Early in the morning the next day, Uchiha Tonan was taken to the arena accompanied by a group of city guards. At this time, he learned that the venue of the Honorary Chunin Competition was not within the city but out. Moreover, by coincidence, the site was Zhifu Mountain.
The Fire Capital had been cloudy these days. At this moment, there were even more dark clouds, the overcast sky diminishing people’s spirits. Tonan arrived outside the competition venue soon after. He saw that the cliff where Abe Seimei used to live was transformed into a slanted flight of steps, and on top of the steps, there was the competition stand.
On both sides of the steps as well as around the stand, there were soldiers, who were full of energy, standing still. The valley had been transformed into a huge competition venue, surrounded by high walls that were very similar to a city wall. Soldiers with swords hanging on their waists were stationed here.
Perhaps, Tonan didn’t know much about the aesthetics of the Fire Capital people. There were tens of tall, pillar-shaped stone carvings everywhere on Zhifu Mountain. Each stone carving seemed to be made meticulously, the decorative patterns on each completely unique.
Under the city guards’ arrangement, Tonan walked in through a small door at the bottom of the arena. After passing through the dark passage, he arrived at the arena. At this moment, the other four participants were already standing in the other four positions in the arena.
When they saw Tonan, they looked unhappy. But Tonan was not interested in them. He just looked at the steps. Gradually, one could see Uekawa Ozora at the top of the steps. Ozora took a deep breath and knelt on one knee as he loudly called out, “The contestants are in their positions. Welcome, Your Majesty the Daimyo.”
After he shouted, on the square above the steps, a troupe of dancers began to dance, the musicians began to play instruments, livening up the atmosphere.
All the soldiers present were already kneeling on one knee. With a fanatic look, they shouted in unison…
“Welcome, Your Majesty the Daimyo!”
“Welcome, Your Majesty the Daimyo!”
“Welcome, Your Majesty the Daimyo!”
……
Their voices were uniform and loud. The fervent shouts spread throughout the entire Zhifu Mountain. At this time, Naraku walked up the steps, step by step. He was followed by his twelve guardian ninjas.
After a few minutes, Naraku stood on top of the square. Slowly turning around, he stared directly at Tonan. The two stared at each other for a few seconds. At this moment, the shouts and music ceased but a meaningful smile appeared on Naraku’s face. He raised his left hand and said, “Don’t stop, keep playing, keep dancing.”
The music started again. Naraku too turned around and sat on the seat at the top of the stand. The twelve guardian ninjas stood in a semicircle to protect him. There was no change in Tonan’s expression but he was thinking secretly in his heart, “Looks like something will happen today.”
It was such a big competition but there were no spectators. Moreover, after leaving the city, Tonan noticed that the Fire Capital barrier was completely activated and its range expanded to the outer city as well.
If his guess wasn’t wrong, the Fire Capital inhabitants wouldn’t notice anything even if the entire mountain outside the barrier collapsed. “What do you want to do? If you wanted to kill me, did you need to play so many tricks? Even if you were worried about hurting innocent residents of the Fire Capital, you could’ve killed me when I was riding the train.”
At this moment, Tonan was a little confused about what Naraku wanted to do. In the public setting, it was not good for him to observe directly. Naraku sat on the seat with a strange smile on his face and leisurely said, “It’s a great day but I don’t like this weather… it’s too gloomy.”
“We understand, Your Majesty.” The two guardian ninjas behind him bowed and walked to Ozora’s side. The three looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They then made hand signs. “Senjutsu – Void Explosion Bullet Technique”. The three of them raised their heads and simultaneously spat out three void explosion bullets, shooting into the dark clouds in the sky.
After a while, the dark clouds in the sky surged violently. It was like a pebble had fallen into a calm lake, causing ripples. The clouds retreated as if they were frightened, revealing the vast blue sky.
Rumble… Everyone heard the loud sound of an explosion. After this, a fierce wind howled, dust and sand flew in the sky and the mountain trees danced wildly. The fierce wind bent the trees with many leaves floating in the wind. Naraku’s long hair flew and he raised his hand with a cheerful smile to stop a guardian ninja who was about to use ninjutsu to block the wind.
But his eyes moved to Tonan again. After a while, the wind stopped. Naraku spread out his hands and stared at the arena below. He then loudly said, “You all are the top chunin in your respective countries. I, this orphan, welcome you all to participate in this Honorary Chunin Competition held by my Land of Fire.”
The Suna contestant asked with a strange look, “The Daimyo of the Land of Fire is so weird… he’s referring to himself as an orphan… what does it mean?”
“Presumptuous!” A guardian ninja with white hair and a white beard shouted angrily and made hand seals. In the next moment, a stone pillar shot out from the ground below the sand contestant and slammed him against the wall of the arena.
“Uh… puff…” The Sand contestant’s face was filled with horror and he vomited a mouthful of blood. The scarlet blood flowed onto the stone pillar and spread down. Naraku didn’t even look at the contestant and continued, “When I speak, I don’t like any interruption. Since you are not from the Land of Fire, I’ll spare you.”
After he spoke, the old guardian ninja dispelled his ninjutsu, letting go of the Sand contestant. Naraku slowly got up and stepped forward with his hands on his back. He spoke loudly as he walked, “My Land of Fire is vast, prosperous, and wealthy. It’s the head of the five great countries. Konoha is also the strongest ninja village in the entire Ninja World. And he…”
Suddenly, Naraky pointed toward Tonan and everyone’s eyes focused on him as well. Tonan’s expression remained the same. He just looked at Naraku quietly. “… he is the number one Konoha genius, Uchiha Tonan. But I feel this title is beneath him. He killed Orochimaru and defeated Tsunade in a head-on battle.”
The pupils of the other four contestants shrank after hearing Naraku’s words and they all stared at Tonan in disbelief.
“What!”
“If that’s the case, then how is he still a chunin?”
With a meaningful smile on his face, Naraku continued, “He defeated two among the three Konoha Sannin. I think that he can be called the number one genius of the Ninja World. Therefore, for the sake of fairness, today’s match is divided into two camps. One is Konoha, and opposing Konoha are all the others. Whichever camp is annihilated first, the other team wins.”
As soon as the Daimyo said this, the four contestants in the arena began to move, gradually closing the distance between each other.
