People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Naruto released the Five Elements Seal that sealed the Flying Thunder God Mark on his body.

Almost at the same time, Minato Namikaze appeared in front of Naruto.

Kimimaro was startled and raised his hands, intending to attack Minato Namikaze immediately, but Naruto stopped him.

"Kimimaro, don't get agitated. He's not an enemy yet."

Upon hearing Naruto say that they were not yet enemies, Kimimaro lowered his hands, but remained wary of Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze, however, looked somber.

However, Minato Namikaze forced a smile and asked, "Naruto, you've voluntarily activated the Flying Thunder God Seal, is it because you need something from me?"

“That’s right, Minato Namikaze. I know you’ve been looking for me. I need you to do something for me. In return, I can grant you one request.”

Minato Namikaze wanted to agree to Naruto's request, but reason told him that what Naruto wanted him to do might put him in a difficult position: "What do you want me to do?"

"You should also know that Konoha is holding the Joint Chunin Exams, right?"

"Naruto, you want to attack Konoha?!" Minato Namikaze immediately guessed what Naruto was planning to do.

"Yes, I need you to stop Jiraiya and Tsunade on the day of the finals, when I'm making my move, and not let them get in my way."

Minato Namikaze didn't agree to Naruto's request, and instead stood there hesitating.

Naruto didn't say anything more to Minato Namikaze, and turned to leave with Kimimaro.

Minato Namikaze reached out to call out to Naruto, but he couldn't speak and could only watch Naruto leave.

Back at the inn, Kimimaro asked, puzzled, "Naruto, who was that man just now?"

"He is my father in name only."

Kimimaro's eyes widened in disbelief. He had thought Minato Namikaze looked a lot like Naruto the first time he saw him, but he never expected that he was Naruto's father.

Kimimaro had also heard Naruto mention his father, who was the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.

Kimimaro felt it was unlikely that the former Hokage would help his own child destroy Konoha: "Naruto, would your father help us?"

“He will definitely help, because this is the first time I’ve asked him for a favor, and I only asked him to stop Jiraiya and Tsunade, not to kill anyone from Konoha. Even if he’s conflicted, out of his ridiculous guilt towards me, he will definitely do it.”

Naruto continued with a cold laugh, "I'm really looking forward to seeing the expressions on the faces of those ignorant people of Konoha when they find out that Minato Namikaze is still alive and helping me, who wants to destroy Konoha."

The outcome was almost exactly as Naruto had predicted.

Minato Namikaze returned to Kushina Uzumaki's side, told her about Naruto's request, and they discussed it together.

The couple was very conflicted, because this meant they had become accomplices, aids and abettors in the destruction of Konoha.

However, out of guilt towards Naruto, the two decided to agree to Naruto's request, to stop Jiraiya and Tsunade, and to keep an eye on Naruto, so that if Naruto was in danger, they could immediately take him away.

This also shows that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were prepared to reveal their identities.

Time passed day by day.

Jiraiya and Tsunade have returned to Konoha.

In order to bring Jiraiya and Tsunade into the power center of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a high-profile announcement of their return.

As the finals approached, the daimyo from various countries began arriving in Konoha to watch the finals.

Everything seems to be going in a positive direction.

Chapter 305 The Finals Begin

As Konoha fired a salute, the final round of the Chunin Exams, which had been awaited for a month, finally began.

The final round of the Chunin Exams was held in Konoha's largest venue.

The venue was already packed with people.

Yosuke and Shion sat in the stands waiting for the match to begin.

Sasuke and Kaori stood in the arena with the other genin who were taking the exam, waiting for the exam to officially begin.

All the invited dignitaries from various countries have taken their seats.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the village's leader, began his speech.

"Next, the eight candidates selected in the preliminary rounds will compete in the formal selection competition. Please enjoy the show!"

The opponents for the matches have already been determined, so now the order of the matches will be determined by drawing lots.

After the draw, the order of the matches was determined.

The first match was between Iwagakure's Ishiga and Nara's Shikamaru.

In the second match, Xiang faced off against Rock Lee.

In the third match, Sasuke faced off against Hyuga Neji.

In the final match, Choji faced Ino.

Genma Shiranui, acting as the chief examiner, began explaining the rules.

"Although the venue is different, the rules are the same as in the preliminary rounds, which is that there are no rules. However, the difference is that, apart from conceding defeat, if I think the outcome is clear, I will stop the match and no one is allowed to resist."

After Genma Shiranui finished speaking, he gave Sasuke a special look.

This rule is clearly designed to limit Sasuke, to prevent him from using lethal force as he did in previous matches.

"In the first round, Ishiga will face Nara Shikamaru. The two of them will stay behind, and the rest of you will return to the rest room to wait."

Only Ishiga and Nara Shikamaru remained on the field.

As a genius genin of Iwagakure, Ishiga's strength is virtually unmatched among his peers in Iwagakure.

He immediately unleashed a high-level Earth Release ninjutsu, attacking Shikamaru.

Shikamaru chose to avoid the limelight, constantly dodging and showing no desire to retaliate.

Ziyuan sighed, "Shiya should win for sure. He beat that pineapple-headed guy so badly he couldn't even fight back."

"No, it's hard to say who will win this battle. If you look closely at Nara Shikamaru, you'll see he's dodging with great ease. He had several opportunities to counterattack, but he gave them up."

Why give up?

"He was analyzing Stone Tooth. If the two are evenly matched, the best approach is to analyze each other's strengths and weaknesses during the fight and then win the battle in the easiest way possible."

Ziyuan was very surprised: "Does that mean that Shiya is going to lose?"

"Everything is still unknown. Since Nara Shikamaru has observed that he has not yet made a move, it means that he is not yet confident of defeating Ishiga."

Intelligent people like them prefer to act only when they are absolutely certain of victory. However, this also becomes their weakness, making them hesitant and timid. In a battle where the situation changes rapidly, how can there possibly be any absolute certainty?

No sooner had Yosuke finished speaking than Shikamaru finally made his move.

Shikamaru used the shadows created by the scattered stones caused by the destruction of the Stone Fang to successfully connect with and control the Stone Fang's shadow using the Nara clan's unique shadow ninjutsu.

Seeing that he had successfully restrained Ishiga, Shikamaru pressed his advantage.

"Shadow Head Neck Binding Technique!"

After Shikamaru used Shadow Imitation Technique to grab his opponent, he tried to strangle Ishiga's neck by using the extended shadow.

However, when the shadow strangled Ishiga's neck, Shikamaru discovered that Ishiga's neck was extremely hard and he could not launch an effective attack against it.

Shikamaru looked closely and saw that Ishiga's neck was covered with a layer of hard rock, which was why his Shadow Neck Binding Technique had failed.

Meanwhile, Stone Tooth is gradually breaking free from the shadow's restraints.

Before Ishiga could completely break free of his shadow, Shikamaru launched another attack.

"Secret Technique? Shadow Stitching Technique!"

The shadow transformed into a sharp needle, piercing straight towards Shiya's chest.

In that instant, Stone Tooth also successfully broke free from the shadow's control.

"Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"

Stone Tooth hardened its body to be harder than rock.

Shikamaru's Shadow Stitch Technique pierced Ishiga's body, but it couldn't break through Ishiga's defenses at all.

The two fought back and forth.

Stone Fang's attacks are fierce, but Shikamaru always finds a way to dodge them in the simplest way.

Although Shikamaru is intelligent and has many ideas, he lacks a powerful attack method and is unable to break through Ishiga's defenses.

The battle reached a stalemate.

To the average person, this stalemate seems rather boring.

But only a ninja knows how exciting such a battle is.

One is brute force that can overcome ten techniques, the other is resourceful and wise.

The intense battle quickly depleted their chakra, leaving them both panting heavily.

"Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!"

Shikiya spat out a small pebble from his mouth, which then grew larger and larger in the air, hurtling towards Shikamaru like a series of solid cannonballs.

However, Shikamaru neither dodged nor avoided the stones, letting them rain down on him.

Just when everyone thought Shikamaru was powerless to resist, Shikamaru smiled and muttered to himself, "This is really troublesome. I'm finally ready."

"Secret Technique? Shadow Gathering Technique? Black Web!"

Numerous shadows rose from the ground, weaving into a huge black net, and were hung with a large number of explosive tags.

These explosive tags were deliberately planted around the area during the previous battle with Stone Tooth.

Because the entire site was in a state of disrepair, the explosive tags were hidden perfectly and were not discovered by Stone Tooth.

The stones launched by the stone tooth were blocked by the black net.

Stone Tooth tried to dodge, but the black net was too large, basically covering the entire area, making it impossible to escape.

"Earth Release: Earth Pillar Prison!"

Numerous stone pillars rose from the ground, and the ninjutsu that was supposed to imprison the enemy was now used as a defensive ninjutsu to protect the Stone Fang itself.

The detonator caused a large number of explosions.