Realizing he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, Asuma immediately shouted, "I surrender, I surr-... ouch!"

  Just before Chidori hit Asuma, Miketsuki released the electric arc from his hands, but his movements didn’t stop. He delivered a punch to Asuma’s stomach, not too light, not too heavy.

  He and Asuma had a decent retionship, so he certainly wouldn’t strike too hard.

  "Shimizu, that move was amazing!" Asuma said, holding his stomach as he spoke.

  In his mind, the scene from just moments ago still echoed: bolts of dazzling lightning, twisting around Miketsuki’s arm like a whip of pure destruction and overwhelming pressure.

  For most ninjas in the world of ninjutsu, battles were usually based on physical combat, and their chakra reserves were often limited. Not everyone had the luxury of using chakra recklessly.

  But Miketsuki’s technique was different. The greatest strength of this technique was its overwhelming deterrent power in close-range combat.

  Any enemy attempting to get too close would be struck mercilessly by the lightning, delivering a fatal blow.

  Thinking back on this, Asuma felt lucky that he hadn’t rashly charged forward to face Miketsuki directly. The outcome would’ve been disastrous.

  Nearby, Teacher Kato wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "My goodness, is this really Konoha? Are the Chuunin exams this intense now?"

  Seeing Asuma surrender, Kato raised a fg.

  "Then, for the first match, Asuma Sarutobi vs. Miketsuki Shimizu, Miketsuki Shimizu wins. Both sides, please seal the reconciliation sign."

  After the formalities, Asuma and Miketsuki returned to the spectator seats.

  "Next match: Aoyama Shiyou vs. Mimoto Raizou."

  ...

  Back at the stands, Kakashi immediately turned to Miketsuki. "Miketsuki, didn’t you only form one seal for your Chidori earlier?"

  "Yes, I optimized it. I removed the seal I used for chakra manipution and nerve stimution from the earlier version."

  "Incredible, just how strong is your chakra control?" Kakashi marveled.

  Miketsuki had already recreated Chidori st year. After all, once the principles and seal sequence were understood, it was only a matter of time to develop it.

  Miketsuki had intentionally involved Kakashi in the development of Chidori, finding a reason to teach it to him—an optimized version, no less.

  Miketsuki had added an extra step to stimute the eye’s nerve in the technique, though it introduced an additional "you" seal. But this minor adjustment solved the issue of being unable to see clearly and control the direction while unleashing the Chidori.

  As for Kakashi, he always felt that his contribution to developing the technique hadn’t been significant, and thus he felt indebted to Miketsuki.

  Kind-hearted Miketsuki couldn’t bear to see his good friend so guilty, so he insisted on treating him to a few meals of Konoha’s famous barbecue.

  Yeah, truly a great friend—no need to say more.

  "Miketsuki, how did you get behind me earlier?" Asuma asked.

  He knew Miketsuki’s Doton technique had blocked his view, but he didn’t know how Miketsuki had gotten behind him.

  "Miketsuki used Doton to burrow through the ground, you idiot," said Obito, watching the whole thing clearly as an observer.

  "Of course, don’t want to be told that by someone like you."

  "Angry, huh?"

  Fuming, Asuma’s only thought right now was to make sure he would mock Obito mercilessly after Obito lost his match.

  As for winning? Asuma wasn’t concerned at all—there was no way Obito was going to win. If Obito won, Asuma would eat his words.

  "Next match: Uchiha Ruri vs. Uchiha Obito!" Teacher Mori announced, holding up the bracket.

  "Ah?" Obito’s face paled when he heard he was facing the violent girl.

  "Hahahahaha! Obito, you’re fighting Uchiha Ruri? Hahahaha!" Asuma ughed wildly.

  "You bastard, I’m going to kill you," Obito shot back, seeing Asuma ughing at him.

  "Obito, Uchiha Ruri is already in the arena," Kakashi reminded, noticing Obito hadn’t moved.

  Obito, still serious about the exam, gred at Asuma and then jumped off the spectator bench to prepare.

  As mentioned earlier, in this css of ninja academy students, Asuma hadn’t even made it into the top three, while the top three were Miketsuki Shimizu, Uchiha Ruri, and Hatake Kakashi.

  Kakashi, still suffering from his father’s untimely death, was firmly overshadowed by Uchiha Ruri in this css, unable to become the task machine of the "Bereaved Family" faction.

  For Miketsuki, Uchiha Ruri was a character who had never appeared in the original plot, so naturally, he had investigated her.

  After a little snooping with his Six Eyes, Miketsuki discovered that Uchiha Ruri was actually the daughter of Uchiha En, one of Kenren’s old teammates.

  However, from Miketsuki’s observations, the retionship between father and daughter wasn’t very good.

  Uchiha En, despite unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan, cked any ambition and instead spent his days at home drinking.

  Ruri’s mother had a memorial tablet at home, though Miketsuki wasn’t sure whether she had passed away due to the war or some other reason.

  More details were unclear, but it was evident that Ruri and her father barely communicated—if anything, they seemed to treat each other like invisible air, completely ignoring each other's existence.

  What was certain was that Uchiha Ruri was incredibly strong. Excluding Miketsuki, there was no one in Konoha’s new generation stronger than her.

  After Teacher Kato called for both sides to take their stances...

  "Both sides, please form the opposing seals. Begin!"

  The battle quickly unfolded, but there wasn’t much of interest to describe. Unlike Obito, who was considered the weakest, Uchiha Ruri had already unlocked her Sharingan long ago.

  With her superior combat skills and keen insight, Ruri completely dominated Obito, easily outcssing him with just physical techniques.

  Faced with such a strong opponent, Obito found himself powerless. Despite his best efforts to retaliate, he couldn’t break Ruri’s dominance, not even getting a chance to use ninjutsu.

  It didn’t take long for the outcome to be decided. Uchiha Ruri easily defeated Obito with overwhelming strength, a clean and swift victory.

  When the final blow nded, Obito crashed to the ground, his face full of frustration.

  Uchiha Ruri stood silently, not particurly proud of defeating Obito.

  In the end, it was still Obito who took the brunt of it.

  "Both sides, please seal the reconciliation sign."

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