Ch-19 Smile.

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...

Michikatsu turned around and headed towards his house. Minato watched his departure, and at that moment, a voice emanated from Michikatsu. While leaving, he uttered, "If you're dissatisfied with me, then defeat me in today's battle." Minato simply nodded resolutely and departed.

----

"Do you really want to go through with this fight, son?" inquired Kiyomi.

"Don't worry, Mother. I haven't trained all this time for nothing," reassured Michikatsu.

After this exchange, Michikatsu and Kiyomi left home. As for Sakumo, he had been assigned a mission for the day, taking him to the borders of Sunagakure.

----

The Chunin Exam venue was now filled with even more people than yesterday, all gathering for the matches of the day, particularly the showdown between the Sunagakure and Konoha teams. Most of the audience didn't take the Michikatsu vs. Minato and Shikaku match seriously; they considered it a joke before the real match.

The moment for the match finally arrived. Hokage and Ebizo also made their way to the venue, and the day's events were set to commence. Just then, Jiraiya leaped into the arena with a peculiar pose and announced, "Your host for today, the most handsome, powerful, and the king of women's hearts, none other than Jiraiya!"

Minato smiled awkwardly, while Tsunade and Orochimaru exchanged looks of not recognizing him. Hiruzen, sitting in the stands, had a twitching expression. If there were no one around, he would have surely given Jiraiya a slap on the head by now.

"Your students are quite interesting, I must say," remarked Ebizo.

"Haha, is that so?" replied Hiruzen with an awkward laugh.

"Hey, can we start today's match already?" interjected someone from the audience, throwing an empty can at Jiraiya.

(Note: I really can't comprehend how these civilians muster the audacity to throw trash at ninja. For reference: Chunin Exam - Shikamaru vs Temari.)

"Alright, alright, I'll commence the match," conceded Jiraiya.

"Now, for our first match, on one side, we have Namikaze Minato. He's just graduated from the ninja academy and has been trained by one of the most handsome and skilled ninjas here in Konoha. On the other side, we have Nara Shikaku, son of the Nara Clan Head and one of the brightest minds in Konoha," announced Jiraiya. As Jiraiya's words faded, Minato and Shikaku made their way into the arena amidst the cheers of the audience.

"And on the opposing side, we have our challenger, someone who has challenged these two prodigies. He's the son of the 'White Fang,' the very 'White Fang' who's feared by ninjas from all the major villages for his strength. This son hasn't even graduated from the ninja academy; in fact, he hasn't even entered the academy. Let's give a warm welcome to Hatake Michikatsu," proclaimed Jiraiya.

As Jiraiya's voice trailed off, Michikatsu stepped into the arena, yet the atmosphere was starkly different from when Minato and Shikaku entered. The audience was booing.

"Get out of here, you six-eyed demon! You're no match for these geniuses," shouted one man from the audience.

"Yeah, he's not even from our village. Throw this demon out of the village," added another.

Voices like these emerged from different directions in the audience, but Michikatsu paid no heed. He promptly walked up and positioned himself in front of Minato and Shikaku.

Minato, who had been smiling in response to the people's praise, was now silent. His expression had shifted from a smile to one of sympathy directed at Michikatsu.

"You're quite sensitive, aren't you? It seems you've forgotten what I mentioned this morning," remarked Michikatsu, his smile remaining.

"Speaking of these people, it's like listening to the drone of flies. You don't need to worry about me, but you should be concerned for yourself since you're going to be fighting me," Michikatsu continued.

"Hmph, what kind of mother would give birth to such a demon child? Not to mention the woman who adopted him must have been desperate for a child," another voice chimed in. This prompted a surge of anger in Michikatsu, but he managed to regain his composure. A smile returned to his face as he turned to face the man. Addressing the man, he calmly said, "Please come down to the arena."

"Why? Why should I come down to the arena?" the man responded, clearly flustered.

Observing the man's reaction, Michikatsu turned towards Tsunade and said, "Do you have 100,000 with you? Lend me that money, and I'll return it to you within two days with 100 percent interest, making it 200,000."

Tsunade was puzzled, but she handed over the money to Michikatsu. Taking the money, Michikatsu once again faced the man and said, "Here, take this money. I'm giving it to you so you'll keep your mouth shut. Come on down."

Orochimaru was perplexed. Given how Michikatsu had interacted with him the day before, he was certain that Michikatsu wouldn't settle for just this, especially considering the man had insulted his mother.

Out of greed, the man descended into the arena and stood in front of Michikatsu. Michikatsu handed the money to the man. Seeing this, a few other individuals began to contemplate voicing their own grievances to Michikatsu, hoping for monetary gain.

Just as the man was about to turn away after receiving the money from Michikatsu, Michikatsu requested, "By the way, could you show me your tongue?"

"Huh?" the man asked, bewildered.

"I simply asked you to show me your tongue. Since I've given you money, you should fulfill the request of a child," Michikatsu explained.

The man extended his tongue. "Oh, I can't see it properly. Let me take a closer look." Suddenly, the man's tongue was in Michikatsu's hand, even though Michikatsu stood a couple of feet away.

"You have quite a dirty tongue. You should clean it. Catch!" Michikatsu exclaimed, tossing the man's tongue back to him.

The man gazed at his own tongue and then at Michikatsu, realization hitting him. "Ahh!" he cried out in pain as he finally reacted to the fact that Michikatsu had severed his tongue.

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