Chapter 46: Geniuses

The second fight was quite boring, as both opponents were the most standard representatives of their respective villages. Oboro could be described as a stereotypical Sunagakure Genin, while Modan Rei embodied the stereotypical traits of a Kumogakure Genin.

Oboro was a Wind user, infusing wind chakra into his throwing weapons and possessing wind-based jutsu in his arsenal. On the other hand, Modan Rei was a kenjutsu expert specializing in the Lightning element. His main form of attack involved imbuing his sword with lightning chakra.

Both opponents displayed a similar level of skill, and ultimately, it came down to a game of rock-paper-scissors, with wind defeating lightning. With Modan's loss, Kumogakure had no fighters left in the contest and became the first village to be eliminated.

Although the fight was average overall, both Genin relied on C-level techniques that didn't generate much excitement among the audience. Despite the presence of a significant Konoha representation, interest in the fight was low. However, now that the fight was over, it was finally time for the most anticipated event of the first round: Deidara vs. Tekku.

A battle between geniuses, one from the Land of Fire and the other from its most antagonistic nation, the Land of Stone. The anticipation in the arena was palpable.

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Among the crowd of civilian viewers high up in the stands, a young boy of the same age as Tekku eagerly awaited. Currently, Tekku was making his way down into the Chunin Arena.

The boy had spiky black hair with a blue tint and black eyes. His long hair fell over his face, and he wore a black shirt adorned with a red and white fan crest, the symbol of the Uchiha clan.

Beside him sat two girls. One with blond hair dressed in purple, and the other with pink hair dressed in red. They were Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Uchiha, respectively.

Normally, Sasuke wouldn't have bothered with the Chunin Exam. However, rumors had circulated in the village that there was a genius representing the village, someone on the same level as Itachi, and only one year older than him. This news had truly shocked Sasuke.

"Is that your friend Ino?" asked Sakura from the other side, her eyes filled with wonder as she gazed at the boy in the arena.

"Yes, that's Tekku. He's one of the members of my dad's Genin team. He's really strong. And I mean, really strong," Ino praised the Genin in the arena, cheering for him.

By the time Sasuke had heard of Tekku, the tickets for the Chunin Exam were already sold out. However, one of his classmates from the academy had a quota to bring people, and that classmate was Ino. Since her father's team was participating, she had decided to come and show her support.

Fortunately, Ino was one of the few tolerable girls in their class. She wasn't one of his annoying fangirls for some reason. Another girl who fell into that category was Hinata Hyuuga, who had an unrequited crush on Naruto, the only one who didn't realize it was the boy in question himself. Sakura was also acceptable, although she did have a crush on him. Thanks to Ino's guidance, she didn't display it as blatantly as the others and showed some restraint.

However, Sasuke would have preferred to come alone. So, this was the boy who was supposed to be a genius on a similar level as Itachi? He appeared unremarkable and out of place in that arena. So, what was so special about him? What truly distinguished him from someone on Itachi's level at such a young age?

"So, are you excited, Sasuke?" asked Ino with a cheeky grin.

"Why would I be excited?" he replied in his usual cool and calm voice.

"Well, wasn't Tekku-kun's fight the one you wanted to watch?" inquired Ino still with her grin."

"Hn," he responded with a typical Uchiha-like answer, just agreeing indicating that he didn't want to talk about it. Instead he refocused on the two contestants in the Arena below them.

Was it really strange for him to prepare himself for facing Itachi in the future? If he didn't know what level he needed to reach, how was he supposed to defeat that monster?

His brother had already hindered one of his paths to achieving that level. When he had heard the rumors about Tekku in the village, hinting at the possibility of early graduation, he had immediately sought out his homeroom teacher, Iruka.

Unfortunately, he learned that since his brother had killed all their relatives in the massacre, the Hokage had implemented a law preventing academy students from graduating early. They could only graduate one year ahead while being allowed to attempt it every half-year. Each student had three chances to graduate overall. Another disadvantage of this rule was that the student had to be mentally stable.

Although it made sense to Sasuke to avenge his clan and walk down the path of killing his older brother, others wouldn't see it that way. They wouldn't diagnose him with the appropriate mental stability, likely preventing him from graduating even one year early. Even though there wasn't much he could learn in the academy, the elective classes were useful, but their overall strength level was limited. For subjects like fuinjutsu, he had no talent and considered it a waste of time since he could simply purchase storage scrolls.

Perhaps this so-called genius could provide him with a hint of what he should do next. How does he become stronger? Where does he get the Power to kill Itachi?

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"Hehehe, are you ready for the competition between our art forms, Tekku?" greeted Deidara, the blond-haired kid, with excitement.

"Yes, I am. I hope you've worked hard during the last month, Deidara. Because I have, and I don't want to be disappointed by a fellow artist who doesn't understand the intricate concepts of mechanical parts working together to create a perfect machine," replied Tekku. The Dr. Gero part of him fully embraced the rivalry with Deidara.

Dr. Gero was a person who reached the pinnacle of his respective field of research. He created weapons capable of threatening entire planets and fought on par with the strongest beings in different universes. Therefore, he considered himself an artist, a master of his craft with unparalleled creativity.

The being known as Tekku inherited that strong will and arrogance, although the laws of this universe, with chakra and different forms of energy instead of ki, were significantly different. Nevertheless, Tekku was determined to reach a similar level to his previous existence. No, he would surpass it. He would not fail and be killed by his own creations.

"Good, I can't wait to show you the beauty of my explosions," Deidara grinned with excitement.

"Heh, you will witness the true power of my puppeteering today. Don't be too disappointed if you feel inferior," Tekku calmly replied, already calculating his first move.

Seeing that both fighters were prepared and ready, the proctor asked, "Are both of you finished? Are you ready for the fight?" Both contestants nodded, and the proctor raised his hand, announcing, "Third round, third exam. Konohagakure ninja Tekku against Iwagakure ninja Deidara. Go!"

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