Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

With a soft, feminine aura, Orochimaru arrived late and sat down on the sofa on the other side of Tsunade.

He had long, soft, jet-black hair, golden snake eyes, purple eyeshadow, pale skin, and wore a pair of magatama earrings.

Exquisite and elegant.

If Orochimaru were a woman, given his demeanor, he would definitely become a noblewoman.

"Hey, what's that in your hand?"

As soon as Orochimaru sat down, Tsunade asked him with a curious look. She noticed that he was holding a pile of documents.

"These are the top eight contestants from this Chunin Exams. I've prepared three copies."

Orochimaru smiled as he spoke, handing each of his two old friends a serving.

"You've thought of everything." Tsunade took the intelligence report and casually flipped through it.

"This year's batch of kids are all pretty good," Jiraiya nodded as he flipped through the pages.

As Tsunade watched, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked, "Have you all finished watching? Who do you think will win first place?"

"What's wrong, Tsunade? You wouldn't even want to gamble on something like this, would you? I heard from others that you've lost all your money, and now creditors are coming to your house to collect debts."

Jiraiya looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean? Are you saying I can't afford to gamble? Who do you think you are?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, about to get angry, but then she remembered that she probably really... didn't have any money.

Her momentum eventually softened, but her gambling instincts remained unchanged, and she suggested:

"How about this, among us friends, let's bet a little smaller, and the two who lose treat us to drinks and dinner! Otherwise, it's too boring to just sit here and watch these kids fight like they're playing house."

"That's a good suggestion."

Orochimaru nodded in agreement.

Indeed, for legendary ninjas like them who have experienced countless great events, the Chunin Exams are nothing more than children playing house.

Seeing this, Jiraiya decided to strike first and quickly said:

"I'll go first. I'm rooting for this kid, Uchiha Obito."

As he spoke, he held up the brochure with Obito's picture on it. Obito in the picture was grinning broadly, looking every bit the confident boy.

Jiraiya's reason for favoring Obito was simple: the latter was his student's student, making him his grand-student.

He had faith in Minato Namikaze's teaching abilities; the genin trained by the latter would certainly be excellent. Furthermore, Obito was from the Uchiha clan, possessing the advantage of a prestigious lineage, giving him a significant head start over the other participating genin.

Therefore, after Jiraiya chose Obito, he revealed a confident smile.

"Why the rush? Nobody's going to take it from you. I have high hopes for my own disciple, Jingyin."

Tsunade rolled her eyes at Jiraiya, then slammed the information about Shizune onto the coffee table in front of her.

After graduating from the Ninja Academy, Shizune learned a great deal from her, enough to qualify as a full-fledged ninja.

In Tsunade's view, although Shizune is a medical ninja, her combat talent is by no means weak, especially in the use of poison and hidden weapons. Even a Jonin could easily fall into Shizune's hands if they weren't careful.

Finally, it was Orochimaru's turn.

"My choice is... Kisame Hoshigaki."

He smiled slightly, pulled out a document containing information about Kisame.

52. The Gamble of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha

Kisame Hoshigaki.

A water-style genius, possessing extraordinary chakra reserves and unique, unrestricted taijutsu, he is the number one seed of Kirigakure. This is all publicly available information.

Of course, the most eye-catching one is the rumor that Kisame defeated Konoha's genius, Kakashi Hatake.

As for Kisame's hidden special abilities, they were not written down, since Orochimaru did not specifically investigate them.

"Hey, how can you keep an eye on ninjas from another village? Isn't that undermining our own prestige?"

Jiraiya started complaining about his old friend.

"However, according to intelligence, Kisame Hoshigaki is in a league of his own among the genin participating in this competition. I am simply making a choice based on facts."

Orochimaru spread his hands, shrugged, and then added, "Besides, this kid's photo exudes a dangerous aura, which suits my taste perfectly."

"I'm kind of looking forward to it now, I hope the competition starts soon."

Tsunade rubbed her hands together, her expression becoming excited.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the stands.

It turned out that the chief examiner, Minato Namikaze, led eight participating genin through the entrance and lined up neatly in the center of the venue.

Minato Namikaze looked towards the highest point of the stands and bowed slightly in greeting.

There, there was a plaque that read "Number One Under Heaven". Below the plaque were the Third Hokage and the Third Mizukage, dressed in long robes and wearing shadow hats.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Mizukage, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood up and announced the start of the match.

A deafening cheer erupted in the hall.

Kisame was in the first match of the quarterfinals.

His appearance drew the attention of many people in the audience.

Kisame's opponent was a dark-skinned Cloud Ninja, also the top seed of the Cloud Village. Although he was shorter than Kisame, he also had a strong physique.

"Do you all understand the rules?"

Minato Namikaze stood between the two men. After receiving their nods of confirmation, he stepped back and gave the order to begin the battle.

"Kisame Hoshigaki..."

The Cloud Ninja clenched his fists, intending to utter a few harsh words first, but Kisame had already rushed forward, launching a ferocious attack like a mad dog.

Bang bang bang!

The two men clashed muscle to muscle, their passion palpable, engaging in a brutal hand-to-hand combat using the purest physical techniques.

In this process, Kisame, with his stronger physique and more ruthless techniques, quickly overwhelmed his opponent, causing him to retreat step by step.

The Cloud Ninja was being brutally beaten by Kisame. Shocked and enraged, he seized an opportunity to dodge away, quickly formed hand seals, and unleashed his signature Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Putting aside bloodline limits, among conventional ninjutsu, lightning release is undoubtedly the most powerful in terms of attack.

It can not only counter earth-escape techniques, but also has an advantage against water-escape techniques due to the electrical conductivity of water.

Therefore, the Cloud Ninja believed that he had Kisame completely under his control, and that even if the latter used Water Release to defend or counterattack, it would be futile.

However, what was unexpected was...

Faced with the incoming lightning ninjutsu, Kisame did not dodge or evade, but chose to take the hit with his body.

His body, having absorbed four ninja swords and undergone intense physical training, was no longer that of an ordinary person. This level of lightning release was nothing more than a tickle to him.

"How is this possible?!"

The Cloud Ninja was taken aback, watching helplessly as Kisame charged forward with his lightning release and punched him in the face.

boom.

The Cloud Ninja was sent flying by the blow, spinning dozens of times in the air before crashing into the wall of the venue and falling heavily to the ground.

The outcome is decided.

Kisame easily defeated his first opponent and walked off the field.

"The musclemen from Cloud Shadow Village are all show and no substance. They were knocked out with a single punch. Useless trash."

In the stands, Asuma grumbled angrily, refusing to admit that Kisame was powerful.

Inside the private room.

"Just as I expected, it was very easy. Kisame Hoshigaki defeated the strongest genin in the Kumogakure competition without even using ninjutsu."

Orochimaru smiled, quite satisfied with Kisame's performance.

"Hey, isn't this a bit unfair? That guy is almost as tall as Jiraiya and weighs at least 200 pounds. Is he really a genin who meets the requirements for the competition?"

Tsunade leaned forward, looking down at Kisame in the hall, and began to worry about Shizune.

“But he is only thirteen years old, which isn’t very old,” Orochimaru replied.

"Hmph, a thirteen-year-old genin, that's about all the potential he has. Back in the day, even an idiot like Jiraiya became a jonin at fifteen."

Tsunade leaned back on the sofa, crossing her arms in disdain.

Jiraiya, caught in the crossfire, looked utterly dejected. With a bitter smile, he said to Tsunade, "So, in your heart, I've always been an idiot?"

……

The competition continued, with the remaining genin taking turns to compete.

Soon, Obito, whom Jiraiya favored, and Shizune, whom Tsunade favored, both defeated their respective opponents, and in relatively short and easy times.

The four finalists are: Obito Uchiha and Shizune from Konoha, Kisame Hoshigaki from Kirigakure, and another Kirigakure genin.

The two ninja villages were evenly matched and locked in a fierce struggle.

As for the genin from Kumogakure and other smaller ninja villages, they were unfortunately eliminated and unable to go further in this Chunin Exam.

At noon, after a short rest.

The semi-finals have begun.

This time, Obito was the first to appear. After a thrilling and difficult battle, he successfully defeated the Hidden Mist genin from the Village of Blood and Mist and won the first spot in the finals.

After his victory, Obito wiped the blood and sweat from his face and immediately pointed at Kisame below the stage, declaring war on the latter with a gesture.

Kisame seems to be under a lot of pressure.

If he loses, the Hidden Mist Village will be finished, and the final will be an internal war between the Hidden Leaf Village ninjas.

Guided by Minato Namikaze, Kisame and Shizune entered the venue and stood facing each other, a few meters apart.

The second semi-final match is about to begin.