Chapter 47: Power of the Eyes

3rd POV:

After Dai started the second match, both Mikoto and Rasa jumped backwards. As Mikoto landed, she immediately started throwing kunai at Rasa. Rasa on the other hand just moved his hand and a gold sand wall was formed in front of him. The gold sand wall then started to form into smaller bits until it was the size of a bullet. Rasa, again, moved his hand and the golden sand bullets were fired at Mikoto.

Mikoto realized that she can't evade the attack and so she started to do a hand seal. She breathes in the air and releases it but this time, a fireball came out and immediately stopped the golden sand bullets from its tracks.

'Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu'

'She is quite skilled with her fire jutsu. As expected from the Uchiha Clan.' Rasa thought as the gold sand around him started to form three lance like figure.

"Golden Lance."

The lance he formed started to dart towards Mikoto in a frightening speed. Rasa thought that Mikoto would be at least wounded by his spear before dodging it. But contrary to what he expected, Mikoto dodged it swiftly and no wounds were present on her body. Rasa then noticed that the eyes of Mikoto changed from pure black to red with a two tomoe pattern in it.

"So that is the famous Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan. This would be the first time I saw a Sharingan." Rasa said as he started to control his gold sand again.

Mikoto on the other hand just stood still and waited for Rasa's next move. She knew that it would be dangerous to approach Rasa because she may get caught by his sand. She is not that fast to dodge Rasa's gold sand in close range.

After a few seconds, the ground underneath Mikoto softened and turned into a sand. She sunk down in it and tried to pull out of it. But her efforts are of no avail. She slowly sunk within the sand. Seeing this, Rasa smirked and was about to turn to the proctor and hear the results. But he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He immediately erected a wall but was hit by something, sending him to the walls of the stadium. Maybe because of his shock and impact on the wall, Rasa didn't manage to move and Mikoto took it as an advantage. She ran up at Rasa and placed a Kunai near his neck

"But... how?" Rasa was obviously confused on what just happened.

"You seem to forget that we, the Uchiha, are also best known for our genjutsu. The moment you stared at my eyes, you were already at my genjutsu. I think that it is a common knowledge that one must avoid staring at an Uchiha's eyes. The moment you did, you won't know what hit you."

After her training with the Special Course of the Medical Project, Mikoto's chakra control improved tremendously which leads to her genjutsu also improving. Mikoto is not known for her genjutsu but she naturally improved through her training. Add the fact that Rasa fell for it completely, it made it easier for Mikoto to sneak behind him and deliver a kick.

"Winner, Uchiha Mikoto."

Rasa just laid there for a while, thinking how arrogant he was earlier.

'To think I was thinking of beating Namikaze Minato later... I did not even managed to beat my first opponent. I was too complacent from the fact that I was called a genius by my village.'

It is true. If Rasa gave it his all from the start, he could have won the match. At this point in time, Rasa has yet to master his Gold Dust and it is still slower than his other jutsu. He could've used a regular sand for this match because he is more proficient in that one but he chose to show off, causing him to be defeated. Also, he assumed victory too soon that he reacted slower than usual to Mikoto's presence. If he only stayed alert, he could have set up a wall in time to block Mikoto's kick. Lastly, he panicked and was shocked so he was unable to move out off the wall and avoid Mikoto's kunai.

'I must train harder when we get back to Suna.'

Hiruzen's POV:

That Rasa should have won if he did not look at the Sharingan. His inexperience on the battlefield played a huge part on his defeat. As for Mikoto, she really improved a lot in terms of her genjutsu. I guess her training with medical ninjutsu improved her chakra control to another level.

"Kazekage-dono, it seems like you need to educate your ninjas more. You know that his loss was due to him staring at the Sharingan. That is foolish and careless if you ask me."

Anyone can see that the Kazekage is furious at the moment. Well, his ninja was just seen as foolish by anyone who knows the power of the Sharingan. It was common knowledge not to stare at a Sharingan in any circumstances.

"He seems to be convinced that he is a genius because of the constant praise he receives in our village. I should personally train him when we went back. But don't worry, I still have one more ninja to count on. She is on the same level as Rasa but has more experience"

The face of the Kazekage went back to normal and the exams proceeded. For the next match, I am pretty sure who will win.

3rd POV:

"The Third Battle, Hyuga Hiashi VS Ao. Start!!!"

Ao immediately started to weave hand seals while jumping backward. He then shoots bullets of water at Hiashi.

'Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu'

Seeing the water bullets closing at him, Hiashi activated his Byakugan and started to spin around.

'Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation'

A layer of blue chakra appeared around Hiashi. The moment Ao's water bullets hit the spinning chakra, it instantly vanishes.

Ao then started throwing kunai at Hiashi. Hiashi on the other hand saw through Ao's intention. Through his Byakugan, he saw the thin strings attached at the kunai. there are also explosive tags attached at the strings. Ao plans to slow down Hiashi through the strings and explosive tags.

Hiashi then stops spinning and dashed at Ao at high speed. The kunai Ao threw exploded but Hiashi managed to dodge it all. Ao threw a marble-sized ball at the ground and a purple smoke came out of it. Hiashi tried to stop on his tracks but was unable to do so. Hiashi held his breathe but he noticed that his eyes became itchy. A few moments later, he felt intense pain in both of his eyes and he closed them.

-Kage's Seats-

Hiruzen's POV:

I was surprised in the turn of events that just happened. I thought that Hiashi will win easily but Ao is very cunning.

"It seems like your ninjas are well-trained, Mizukage-dono."

I really mean it. From what I observed, all of Ao's moves were well thought and planned from the start. It looks like that Hiashi is moving the way Ao wanted him to move.

"He really is, Hokage-dono. He has a rather harsh childhood. He was one of the last student's of our Academy who experienced the gruesome way of teaching implemented when the Second Mizukage died and the higher-ups of Kiri took over the village for a while. It is not until our alliance with you that I managed to remove them and change our academy."

I know about that. It seems like that after the death of the Second Mizukage, Kiri was in a desperate situation in cultivating strong ninjas. Their economy is also in shambles at that time because pirate ships are blocking their trading routes which prevents trading to other countries.

We managed to solve that by having Konoha ninjas take missions about those pirates. We did not asked for the compensation but instead, we demanded that whatever things the pirate ship has, it will be turned in Konoha's possession. We knew that Kiri can't pay Konoha ninjas so we found another way.

It does makes sense that a ninja of that caliber will be born. But the drawback of what the previous Kiri Academy was is that their ninjas are mentally unstable and will be hungry to look for a battle. That was exactly what happened to five of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist and to most ninjas who graduated during the previous Kiri Academy. I heard that the five of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist all fled Kiri and went to look for battle. In short, they are all wanted and are now Rogue Ninjas. Good thing that this Ao kid did not follow their footsteps.

"As for Ao, he was an orphan baby and was adopted by Hiragana-sama. He was tasked to take care of Mei but was denied when he started going to the academy. By the time he graduated, he just learned that Hiragana-sama just died. He went looking for Mei but was again stopped because of the constant missions at that time. That is why he has an enormous experience in hand."

I know who Mei is base on the report of Tsunade and Kakashi. The girl seems to like Kakashi for some reason but the both of them must be strong and respected enough if they want to have a formal relationship towards each other.

"At this time, he was tasked to be Mei's guard and trainer. Mei is currently at the Academy and was praised to be a genius. I think a certain someone lit a fire under her."

Yep, that would be Kakashi alright. It's good to be young. Maybe I should make another one. Nah, Biwako would be mad and rant all day if I bring that up. Well, back to the battle. It is still far from over. Hiashi also has one tough childhood.

-Battle Stage-

3rd POV:

After Hiashi was partially blinded, Ao quickly started to weave hand seals and attack Hiashi.

"Water Style: Water Cannon Jutsu."

A strong beam of boiling water rushes at Hiashi at high speed. Ao knew that even though Hiashi is still blinded, it is still risky to engage a Hyuga in close combat. The Hyuga is praised not only because of their Byakugan, but also becasue of their Taijutsu.

Even if Hiashi is blind, he still can feel his surroundings changing rapidly. He felt the change in temperature and the sound of water coming at him. He tried to dodge sideways but was still caught in the arm.

Hiashi, who is looking tired and has a burn on his right arm stood firmly on the middle of the stage and smirked.

"Is that the best you can do? Now then, it's my turn."

Hiashi's vision started to come back until it was fully recovered. He then activated his Byakugan again which was closed earlier due to the poison. He started to envision himself inside an Eight Trigrams Symbol. He then saw Ao at a distance that can't reach.

Suddenly, he dashed forward at Ao with his full speed. Ao backed off immediately after he saw Hiashi rushing at him but was a bit too late. Hiashi managed to hit Ao's legs, rendering it paralyzed.

Hiashi did not let the opportunity go and started hitting Ao in various locations of his body.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams. Two palms, four palms, eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty-two palms, sixty-four palms."

Each strike made Ao's face change and was contorted from pain. Hiashi also improved his chakra control because of the Medical Project and his strikes became more powerful than before.

Ao became paralyzed all over his body but is still conscious. The training he did in the Academy made his body and mind endure torture of any kind. Hiashi then started to walk at Ao and looked down on him.

"You are a very powerful and crafty ninja, I'll give you that. But in face of overwhelming strength, tactics will always be rendered useless."

He then walks away and went back to the stands as if nothing happened.

"Winner, Hyuga Hiashi."

-Kage's Seats-

Hiruzen's POV:

And there we have it. Hiashi really is a genius, along with his brother, Hizashi. Too bad their clan has that bullshit tradition.

"I thought it was over the moment the Hyuga kid was blinded."

I heard the Mizukage saying and was shocked by what he saw. Even I will be shocked that Hiashi managed to win at that point but given his life, I kind of understand how he did it.

He came from the Main family of Hyuga and was seen as the heir. But he has a twin brother who is a much powerful genius than him. The problem is that the Hyuga has that tradition of having a Main and Branch family. The Branch family are seen as slaves and were not permitted to learn the clan's techniques. But his twin managed to learn it simply from observing. Though that made Hiashi happy for his brother, the Main Clan was afraid that the branch family may revolt. And so, they trained Hiashi to a more brutal way and that made him resilient.

"Well, I think he was motivated and pressured by his teammates and pushed him to train more."

I am not an idiot to give information about a clan that they may use against us. So I just gave a reason for them to believe in which is also true. I believe Minato impacted both Mikoto and Hiashi in some way to achieve what they have today. The pressure of rivalry is good, even back in the old days. But sometimes, it also brought consequences to the one catching up desperately.