Naruto: Strength Through Teaching

On August 5th, the Chunin Exams officially commenced. The third exam of the Chunin Exams took place in a massive circular arena.

In the center of the arena was a large open area, spacious and dotted with small patches of trees and a few ponds with limited water. All the candidates would engage in battle here.

Surrounding the candidates' battle area were tiered spectator stands filled with many noble officials and wealthy merchants' representatives, as well as local residents and ninjas from Konoha.

The Third Hokage did not sit in the regular audience area; he had his own special seat, elevated above the stands.

"There are so many spectators," Rin remarked, gazing at the sea of people in the stands. Before this, the most crowded event she had attended was the festival, but it didn't have nearly this many people.

"Rin-chan, don't be nervous. Just focus on showcasing your abilities, and you'll definitely win," Obito said, thinking that Rin was worried about losing in front of so many spectators.

Rin covered her mouth and laughed lightly, "Obito, you're underestimating me. I won't get nervous just because there are people watching."

Rin was not the shy or timid type; she would be concerned about the strength of her opponent affecting the outcome, but she wouldn't feel anxious just because others were watching.

"Hey, that's great," Obito said, scratching his head and chuckling.

Obito didn't care much about the audience; the more people there were, the more excited he became. This was a good opportunity to make a name for himself in Konoha.

"Let's hurry up; it's almost time," Kakashi reminded them.

Obito and Rin nodded, and the three of them quickened their pace through the designated passage for candidates, heading into the center of the arena, which was the combat area for the exam.

They arrived neither too early nor too late, and just three minutes after they got there, all sixteen candidates were present.

As all the candidates gathered, some spectators erupted into cheers, seemingly excited for the upcoming battles.

"Did you hear that? The cheers from the audience are all for you; you are the stars of today," Hiruko said with a smile.

Listening to Hiruko's words, Obito felt a surge of excitement. If he could secure first place in front of all these spectators, it would be his first step towards becoming Hokage.

Guy wore a confident smile on his face and gave a thumbs up to a certain green figure in the audience who was jumping with excitement.

Terumi Mei clenched her fists tightly; if she could take first place, she would gain the attention of Genji and the Mizukage, making her path to becoming Mizukage clearer.

Zabuza cast a complex glance at Kakashi, who was just a few positions away from him. If he won, his opponent in the second round would be Kakashi.

Zabuza was unsure how he could fight to win; after all, the other party had even taken down his guiding Jonin.

"The rules for the third exam are very simple: just like in the preliminaries, you win by defeating your opponent so they can no longer fight or by forcing them to surrender," Hiruko continued.

"If there are no doubts, all candidates except for Candidate No. 1 and Candidate No. 2, who will remain to prepare for battle, please return to the waiting room to await further notice."

The waiting room allowed a view of the battles in the arena, so it didn't hinder the candidates from gathering information.

With such simple rules, naturally, no candidates asked further questions. They paired up and walked into the candidates' passageway toward the waiting room, leaving only Candidate No. 1, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Candidate No. 2, Yamashiro Aoba.

Hoshigaki Kisame stood expressionless in place. In this exam, he was only concerned about two people: Guy and Hatake Kakashi; he felt confident against the other candidates.

In contrast to the calm demeanor of Hoshigaki Kisame, Yamashiro Aoba looked much less composed, eyeing Hoshigaki Kisame with a wary expression.

He had seen Hoshigaki Kisame's performance in the preliminaries and recognized him as one of the strongest candidates.

Hiruko instructed both of them to take their designated positions, then, after about a minute, he shouted loudly:

"First match, Hoshigaki Kisame vs. Yamashiro Aoba, begin the battle!"

The amplification device carried Hiruko's voice throughout the entire arena, drawing the attention of the spectators who had been chatting to the battle area.

"This Hoshigaki Kisame is a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. Although he's from one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, we rarely hear about the Mist," said a spectator dressed in official attire.

"After all, Hidden Mist Village is located in the Land of Water, so it's more troublesome to come to the mainland…" another official replied.

"However, there is a difference among the Five Great Ninja Villages. Our ninjas from the Land of Fire should be stronger," another official chimed in.

The officials nearby nodded in agreement, not only because Konoha was the ninja village of the Land of Fire, but also due to Konoha's strong track record of victories.

While the spectators had confidence in Yamashiro Aoba, it didn't erase the gap between him and Hoshigaki Kisame.

As soon as Hiruko called for the start, Yamashiro Aoba immediately retreated, using ninjutsu to summon a large number of crows.

Wow—wow—

The harsh, hoarse cries of the crows instantly filled the entire arena.

A large number of crows circled around Yamashiro Aoba, disrupting Hoshigaki Kisame's sight and hearing.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Yamashiro Aoba immediately threw several shuriken toward Hoshigaki Kisame.

Kisame casually swung his long sword, knocking the shuriken away. He then plunged his sword into the ground and quickly formed hand signs.

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

Kisame gathered a massive amount of chakra and performed a water-style chakra nature transformation, unleashing a torrent of water toward Yamashiro Aoba.

Yamashiro Aoba frowned and rapidly retreated, commanding the crows to fly higher.

The volume of water from Kisame was overwhelming, and soon the entire battlefield was transformed into a large pond due to Kisame's water release. Aoba evaded the water's impact but was forced to stand on the water's surface to battle the advancing Kisame.

Bang! Bang!!

In the flurry of exchanges, despite the crows creating distractions, Aoba was steadily pushed back.

The confined battleground was highly unfavorable for Aoba. Kisame could easily dive into the water to avoid the crows' attacks, while Aoba had limited ways to effectively strike Kisame.

"What a bad draw," Aoba thought helplessly, especially since he had been practicing Fire Release, which was countered by Kisame's Water Release.

"You're not too bad; you're not weak," Kisame remarked after a few exchanges, realizing that Aoba was much stronger than he had anticipated.

Although he didn't have any standout abilities, Aoba was competent in various aspects.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

With an ample supply of water in the arena, Kisame didn't use much chakra to form a massive water dragon that surged toward Aoba, instantly sweeping away the crows that obscured his vision.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Aoba made one last effort, first unleashing a Great Fireball to block the incoming Water Dragon Bullet. He then commanded the remaining crows to shield his body, and finally, Aoba held his breath, submerged himself in the water, and swam rapidly toward Kisame.

However, Aoba underestimated Kisame's expertise as a Mist Ninja. Even though Aoba was very careful not to make any noise and used the sound of the Great Fireball colliding with the Water Dragon Bullet for cover, Kisame still detected him submerged in the water.

Feigning ignorance, Kisame suddenly dove underwater just as Aoba was getting close, launching into battle.

Splash!

A massive surge of water erupted as Kisame unleashed his full strength, sending Aoba flying out of the water.

But it wasn't over; under Kisame's control, another wave of water charged directly at Aoba, who was still in mid-air.

Bang!

The force of the water struck Aoba against the wall at the edge of the battlefield.

For the ordinary spectators watching the fight, not much time seemed to have passed. They only felt that Kisame used a Water Release, and suddenly the arena turned into a large pond. After a brief exchange of blows between the two, with the clash of Water Release and Fire Release, Aoba was sent crashing into the wall—all of it happening in just a few minutes.

"It seems this person is an outstanding ninja from the Hidden Mist Village; we can't measure him by ordinary ninja standards," said the official who previously remarked that ninjas from the Land of Fire were stronger, stroking his beard with no trace of embarrassment on his face.

"That's right; after all, the Mist would definitely send their strongest talents all the way here," agreed another official.

"I didn't expect the ninjas from the Mist to be this strong. I wonder how their commission efficiency is over there," some wealthy merchants acknowledged the strength of the Mist ninjas due to Kisame's impressive performance.

The Mist ninjas smiled upon hearing this, while the Konoha ninjas in the audience wore less than cheerful expressions after losing the first match.

Danzo, sitting to the right of Hiruzen, frowned at this scene, showing an unhappy expression.

Although his keen eye could tell that it wasn't that Aoba was weak, but rather that Kisame was too strong, in Danzo's view, losing in such an important setting was a disgrace for Konoha and should not have happened.

Genji, sitting to the left of Hiruzen, merely displayed a faint smile, saying nothing and not looking overly pleased.

Hiruzen neither frowned nor smiled; he watched the arena with an expression that revealed nothing of his inner thoughts.

"Hoshigaki Kisame is the winner!" After confirming that Aoba had lost his ability to fight, Hiruko announced Kisame's victory decisively.

Once Hiruko announced the result, medical ninjas quickly came to take Aoba for treatment, while Kisame walked toward the waiting room.

"Rin-chan, do your best!" Seeing the first match conclude, Obito cheered for Rin.

"At the start, you can use Water Release more; you'll have an advantage with the terrain," Kakashi whispered to Rin as he approached her.

Although the battlefield had a drainage system, it was clearly not very effective. While the water level was continuously decreasing and not as high as before, it still provided a beneficial environment for Rin.

Of course, if the battle dragged on too long, the water would eventually disappear.

"Mm." Rin smiled and nodded at the two.

"Second match, Nohara Rin vs. Nara Ensui, please enter the arena quickly," Hiruko's voice echoed into the waiting room.

Rin waved goodbye to the two and headed toward the battlefield.

"Midori will cheer for you," Inuzuka Midori also encouraged Nara Ensui, who was about to fight.

Nara Ensui nodded and turned to walk toward the arena.

Although he hadn't been able to gather any intelligence on Rin during his special training with Mutsuki, his taijutsu had improved somewhat.

---

Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja