Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Shuiyue certainly wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. Her free left hand immediately made a pistol shape, and in an instant, she aimed at the vine in mid-air. She shot out a bullet-like liquid from the tip of her index finger, which flew rapidly toward the vine.

This is—

Water Release: Water Gun Technique!

It is a renowned secret technique of the Hozuki clan. Among the many secret techniques of the Hozuki clan that extend from the core of the Water Transformation Technique, the Water Iron Cannon Technique is undoubtedly the most famous. Not only is it extremely powerful, but it can also be activated at will without the need for hand seals.

They always manage to catch the enemy off guard.

It's practically impossible to defend against.

Even if people in the Hozuki family know that they possess such a secret technique, not everyone's reflexes can keep up with this highly efficient and deadly water-style technique.

but--

The girl who was launched into the air reacted quite quickly.

Simultaneously,

Their movement speed is also quite fast.

Unfortunately, the vines flying in mid-air had nowhere to get a foothold, so they couldn't unleash their extremely fast speed for the time being.

Fortunately, the girl was not completely helpless. She was not an expert on the secret techniques of the Hozuki clan, but she knew about famous techniques like the Water Gun Technique. When she was launched into the air, she had already considered the possibility of being targeted by this Water Gun Technique.

It looked as if he had twisted his wrist from being pushed backward.

The small katana fell downwards.

As the liquid, flying like a bullet, drew near, Fujika successfully released the Substitute Technique.

She directly swapped positions with her katana.

The liquid, powerful enough to pierce through rock, struck the back of the kodachi, sending it flying towards the edge of the training ground and embedding itself in the wall. Its sturdiness and sharpness were evident. Having lost her weapon, Fujika could only hastily pull out a kunai from her ninja tool bag to parry Suigetsu's attack.

The fact that the water cannon technique failed to achieve its intended effect did not surprise Shuiyue.

Just as Fujika felt a sense of unease upon hearing his name, he couldn't help but feel a surge of tension when he saw Fujika as his opponent. He then couldn't help but feel relieved that Fujika wasn't in good condition. If Fujika were at full strength, the fight would definitely be very tough.

Where else could we gain the upper hand so quickly?

but,

He doesn't dislike such a bargain.

As a ninja from the Mist, Suigetsu wouldn't be so cold-blooded as to easily execute his own comrades, but he would never pursue something as foolish as a fair fight.

"It's another substitution technique!"

Hashirama Senju, who was watching the match from above, couldn't help but laugh. "Sixth Hokage, these younger members of your Uchiha clan are quite skilled with the Substitution Jutsu!" In the seventh round of the match, Sasuke used the Substitution Jutsu to unexpectedly defeat Mikan Shimizu, a girl from the Mist Village. Now, Fujika has used the Substitution Jutsu to dodge Suigetsu Hozuki's fatal attack.

"That's because they haven't mastered the Instantaneous Movement Technique yet."

Zongxian replied.

The Substitution Jutsu involves exchanging positions with a pre-arranged substitute within a limited area, thereby avoiding danger or launching a surprise attack. Although it is a very practical technique, Jonin do not often use this move when dealing with enemies of the same level, because there is a more useful Body Flicker Technique.

Unlike the Substitute Technique, which requires setting up a substitute in advance.

Once you master the Body Flicker Technique, you only need to form hand seals to cast it.

In a sense, it is a limited-range Flying Thunder God Technique. Masters of the Body Flicker Technique like Shisui can even contend with enemies who use space-time techniques.

However, as Sogen said, those who can master and skillfully apply the Body Flicker Technique in actual combat are basically Jonin. The Body Flicker Technique mastered by Chunin is completely unsuitable for that intense combat, such as in the first round of the Chunin Selection Exams.

Ibiki Morino arrived suddenly with a large group of Chunin Examiners using the Body Flicker Technique, which looked quite impressive and cool.

However, only some of the village's high-ranking officials and those involved knew how many times they had rehearsed beforehand in order to use the Body Flicker Technique in perfect unison. Only the middle-level ninja examiners themselves knew the hardships they had endured.

"Moreover, the Substitution Technique can indeed be surprisingly effective when used properly. Also, compared to the Body Flicker Technique, the Substitution Technique consumes much less chakra. For these genin, the Substitution Technique is their best choice. Even now, the Ninja Academy still uses the Three Body Techniques to assess graduates," Zongxian said slowly and deliberately.

Using the Three Body Techniques as part of the graduation exam for the Ninja Academy is a rule left by the Second Hokage, and it has remained unchanged to this day.

The reason for this,

There are, of course, reasons for this.

While the Three Body Technique is a basic ninjutsu, that doesn't mean it's useless. To be precise, mastering the Three Body Technique can significantly increase the survival rate of genin, preventing them from dying so quickly on the battlefield or during missions.

[Chapter 449. The Final Round Begins]

Admittedly,

The Substitution Jutsu, when used properly, can have a remarkable effect in battle.

However, achieving a dramatic comeback is not so easy. Given the previous example of Mikan Shimizu's failure, Suigetsu dared not be careless in the slightest and played a very steady game. His performance was no less impressive than that of the Cloud Ninja named Omoi.

His thinking was also very clear.

After the initial sparring session, he realized that Fujika was a formidable opponent. If both of them were at their peak, the outcome would likely depend on their individual performance. However, in reality, Shuiyue was in excellent condition, while Fujika was clearly outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

As a result,

Just drag it down.

There's no need to confront Teng Hua head-on. Time is on his side. If he tries to decide the outcome quickly for the sake of saving face or other trivial matters, he'll only be playing right into Teng Hua's hands. And Shui Yue doesn't really care about saving face. Besides, there's nothing shameful about delaying tactics.

Therefore,

With great patience, Shuiyue entangled with the vine flower, gradually wearing down the girl's chakra and stamina, forcing the vine flower to fight back. The girl also knew that the longer it dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for her. Unfortunately, Shuiyue's defense was impenetrable.

Even if he unleashed his deadly move, the [Sword of Blazing Fire].

And that failed to turn the situation around.

The Hozuki clan's water transformation technique is truly formidable in terms of survival. Fujika's Great Fire Sword technique was still too weak to completely evaporate the liquefied Suigetsu in one go. In the end, the girl, whose chakra was exhausted, had no choice but to raise her hand in surrender, sharing a similar fate with Hotaru.

Fortunately, this round of qualifiers is an individual competition, so their defeats will not hinder Yakumo's advancement.

of course,

Yakumo was in a terrible mood. She knew that Hotaru and Fujika's defeat was not entirely due to poor condition. The opponents they faced were among the strongest of all the genin. If Yakumo and Gaara were considered first-tier masters, then Rock Lee and Suigetsu were definitely top-tier masters of the second tier.

Even if Hotaru and Fujika were at their peak, they wouldn't dare say they could definitely win against Lee and Mizuki.

but,

Reason is reason, and feelings are feelings; sometimes feelings don't follow reason.

In Yakumo's view, it was her poor decision-making that led Hotaru and Fujika to rush into the competition exhausted, only to be stopped at the threshold of the preliminaries. She was filled with guilt and self-blame, and what was even more frustrating was that Hotaru and Fujika showed no sign of blaming her whatsoever…

then,

This pent-up frustration could only be vented on his opponent.

After Fujika and Suigetsu left the field, the tenth round was another internal battle within Konoha, with Kiba Inuzuka and Choji Akimichi fighting each other. The result was obvious. So far, they had only mastered half of their family's secret technique, the Expansion Technique, and could only come up with one move: Meatball Chicken... no, it was the Human Bomber. It was only natural that they lost to Kiba Inuzuka.

As for Choji's crushing defeat causing Uchiha Inahisa, who witnessed it all, to frown and feel that Choji needed to be severely punished, that's a story for another time.

In short, the tenth round of the battle ended there. The eleventh round was between Shino Aburame and Kento Higashi from Iwagakure. Shino Aburame, who was highly skilled but had always had a very weak presence in the Ninja Academy, finally showed his skills on this stage with only the two of them, overwhelmingly defeating Kento Higashi from Iwagakure.

then,

Round 12.

One of the two names displayed on the electronic screen was Kurama Yakumo, and the other was Kayuu from the Cloud Village. The latter... was a bit unlucky, encountering Yakumo in a bad mood. After Hayate Gekko announced the start of the match, Kayuu stood still like a wooden doll.

After about half a minute,

The dark-skinned Cloud Ninja boy let out a shrill scream and collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

"...What amazing illusion magic."

Tobirama Senju's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but exclaim in sincere admiration.

As an excellent sensory ninja, even though his strength is now only a fraction of what it used to be, he could still see things clearly at such close range. He was deeply surprised by the power of Yakumo's genjutsu.

It was just eye contact.

They then dragged the target into an illusion.

No hand seals or preparations are needed; the attack is launched silently simply by exchanging glances.

This is even more difficult to guard against than the Uchiha clan. If you were facing an Uchiha, unless you were the kind of person who was completely isolated, you would try to avoid making eye contact with someone with Sharingan. But Yakumo is not an Uchiha. Even if you are wary of such a seemingly weak and vulnerable girl, you can't help but use your eyes to gather information.

As a result, one can easily fall victim to it without being careful, making it virtually impossible to defend against.

"A member of the Kurama family? Has this person awakened the Kurama family's bloodline limit?"

"Yes."

Zongxian nodded slightly.

"Oh! That's really...not bad." Tobirama Senju's mood brightened. It felt great to have someone to carry on the family line! Judging from this, Konoha would probably be able to prosper for another hundred years.

Of course, this is all predicated on the Sixth Hokage being able to resolve Madara and the series of troubles that followed him.

Hashirama Senju remained silent. He had already witnessed Yakumo's battle with Gaara in the crystal ball and knew Yakumo's strength well. It was only in peacetime that Yakumo was still only a genin. If it were wartime, Yakumo would have been a jonin long ago, provided he didn't die young.

I wonder if it was Aburame Shino and Yakumo who started this bad trend.

The pace of the matches accelerated in the following rounds. In the thirteenth round, Konoha genin Hyuga Neji faced Iwagakure genin Oboroshi. The battle ended in one minute. Hyuga Neji used a set of effortless Bagua Sixty-Four Palms to beat his opponent, who was using Hardening Technique for defense, until he coughed up blood.

The fourteenth round is a contest between Gaara, a genin from Sunagakure, and Aokin, a genin from Iwagakure.

It has to be said that this Iwa ninja named Qingjin is quite strong, possessing the bloodline limit of [Lava Release]. The massive lava he released made a mess of the field. However, he was really unlucky, as he happened to run into Gaara. If it weren't for the examiner Hayate Gekko intervening in time to disperse the quicksand, Qingjin would have been crushed.

The battle lasted only fifty-five seconds from start to finish, less than a minute.

The fifteenth round was still a one-sided affair.

Naruto Uzumaki VS Karui

The red-haired, dark-skinned girl from Kumogakure was no match for Naruto. He simply created five or six shadow clones and attacked her side by side, using taijutsu to overwhelm her. Naruto didn't even have a chance to show any of the results of his hard training on Turtle Island, and he easily secured his ticket to the finals.

In a blink of an eye,

Only two of the thirty-two genin remained. When the list was finalized in the fifteenth round, it was equivalent to finalizing the names of the two sides fighting in the final round. The two who were left to the end were Sakura Haruno from Konoha and Kankuro from Sunagakure.

"Sakura, be careful, that guy's puppets are troublesome."

Hotaru reminded Sakura.

"A puppeteer!" Sakura blinked and reached for the scroll hidden in her ninja tool pouch. "Perfect, I want to see what a real puppeteer is like!"

"Ok?"