In Naruto, you can become a god through gacha pulls.

The fire dragon hurled down, scorching the ground and engulfing the burly men charging towards it. Their ninja tools and flesh were burned in the flames, and before they could even cry for help, they turned into ashes and drifted into the sky.

The ashes were poured onto the face of the burly man who had just mocked Yoriichi, and his face immediately turned blue and purple with fear.

The burly man immediately knelt down, weeping and kowtowing repeatedly.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I know I was wrong!"

The burly man was so agitated that he ignored the pain of his severed arm. The sound of his head hitting the ground echoed repeatedly, and his head was covered in blood.

He is terrified and only wants to live; he is willing to do anything for it.

"I really know I was wrong..." The big man's pitiful voice echoed in the air, attracting most of the people to come and watch.

"Isn't that... Kurokazuki from Kirigakure? The Kirigakure yakuza boss, even he's met his end?"

"This young man in front of me looks really impressive."

"You can't judge a book by its cover. Even the Fourth Mizukage doesn't look like a child, does he?"

Yoriichi stared coldly at the burly man. He could see the man's will to survive, but... Yoriichi smiled slightly and slowly walked forward. The Kusanagi sword scraped against the ground, producing a series of terrifyingly sharp sounds.

As the sword tip grew larger in the man's eyes, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. Perhaps it was due to the pain, or perhaps it was extreme fear. All the man wanted now was to survive, and his kowtows and pleas for mercy gradually increased.

"Shh!"

As the sword tip flashed, the burly man's head fell to the ground, his face contorted with pain and resentment as he stared stiffly at Yoriichi's location.

"You're just afraid of dying." Yoriichi's voice was devoid of emotion, and he slightly twisted his neck. The surrounding onlookers all looked somewhat fearful upon seeing Yoriichi.

"Have you all seen Hozuki's full moon?" Yoriichi asked casually, hoping that if there were more people, he could more or less find out.

Contrary to Yoriichi's expectations, the onlookers all shook their heads in unison.

"Lord Full Moon didn't come; I didn't see him."

"What?" Yoriichi's eyes narrowed slightly. Hozuki Mangetsu hadn't come?

What use is he to be here?

"What do you want with my brother?" Suddenly, a childish voice rang out from the crowd.

A man with short white hair and sharp shark teeth stepped forward, carrying a large sword on his back; it was none other than Hozuki Suigetsu.

“Hozuki Suigetsu?” Yoriichi was immediately shocked. This was indeed Hozuki Suigetsu who had followed Sasuke’s Hawk Team.

But...shouldn't Hozuki Suigetsu be about the same age as Sasuke? He's only 7 or 8 years old at this time.

Why would you participate in such a brutal competition?

Yoriichi stepped forward and looked at Suigetsu with a slightly tender expression.

Unlike the others, Hozuki Suigetsu, despite his young age, showed no fear on his face, but rather curiosity about Yoriichi.

"That's interesting." Yoriichi smiled slightly and looked at Suigetsu, asking:

"Little Water Moon, where is your brother?"

Hozuki Suigetsu was taken aback, a look of pain appearing on his face, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"he died."

"What?" Suigetsu's words not only shocked Yoriichi, but also caused countless ninjas behind him to be greatly surprised.

Yoriichi's gaze began to harden. He stared silently at Suigetsu, watching her struggle to hold back her tears.

"So Shuiyue, why did you even come to participate in this competition?"

Hozuki Suigetsu was slightly taken aback, then straightened his drooping head, his eyes gradually hardening.

"The prize for this competition is... my brother's twin swords, the Hiramekarei."

"They did it on purpose, killing my brother and then taking the ninja sword for themselves!" Suigetsu's voice grew more and more agitated as she spoke, her eyes reddening along with her neck.

"The person behind the competition! He killed my brother!" Shuiyue's voice was filled with sorrow as she looked at the man sitting at the highest point of the stands. The man's face was obscured, only a smile playing on his lips.

"Fang Zun! I will not let him go!"

Finally, Shuiyue couldn't hold back her tears any longer, and they poured down her face like a torrent once again.

"I...I want to prove to him that our Hozuki family will always be qualified to wield the Seven Ninja Swords!"

Seeing this, the people around couldn't help but shake their heads slightly. Before this, no one knew what the prize for the champion of this competition was, only that it was a very powerful ninja sword.

Unexpectedly... it was Hozuki Mangetsu's twin swords, Hiramekarei.

“Himawari?” Yoriichi’s eyes flickered slightly. In the original story, the ninja sword that was later used by Chojuro was originally owned by Hozuki Mangetsu.

Yuan Yi smiled slightly, and gently reached up with one hand to wipe away the rolling tears on Shuiyue's pale cheek.

Mizuki gently raised her head and was met with Yoriichi's warm smile.

"I'll help you get the Twin Blades - Hiramekarei. How about you become my subordinate? Hozuki Suigetsu."

Yoriichi looked at Suigetsu with a confident expression, expecting her to agree with a look of trust on her face, but that expectation suddenly crumbled in the next second.

"why?"

"I'm not going to be your subordinate."

Chapter 35 The Competition Begins (1)

Yuan was stunned. He looked at Hozuki Suigetsu, somewhat at a loss. He hadn't expected to be rejected. He thought his performance earlier would have won over the child.

"So you're planning to compete by yourself? It's easy to die that way."

Hozuki Suigetsu, after much deliberation, let out a soft sigh.

"If I die... I'll just use water magic to escape."

Hearing Suigetsu's answer, Yoriichi was speechless. "Aren't ninjutsu supposed to be sealed before the match?"

"After all, it's a ninja tool tournament."

Although the Water Transformation Technique is the bloodline limit of the Hozuki family, it is essentially still a ninjutsu.

"What?" Hozuki Suigetsu's face began to waver slightly.

Yoriichi looked at the panic on Suigetsu's face and couldn't help but smile awkwardly. It turned out that this Hozuki Suigetsu hadn't even understood the rules of the competition before participating.

Seeing the crowd still gathered around, Yoriichi pulled Suigetsu towards an empty spot in the stands.

I don't know what Suigetsu was thinking. She came to participate without even understanding the rules. Was she too confident in the superior bloodline of her Hozuki clan?

Yoriichi pursed his lips. If it were the later version of Hozuki Suigetsu, it would probably be fine; the opponents here wouldn't even be a match for him. But the current Suigetsu...

Yoriichi smiled gently at Suigetsu, who was still a head shorter than him and seemed at a loss, and then patted Suigetsu on the shoulder.

"Don't try to be brave, let me do it."

"I'm sure I'll win the championship here tonight, do you believe me?" Yoriichi asked with a half-smile, revealing a hint of confidence.

Hozuki Suigetsu, however, expressed a skeptical attitude.

"Big brother, although you are indeed very strong, you should refrain from saying things like you're guaranteed to win the championship."

Hozuki Suigetsu curled his lip in a somewhat smug manner.

"After all, only the eldest brother would be confident enough to say something like that."

"Then are you willing to believe me? You have no way to back down now. You can't use the Water Transformation Technique on the field." Yuan paused, his burning eyes fixed on Shuiyue.

"How about I go get you the Twin Blades - Hiramekarei?"

Since Hozuki Mangetsu has already died in the Blood Mist Policy, to find Kisame, we need to ask Mangetsu's younger brother.

Yoriichi wasn't planning to reveal his motives too early. He wanted to first improve Suigetsu's favorability so that even without Kisame's information, he could still gain some popularity and maybe even bring Suigetsu back to the village.

Even if Yoriichi doesn't accept him and Suigetsu is unwilling, Hozuki Suigetsu will eventually be forcibly taken away by Orochimaru, who will then act as a good person and release Suigetsu from his restraints.

hum...

Shuiyue lowered his brows, clearly deep in thought, and then nodded slightly.

"If you can really get me the Twin Blades - Hiramekarei, I'll agree to be your subordinate."

Yuan Yi smiled slightly.

"A word is settled!"

As the bell rang, everyone looked toward the center of the arena, where a man dressed as a Hidden Mist ninja spread his arms and shouted, loudly announcing the start of the competition.

Immediately, everyone stepped forward to listen to the ninja man explain the rules.

The rules are simple: those who win eight consecutive matches using only ninja tools, without using ninjutsu, will be eligible for the final official challenge.

The conditions for proof are quite simple: bring in a referee to count the points, kill the opponent, or force them to surrender...

Yoriichi shook his head slightly. So this was the rule. It was a pity that his brothers from the Hidden Mist Gang, who had already died, couldn't help him prove it.

We need to play a few more games...

Yoriichi smiled slightly. In truth, he didn't care about a few more matches; at most, it would just mean winning eight more...

He was absolutely confident that he could beat these third-rate ninja street thugs. Looking around, he saw that everyone in this illegal venue was either a poor person who couldn't afford to eat and had been eliminated as a ninja, or a wanted criminal with some skill who couldn't make it in the official competitions.

"It doesn't matter. He's not a wanted criminal from Konoha anyway, so his strength can't possibly exceed Kage level, right?" Yoriichi smiled slightly. His strength had already reached the level beyond Kage, but his skill in using ninja tools, under the tutelage of Murasame Kagura, had long been mastered to a level comparable to Kage.

Suigetsu, still somewhat worried, looked at Yoriichi and whispered a few words of encouragement through gritted teeth:

"come on!"

Yoriichi smiled slightly, appreciating Mizuki's encouragement, and then walked to the main area to say goodbye to Mizuki.

Suigetsu sat on the viewing platform, staring intently at Yoriichi's back. Then, as the inspectors arrived, he rolled his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and then concealed himself by turning his body into a water form.

Yoriichi stood on the stage, his eyes warily scanning his surroundings. Suddenly, before the start of the match, ear-piercing screams began to echo from all around.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a ninja wielding an iron hammer, smashing it down hard on a child holding a long sword. The child screamed and fell to the ground instantly.

The hammer-wielding ninja, however, started gesturing wildly and laughing, mumbling repeatedly, "I won."

Yoriichi calmly observed this scene. This was the cruelty and irrationality of the ninja world. Ninjas would launch sneak attacks, and they often broke the rules in various ways within the framework of the major rules.

Even in the Chunin Exams in the original work, which were officially organized, cheating, ambushes, and torture were rampant. This just goes to show that this is the cruel world of ninjas, where the strong are respected.

Moreover, what we're seeing now is just an illegal competition held in an unregistered area.