CHAPTER 28

Minato Namikaze—panting heavily, his uniform scuffed and torn—stood opposite his opponent, Shimura no Miya, heir of the Shimura clan.

This had been the most difficult fight Minato had faced so far.

He's strong... and we're both Wind Release users. Our styles cancel each other out.

Minato's golden bangs clung to his forehead with sweat. He glanced at Shimura warily. I can't beat him head-on. I need another strategy...

But Shimura no Miya wasn't going to give him the chance.

As an upperclassman—older and with more developed chakra reserves—he had the advantage in stamina. All he needed was time. Once Minato was worn down, victory was certain.

He charged again.

Their taijutsu clashed once more—fast and furious. Minato ducked under a punch and countered with a hook to the ribs. Shimura deflected with his forearm, stepped to the side, and retaliated with a brutal knee to Minato's gut.

Minato grunted, the wind knocked from his lungs.

But even as the pain lanced through him, he caught Shimura's ankle with his right hand and, using the momentum, threw both of them off balance.

Boom!

The two rolled across the ground, grappling in a tangle of limbs. Dirt and sweat flew, and they finally separated, gasping for breath.

Minato was the first to recover. He lashed out with a sharp whip kick that drove Shimura back. Both then flashed through a flurry of hand seals.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"

A blade of compressed air howled forward from Shimura's hand.

Minato instantly drew a kunai to block—but it was futile. The Wind Cutter tore straight through the metal, slicing his arm and drawing blood.

"Minato!" Rope Tree shouted from the stands, eyes wide with concern.

Uchiha Tatsumi frowned. That was reckless. Too reckless. He should've dodged or used a substitution technique. What if Shimura follows up with a long-range attack?

Sure enough, Shimura's eyes lit up with triumph. He hurled several shuriken immediately and rushed in for the kill.

Tch… Watergate, you better have a plan, Tatsumi thought grimly.

But Minato didn't even try to dodge the incoming shuriken. Instead, he reached into his ninja pouch and tossed a smoke bomb at the ground.

Smoke? Not a substitution?

The cloud burst forth—obscuring the battlefield.

As it cleared… only a log remained on the ground, pierced by several shuriken.

"When did he use the Body Replacement Technique?!" Shimura no Miya exclaimed, stunned. He scanned the arena nervously.

But he saw no sign of Minato.

"Chen, did you see what just happened?" Rope Tree asked in confusion. "When did Minato switch places with the log? And what was the smoke bomb for?"

Tatsumi smiled knowingly, adjusting his Uchiha windbreaker. "You're mistaken, Rope Tree. That wasn't a basic Kawarimi no Jutsu. Watergate used Henge—transformation. That log was Minato."

"Not a substitution?!"

Behind Shimura, nothing moved.

He turned slowly, paranoia building.

Still, no one.

Suddenly—

"Poof!" The log at his feet burst with chakra smoke—transforming into Minato mid-seal.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"

The jutsu surged forward.

Shimura barely had time to flinch as the blade sliced cleanly through the air—cutting a clean line through his hair.

His legs gave out and he collapsed.

He hadn't been hit.

But he knew: if Minato had aimed a few inches lower, he'd be dead.

It was over.

"The winner of this match: Namikaze Minato." Orochimaru's hoarse voice echoed across the arena.

---

After the match, Tatsumi rushed to support Minato, who was swaying on his feet.

"You alright?"

Minato gave a breathless laugh, blood trickling down his arm. "Yeah… just a scratch."

The wound was real, though. He'd taken Shimura's Wind Cutter head-on to bait the follow-up attack, then used the smoke bomb to hide a Henge jutsu—disguising himself as a log and lying in wait.

A simple plan. But high-risk.

It only worked because Shimura thought he'd used Kawarimi, not Henge.

Tatsumi nodded silently. That's the genius of Minato. Not just fast—but clever. No wonder he becomes the Yellow Flash.

"You're pushing too hard, Minato," Tatsumi said. "Go see Lady Tsunade and get that checked out."

"Ahaha, yeah, I will. Don't worry."

Despite the pain, Minato smiled brightly. The thrill of a hard-earned victory—of defeating an upperclassman—shone in his eyes.

---

Orochimaru's voice cut through the chatter again.

"The third and final match. This is to determine the top three. Fighters, step forward."

"Mikoto, go get 'em," Tatsumi said, ruffling her hair.

"Mm!" Mikoto nodded confidently.

Tatsumi had gone over everything she needed. Now, it was up to her.

Uchiha Mikoto and Aburame Yui took their places on the stage.

"Begin!" Orochimaru announced.

Mikoto's chakra nature: Fire and Lightning. She specialized in wide-range jutsu like the iconic Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu.

Aburame Yui, like most Aburame clan members, used her kikaichū—destruction bugs—as a secret weapon.

And bugs, being small, mobile, and numerous… had a natural advantage against large-scale jutsu.

The final match was about to begin.