The World's Martial Arts Emerge from the Rising Dragon!

Uchiha Mai reached out with his left hand, grabbed Kakashi by the head, and pressed him back into the ground. He kicked away the short blade and said calmly, "You lost, Kakashi."

With a severe injury to the back of his head and five deep, bone-reaching, bleeding holes in his chest, Kakashi had no chance of winning this exercise, which was scheduled to end at 11 o'clock.

"Hmph..."

Kakashi seemed to accept his fate; he stopped struggling, closed his eyes, and lay flat on his back. He didn't spout any nonsense about being outplayed or the victory being dishonorable.

Ninja—two words. The winner stands, the loser lies down. It is just that simple.

The side with greater raw strength naturally has a higher probability of winning a fight, but it is never one hundred percent.

Only someone as strong as Senju Hashirama, who has at least a 99% win rate against anyone other than Madara, could claim to be a guaranteed victor.

Kakashi's raw strength was slightly superior to Uchiha Mai's, but the gap was not significant enough to be ignored.

Under such circumstances, losing due to carelessness left no room for excuses.

A few breaths later, Kakashi, having given up his struggle, suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was like a torch as he reached toward the alarm clock at Uchiha Mai's waist, intending to destroy it.

According to the rules, if the alarm clock was destroyed before 11 o'clock, both sides would be declared losers.

"Slap!"

Uchiha Mai raised his hand to grip Kakashi's wrist and smiled. "I anticipated that I would try this trick; did you think I wouldn't be prepared for it?"

Putting himself in Kakashi's shoes, Uchiha Mai knew that if he were in a completely disadvantageous position, he would also try every possible way to destroy the clock—if he couldn't win, he wouldn't let his opponent win either.

How despicable!

With his last hope severed, Kakashi suddenly laughed and said, "Uchiha Mai, the thought that a guy like you will be my teammate in the future actually makes me feel quite at ease."

One does not fear a god-like opponent, but rather a pig-like teammate.

Throughout the exercise, Uchiha Mai had used his strength to earn Kakashi's respect and trust, proving he was qualified to join Master Minato's elite team.

There was no need to wait until 11 o'clock; the outcome was already clear.

Master Minato arrived fashionably late to deliver the final verdict on the exercise: "Kakashi, you lost. The winners of this exercise are Mai and Might Guy.

I believe that through this test, you have all gained a profound understanding of your teammates' strengths and characteristics.

Might Guy and Kakashi have sustained heavy injuries and will need a few days of recovery. Rest well during these days, and we will conduct formal collaborative training in a few days."

None of them had any objections.

Of the three, Uchiha Mai had the lightest injuries—mostly minor cuts. Although he had been slashed in the back by Kakashi at the end, it hadn't reached any vital areas.

Kakashi and Might Guy's injuries were relatively more severe. While the medical ninjas at Konoha Hospital could treat their external wounds, the vitality they had lost would certainly take some time to recover.

After a flurry of activity, all three youngsters were sent to Konoha Hospital to receive treatment from the medical ninja sisters. They were all familiar faces, and the young ladies had already become numb to it.

A day later, Uchiha Mai's back injury had healed, and while the nurses were off checking on other rooms, he snuck out of the hospital.

He ran to the lakeside where they had held the exercise yesterday and began to ponder new moves.

Due to his age, his chakra volume could not be significantly increased in the short term, his pure taijutsu had hit a bottleneck, and his pure fire release was pathetic.

Uchiha Mai wanted to develop a new technique that fused fire release with taijutsu.

Nintaijutsu is not as simple as just using ninjutsu while performing taijutsu.

The human body contains meridians, and the flow paths and speeds of chakra differ when using different ninjutsu. The Sharingan is able to see through the flow of an enemy's chakra, which is how it copies various ninjutsu.

Ordinary taijutsu is simpler, and the efficiency of chakra circulation is relatively singular, unless it is a specific type of taijutsu that requires chakra to travel along specific meridian routes.

Nintaijutsu is the combination of ninjutsu and taijutsu, creating a one-plus-one-equals-two effect while ensuring that the two chakra flow paths within the body do not interfere with each other.

Developing nintaijutsu is difficult and requires a deep understanding and knowledge base of both taijutsu and ninjutsu.

Even a genius like Kakashi only developed the Chidori at the age of twelve—a powerful ninjutsu that only requires three hand seals.

What Uchiha Mai wanted to develop was, naturally, a type of nintaijutsu that required no hand seals, which was no less difficult than developing the Chidori.

By the lake, Uchiha Mai held his breath and focused, gazing quietly at the dummy in front of him. Combining his understanding of taijutsu and the True Explanation of Fire Release: Izuna's Annotations, he adjusted the circulation paths of his chakra.

Once he was certain he had found that delicate balance point, he crouched slightly and erupted with chakra, charging forward.

In an instant, Uchiha Mai reached the dummy, raised his left arm, and struck the dummy's chin hard with his elbow, sending it flying into the air.

He then launched himself upward, quickly raised his left fist, and thrust it toward the dummy's chin, the chakra accumulated in his fist ready to explode.

Mai Style Ancient Martial Arts: 100th Style: Demon Burner!

The inspiration for this move, of course, came from Iori Yagami in The King of Fighters.

In fighting games, ground-to-air moves are generally called Rising Dragon, and there is a saying that all martial arts under heaven originate from the Rising Dragon, and when in doubt, use the Rising Dragon fist.

Iori Yagami's Rising Dragon is the 100th Style: Demon Burner.

This move can inflict three hits on an enemy using the elbow, the fist, and the final burst of fire.

At the same time, the user can rotate 360 degrees in the air when the flames erupt to avoid the impact of the fire on themselves, which is very cool and highly stylish.

The elbow strike and the jumping punch were both executed perfectly.

Next came the eruption of flames from his fist to inflict the third hit on the enemy, along with the 360-degree body rotation to avoid the flames.

Suddenly, the two chakra paths within Mai's body began to interfere with each other, and the chakra flowing according to his plan began to riot.

Uchiha Mai lost control of his chakra, and the chakra around his fist detonated into flames a split second too early.

Damn it!

Uchiha Mai didn't even have time for a cool 360-degree spin; he immediately raised his arms to shield his face. After all, his looks were his livelihood.

The next instant, Uchiha Mai was sent flying, his body covered in burns and his clothes set ablaze.

Trapped within the flames, Uchiha Mai didn't hesitate to leap into the lake. Since time immemorial, there has been a law in every anime: "falling into water means you won't die."

A few breaths later, Uchiha Mai crawled out of the lake, surveyed the chaotic scene, and touched his face to confirm he hadn't been disfigured.

Only then did he sigh and say, "Developing Nintaijutsu is truly no easy task."

"If you know that developing Nintaijutsu is difficult, then why not ask your teacher for advice?"

The voice sounded familiar.

Uchiha Mai looked up to see Master Minato leaning over and extending a hand toward him, his golden hair shimmering brilliantly under the sunlight.