A's speed reached its limit, so fast that, in the eyes of an ordinary person, he seemed to vanish on the spot.
Though his Lightning Release Senjutsu Chakra Mode carried severe flaws and would cause great aftereffects, the enhancements it provided were absurdly high.
This one punch was something ninety percent of the competitors present would be unable to dodge.
Yet Konan belonged to that remaining ten percent.
Of course, she wasn't evading with pure bodily reflexes alone. A's speed now was simply too outrageous; relying purely on bodily reflexes made dodging nearly impossible.
Anyone who could dodge at that point would only do so with some kind of jutsu.
For example, if it were Minato, he would teleport away using the Flying Thunder God.
If it were Ranzuki, he would liquefy himself.
So Konan resorted to her trump card.
Her home ground was now fully laid out.
The moment A's attack closed in, Konan's body suddenly radiated a burst of light.
Then the entire arena was flooded with that light, so that nobody could see what was happening inside.
When the brightness finally dimmed, everyone could make out the scene within:
Konan remained in the same spot, while A had moved just a little bit forward, his fist stopping roughly thirty centimeters from Konan's body.
And yet, strips of luminous energy seemed to grip A's body, fixing him in midair.
It looked almost like a still image, frozen in time.
Not until Konan spoke did the tableau break:
"You've lost."
A did not respond. His face was twisted with pain, blood trickling from his nose, mouth, and ears.
The aftereffects had arrived.
Those aftereffects should not have manifested so quickly, but Konan's jutsu accelerated the process.
"That's…a large-scale sealing technique?!"
Someone murmured, staring at the scene in the arena in a daze.
The arena floor was covered by a dense layer of paper, marked with mysterious patterns. These patterns merged into one continuous design, glowing gold and sending out beams of light that held A in place.
"What an incredible sealing technique!"
A young shinobi from the Uzumaki Clan exclaimed in shock.
Because he practised sealing arts every day, he recognized that the markings on the paper definitely formed a seal, a highly complex one at that.
"Those markings… could they be a Binding Seal? No, it's even more complicated than that. What exactly is this sealing technique?!"
Beside the boy stood a middle-aged man, his father, also one of the Uzumaki Clan's elites.
He was familiar with many sealing techniques and at first glance identified it as a binding seal. Yet he wasn't entirely sure, because this particular seal appeared far more elaborate.
Meanwhile, on the main platform, Hui smiled.
He hadn't expected Konan's final move to be this improved version of the Binding Seal, or that she would employ it in such a manner.
He could sense that this jutsu could definitely lock down any Kage-level opponent, and it would even pose a significant threat to those at a level beyond Kage.
Unfortunately, setting up this technique apparently required quite some time, and its mobility was extremely poor.
"This match belongs to Konan."
Hui instantly appeared beside A and Konan, announcing the result, bringing a smile to Konan's face.
At that moment, A had already lost consciousness. He had no idea what was happening around him.
Seeing this, Hui extended a fingertip, and a faint glow penetrated A's body, a surge of powerful life force.
Once that life force entered A, the wreckage that was A's ravaged body rapidly began to heal.
Within just a few seconds, A was restored to perfect condition.
Opening his eyes, A felt a bit confused. He sensed that his body had already recovered, but his mind couldn't grasp how it had happened.
Only when he turned around and saw Hui did he suddenly realize what must have transpired.
"Get ready for the losers bracket match."
Hui spoke to A, then returned to his seat on the main platform.
Hearing this, A remained silent. But he accepted the reality and went back to the participants' stand.
Thus, the battle between these two major favorites came to an end. Konan proceeded to the next round, moving into the Winners bracket.
Everyone snapped out of their daze and began discussing excitedly.
"They're incredible! Both of them definitely rank among the top ten strongest here!"
"Exactly. Even though A has fallen into the losers bracket, he'll definitely claim a spot on the Outstanding Youth Ranking!"
"Konan's Paper manipulation is absolutely ingenious, combining it with explosive tags and sealing techniques? Simply brilliant!"
"A's technique is equally impressive. Though it's only a half-finished prototype and has huge side effects, once perfected, it'll be amazing in due time!"
"You can see why these top-tier geniuses are indeed top-tier, each has formidable trump cards."
"If only we could see more battles like this! Wouldn't that be great?"
"What are you even thinking? These are major frontrunners. Having them meet in Round One was already a miracle. Hoping for more is unrealistic."
Excited chatter filled the air.
Although the fight hadn't lasted very long, it had been truly spectacular, an eye-opener for many, heightening their anticipation for the upcoming matches.
Still, as someone just mentioned, it was practically a miracle that two major favourites had met in the first round, and miracles don't happen that often.
So, in the remaining first-round matches, no other such epic showdown arose.
Two-plus hours later, the first round ended.
Out of the 180 participants, 90 entered the winners bracket, and 90 entered the losers bracket.
All the standout favourites made it into the winner's bracket, except A, who dropped to the loser's bracket after facing Konan.
Notably, of the 30 shinobi from the Hidden Sage Village, 27 stayed in the winners bracket, with only 3 falling into the losers bracket.
Some people noticed this small detail and couldn't help but marvel at it.
"That concludes today's matches. The second round will begin tomorrow at 10 AM,"
Nawaki announced.
"At that time, 45 of the 90 in the losers bracket will be eliminated, and likewise, 45 of the 90 in the winners bracket will drop to the losers bracket. So, everyone, be well prepared."
With Nawaki's statement, Day One of the competition ended.
Even though they could have pushed on with the second or even third and fourth rounds, there was no need to rush; competitors needed some rest to perform their best, after all.
With that, the conclusion of the first round caused an uproar around the world.
Everywhere, people were discussing the first-round battles, talking about the matches that had left a deep impression, and every memorable fighter.
Konan and A's match was undoubtedly the most talked about. It showed the world what true genius looked like.
But there were many other standout individuals who had firmly etched themselves into everyone's memory:
Minato, Konan, Hyūga Hizashi, A, Uzumaki Kushina, Rasa, Hozuki Ranzuki, Kei Yuki, Kitsuchi, Rinto, Uchiha Ming, Taketori Shukudō, Fūma Yu, Han…
There were too many to name, each one a remarkable talent, making them impossible to forget.
Many rose to fame overnight, becoming household names across the entire world. Such was the impact of this tournament on a global scale.
Of course, with the first round done, everyone looked forward even more eagerly to the second round.