Blazing

"Didn't you say so?"

Kiba Inuzuka's smile stiffened slightly. He looked at Ino Yamanaka in confusion and said, "Feng Ye didn't even make it to the third round of the Chunin Exams."

Hokumon Hyuga also looked over, his gaze calm as he said, "Could he have performed so exceptionally in the second round that he was promoted to Chunin as a special exception?"

Clap.

Ino Yamanaka snapped her fingers and said with a smile, "Half right, but it wasn't an exceptional performance that earned him a special promotion... Feng Ye was the only one who passed the second round, so there was no third round in these Chunin Exams."

Those words left Hokumon Hyuga and the others stunned.

Kurenai Yuhi, who had been worried about whether Feng Ye had been injured in the second round and was trying to ask Ino Yamanaka about it, also froze slightly. Her small mouth fell open in astonishment.

"You said... Feng Ye was the only one who passed the second round?!"

Shizune stared at Ino Yamanaka in disbelief. She knew a little about the Chunin Exams too. No matter what, they should not have been difficult enough for only one person to pass a round.

Still stunned, Kiba Inuzuka could not help saying, "Hey, hey, do you think we're idiots? Only Feng Ye passed the second round? How could something that ridiculous be possible?"

Nearly everyone else wore similarly doubtful expressions.

Just then, the Chunin instructor entered the classroom. He glanced at the many students gathered there and said, "Mm, Ino is right. Only Feng Ye passed the second round of these Chunin Exams. Everyone else was eliminated by Feng Ye."

As he spoke, his emotions stirred again. Although he had learned the news the night before, even now, he still found it hard to remain calm.

Graduating early! Perfect scores in every subject!

Then, just days later, he had entered the Chunin Exams alone and eliminated every other team in the second round, causing the third round to be canceled altogether!

Such a performance... could only be described as unbelievable.

Feng Ye's usual grades in class had never seemed particularly outstanding, yet graduating early with perfect scores in every subject and eliminating everyone else in the second round of the Chunin Exams was clearly not an improvement that could have been achieved in such a short time.

In other words.

Feng Ye's talent might never have been inferior to Kakashi's!

Even so, Feng Ye had remained composed, attending classes normally at the Ninja Academy without ever displaying anything astonishing. That level of composure was equally shocking. It would have been one thing if he were an adult ninja, but Feng Ye was only nine years old!

"A hidden genius..."

The Chunin instructor sighed inwardly.

Like Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo back then, Feng Ye's displayed talent and temperament undoubtedly marked him as a genius ninja rarely seen in decades!

The classroom fell silent.

"Alright, everyone return to your seats. Prepare for class."

Only when the Chunin instructor spoke again did the seemingly frozen classroom come back to life.

Kiba Inuzuka, Obito Uchiha, and the others stood there in a daze before walking stiffly back to their seats, their eyes filled with disbelief.

What Ino Yamanaka had said was actually true?

He had eliminated everyone else in the second round...

How...

Could that be possible?!

Might Guy was dazed as well. He had always believed that Kakashi's talent and strength far surpassed Feng Ye's, but it now seemed that was not the case.

To pass the Chunin Exams immediately after graduating early, then accomplish something so outrageous in those exams—Feng Ye was probably not much inferior to Kakashi.

For the entire morning, almost no one could focus.

The facts before them could not be denied. Once Kiba Inuzuka and the others recovered from their shock and disbelief, their feelings became extremely complicated. Their jealousy and dislike remained, but they were no longer as intense as before. What they felt more strongly was a sense of loss.

It was not that they had accepted Feng Ye's existence.

Rather, the gap had suddenly become too vast, making him seem distant. Emotions like jealousy and resentment now felt somewhat unreal.

He had graduated early from the Ninja Academy, become a Genin, then passed the Chunin Exams, completing two consecutive leaps from apprentice ninja to Chunin in only a few days. It all felt unreal.

Only a few people, including Might Guy, managed to remain spirited. At this point, Might Guy had placed Feng Ye almost on the same level as Kakashi and regarded him as another goal to surpass.

"My rival has gone from one to two. My youth feels like it's burning even hotter!"

Might Guy clenched his fists, conviction shining in his eyes.

News that Feng Ye had passed the Chunin Exams and become a Chunin quickly spread throughout the Ninja Academy. Not only his own class, but students in every grade were shocked, since Feng Ye had become a Chunin only two days after graduating early.

"He's already become a Chunin?"

In a corner of another classroom, Shisui Uchiha listened to the nearby students' discussion and muttered inwardly.

Just as he had expected, once Feng Ye revealed his talent, he had continued advancing without pause. As a genius of the Uchiha Clan, Shisui now felt that the title of genius no longer truly suited him.

He had to work harder and harder, to catch up to Feng Ye and Kakashi!

Time flew by.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those half a month, Feng Ye had been practicing the Cell Activation Technique, and his Cell Activation had finally reached the current limit of what he could achieve.

He could clearly feel that every cell in his body was brimming with vitality. If he cut himself, the wound would heal several times faster than it would for an ordinary person.

Although this self-healing ability was far inferior to the Hundred Healings Jutsu and the Sage Body, its effects were still obvious under Time Acceleration. He could clearly see wounds healing slowly with the naked eye!

Feng Ye did not conduct any further tests.

After all, he did not like self-harm. It was enough to know that his body possessed healing abilities several times greater than ordinary people's—that minor wounds needed no bandaging, deeper wounds could heal quickly after simple treatment, and he no longer had to fear problems like infection.

"Eight Inner Gates."

"Third Gate, Gate of Life... Open!"

Within the forest on Konoha's back mountain, Feng Ye took a deep breath. Chakra suddenly surged within his body, instantly breaking through the third gate of the Eight Inner Gates, located above his chest.

Having completed the Cell Activation Technique, he easily crossed the bottleneck of the third gate of the Eight Inner Gates and began advancing toward the fourth.

Buzz!!

After opening the third gate, Feng Ye's entire body was shrouded in a pale green glow. He could feel the Chakra within him erupting, the energy hidden in his body churning. Both his speed and strength had increased far beyond what they had been when he opened the first gate.

"I see. After opening the third gate, Chakra enters a berserk state, making it difficult to control..."

Feng Ye sensed his own power and muttered inwardly.

It seemed his earlier thoughts had been a little naive. He had believed that he could still use ninjutsu like the Clone Technique and Substitution Technique normally while in the Eight Inner Gates state, but the truth was that when the gates erupted, the Chakra within his body went berserk and became extremely difficult to control.

Furthermore, having trained the Cell Activation Technique, his Chakra reserves had now exceeded the level of an elite Chunin and were advancing toward that of a Jonin. Controlling it in its berserk state became even more difficult.

"Triple Speed!"

Feng Ye inhaled, and with a thought, entered the Triple Speed state.

In the Triple Speed state, Feng Ye clenched his fist and suddenly punched forward. His entire arm nearly turned into an afterimage, faintly generating blazing sparks through its friction with the air!