- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 142
“Thirteen matches will be held, with twenty-six participants remaining after Kabuto’s withdrawal from the original twenty-seven. The matchups will be randomly assigned by the electronic screen in the hall.”
“The first match: Rock Lee versus Misumu Tsurugi!”
Quickly, the names for the first match appeared on the big screen.
“It seems this preliminary round has been completely disrupted.”
Seeing the matchups, Leo realized that the preliminary round had veered entirely off its original course.
If he remembered correctly, Rock Lee’s original opponent should have been Gaara of the Sand Village, who ended up breaking Lee’s leg with his sand.
Misumu Tsurugi, Kabuto’s teammate and a spy placed in Konoha by Orochimaru, was originally supposed to face Kankuro of the Sand Village.
Misumu Tsurugi, having served as a spy in Konoha for so many years, naturally had considerable strength—certainly enough to be considered a solid chunin.
Unfortunately, he encountered Rock Lee, the strongest participant in this exam apart from Gaara, and was instantly defeated when Lee removed his training weights.
To Leo, Rock Lee, after removing his weights and opening the Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit, had certainly reached jonin-level strength. Although it wasn’t sustainable for long, those few seconds of burst power were undeniably at that level.
The reason Lee lost to Gaara was that Gaara, as a jinchuriki, was already at a near-jonin level in his normal state.
As a fellow Konoha ninja, Lee didn’t hit too hard, so Misumu Tsurugi was only knocked unconscious by a single kick. He left the arena after waking up.
“The second match: Hinata Hyuga versus Neji Hyuga!”
Looking at the new names that appeared on the electronic screen, Leo noted that this match had remained unchanged.
Naturally, the outcome didn’t change either. Even though Hinata tried her best to hold on, she was still far behind Neji and was severely injured by a single strike from him.
If it weren’t for the intervention of the referee, Hayate Gekko, along with Guy, Kakashi, and Kurenai, Neji might have lost control and killed Hinata.
“Hinata!”
Naruto jumped down from the observation corridor, rushing anxiously to Hinata’s side.
Hinata, lying on the ground and coughing up blood, saw Naruto appear before her. Trembling, she spoke:
“Na… Naruto… I… I…”
“Is she about to confess?”
Standing on the corridor, Leo’s face lit up with anticipation. Watching the romance unfold live was quite entertaining.
However, Hinata fainted before she could finish her sentence.
“Where’s the medical team? Get over here quickly!”
Seeing her beloved student faint, Kurenai urgently shouted.
Seeing that the romance wasn’t happening, Leo moved quickly and appeared beside Hinata using the Body Flicker Technique.
“I know a bit about medical ninjutsu.”
Kneeling down, he quickly formed several unique hand signs and chanted:
“Healing as Before!”
A few seconds later, a blue magical light enveloped Hinata’s body, and she slowly opened her eyes, standing up as if nothing had happened.
Leo hadn’t yet mastered wandless casting, so before leaving the wizarding world, he had taken the time to study some instructional books on African wizarding hand gestures.
While hand gesture casting was less efficient than using a wand, it allowed a wizard to cast spells even without a wand.
“This is what you call ‘knowing a bit’? This healing is almost on par with Lady Tsunade’s!”
All the experienced ninjas present, including the Third Hokage, were shocked to see Hinata, who had been gravely injured, fully healed in an instant.
Even with Konoha’s advanced medical ninjutsu and a dedicated hospital, injuries like Hinata’s would have required several days of rest.
But Leo had healed her in just a few seconds, demonstrating the remarkable power of his medical ninjutsu, which was unlike anything they had ever seen.
Such a level of healing could only be matched by Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, when she summoned her slug to assist with medical ninjutsu.
With Hinata healed, whatever she intended to say to Naruto naturally went unsaid, much to Leo’s regret.
The preliminary matches continued, with most of the matchups diverging from the original ones, but the final contestants who would advance to the main event did not change much.
A month later, the ninjas advancing to the finals were: Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, Tenten, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Kankuro, Gaara, Temari, Zaku, and Dosu.
Among them were eight Konoha ninjas, three Sand ninjas, and two Sound ninjas, with all Grass and Rain ninjas eliminated.
During this period, Leo frequently stepped in to heal participants with his magic. While the Konoha ninjas fought with restraint, the Sand and Sound ninjas were increasingly ruthless, inflicting severe injuries.
One Grass ninja, who faced Gaara, was turned into a corpse by Gaara’s sand before he could even use any jutsu.
With that, the second exam ended.
……
Two days later, at midnight, after confirming that Tenzo had left as usual to report to the Third Hokage, Leo disappeared with a flicker.
He apparated near the Valley of the End.
“Didn’t Orochimaru come?”
After a few leaps, Leo reached the head of the First Hokage’s statue in the Valley of the End and looked at Kabuto standing there. He glanced around the area, raising an eyebrow.
Kabuto turned to face Leo:
“Lord Orochimaru couldn’t make it due to other matters, so he sent me to deliver the information to Your Highness. You don’t seem at all surprised about my identity.”
“Your identity? An orphan adopted by the Konoha Orphanage, a Konoha genin, a spy for Danzo, a spy for Orochimaru, and a spy for Sasori—which one would you like me to be surprised about?”
Leo held the Elder Wand in his hand, his expression playful.
Upon hearing Leo’s words, Kabuto’s eyes changed, his pupils contracting rapidly.
It seemed that when this prince claimed to know many secrets, it wasn’t a lie. However, Kabuto couldn’t understand how the other party knew even about him being a spy for Sasori.
“Your Highness truly is surprising.”
Kabuto smiled, not continuing on this topic. Instead, he got straight to the point:
“The Forbidden Scroll is located in the confidential archive between the third base of the jonin, the Uchiha, and the Hyuga clan territories. It’s guarded jointly by Anbu and Root ninjas and is protected by a security barrier.”
“Good, it seems Orochimaru is sincere about future cooperation. But what does this mean?”
Leo nodded, then looked at the five people surrounding him from behind, shrugging helplessly.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses and smiled:
“Lord Orochimaru said the information can be given to you, but only if you have the ability to take it. If not, then please come with us back to the base and reveal all the secrets you know.”
“Kimimaro, Ukon and Sakon, Tayuya, Kidomaru, Jirobo—it seems Orochimaru holds me in high regard.”
Leo called out each of the five’s names, showing no signs of panic.
……