Naruto: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand

The second day. The exchange gathering arena was filled to capacity once more, with even more spectators than the first day.

Word of Konoha's victory on the first day had spread through the village, drawing in more people who wanted to witness another win.

The Sand Village's competing lineup was a five-person group led by Pakura.

Among them, two were somewhat distinctive. One had a Sharingan transplant. The other had received Third Raikage cellular transplants and could deploy lightning-attribute physical enhancement techniques.

On Konoha's side, Hatake Kakashi had indeed claimed one of the spots as expected.

The remaining four were all successors from Konoha's distinguished clans. The Aburame clan, the Hyuga clan, the Sarutobi clan, and the Yamanaka clan.

Worth noting was that the Yamanaka clan had suffered heavy losses during the Third Great Ninja War and currently had few combat-capable members remaining. Having someone who could reach Jonin rank before the age of eighteen suggested they had managed to field a particularly talented successor.

Yuji read Konoha's lineup at a glance and recognized the strategic thinking behind it.

The Yamanaka clan's fighters were skilled in genjutsu-type techniques. Yesterday's competition had apparently confirmed to Konoha's side that Sand Village fighters struggled against genjutsu-oriented opponents, given Kurenai's and Shisui's victories. That was likely why a Yamanaka clan member was appearing today. Possibly a last-minute roster adjustment.

Otherwise, given the Yamanaka clan's current state, it seemed unlikely they would normally have anyone qualified to compete in the Jonin division.

Danzo may have been involved behind the scenes, perhaps temporarily promoting this person to Tokubetsu Jonin status.

Today's matches meant Pakura and the others would be facing Konoha's full combat system.

Every opponent came from one of Konoha's famous clans.

In truth, Yuji had actually wanted to include Baki and Yura in the lineup. Both story characters had been at his side as personal guards for a long time and had developed considerable strength, already having been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin.

But Baki was slightly too old, only one year younger than Yuji himself. Outside the age requirement.

"Today should be fine, shouldn't it," Shimizu murmured quietly from beside Yuji after the pleasantries with Konoha's senior figures had concluded and they had both taken their seats.

His confidence was visibly lower than it had been the previous day.

If the Sand Village lost the Jonin division as well, they would have suffered an across-the-board defeat.

Yuji smiled and said nothing in response.

All ten competitors participating in the Jonin division matches were priority cultivation targets from both major hidden villages without exception. Among them, Kakashi and Pakura drew the most attention by far.

Because of the ten competitors, only these two had not reached Tokubetsu Jonin level. The other eight were all Tokubetsu Jonin, and none of them were young. Reaching Tokubetsu Jonin before the age of eighteen already represented exceptional quality.

Fighters like Kakashi, Minato, and in the future Itachi and Shisui belonged to an extremely rare category.

Even Might Guy was still only Chunin at this point and would need another year before reaching Jonin.

Konoha's four Tokubetsu Jonin representatives had all been able to develop to this level because of sustained clan resource cultivation. Without that backing, ordinary ninja growing this quickly would be far more difficult.

And among all of them, fourteen-year-old Jonin Kakashi was undeniably the most blinding presence in the arena.

Worth noting was that because of the cranial surgery performed two days earlier, Kakashi's hair was cut short, slightly disrupting his usual image. Furthermore, the mask that had been covering his Sharingan had been pulled down slightly, now only covering from the nose downward, leaving his eye area fully exposed. He no longer needed to keep one eye shut.

From his bearing, the physical recovery was clearly progressing well, which was itself a testament to how capable Yuji's surgical work had been.

Yuji had taken a look at Kakashi's appearance during the surgery. His features were genuinely not bad. Actually quite handsome.

But not quite at the level of someone whose face would stop people in their tracks.

"Sand Village's Pakura versus Konoha's Hatake Kakashi," the referee called out loudly as Pakura and Kakashi stepped onto the floor one after the other.

Both sides had apparently sent out their respective aces right from the opening match.

Because the format was a round-robin relay, neither side wanted their teammates to be eliminated quickly. If you could wear down even one opponent it was worth it. Even without winning, at least leaving the opponent's condition depleted had value.

But from Pakura's expression, it was obvious she was not thinking in these terms at all.

Her face made it perfectly clear what she intended.

Kakashi's expression grew serious.

Although he was Konoha's genius and the White Fang's son, and had shown his talent alongside Minato during the Third Great Ninja War, his reputation was nowhere near comparable to the woman standing across from him.

The Sand Village's Scorch Release ninja, Pakura. Her name had not yet reached the level of threatening the entire ninja world, but she was no longer someone anyone could look down on, and she was already well-known to every major hidden village as a priority intelligence subject.

Most critically, like Kakashi himself, she had an eye that did not originally belong to her.

Kakashi's combat plan was therefore straightforward. Even if he could not beat Pakura outright, he needed to drain her condition as much as possible, leaving an opening for a teammate to follow up and defeat this powerful opponent.

"Begin!"

The referee confirmed both competitors' readiness, raised an arm and brought it down sharply, and blew the whistle.

From the very first instant, Kakashi activated the Sharingan in his left eye.

But Pakura had already vanished from where she had been standing. Only a rising cloud of disturbed dust remained on the ground.

"She is fast!" Kakashi's expression shifted.

Fortunately his Sharingan had caught Pakura's movement trajectory and attack path.

Clang, clang, clang.

From the moment Pakura disappeared to the moment the exchange of blows erupted at close range, from the spectators' perspective it had occurred in the space of a single breath.

At this Jonin-level caliber of fighting, the sensory experience and the level of technique on display were clearly in an entirely different category from the Chunin matches the day before.

Kakashi gripped his kunai and met the advancing woman's attack head-on.

The two of them traded blows in a frantic exchange, testing not only taijutsu technique but also observation, adaptive thinking, and each fighter's rhythm and timing throughout the engagement.

The details within their exchange were numerous and subtle, beyond what outside observers could fully follow.

Bang.

Suddenly the momentum in the arena shifted, and Kakashi was sent flying by a palm strike from Pakura.

"That technique," Hyuga Hiashi in the gallery immediately narrowed his eyes.

He had recognized it. That was the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist technique.

Still in the air and rapidly retreating before he had fully stabilized, Kakashi had already registered that something was wrong.

He landed on the ground, used one hand to spin himself back upright and launched himself forward again.

The moment he raised his head, he saw the woman across from him already forming seals with both hands and activating her bloodline limit.

A sphere of what appeared to be fire energy floated slowly upward from her palm, hovering above both of them.

"Scorch Release: Steaming Murder!"

The moment that fire sphere was released, the temperature in the arena surged rapidly. Even the light around them began to warp and distort, making Kakashi feel as though he had been placed inside a furnace.

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

Kakashi activated Water Release, trying to destroy the fire sphere hanging above him.

But while he could now perform chakra nature transformation, his Water Release power was not particularly strong. He was clearly not well-versed in it.

His water attack flew toward the fire sphere and was burned away and evaporated by the extreme heat before it could reach its target. And this particular Scorch Release technique appeared to have a unique property where it would not be easily extinguished or disrupted even by water contact or direct impact.

On the contrary, the high-temperature steam that the evaporating water produced caused the arena's temperature to climb even further.

This made Kakashi's physical condition suddenly extremely painful.

Furthermore, the visual distortion caused by the steam and intense heat made it nearly impossible for him to read the surrounding situation clearly.

Pakura had disappeared entirely from his perception.

"Troublesome," Kakashi thought, a chill running through him despite the heat.

...

BOnus @200 PS

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