Chapter 795: The Top Eight
As planned, the entire ninja tournament would last seven days.
After the preliminary rounds, 276 participants would compete in daily elimination matches, with one round consisting of eight matches, each pitting two participants against each other to advance.
On the sixth day, the eight finalists would be determined.
Meanwhile, the semi-finals and final would be held on the last day.
As its founder, Tobirama was confident that seven days, combined with the long-running promotion, would be more than enough to lure out Black Zetsu, even if he were hiding at the farthest edge of the ninja world. This also gave him sufficient time to plan his strategy.
There was no other choice; if he didn’t have time to prepare, Black Zetsu might not dare take the risk.
Additionally, in high-intensity combat such as a ninja tournament, most ninja found it difficult to fight continuously. By setting aside one day of rest after each round, they could recover their stamina and chakra.
Tobirama didn’t want this to be a one-time event; he aimed to build a lasting reputation.
Moreover, if such a grand "World’s Strongest Ninja Tournament" lasted only one or two days, how could Konoha village leverage it for promotion and profit?
Any global event was a golden opportunity to generate massive revenue.
This included ticket sales, advertising sponsorships, licensed product development, accommodation and culinary services, broadcast distribution, ninja tool sales, even profits from gambling—and much more.
The variety of revenue streams was vast and unpredictable. In just a few days, Konoha’s income from local and foreign currency already exceeded the profits from village missions over ten years!
And as the elimination rounds progressed, income continued to rise rapidly each day.
This was truly incredible!
In fact, after most of Konoha’s residents tasted the sweetness of such massive profits, it would be difficult even for Tobirama himself to rush the tournament’s conclusion.
Of course, Tobirama himself wasn’t in a hurry to end it.
After all, the enormous profits gained now could provide better financial support for Konoha’s future plans to unify the ninja world.
While military strength could also be used to plunder vast wealth, that wouldn’t prevent the development of internal industries and the creation of sustainable profits.
Besides, this was only the first tournament, with many more to be held in the future—so there was no reason to ruin a profitable source.
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Back to the tournament itself.
The first five days of elimination rounds passed quickly, filled with thrilling and brutal moments.
Each day, the results of every match sparked heated discussions among hundreds of thousands of Konoha residents and tourists from around the world.
At the same time, more and more champion candidates emerged as fan favorites, and their popularity and exposure increased day by day.
Win one match: They’d instantly become the center of attention.
Win two matches: They’d immediately become famous; as soon as they left the arena, they’d be surrounded by numerous reporters and recruiters offering interviews and various incentives.
Win three matches: They’d attract the attention of national-level nobles who began recruiting them with great rewards. With their consent, all participation fees would be immediately refunded, and they’d receive massive payments equivalent to the earnings of dozens of regular ninja missions. After all, most nobles from various countries currently greatly needed powerful ninja for personal protection.
Win four matches: Regardless of their background, they’d receive invitations from Konoha Village. They’d have the right to be promoted and directly join the world’s strongest military corporation. Even if they didn’t join Konoha and went to another country, they’d at least gain an honored position as a city ruler, along with immense wealth that would last a lifetime.
If they managed to win five consecutive matches and enter the Top Eight, they’d reach an entirely different level.
Ninja at this level possessed strong mental fortitude and extraordinary strength. They were no longer easily swayed by ordinary fame or wealth.
Of course, there were some exceptions.
In short, as predicted from the beginning, even without the large prizes offered by Konoha, every ninja who won consecutive elimination matches would gain enormous benefits beyond expectations.
And this was only the first tournament, whose reach and spread hadn’t been too extensive yet.
It was believed that once this tournament became famous, it would certainly attract more high-quality ninja to participate.
And for subsequent tournaments...
Its popularity and scale of profit could multiply many times over—even more than tenfold!
This would become the true pinnacle event across the entire ninja world!
This was exactly what Tobirama needed.
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Beyond the surface, as the elimination rounds progressed, underground gambling quietly flourished.
Bets were placed on who would enter the Top Eight, who would reach the Final Four, and who would become champion.
There were even bets on how many seconds a participant could finish a match...
Various forms of gambling emerged endlessly.
The stakes grew larger day by day, becoming increasingly fantastic.
It was rumored that after the fourth day of elimination rounds, the largest single bet had reached tens of billions of ryō—equivalent to the combined value of dozens of Sarutobi Asumas!
If combined with smaller bets, the wealth involved in this aspect alone might reach hundreds of billions...
In the past, that might have been enough to buy the entire Konoha Village!
Aware of this, the intelligent Tobirama naturally paid attention to the growing gambling trend.
However, this couldn’t be completely banned.
You couldn’t just arrest people for betting and predicting winners while drinking and watching matches.
Even if they couldn’t bet with money, they could use other goods as collateral to evade surveillance.
In another world with advanced information, money laundering and gambling couldn’t be fully stopped—let alone in the current ninja world.
Yet Tobirama also recognized the danger and couldn’t allow this trend to grow unchecked.
If most Konoha residents used all their savings to participate in the betting market, it would ultimately destroy the village’s economy and reputation.
Therefore, after the fourth day of elimination rounds, Tobirama specially consulted Lux and gained an idea.
That night, Konoha’s largest gambling den was raided by the Anbu!
They were immediately suppressed and fully controlled.
However, Tobirama didn’t destroy all these private casinos; instead, he secretly took them over and controlled them.
Publicly, he maintained their status and simultaneously implemented various restrictive policies:
This included setting minimum bet limits, adding smaller betting options, banning promotions and expansions, inviting foreign nobles to increase bets—and much more.
Blocking is worse than channeling!
This was the principle Lux taught Tobirama.
Since it couldn’t be completely banned, better to take over and control it.
Thus, he could effectively monitor and limit it, preventing uncontrolled gambling expansion.
By banning small-scale betting, ordinary citizens wouldn’t be able to bet recklessly. Even if the market eventually collapsed, it would only strip foreign nobles exploiting the people.
Basically, it wouldn’t greatly affect residents’ lives.
If any residents were blind to profit and willing to risk all their wealth in bets, Tobirama didn’t care to save them.
After all, gamblers would never be lacking in any world, as it was a desire born from the deepest greed in the human heart.
Of course, if anyone secretly gathered money, privately opened casinos violating the ban, or even tried to flee with gambling funds, they would be physically eliminated.
How fast could they run compared to the Hiraishin no Jutsu?
After all, with absolute power and a secret violent organization like the Anbu, it was easy for Tobirama to quietly remove a few cancers!
Frankly speaking,
Tobirama himself was the biggest bookmaker and cruelest planner in this ninja tournament.
Only a cruel person knew how to deal with those who didn’t play by the rules.
On the other hand, betting odds on tournament participants could also indirectly reflect the support and expectations most people had for a contestant.
For example, the top champion candidates, Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Kagami.
Initially, their odds were both 3 to 1.
However, after both won five consecutive matches and entered the Top Eight, their odds surged to 10 to 1 and 12 to 1. This meant that if you bet 100 ryō and won, you’d only get 110 ryō.
If you lost, you’d lose everything...
Yet despite the low odds and profits, many wealthy individuals and nobles still crazily bet on both of them.
After all, they had the best performances and the highest chances of winning.
Even with low odds, some people were still willing to try.
Of course, besides the already famous favorites, there were also some candidates with surprisingly high initial odds.
For example, a Sunagakure Jonin named Tanaka.
In the first elimination round, relying solely on Taijutsu, he successfully pierced all four limbs of his opponent, forcing them to surrender and winning the match.
However, since he wasn’t famous, no one knew him.
Tanaka’s championship odds were very high, reaching 20 to 1!
This meant that by betting one Asuma, you’d instantly get twenty-one Asumas!
A 2000% profit—even capitalists would go crazy over it!
Of course, in reality, it was difficult to achieve such huge profits.
Because initially, few people supported Tanaka, so the betting volume was very small. Only a few people bet, so even if he actually won, they wouldn’t gain much profit.
But it was different afterward.
Tanaka’s performance became increasingly amazing, as he achieved victory after victory.
And he didn’t use Ninjutsu at all—only relying on superb Taijutsu, he defeated four opponents, winning four consecutive matches!
This made Tanaka a sensation.
His championship odds also surged to 2 to 1; meaning, by betting one Asuma, you could get three Asumas!
Suddenly, many eyes focused on this high-quality "dark horse."
However, at this time, few people knew that Tanaka was Danzō in disguise.
But considering his identity as a Sunagakure ninja and his apparent closeness to the Third Kazekage, this also made most nobles and other powers hesitant to approach Danzō.
What could they do? Although Sunagakure had greatly weakened and wasn’t as prosperous as before, it still bore the name of one of the five great hidden villages. The Kazekage’s reputation and power still influenced most small countries and villages.
Moreover, the Third Kazekage’s own performance was also extraordinary.
He defeated all opponents using only two puppets, winning consecutively.
This made many realize that even a thin camel was bigger than a horse—let alone this Sunagakure camel wasn’t fully thin yet.
However, this concern was shattered by Danzō’s superior performance in the fifth elimination match.
Danzō faced a strong opponent in the fifth match: the current General of the Land of Iron, Toshiro.
A samurai trained in ninja Taijutsu, and also the father of the future General Mifune.
General Toshiro, at his peak age, indeed possessed extraordinary strength. His swordsmanship was better than future Mifune’s, though his overall value and abilities weren’t as comprehensive as ninjas mastering various Ninjutsu.
But in terms of pure Taijutsu and swordsmanship, he truly reached Kage-level standards.
His overall strength could be considered equivalent to a weak Kage.
Yet even the weakest Kage stood above Jonin level. General Toshiro’s previous four consecutive wins proved this—he won almost effortlessly.
However, in this fifth match, when he faced Danzō disguised as Tanaka, he met a formidable opponent.
For Danzō, General Toshiro was indeed worthy of making him serious.
In Taijutsu and swordsmanship alone, despite being extraordinary, he wouldn’t gain much advantage against a samurai general with superior sword skills.
No choice.
Danzō could only use his Wind Release ninjutsu. Using dazzling wind techniques, he successfully defeated General Toshiro.
Note that invisible, skilled Wind Release ninjutsu at long range indeed defeated a close-combat expert samurai.
Moreover, Danzō was a rare Wind Release master across the entire ninja world. Though still relatively young, don’t forget he also received careful guidance from Parallel World 4’s Danzō, so his mastery of Wind Release was already one step ahead.
In ninja world history, few could be said to surpass Danzō in Wind Release mastery.
It was Wind Release capable of piercing Susano’o!
Although Danzō didn’t use summoning animals, he was sufficient to defeat General Toshiro.
After this match, Danzō’s popularity surged again, and his championship odds finally jumped to the rare 1.5 to 1. This showed people’s support and expectations for this dark horse.
Though still not as high as favorites like Hiruzen and Kagami, this was impressive enough.
Of course, the revelation of Danzō’s Wind Release techniques also made some Konoha ninja who knew him spot clues and begin guessing his identity.
However, Hiruzen and others aware of Danzō’s undercover mission, though they might guess his identity, wouldn’t expose it.
After all, everything must be within Tobirama’s calculations, so there definitely wouldn’t be any problems!
Thus, as the fifth day of elimination rounds concluded, the Top Eight list for the first World’s Strongest Ninja Tournament was finally announced!
They were:
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Kagami, Hyūga Dokou, Uzumaki Ashiyoshi, Shimura Danzō, Chiyo, Miya Hyakukin, and Kakuzu.
All were Kage-level fighters.
Out of the eight, if Danzō’s disguise is counted, five were from Konoha’s faction.
This showed just how powerful Konoha Village was currently!
Or perhaps because Tobirama had already eliminated other strong opponents too cleanly...
Actually, there were several other candidates with strength approaching or even reaching Kage-level, but unfortunately, they were less fortunate.
In earlier elimination rounds, they accidentally faced one of these eight finalists and were eliminated early.
Often, luck was also part of strength.
Yet luck only mattered in early elimination rounds; the deeper it went, the less relevant it became.
To claim the champion title and grand prize, you couldn’t rely solely on luck...
As everyone excitedly discussed the upcoming semi-finals, the first semi-final match-up was drawn and announced:
Sarutobi Hiruzen of Konoha Village VS Tanaka (Danzō) of Sunagakure!