Forfeit

Down in the arena, Minato was about to forfeit. But suddenly, something unexpected happened.

Right when his hand was about to be raised entirely, Minato disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Kage-Bunshin!"

Everyone in the stands had looks of shock. They certainly weren't expecting that.

"Behind...!"

Hearing Nozomi's surprised voice, Shinju quickly turned around, only to be stopped by Minato's hand-chop.

Before she could react, she had already lost consciousness as she fell on the ground, knocked out. Seeing this, Shigeo ran up to her and declared Minato the winner.

"That boy… To outsmart a Nara…"

Near the Hokage, Orochimaru was licking his lips with a smile. Jiraiya's students just kept on surprising him.

"Well, there was some outsmarting, but the most impressive thing was his speed… That flicker. It was almost like teleportation."

Hiruzen smiled. He didn't know what Jiraiya was doing, but it worked wonders. Of course, what he didn't realize was that it all came from a certain Uchiha.

Walking back up to the stands, Minato was the center of attention, as well as his team. So far, they were the only ones that came out unhurt after a fight.

"Jiraiya, now I know why you nominated them yesterday…"

Dan was surprised. Jiraiya's students were incredibly strong.

"Hehehe, Dan-san… What did you expect? They're my students, after all!"

As Jiraiya laughed, Jun and Nozomi rolled their eyes. Apart from playing bad-taste jokes on them, what had he taught them so far? Chakra control? That wasn't anything special.

Since Shinju wasn't in any immediate danger, they just sat her next to Fugaku. She would wake up soon, so there was no need to take her to the emergency room.

Seeing this, Shigeo turned on the electronic board for the fourth time.

"Fuguki Suikazan vs. Uchida!"

Hearing the first name, Jun opened his eyes and watched the big man walk down the stairs. He carried a big, metal sword strapped to his back.

Fuguki was one of the ninja that initially caught his attention. His orange hair fluttered as he stopped in front of the Sunagakure nin, Uchida.

"Man, you're huge! What do they feed you in the mist, entire cows?"

Uchida laughed, taking out his puppet. It was small but had countless hidden blades inside, which could easily decapitate someone his size.

"A mere ant dares to belittle me… You've got a death wish."

"Begin!"

As soon as Shigeo raised his hand, Fuguki performed some hand-seals.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" (Water Release: Gunshot!)

Kneading chakra into water within his body, Fugki spat out a massive projectile, aimed at Uchida.

"What a monstrous amount of chakra…!"

Minato was surprised. That Fuguki's reserves were inhumane.

Seeing this, the puppeteer jumped back and allowed his puppet to go on the offensive. Brandishing poison-filled blades, it rotated as it drilled its way towards the opponent.

"Have a taste of my toxic drill!" Haha, your jutsu is nothing!"

The puppet came into contact with the water bullet, tearing through it and splashing water everywhere.

"…"

Before the puppet could even get near him, Fuguki took out his sword and smashed it to bits in one swing, surprising everyone.

"A mere fly in the way… Now, you're next."

"What!? This can't be-"

As Uchida was making sense of the situation, Fuguki stepped on a puddle of water and completely submerged himself in it, surprising the onlookers.

"He disappeared!"

Nozomi was taken aback. Fuguki had left without a trace! Next to her, Jun smiled.

"Activate your Byakugan."

Following Jun's advice, she turned on the Byakugan and stared at the water.

"Oh my god!"

Down in the arena, Uchida looked around in fright. His puppet had been destroyed, leaving him with his kunai only. Raising his guard, he waited for Fuguki to appear.

And appear he did. Behind Uchida, Fuguki slowly emerged from a small puddle of water. Raising his massive sword, he silently swung it.

"Die."

"What-"

Uchida couldn't react as his head was sliced entirely off, scaring almost everyone in the room.

"He just… Killed him…"[1]

Nozomi took a step back… She couldn't believe it. This was her first contact with death. Near her, Minato gulped down some saliva.

Seeing their reaction, Jun sighed. They'd have to get used to this if they were going to be ninja. He'd taken countless lives before, so this wasn't anything special.

"Mizu ni Kakurete no Jutsu… I didn't expect a Genin to know this…" (Hiding in water technique)

Sarutobi smiled. It seemed like this year's third round would be very entertaining.

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[1] For those who may call me out on this, saying that in the prelims killing was prohibited, All I have to say is that it's not in the peaceful times from the Naruto Era. Right now, Hiruzen doesn't care if they kill each other. Especially since its not the live event of the third round, there, killing will be avoided if possible, for the public's sake.

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Don't forget to drop some stones!

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