Just a spar, why are you fighting for your life?

The commotion in the hospital didn't last long. At first, they really thought it was an enemy attack, but by the time the ninjas arrived at the scene, they discovered there were no casualties. The ninjas searched Moriyue's room from top to bottom but found nothing suspicious.

In the end, they could only attribute the explosion to an "accident." Perhaps some careless individual accidentally dropped an explosive tag. Since there were no casualties, it was no big deal. Besides, it was a ward for ordinary people; even if a few died, there would be no reason to feel heartbroken.

Moriyue cooperated with the investigation by the ninjas carrying swords at their waists with a serious expression. The young nurse also stood beside Moriyue and whispered something into the ears of the ninjas. They nodded, and a hint of amusement appeared in their eyes as they looked at Moriyue.

"Oh? A volunteer? You're quite lucky to have survived." The dark-skinned, blond ninja whistled at Moriyue. If nothing unexpected happened, Moriyue would soon undergo an assessment. It would be unreasonable for someone who survived such forbidden jutsu experiments not to serve the Hidden Cloud Village.

After changing out of his tattered clothes, Moriyue didn't care what these people thought of him. He casually found a seat in the hallway and began to recall the specialties of the Hidden Cloud Village.

"Forbidden jutsu is definitely something I need to learn. Orochimaru is very skilled in this area, but it's not time to approach him yet. I haven't heard of any famous forbidden jutsu from the Cloud Village, but their swordsmanship and nintaijutsu are quite renowned. I can practice those."

The forbidden jutsu Moriyue most wanted to learn was actually the Eight Inner Gates and techniques with high destructive power like Meteorite Impact Jutsu. Unfortunately, that was unlikely. Might Guy might not teach him, and he couldn't learn ninjutsu either.

"Hey, kid, stop spacing out. Are you alright? If you're fine, come with us for a test." The blond ninja had his hands behind his head, looking uninterested in everything. He seemed like a lazy fish that had given up.

Hearing that somewhat familiar, lazy tone, Moriyue finally noticed that the blond guy in front of him looked a bit familiar, and his voice was also recognizable, very distinctive.

Upon closer inspection, those dead fish eyes, that expression of annoyance, that ninja with "I want to go home" written all over his face – wasn't that Darui?

It's just that the future Fifth Raikage now only wanted to get the task done and then go slack off as soon as possible.

"A test? What test?" Moriyue was completely confused, not understanding what test Darui was talking about. But Darui and the others had no intention of explaining. They simply grabbed Moriyue by the shoulders and lifted him up.

Moriyue felt it was a bit embarrassing for a grown man of his stature to be carried out like that. He struggled hard, wanting to get down and walk, but he still underestimated the physical fitness of the Cloud ninjas.

"Behave yourself, what's the rush? We'll test you once we get out." Darui glanced at Moriyue impatiently. He wasn't the only one who could pass the forbidden jutsu. It was still uncertain whether he could cross over to the ninja ranks.

After hearing this, Moriyue stopped struggling. Test, forbidden jutsu – he rearranged these keywords. He estimated that the test was to measure his strength. Ordinary people who passed the forbidden jutsu experiment would gain immense power and be qualified to become glorious ninjas.

Darui didn't lie to Moriyue. The group soon arrived at a high platform made of rock. This square platform looked very much like a boxing ring, except there were no guardrails around it. It was about ten meters off the ground, but these ninjas just leaped lightly, easily taking Moriyue up with them.

Darui stretched, tossed the sword at his waist aside, turned around, and rummaged through his waist pouch. He pulled out a file, compared it with Moriyue's face, and then began reading the corresponding documents in the file.

"Forbidden Jutsu: Life Burning. By burning the user's life, it can achieve powerful burst capabilities, greatly enhancing physical strength. After each use, the user will enter a weakened state for at least 5 minutes. It is recommended to combine it with muscle-activating nintaijutsu and swordsmanship to end the battle instantly. Evaluation: A very inefficient forbidden jutsu, with significant side effects and short duration, extremely low potential."

After reading the information in the file, Darui became even less interested in Moriyue. He thought someone extraordinary had appeared, but it turned out to be just the most ordinary Life Burning forbidden jutsu. This could be considered the most basic and lowest-level forbidden jutsu. Although many improved versions were developed later, their effects were not very good.

The reason was simple: no matter how well you improved it, what good was it if you couldn't use it because you were dead? The ideas of those mad scientists were good, adding many other effects based on the Life Burning forbidden jutsu, but they were rarely seen in actual combat.

The most common scene in actual combat was like this:

Civilian A activated the Life Burning forbidden jutsu!

Civilian A felt full of power! Strength +80

Civilian A charged forward! Fighting spirit +30

Civilian A won! Honor +30

Civilian A fell into weakness, lifespan -10

Civilian A died.

This wasn't Darui looking down on Moriyue; it was the reality. This forbidden jutsu was used to create suicide soldiers. He had also heard from the young nurse that Moriyue became an experimental subject while on the verge of death. For Moriyue, he could only say, "Very lucky, but that's all."

"Try to hit me with your strongest power. You can also use your newly acquired power if you're not afraid of the backlash."

Darui yawned, rubbed his eyelids, and signaled the ninjas to put Moriyue down. The formalities still had to be observed. He had even already marked "At most Genin level strength" on Moriyue's file in advance.

When Moriyue heard that he could hit Darui, his palms began to itch. Just now, he had seen the old guy's expression constantly changing, but none of the expressions showed approval. It seemed like he was trying to mock him in various ways.

"Use the newly acquired power? You mean the explosive chakra? That's probably not it." Moriyue didn't hold back. He did a little hop on the stage as a warm-up. He also wanted to test the strength of his new body.

Moriyue tried to mobilize the power within him. The violent chakra raged in his blood vessels. Each flow made the already fragile blood vessels riddled with holes. An ordinary person would probably be crippled after using it once. It truly lived up to its name as a forbidden jutsu.

But forbidden jutsu also had its advantages. Abandoning the gentleness of traditional chakra, the destructive power brought by the violent chakra was by no means comparable to ordinary ninjutsu.

Moriyue deliberately prevented the chakra from overflowing, only using this energy to strengthen his muscles, but the scene was still quite terrifying.

Darui swallowed. He couldn't explain to others what had just happened. Moriyue was just standing there, casually activating the Life Burning forbidden jutsu. His muscles became as firm as iron, shimmering with a metallic luster under the dark red chakra. The entire person looked like a bronze statue.

He wasn't surprised by Moriyue's transformation. He had seen stronger ninjutsu than this. Moriyue's change was still within his acceptable range. What truly surprised him was Moriyue's reckless attitude.

"This posture must burn at least a year of lifespan... Is it worth it?" Darui broke out in a cold sweat. He was worst at dealing with such extremely serious guys and was momentarily at a loss.