Chapter 104

"Um?"

Looking at the Karasu puppet that had stopped moving for no apparent reason, Kankuro tried his best to pull it, but it was too hard, and he staggered a few steps away.

He raised his hands and saw that the chakra thread in his hand had been bitten by an insect at some point!

Just as he was about to pull the string to control the puppet again, he suddenly saw that the puppet Karasu was covered with bugs!

In other words, as soon as his thread touched the puppet, it would be bitten by insects!

Now he had no way to control the puppet in battle!

And what's worse!

Countless bugs began to crawl towards him throughout the arena!

He hadn't mastered any other ninjutsu besides the puppet technique, which forced him to use kunai and senbon in a panic to clear out the bugs.

But obviously, it was a drop in the bucket!

Before long, he was covered in bugs, and he was defeated!

The first arena match ended with the challenger winning, and Kankuro was eliminated forever!

The bugs controlled by Aburame Shino are called parasites, and they live by sucking the chakra of their host.

The female bugs have been fostered in Aburame Shino's body since they were young, making them extremely sensitive to chakra.

As long as Shino transmits information to the parasites through chakra, they can move, attack, and form formations according to his will!

These bugs are incredibly tiny and difficult to spot without careful observation!

This is why Kankuro was defeated!

Of course, this doesn't mean that Shino's bugs are invincible.

The bugs don't have strong attack power nor are they very agile. Their only advantage is their quantity and smallness, which makes them excellent for sneak attacks!

If Shino's ability had been known earlier, it would have been difficult for these insects to pose any threat to a ninja!

"I really didn't expect Shino to win. He usually doesn't show off his skills, but he displayed such fighting power in a battle! He's definitely my teammate, hahahaha!"

"Woof woof!"

Inuzuka Kiba was thrilled that his teammate was the first to secure a spot in the third exam. A sense of pride filled him as he thought, I know him!

Meanwhile Kankuro's failure left Temari displeased.

Gaara, watching from a distance, also wore a gloomy expression.

It wasn't that they couldn't accept Kankuro's failure. After all, his strength was only at the Chunin level, and he wasn't exceptionally powerful. But losing to a lesser-known ninja from Konoha was hard for them to swallow.

In the spectator seats, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, praised both Aburame Shino and Kankuro briefly, and urged the next competition to begin.

He had many responsibilities to attend to, and if not for his concern about the candidates joining the competition at short notice, he would have left long ago!

Fortunately, the wait wasn't long for the second arena match.

Without waiting for Gekko Hayate to urge them, someone stepped up to the ring:

Hyūga Neji!

Confident in his strength, Neji had been humbled after meeting Kazuki and Sasuke, realizing his own inadequacy.

Though he believed in fate, when failure seemed destined, he would struggle against it!

It wasn't about defying the will of heaven, but about following its flow!

His gaze remained fixed on Kazuki and Sasuke;

Clearly, these two were his only targets!

Kazuki didn't expect Neji to challenge him, and a rare glimmer of appreciation appeared in his eyes for the man.

Looking over at Sasuke, he knew that Sasuke also had thoughts about Neji. If Sasuke couldn't face Gaara, a match against Neji might pressure him enough to break through his bottleneck.

Sasuke didn't know much about Hyuga Neji, but he was aware that Neji was the top graduate of the previous class.

This sparked a desire in his heart to fight him.

However, Sasuke was more eager to fight Gaara, as Neji didn't pose as much pressure on him as Gaara did.

Neji's strength was concealed, making it hard to gauge.

Sasuke refused Neji's challenge in the ring, leaving only Kazuki.

Seeing this, Kazuki planned to step forward and demonstrate the gap in strength between them.

But just as he took a step, sand piled up in the ring!

The sand slowly rose, and a boy with the word "love" on his forehead appeared on the ring!

Gaara had come to challenge Hyuga Neji!

The unexpected opponent left Neji momentarily speechless.

While Gaara was strong, Neji didn't have the desire to fight him in this competition.

He couldn't sense any human presence from Gaara, making him appear more dangerous than both Kazuki and Sasuke!

Gaara always seemed on the verge of killing someone, losing control at the slightest provocation!

Kazuki hadn't expected Gaara to step up first,

He thought the strongest would wait until the end, but Gaara was clearly impatient.

But maybe this wasn't Gaara's decision.

Kazuki glanced at Temari behind him, noticing her calm demeanor, so different from her earlier worry.

"Is something wrong?" Temari asked with a smile as she caught Kazuki's gaze.

Kazuki's face remained expressionless as he calmly turned away.

His calm eyes and handsome face made Temari's heart flutter!

Had they not been from opposing camps, Temari might have already been interested in Kazuki!

"What a shame," she muttered.

On the stage,

Neji and Gaara stared at each other with cold indifference, neither engaging in unnecessary chatter.

Gekko Hayate was pleased by this, admiring the two juniors before announcing, "I've explained the rules once. You know them. No killing is allowed."

"The match begins!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Gaara launched his attack.

Sand surged toward Neji like a wave.

This attack resembled Aburame Shino's bugs, but unlike the bugs, the sand was inanimate. There was no risk of being killed, but its speed was immense, making it hard for ordinary people to dodge.

But Neji was no ordinary person!

Everyone knew Rock Lee was incredibly fast, but Neji's speed in the Gentle Fist technique was equally formidable.

Gaara's sand barely grazed Neji's clothes before he dodged.

However, dodging wasn't the specialty of the Hyuga Clan!

The Hyuga excelled at defensive counterattacks!

After dodging a few times to gauge the sand's strength, Neji began using his Gentle Fist to counter.

By infusing chakra with physical power, Neji created an interactive defense of light and heavy forces, making Gaara's sand difficult to penetrate.

This was a secondary form of absolute defense!

Blocking all attacks with his expert Gentle Fist and Byakugan's keen observation!

"Amazing!"

The trio from Amegakure watched in awe, their admiration evident.

This match was on a different level compared to the previous one!

This was a battle between true elites!

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+86 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg