XX-level Hokage

"Anyone else quitting?" Moonlight Gale continued to ask. No one answered.

"There are now twenty-three people. This is the preliminary round. Tomorrow, the results will be randomly drawn for 1v1 matches. The winners will advance to the main competition, and the losers will be eliminated. Of course, due to the limited number of participants, one lucky person among you will not advance directly to the main competition. Now, all candidates may leave." Moonlight Gale finished speaking and left.

The candidates then left as well.

At night, Mashiro looked at the preliminary round match list in his hand: First match: Uchiha Sasuke VS Akara Armor

Match 2: Zaku vs. Shino Aburame; Match 3: Misumi Tsurugi vs. Kankuro; Match 4: Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka; Match 5: Tenten vs. Kurotsuchi.

Match 6: Nara Shikamaru vs. Kintsuchi; Match 7: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuya Kiba; Match 8: Hyuga Hinata vs. Temari; Match 9: Gaara vs. Rock Lee; Match 10: Akatsuchi vs. Akimichi Choji; Match 11: Tosu vs. Hyuga Choji; Kishimoto called Iwaoku.

"This is not good," Mashiro muttered, glancing at the contents of the watch.

Because of the involvement of the Land of Rock, this list does not match Mashiro's memory.

But the list is static, while people are dynamic. Mashiro pulled out a pen and rewrote the list: First match: Uchiha Sasuke VS Akabane Armor

Match 2: Zaku vs. Shino Aburame; Match 3: Misumi Tsurugi vs. Kankuro; Match 4: Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka; Match 5: Tenten vs. Kurotsuchi.

Match 6: Nara Shikamaru vs. Kintsuchi; Match 7: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuya Kiba; Match 8: Kishimoto Naruto vs. Teihan; Match 9: Gaara vs. Rock Lee.

Match 10: Akatsuchi vs. Akimichi Choji; Match 11: Toshi vs. Hyuga Neji; Hyuga Vito misses out.

After Mashiro finished writing, he threw the list on the ground. A gray-black hand reached out from the shadows, picked up the list, and then disappeared into the shadows. This list will go to the Third Hokage's office as the preliminary round match list.

After Mashiro finished doing all this, she disappeared into the darkness. The next day, the preliminary rounds officially began.

First match: Sasuke, despite the pain from the Kang Seal, defeated the Red Copper Armor.

Mashiro watched Sasuke from the audience and thought, "It seems I need to find a way to resolve the cursed seal issue quickly."

Second match: Shino displayed unexpected strength, and Aburame Shino won. Third match: Kankuro demonstrated superb puppetry skills, and Kankuro won.

Fourth match: Sakura vs. Namino. This time, the two are not best friends. After using all their tricks, Namino wins with her Mind Transfer Technique. Mashiro watches the two fighting below the stage, pondering which one to go after later.

Fifth match: Tenten is very strong, but she is facing the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage. Kurotsuchi wins.

Looking at Kurotsuchi's Lava Release, Mashiro muttered to himself, "Among the contestants, apart from Gaara and Sasuke, there shouldn't be anyone who can fight against this kind of bloodline limit. No, Shikamaru should be able to as well."

Match 6: Shikamaru maneuvered for a while and then won without any pressure.

Mashiro admires Shikamaru, or rather, she admires everyone in the Nara family; she likes intelligent people.

"Of all the participants, it seems only Shikamaru understands that ninja battles aren't just about using ninjutsu, secret techniques, and chakra; brains are also extremely important," Mashiro remarked with a sigh.

Match 7: Naruto vs. Kiba. Without Naruto using the Nine-Tails, the two are actually evenly matched. However, Naruto is slightly at a disadvantage due to Kiba's secret technique.

But Naruto is Naruto after all; he came up with the idea of ​​using a fart to defeat Kiba. Sometimes an advantage can also be a disadvantage; an overly sensitive sense of smell isn't always a good thing. Naruto Uzumaki wins.

Eighth match: With Mashiro's human intervention, Kishimoto Naruichi, who should have lost, faced Temari. Kishimoto Naruichi used the traditional Rock Release and his skill level was not low. Unfortunately, he was up against Temari. With the help of the Kamaitachi Technique, Temari won.

Match 9: Gaara vs. Lee.

Lee started with his standard Leaf Whirlwind Kick, followed by a series of rapid moves, unleashing a fierce taijutsu attack on Gaara. However, Gaara's sand in his gourd provided automatic defense and ranged attacks, rendering his attacks ineffective, and Lee found himself at a disadvantage.

After Kai agreed, Lee removed the weights binding his legs, unleashing an even faster attack speed, although Gaara's sand was still automatically defending.

Lee tried to defend, but his speed was too fast. The automatic defense couldn't keep up with him. Lee successfully attacked Gaara, almost shattering the Sand Armor. However, Lee's final blow missed Gaara. With his stamina exhausted and Gaara counterattacking, Lee was almost defeated.

In the end, Lee unleashed his final burst of willpower. To unleash his hidden ultimate technique, the Reverse Lotus, he opened five of the Eight Gates, causing a surge in power that inflicted continuous heavy damage on Gaara. His final strike landed squarely on Gaara, but Lee himself collapsed from exhaustion due to the damage inflicted by opening the Eight Gates.

Looking at Rock Lee in his Eight Gates form, Mashiro remarked, "As expected of the Eight Gates, it's just a pity it's so damaging to the body, and I wonder how high its potential is."

In Mashiro's previous life, due to him, Kai suffered an irreparable injury at a young age, so he was unable to witness "Night Kai". In Li Mo's memory, Mashiro only vaguely knew that Kai had opened the Eight Gates, but he was not clear about the specific power. Therefore, his understanding of the Eight Gates was not accurate.

Right after Lee lost consciousness, Gaara, driven by murderous intent, used his remaining chakra to manipulate sand and used the Sand Binding Technique on the defenseless Lee, breaking Lee's left hand and left leg, and intending to finish him off.

Just as Kai was about to step in to organize the attack, a dark figure appeared on the sidelines. "Enough."

Mashiro arrived off the field, and Gaara's sand shattered instantly, catching Lee's blood-soaked body. Mashiro glanced at Gaara, then spoke to Hayate Gekko.

"Rock Lee abstains. Announce the results."

Hayate Gekko didn't expect Mashiro to be the one to win, but he nodded nonetheless: "Gaara wins."

"Thank you so much, Mashiro."

After announcing the results, Kai quickly came to the sidelines, took Lee from Mashiro's arms, and said with tears in his eyes, "Who are you?" Gaara stared at Mashiro with a grim expression.

"The emptiness in your heart seems impossible to dispel, it's truly pitiful." Mashiro turned to Gaara and said calmly. "What are you talking about?" Gaara's sand began to swirl around Mashiro.

Mashiro looked at Gaara, all the sand in his eyes instantly falling to the ground. He walked to Gaara's side and said softly, "I hate this attitude. You seem to be wallowing in self-pity all the time, you pathetic wretch."

After speaking, Mashiro turned and returned to the audience seats. Then, the tenth scene began.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Turbulent Currents

Match 10: Akatsuchi vs. Choji. Akatsuchi used his superhuman strength to catch Choji's human bomb, then used Earth Release to knock Choji unconscious, resulting in Akatsuchi's victory. Match 11: Neji vs. Dosu. With his Byakugan, Neji easily saw through the sonic attack created by the multi-hole armor on Dosu's right hand, and then...

He was easily defeated using Baguazhang.

Neji Hyuga wins.

All the duelists had already made their appearances, and Hinata, who had been worried, was pleasantly surprised to find that she had failed to advance. Kiba and Shino happily offered their blessings to Hinata.

At this moment, Moonlight Gale arrived at the center of the venue and announced: "All the winners of the preliminary rounds have been determined. The winners will begin the official competition tomorrow. The official competition will be the same as the preliminary rounds, still using the 1V1 format. However, the match-up list will only be announced before each match, and then the two match-ups will have two days to prepare and improve their strength as much as possible."

After saying that, he turned and left, thus ending the preliminary rounds.

"You orchestrated Hinata's failure, didn't you?" Kurenai appeared beside Mashiro at some point and said. "Why do you say that?" Mashiro asked softly without turning around.

“I don’t want to think like this either. After all, Hinata is my student, and I’m happy that she’s taken another step forward. But whenever I see you, I always start thinking about all sorts of things,” Kurenai said, leaning against the railing with a can of beer in her hand.

"The list was issued by the Hokage, how could I possibly have the power to change it?" Mashiro said, watching the dispersing crowd. "Kapoo!"

Hong pulled the tab on a can of beer, took a sip, and said, "I don't know how you did it, I don't know why, but I never doubted you could do it."

"You seem to have changed?" Mashiro turned to look at Kurenai.

Kurenai turned to look at Mashiro. Looking into Mashiro's eyes, Kurenai still seemed somewhat timid, but she no longer avoided the question.

“That dream has haunted me to this day. I’m terrified of you, really. I don’t understand why I became like that for you in that dream, so I’m horrified. I’m afraid of becoming like that, especially after discovering that you really exist,” Red said self-deprecatingly, then looked at her right hand, which was now wrapped in bandages.

Hong continued, "And I also understand one thing: I like you in my dream. Although I really don't want to admit it, I know myself. No matter how much I threaten or force you, no one can make me become like that through coercion."

Unless, I like that person, yesterday I punched the wall, blood gushing out. When I got home, the pain in my hand made me realize who I am. I'm afraid of you, and even more terrified of myself, especially the fact that you exist in this world.

“I’m surprised you could think of that,” Mashiro said, looking at Kurenai with admiration.

"Because I am not the person I am in my dream. Even if that dream might become reality because of your existence, I am Kurenai Yuhi, and I shouldn't be afraid."

Fear—whether I fall in love with you, whether I become your possession, should be my own choice. Red laughed as she drank her beer.

“Red, that’s what I like about you. You always know yourself.” Mashiro smiled too. She held Red’s injured hand, a green light appeared and then disappeared. Mashiro turned and left.

After Mashiro left, Kurenai removed the bandages from her hands, and the wounds on them had completely healed.

Hong Jiang downed his beer in one gulp, rested his chin on his hand, and gazed at the distant sunset, lost in thought.

Mashiro was glad that Kurenai had come to her senses. She could force and threaten many people to fall in love with her, but no one wanted to be surrounded by such people. Although overwhelming Kurenai with fear could easily make her her possession, only a doll could be completely corrupted.

You can't get satisfaction or gain favor from dolls.

While the Chunin Exams were in full swing, some undercurrents were still surging beneath the surface.

“Come out.” Danzo suddenly said at the Shimura family mansion. Then, a snake slithered out from the corner.

The snake slithered in front of Danzo, then opened its mouth wide, and Orochimaru emerged from it.

"Orochimaru, how dare you appear before me? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" Danzo said, squinting. "Danzo, I need your Root to help me investigate someone," Orochimaru said.

"Why should I help you? You're a rogue ninja of Konoha," Danzo said coldly. "Heh, Danzo, do you know Uchiha Zero?" Orochimaru suddenly said.

“Uchiha Zero?” Danzo’s expression changed as he recalled the dream about Uchiha Zero.

“He seems to really exist, and he’s right here in Konoha,” Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice. “Do you think I’d believe that?” Danzo touched his right eye, which was bandaged.

"Just take it as me talking nonsense. Something will happen in Konoha in a while," Orochimaru said, looking directly at Danzo. Danzo poured himself a cup of tea and said after a moment, "It has nothing to do with me."

Orochimaru got the answer he wanted, transformed into a group of snakes, and disappeared from the spot.

Shortly after Orochimaru left, a member of Root approached. "Lord Danzo."

"Riku, inform Root to start monitoring for any unusual activity in the village, and then try to find out who Orochimaru has been in contact with in Konoha," Danzo said. "Yes, sir."

After Lu finished speaking, he disappeared from the spot.

Danzo looked around the empty room.

Should I agree to Orochimaru's offer? Cooperate with him? Join forces to attack Konoha, and then seize power in Konoha?

Thinking of this, Danzo shook his head inwardly. He didn't even know what kind of power Orochimaru was backing, so why would Danzo join forces with him for no reason? Why would he gamble his chance on Orochimaru? How could that be possible?

"I am still the root of Konoha."

Indeed, he did want to gain power, even to become Hokage. He was willing to use dark methods in Konoha to achieve his goals.

However, regardless of the circumstances, these conflicts are merely internal struggles within Konoha Village. It's impossible for outside forces to intervene!

Meanwhile, Mashiro went to find Hinata after leaving the audience.

"Sister, I actually got a bye! I was so worried about what kind of opponent I would face, but I waited and waited and waited, and I never heard my name called. I didn't even realize until the very end that I had a bye!" Hinata said excitedly, but then she became dejected.

"What's wrong? You seem a little down." Mashiro asked Hinata gently.

"No, I'm happy, but I also feel a little guilty towards the others. Besides, I've trained for so long but haven't been able to play, so I feel a little empty," Hinata said.

“It’s your luck to get a bye. Even without anyone else, your efforts won’t be in vain. There’s still the official fee coming up,” Mashiro comforted her.

Actually, among the candidates in the preliminary rounds, Hinata's strength was still considered average. What worried her was her personality. Hinata's personality was too weak and somewhat timid. And because of Mashiro's presence, Hinata's timidity had never been eliminated.

"Go home and make your arrangements first. I'll go invite the others; we're having a party at our house tonight," Mashiro said with a smile. "Okay, big sister!" Hinata was happy at the thought of having lots of friends to play with, and then ran off.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Gathering

After Hinata ran over, Mashiro turned and walked towards the others.

Perhaps knowing that Shinji would come, Sakura didn't rush to leave the venue.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, let's have a party at my house today and chat," Mashiro said with a smile. "A party! Yay!" Naruto was very happy.

"Do you need us to buy anything?" Sakura, who was initially upset about losing to Ino, felt a little better upon hearing this news. "No need, I've already asked Ida to inform the clansmen to prepare. Just arrive at eight o'clock." Mashiro waved her hand and said.

Sasuke actually wanted to refuse, but Mashiro turned and glanced at him. Remembering the days when Mashiro beat him up in the underground training room, he silently shut his mouth.

"Alright, it's decided then. Naruto, go and inform Kiba and Shino who just left." Mashiro turned to Naruto and said. "Why me?" Naruto said unhappily.

"Sasuke's still injured, or do you want Sakura to go?" Mashiro said, pinching Naruto's cheek. "I'll go, Mashiro-neechan, I'll go! Stop pinching me, it hurts!"