Chapter 61: Shibi of the Aburame Clan

"There are nineteen of us here, how do we allocate the slots for the matches?" Nawaki asked in puzzlement.

Sakumo Hatake smiled and said, "Come and draw lots, and you'll know after that."

After he said that, Minato and the other eighteen drew a slip of paper from the box in Sakumo's hand one by one. When they opened it, Minato's slip had the number "17" written on it. 

"Show your numbers towards me," Sakumo instructed, and everyone did as told. He scanned them with his eyes, then approached Rin Takenouchi.

"Little girl, you've qualified," Sakumo said with a smile.

Everyone was stunned, and Rin herself was dazed on the spot.

"Why? Isn't this supposed to be a tournament?" A genin from another squad protested soon after.

Sakumo turned to look at him and said, "There are nineteen survivors in total here, but only this little girl drew the '0' number. In that regard, she's stronger than any of you."

"Sometimes, luck is also a part of one's strength!"

After saying that, he glanced around at everyone. Most people didn't find anything inappropriate about it. That genin was still unsatisfied, but at this moment, one of his teammates patted his shoulder and said, "Izumi, there's nothing to be upset about. Luck is indeed a part of strength, and since we can't control luck, we can only rely on our actual abilities."

Hearing his teammate Akira's persuasion, although still uncomprehending, the genin named Izumi could only accept it.

"Congratulations, Rin!" Kushina walked up to the still dazed Rin and congratulated her.

Rin gradually regained her senses then, as she had never thought that out of nearly three hundred people, she would be one of the ten who qualified.

"Your luck is pretty good," Satoshi Miyazaki said with a smile. Rin looked at the happy faces around her who were glad that she passed.

Minato smiled and nodded at her, and her face turned slightly red. Then she said to everyone, "You all have to work hard too!"

Sakumo glanced at the numbers in their hands again and then said, "The first match is Akasaka vs. Shibi Aburame."

After that, everyone was brought to the battle arena. Except for Akasaka and the kid wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses, everyone else jumped up to the walkway on the second floor.

"That person seems to be a new student," the student named Shibi Aburame said, as they couldn't see his face due to his attire, but judging from his physique, he seemed younger than Minato and the others.

"Then doesn't that mean Akasaka has a big advantage?"

Since they had been together for three days, Satoshi had naturally become friends with Akasaka, so he naturally hoped he would win.

However, Minato didn't think so. He shook his head and said, "Think about it, he was brought here alone, which means he was able to survive three days in the Forest of Death by himself. Akasaka probably can't beat him."

None of them had heard of this new student named Shibi Aburame before. But the fact that he was brought here alone was enough to prove his exceptional abilities.

As Minato watched the situation in the arena, Kushina patted his shoulder and said, "Minato, let's swap numbers."

Minato was slightly stunned, because they had only shown their numbers to Sakumo Hatake, and hadn't announced their opponents to each other yet.

However, the numbers weren't hidden either, and following Kushina's somewhat resentful gaze, Homura Uchiha was standing alone, excitedly watching Minato's group without any interest in observing the arena battle.

He even seemed to deliberately show Minato the palm of his hand with the number "18" written on it.

Minato's gaze gradually became solemn as well, and he looked at the number "17" written on his palm.

His opponent was actually Homura Uchiha!

Then he looked at Kushina and said, "No need, I promised not to stop you from facing him here. But this match is mine, and of course, I'll take it on myself."

Immediately, a fiery fighting spirit surged in those deep blue eyes!

In the arena, Akasaka and Shibi Aburame faced each other, and after exchanging bows, Akasaka's gaze became sharp. When Sakumo announced the start, he immediately charged at full speed towards Shibi.

Akasaka's speed didn't seem like much to most people in the arena, but among the ninja academy students, it was considered very good.

However, Shibi didn't seem skilled in these areas either. When Akasaka's first attack came, he merely dodged passively.

This battle seemed uninteresting to most spectators, as they were busy confirming their respective opponents.

However, the trio of Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi, as well as Nawaki and the Hyuga twins Hiashi and Hizashi, were all closely observing the battle in the arena.

After a bout of fighting, Shibi finally broke free from Akasaka's entanglement. With his hands in his jacket pockets, he calmly said, "You should surrender."

Akasaka seemed to have heard a joke and laughed, "Are you still half asleep or what? Hahaha?"

He laughed loudly, but at this moment, Shibi said, "My apologies, then."

As his words fell, dozens of black insects crawled out from the sleeves of Akasaka's clothes.

"What is this? Disgusting!" Akasaka shouted in shock, and Minato and Kushina also snapped back to attention, realizing that not only were there black insects coming from his sleeves, but they were also crawling out from his pant legs.

Akasaka immediately became flustered, and they saw Shibi slowly approach. From his feet, a dense swarm of black insects covered his entire body.

"This is...?!" Everyone was startled. The dense swarm of insects crawled onto Akasaka's body, seeming to connect and form black chains, binding his hands, feet, and neck.

Shibi walked up to him, with an insect crawling on his finger, and tapped it onto Akasaka's forehead.

The chakra seal mark on his forehead was instantly absorbed by the black insects.

"Indeed, he's from that clan," Nawaki said with slightly widened eyes.

Minato heard this and leaned over to ask, "Senior Nawaki, what exactly is his ability?"

Nawaki turned his head and explained, "In Konoha, there's a clan that passes down the Insect Techniques from generation to generation. Their ability is to control insects for battle, and it's not limited to that. Since there are so many types of insects, they can be used for healing, sensing, and even gathering intelligence."

Minato was slightly surprised, as he had never heard of this before.

In the ninja world, there are various extraordinary ninja techniques. During the founding of Konoha, in addition to major clans like the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga, many other clans with their own secret techniques also joined the village.

Just like the Insect Techniques used by Shibi Aburame.

Perhaps his ability to survive in the Forest of Death until now was due to the sensing capabilities of insects.

After Shibi's victory, the black insects attached to Akasaka's body all crawled back into his own body. Seeing this, Nawaki couldn't help but shudder in disgust.

"Although powerful, this clan has to use their own bodies as nests for insects from birth, nurturing them with their own chakra. Their meridians are constantly inhabited by these things. Just thinking about it..." He clicked his tongue.

Minato heard this and also had a few black lines appearing on his head, with his mouth twitching slightly.

The first match was undoubtedly won by Shibi Aburame. Akasaka walked back dejectedly, but there was nothing he could do since his strength was far inferior to the others present, and he didn't have the luck that Rin had.

Soon after, the next battle also began in full swing.

(end of chapter)