Complete Victory

"Since that's the case, then I won't hold back!"

Unable to land a hit on Li Chuan the entire time, Kukai was on the verge of losing his composure. Hearing Chiriku lift his restrictions, he immediately flooded his body with Chakra and launched another attack at Li Chuan using the body technique he was best at.

"Now this is getting interesting!"

Seeing Kukai's speed surge in an instant, Li Chuan's lips curled slightly. He finally stopped dodging, shifting from his initial Swallow Form into Tiger Form and meeting Kukai head-on.

In his previous life, Li Chuan had primarily trained Xing Yi. What he excelled at most was the Xing Yi Five Elements Fist: Splitting Fist, Drilling Fist, Crushing Fist, Cannon Fist, and Crossing Fist.

Next came the Xingyi Twelve Forms: dragon, tiger, monkey, horse, alligator, rooster, swallow, sparrowhawk, snake, Bird Platform, eagle, and bear.

Later, during those years when he fought Life-and-Death Boxing matches, he encountered many masters and also studied martial arts such as Bagua, Taiji, Wing Chun, Shaolin, and Praying Mantis.

The footwork he had used to evade Kukai's attacks just now came from the Swallow Form, while the martial art he was now using to clash directly with Kukai's body technique was Tiger Form Boxing.

"He's actually suppressing Kukai without using Chakra!"

The monk ninjas watching from the sidelines had gone from wearing gleeful expressions, eager to see the prince embarrass himself, to staring in collective disbelief.

They could clearly sense that Li Chuan had not used any Chakra in his battle with Kukai. Relying solely on his powerful physical strength and astonishing combat skills, he had suppressed Kukai, whose body had already been enhanced with Chakra.

Fierce Tiger Unleashed!

Lowering his body to evade a straight punch aimed at his face, Li Chuan formed tiger claws with both hands and viciously drove them toward Kukai's abdomen.

"It's over."

In truth, after being enhanced by Chakra, Kukai's speed and strength had already surpassed Li Chuan's.

But Li Chuan's combat skills were far superior to those of Kukai, a genin who merely sparred with his fellow disciples in the temple every day and had never experienced a genuine life-or-death battle.

That was why things had turned out this way.

"Huh!"

However, just as Li Chuan's tiger claws were about to strike Kukai's abdomen, Kukai suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished from the spot.

"It's... the Substitution Technique."

After pausing for a moment and noticing a small stone on the ground, Li Chuan immediately understood.

Although he had studied ninjutsu for a month, he still had not fully adapted to it. During battle, he instinctively overlooked the existence of ninjutsu.

Fire Style—Fireball Jutsu!

At that moment, a burst of heat suddenly came from behind him, making Li Chuan's expression change.

It turned out that the instant Kukai sensed danger, he formed hand seals and used the Substitution Technique, appearing six meters behind Li Chuan. Then, panting heavily, he unleashed a Fire Style ninjutsu.

The Substitution Technique was one of the basic Three Body Technique, and also the most practical technique among them.

Unlike the Clone Technique, whose clones had no offensive power and could only slightly confuse an opponent, the Transformation Technique was useful against inexperienced ninjas, but experienced jonin could see through it at a glance.

Even in battles between jonin, the Substitution Technique was frequently used. When used well, it could not only save one's life but also reverse the course of battle.

However, it also had corresponding weaknesses.

First, one could not move too far away. If they were in an open area and the opponent used a wide-range destructive ninjutsu, using the Substitution Technique would be seeking death.

Second was the issue of substitution objects. Nearby objects could be used, but if the surroundings were too open, one could only use objects prepared in advance.

Third, after using the Substitution Technique, there would be a brief pause. Without buildings, woods, or other cover nearby after the substitution, an expert could easily seize that opening and kill them in an instant.

Therefore, the Substitution Technique could be used in battles between powerful fighters, but one still had to pay attention to the environment and timing.

Li Chuan had only recently come into contact with ninjutsu and did not yet understand how ninjas fought. Otherwise, the moment he discovered that his opponent had used the Substitution Technique, he should have observed his surroundings and located where the opponent had reappeared.

"Junior Brother, thank you for letting me win."

Seeing that the fireball was about to strike Li Chuan in the back, Kukai wore a faintly smug smile.

His opponent's fighting skills were indeed superb, but the reason ninjas had replaced samurai and become the world's strongest military force was ninjutsu.

"It's not over yet."

Li Chuan's lips curled slightly. The Sage Art Chakra he cultivated activated instantly, greatly enhancing his physical abilities. He explosively pushed off with both legs and used White Crane Spreads Wings, leaping up at the critical moment to evade the fireball.

"What!"

By this point in the fight, Kukai had already forgotten that Li Chuan had not used Chakra until now.

Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain!

As Li Chuan's feet touched the ground, he kicked off again. Like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, he carried an overwhelmingly powerful aura and arrived before Kukai in the blink of an eye.

Watching the fist rapidly enlarge before his eyes, Kukai, intimidated by Li Chuan's aura, completely abandoned resistance and squeezed his eyes shut.

A moment later, the pain he had imagined never came. Instead, a gentle voice sounded beside his ear.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I have benefited greatly."

A martial artist's control over his body was no joke. When Li Chuan realized that Kukai had completely given up resisting, he precisely stopped his fist two centimeters from Kukai.

Kukai looked at the smiling Li Chuan, embarrassment appearing on his face.

"I've made a fool of myself before Junior Brother."

"Kukai, not bad. You've improved from before. Continue your training. Chuan, come with me."

At that moment, Chiriku looked at Li Chuan as if he were a priceless treasure. Even the monk ninjas around them could clearly sense the joy in his heart.

How could he not be happy?

The fighting ability Li Chuan had displayed just now, especially after using Chakra, had basically surpassed that of a genin and reached the level of an ordinary chunin who specialized in body technique.

With a little guidance from here on and once he learned how to coordinate ninjutsu in battle, he would be quite good even among chunin.

Once his Chakra level improved in the future and met the requirements to learn the Secret Ninjutsu Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing and Wrathful Vajra, the Fire Temple gaining another Elite Jonin would be just around the corner.

An Elite Jonin might not amount to much in those large ninja villages, but at the Fire Temple, he was currently the only one still alive.

He had never expected that the disciple he had originally accepted out of consideration for his status and money would possess such talent. The Buddha must have blessed him.

In fact, Chiriku did not know that the combat skills Li Chuan had displayed today were merely the tip of the iceberg.

A martial artist's methods extended far beyond this. Today had been a spar, not a fight to the death, so Li Chuan had not used many of his ruthless killing moves.

No, I need to calm down. Calm down. I can't let him become too arrogant.

Taking a deep breath, Chiriku did his best to suppress his excitement before turning and walking toward the training room.

"Yes, Master!"

Hearing this, Li Chuan offered a Buddhist salute to the monk ninjas before quickly following after him.