Naruto: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand

First match of the Chunin division.

Yashamaru versus Asuma. The two had already clashed briefly before and both had been holding back a belly full of fire ever since. Yuji had also kept his promise to arrange them as the first matchup.

The moment the whistle sounded, Yashamaru and Asuma charged at each other simultaneously.

"Wind Style: Rotating Gale!"

Mid-sprint, Yashamaru formed seals with both hands and an instant later fired a sharp compressed wind blade directly at Asuma.

Asuma sidestepped and dodged early, then suddenly accelerated, closing the gap to prevent Yashamaru from firing off another elemental technique.

Asuma's offensive intent was clear. He wanted to settle things in taijutsu. The more straightforward and direct approach.

In an instant the two were locked in close quarters, bodies weaving across the ground in rapid exchange.

Punches and kicks landed on both sides.

"Wind Style: Dust Cloud."

Seeing Yashamaru about to jump back to create distance, Asuma deployed his own Wind Release, expelling a cloud of fine ash from his mouth. As Yashamaru scattered it by moving through it, the dust expanded outward and spread across both of their positions in the arena like a pale fog.

This immediately compromised Yashamaru's visibility.

And Asuma moved through the still-dispersing cloud like a ghost, closing on Yashamaru multiple times and launching powerful strikes.

But Yashamaru's practical combat experience was not ordinary. He had already shifted into a defensive posture before the fog reached him.

Although he took hits, he did not lose his combat capability.

Just as Asuma believed his Wind Release combined taijutsu approach was about to eat through his opponent, when he closed in one more time, Yashamaru suddenly landed a full-force spinning kick that sent Asuma's silhouette flying backward and hit hard against his shoulder.

At the same time, while his body was still airborne, Yashamaru formed seals and unleashed a Wind Release turbulence barrage.

The resulting storm kicked up a spray of sand and grit from the ground, not only dispersing the surrounding ash cloud but also driving dust into Asuma's line of sight.

Then Yashamaru began his counteroffensive.

He charged in with a compressed and explosive sequence of strikes, hammering at Asuma relentlessly.

Yashamaru had combat experience fighting the Hidden Mist Village, whose fighters were known for stealth and ambush tactics. Asuma's attack patterns had already been read and analyzed.

Boom.

A burst of fire shot outward.

Asuma activated Fire Release to force Yashamaru back.

But the moment his vision cleared, two enormous stone slabs rose from the ground on either side of him, closing in from both flanks toward the center where he stood.

"Fire and Wind for Asuma. Wind and Earth for Yashamaru," Shimizu said quietly from behind Yuji.

He had originally assumed the Third Hokage's son would be an impressive fighter and the ace card of Konoha's Chunin division. But watching now, although this young man's level was decent, it was nowhere near as overwhelming as imagination might have suggested.

Calling him an ace card was a stretch. Yashamaru could genuinely fight him to a contest.

Yashamaru was also slightly older than Asuma and had considerably richer practical combat experience.

By Shimizu's judgment, the two were roughly evenly matched in raw strength. It came down to who performed better under real-time pressure.

Yashamaru's Wind and Earth natures had both been developed with Yuji's direct guidance and assistance.

Beyond that, the Yashamaru clan had long been one of the representative civilian ninja families of the Sand Village. Yashamaru had access to resources from a young age and had received cultivation and instruction from his father. Although his talent was not exceptional and nowhere near Pakura's level, this background combined with Yuji's personal guidance meant that even without genius-level ability, he was more than capable of far surpassing his peers.

Time continued to pass. The battle grew increasingly heated.

Before long, both competitors had pushed their techniques hard through the fierce exchange, and their remaining chakra was running low.

But unlike Asuma, Yashamaru had been running continuous calculation and analysis through his head throughout the entire sequence of engagements, including the full progression of the fight across the arena.

He had perfectly executed the principles Yuji had once taught his students. A battle was a contest not only of techniques and chakra, but also of information capture, adaptive thinking, and combat intelligence. Fighting with your mind, not just your body.

This showed clearly at this moment.

Yashamaru had obviously worked through the calculations and analysis, confirmed that his remaining chakra exceeded Asuma's, then deliberately used offensive pressure to force Asuma to keep spending chakra on responses. Once the opponent's reserves bottomed out, he committed everything he had left into a single massive Wind Release technique with amplified power.

A one-shot finish.

A massive Wind Release gale whipped up a roaring sandstorm that sent Asuma flying backward and tumbling to the ground.

Immediately, two kunai landed on either side of where Asuma had fallen, embedding themselves into the earth with a sharp thwack.

"Sand Village's Yashamaru, winner!"

The referee called it loudly.

Because in an actual battlefield context, those two kunai would have already ended Asuma's life.

Yuji smiled with quiet calm.

The memory of a younger Yashamaru who used to panic and cry out for his teacher every time he found himself in danger flashed briefly through his mind.

He had grown considerably stronger over these past years. As a teacher, Yuji was genuinely pleased.

Of course, beating Asuma was also a decent result in its own right.

"Hmph."

Yashamaru wiped the sweat from his face, glanced over at Asuma who was pulling himself up from the ground, and offered a cold smile of satisfaction before stepping back from the arena.

At the same time he exchanged a quick handshake with Sakamoto who was walking up to take the floor.

"The rest is yours. Show these Konoha people what we are made of."

"Leave it to me," Sakamoto said with a grin.

Asuma's face had gone a pale green as he stood.

The person stepping up to take the floor against Sakamoto next was Yuhi Kurenai.

In the gallery, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene, took a long draw from his pipe, and said nothing. His expression was entirely composed.

He had read it at a glance. Asuma's loss had come down to experience and composure, not raw strength.

Second match begins.

Sakamoto versus Yuhi Kurenai.

The whistle sounded. Sakamoto prepared to move immediately.

But to outside observers, his body suddenly went completely still right where he stood.

No expected exchange of blows, no opening charge. Sakamoto and Kurenai simply stood facing each other.

Kurenai formed seals with both hands and fixed Sakamoto in place for a brief moment before drawing a kunai and advancing quickly.

Sakamoto's movements seized up as he was caught in the illusion. Although he broke free of the genjutsu fairly quickly, the speed with which he escaped was a little too slow. The kunai in his hand was still moving when Kurenai's blade was already resting against his throat.

His own kunai missed, its tip stopping about ten centimeters short of the young woman in front of him.

The outcome was visible at a glance.

"Genjutsu," Sakamoto murmured, glancing at the gallery and letting out a long breath.

"I lose."

He said it plainly.

This was a difference in actual capability, and a fundamental clash of fighting styles. His greatest weakness was dealing with genjutsu-type fighters, something he had never trained for specifically.

He had not anticipated her genjutsu would be that sharp, had not been able to break it first.

This was the nature of combat between ninja. At certain moments, it was not simply a matter of visible combat power. It also came down to both sides' particular fighting styles and their inherent advantages and disadvantages against each other.

Yashamaru, watching from not far away, looked as though he wanted to swallow his friend whole.

He had not expected Sakamoto to lose this quickly. And to lose to a woman on top of it.

"Konoha's Yuhi Kurenai wins!"

The referee called the result.

"You two had better give this everything you have. Do not say I did not warn you. Pakura has been paying extremely close attention to this competition. If either of you dares to lose, expect a long hard session from her afterward. She absolutely will not allow our Sand Village people to make Lord Kazekage look bad in Konoha."

Yashamaru turned to look at the two remaining teammates with a serious expression.

Then he glanced toward the two opponents still waiting on Konoha's side.

"I have already handled their strongest one, the Hokage's son. The remaining two, one is a tiny kid who looks like he has not even hit ten yet. The other one just stands there grinning like an idiot and yelling. If either of you loses to those two..."

"Understood."

"Yashamaru-bro, don't worry. I will definitely win!"

Hearing Yashamaru mention Pakura's name in particular, both Fuma Josam and the puppet corps fighter involuntarily shuddered and replied in quick succession.