Chapter no.72

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Observation Platform

The remaining two members of Team Gai were standing there, watching the last technique performed and were obviously not happy about it. Gai was wide-eyed at the genin's use of a variation of the Omote Renge (Primary Lotus) and then narrowed his eyes, seething in anger at the thought of the boy stealing Lee's technique without permission.

Gai knew that Lee had fought Nawaki because of his title of this graduating class' rookie of the year and a genius. He had stopped the fight before Lee could use the technique, but the blonde had seen the initial stage of how to use it. Then he had witnessed the whole thing during Lee's match against Gaara. Gai was not happy that he was able to use the technique without even attempting to master it.

Satsuki was one thing because Obito had come to him and asked for permission and even help with teaching her the Goken, and she then later developed her own version of the Omote Renge that wasn't as harmful to the user's body, the Shishi Rendan (Lion's Barrage), but this was a whole other story.

Neji was also mildly surprised at the rookie's choice of technique. The Hyuga prodigy had seen Lee go all out during the match with Gaara and had seen how far he had come since they became genin. Lee's level was far beyond his expectations, but his taijutsu could be dealt with easy enough with the use of the Juken.

However, he was not impressed with the match he was currently watching. The boy, Nawaki, was referred to as a genius but had obviously not put the time in to actually develop his skills. To Neji, this was beyond pathetic. He had been disappointed with the strength of the Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings ever since Team Gai had to save them in the forest. The boy's only notable jutsu were the Kage Bunshin and that Doton jutsu. He was clearly an abomination to those who were actually geniuses.

From what he had seen there were only a few genin that would pose a challenge for him. For now he would continue to watch.

Arena Floor

Nawaki was panting as he stood only a few feet away from the downed Tenten. Blood was leaking from both her mouth and her nose as she laid there unconscious. It had been a close fight, incredibly so. It was only thanks to how thick that earth dome was that he survived. Had it been an inch thinner then he would have been scattered all over the floor at this point.

Nawaki's clothes were ripped to shreds, he only had on what looked like a thick orange tank top and a pair of orange shorts as compared to his usual jumpsuit. He was covered in blood from head to toe and there were patches of burn marks all over his body. He really was lucky to have survived that explosion.

He looked over to the proctor who had just finished checking Tenten's pulse and signaled for the medical teams to take the two genin away. "Winner, Uzumaki-Namikaze Nawaki!"

Nawaki passed out from exhaustion and pain only moments after he was announced the victor. Kushina quickly rushed down to the arena to follow the medics taking away her son to make sure he was alright.

Naruto could only watch in disappointment. He had thought that Nawaki would be at a much higher level after having been trained by some of the strongest shinobi in Konoha for years now. Though he would probably receive personal training from Minato and Jiraiya for the final rounds to prove that the heir of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family was the strongest.

There were only five people left in the preliminary tournament, Hyuga Neji, Tsuchi Kin, Kinuta Dosu, Yuki Haku, and himself. He had grown tired of watching these genin. Naruto wanted to get his match over with so he could go home and see Mikoto. It had been so long since they had seen each other, since he had felt her skin pressed against his.

He was brought back to reality as he heard the distinct sound that he had grown accustomed to over the past few hours. The screen had selected the combatants for the next match. He looked up and groaned in disappointment as he saw the names on the screen, "Yuki Haku vs. Tsuchi Kin vs. Kinuta Dosu." At least now Naruto knew who he would be facing, Hyuga Neji the so-called Hyuga prodigy. That match should prove interesting.