semi-final match is Hinata Mashiro, who advances to the final!"

Chapter 241: A Familiar Feeling

Next up is the third match.

"Now we begin the third match of the semifinals: Konoha, Mitsuki, versus Sand Village, Shinki. Begin!"

With Lee's announcement, the match officially began. "Wind Release: Breakthrough"

Yiyue launched the first attack, exhaling a stream of air that shot straight at Shinki. However, it was blocked by the surging iron sand.

Immediately afterwards, the iron sand transformed into a giant, pitch-black hand, which grabbed Yiyue's arm. "Got it."

But Yue's arms transformed into several white snakes, easily freeing her from Shinki's restraints.

"What an interesting magic trick! What will appear next, a pigeon?" Shinki asked Mitsuki.

“I can only conjure snakes. Your moves are truly unique. How exactly do you control the iron sand at will?” Yi Yue asked.

In the preparation room, Mashiro looked at the sand surging around Shinki through the screen and said, "He seems different from Gaara. Is he using Magnet Release? As expected of the Sand Village, if nothing unexpected happens, he should be the next Kazekage."

On the dueling field, Shinki said, "This is a ninjutsu that my father taught me personally. Never mind, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Is that so? Oh well, it doesn't matter. Wind Release: Kamaitachi." Mitsuki launched another attack. "A waste of effort." Iron sand surged, and Mitsuki's attack was easily blocked once again.

Shinki then launched an attack, sending black waves of iron sand crashing towards Mitsuki. After a fierce struggle, Mitsuki was ultimately at a disadvantage.

"Is that all? You're clearly hiding the Killer Copper." Shinki said. Izuki didn't speak, just quietly looked at Shinki.

"I understand. Now please tell me where your composure comes from." With that, Shinki stretched out his right hand, and the floating iron sand condensed into a black spike.

“The attack just now has left you with the mark of iron sand. You should know the properties of iron sand, right?” Shinki said softly. “Magnetic,” Izuki replied.

“Yes, the unavoidable spear will pierce your body,” Shinki said emphatically.

"This situation is truly perplexing. The only way to defeat him is to transform into a Sage Mode, but..." Thinking this over, Yoru saw Boruto's figure.

“Come on, let me see your hidden power.” With that, the iron sand spear thrust towards Yiyue in an instant. “I lost,” Yiyue said.

Upon hearing this, Shinki immediately stopped her spear attack. "Did I hear that right?" Shinki asked.

“You heard me right, I said I lost,” Yi Yue said calmly.

Orochimaru warned him that he must never use Sage Mode in Konoha, or he would be sent back to Otogakure. Therefore, in order to stay by Boruto's side, Mitsuki chose to concede defeat.

"The winner, Shinki from Sand Village, advances to the finals."

"The finals will be held tomorrow. The teams are: Sand Village, Shinki, Konoha, Hyuga Mashiro, Konoha, and Uzumaki Boruto. I hope all participants are mentally prepared," Shikamaru announced the results of today's matches.

Inside the barbecue restaurant, Moegi was eating barbecue with Shikadai, Inojin, and Chocho, but none of the three of them showed any interest in touching their chopsticks.

"I brought you here because you said you wanted to eat barbecue. It's a pity you lost the game, but I believe everyone saw how hard you tried," Menghuang comforted her.

Die Die picked up a piece of meat and said, "The meat is so thin it's almost transparent."

"There's nothing I can do, it's not payday yet," Menghuang said, puffing out her cheeks.

"Meng Huang-sensei!" Shikadai suddenly spoke up. Meng Huang turned to look at Shikadai.

“Are we missing something?” Lu Tai asked seriously.

“Yes, but you don’t need to dwell on this answer right now. Were you just thinking about how to beat Boruto in future matches?” Moegi asked, and Shikadai nodded.

"Preparations for the next Chunin Exams have already begun; special training will start tomorrow," Moegi announced. "Yes!" Shikadai nodded earnestly.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone. Here's the Q-style BBQ platter for 20 people." At that moment, three servers came over carrying four full plates of meat. "What? What? What's going on? Did they bring this to the wrong table?!" Menghuang said nervously.

"I saw you guys were having a serious conversation, so I ordered for everyone," Inojin said with a smile. "We've already ordered, what else can we do? Come on, eat," Shikadai chimed in.

After saying that, Diedie began to eat heartily. "You..."

"Please keep the bill." The waiter handed the bill to Moegi.

After glancing at the numbers inside, Menghuang instantly turned pale and fainted.

Not only them, but all the contestants from other groups who didn't advance to the finals were also comforted by their teachers or family members. Boruto, meanwhile, continued his special training with Sasuke.

Sasuke reached out and used Chidori to instantly slice a huge rock into pieces.

"Amazing! This must be Kakashi's technique! Teach me!" Boruto exclaimed excitedly. "No," Sasuke replied.

"Tch, stingy." Boruto scoffed.

“This technique is based on the Sharingan’s perception,” Sasuke explained, revealing his Sharingan. “Then why show it to me?” Boruto asked, puzzled.

"Your chakra has a strong lightning attribute. Work hard to improve the precision of your lightning release hand seals. One day you'll be able to use powerful techniques, starting from the basics."

"Let's begin and give it a try," Sasuke said.

"Okay, okay, you mean if I practice hard, I'll eventually learn a powerful move like Chidori, right? I understand." Boruto said listlessly, and then began practicing hand seals.

“Once upon a time, there was a man who ignored all advice and only knew how to seek power by any means necessary, attempting to change the world on his own,” Sasuke said in a long, drawn-out tone.

"What happened to that person later?" Boruto asked casually, practicing hand seals. "He stumbled, but in the end, his friends saved him," Sasuke replied.

"So that means friends are important, huh? No problem with that, hehe, I'm surrounded by really good guys." Boruto said with a smile. "Is that so?" Sasuke muttered to himself.