The Water Gate

The gale swept past, stirring up countless fallen leaves. Amid the bleak autumn winds, Zhou Duan's figure seemed unbearably lonely. He glanced disdainfully at Moshang Shizhen, who had fainted on the ground, then tilted his head toward the sky. After a long while, he sighed, "It's lonely at the top!"

"You're no top-tier expert! What right do you have to talk about loneliness?"

The Third Hokage gritted his teeth in fury. Shinobi endured what ordinary people could not and did what ordinary people could not; they were all resolute, strong-willed, and mentally tough. At least, in all the years the Third Hokage could remember, there had been shinobi who passed out because they couldn't bear the pain, but this was the first time he had seen one faint from sheer humiliation. That wasn't to say Moshang Shizhen was mentally weak—he was, after all, a shinobi who had survived countless battles to the death. It was just that Zhou Duan was far too shameless!

The Third Hokage had considered that the Ninjutsu Zhou Duan had developed really was rather powerful. But when he imagined it being used in an attack by the enemy, he felt awful all over. If the previous two Hokage knew about this from beyond the grave, they might well have burst out of their coffins in a rage!

The Third Hokage's whiskers bristled with fury. The poor pipe in his hand had gone from fragments to dust. Forcing down his anger, he looked at the remaining students and tried to keep his voice under control.

"Zhou Duan has passed the graduation exam, but I hope his fighting style is an exception!"

He stressed the word "exception" heavily, making his meaning perfectly clear. Fortunately, the next student was Namikaze Minato, and Minato did not disappoint him.

"Begin!"

At Kato Taka's signal, Namikaze Minato instantly put some distance between himself and his opponent. Three Shuriken flew at the other shinobi's face and chest in a triangular formation.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The sound of a short sword deflecting the Shuriken rang out. The genin acting as the examiner easily knocked Minato's Shuriken away with his short sword, then pushed off the ground and charged at him again.

"Wind Release: Chaotic Wind Blades!"

Seeing the examining genin knock aside his Shuriken so easily, Minato's expression remained unchanged. His hands, however, swiftly formed Hand Seals. With a sharp cry, he unleashed a swarm of palm-sized, crescent-shaped blades of wind!

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Faced with the many blades of wind Minato sent at him, the examining genin didn't hesitate to attack either. A powerful whirlwind took shape in an instant and surged toward the blades. The next moment, the two Wind Release Ninjutsu collided, and a violent gust erupted!

Although the two techniques canceled each other out, several blades of wind had left marks on the examining genin, making it clear that Minato's technique was slightly stronger. Yet the examining genin wasn't discouraged. If anything, he looked more at ease. Minato had created distance from the very beginning, even using Shuriken and Ninjutsu to keep him at bay. And even though they had both used D-rank techniques, Minato's had been stronger. All of this showed that his opponent was a shinobi who excelled at long-range attacks but wasn't good at close combat!

Watching the examining genin hurry to close the distance and engage Minato at close quarters, Zhou Duan pursed his lips. Judging by the way an ordinary shinobi fought, the genin's reasoning wasn't wrong, but...

Zhou Duan took a long look at Namikaze Minato as he retreated at high speed. This guy was a genius!

Sure enough, Zhou Duan's judgment was confirmed. To end the fight as quickly as possible, Minato had deliberately made his opponent think he wasn't good at close combat. The examining genin, who wielded a short sword and was already highly skilled at close combat, became even more determined to charge in and trade blows. And that was where his defeat began!

Five steps. That was how far the genin was from Minato. He lowered his body, gripping his sword in his right hand and drawing it back beside his left hip, poised to explode into action. His left hand clasped his right wrist, bracing it with all his strength. The Drawing Slash—a common, yet classic technique—was ready. With just one more step, he could knock down the little brat in front of him, who was "desperately" trying to put distance between them!

He didn't want to lose as miserably as that fool Moshang Shizhen. He was the examiner, after all. What it would mean for his future prospects if he were taken down by a kid who had just graduated went without saying!

His foot came down once more, bringing him to within a meter of Minato. The restraint on his left hand suddenly released, but his right hand, poised to deliver a blinding strike, stubbornly failed to swing. The genin looked at Minato and saw that the innocent smile on the boy's face had, at some point, given way to a fervent battle lust. His wide blue eyes had narrowed into two long, red slits.

"Not good!"

The genin suddenly sensed danger. Thanks to his usual hard training, he managed to change his smooth horizontal Drawing Slash into a defensive position, holding his sword across his chest. But it was nothing more than a dying struggle!

"Startled Birds!"

With a fervent shout, four Minatos appeared at once, attacking the genin wildly from all sides within a two-meter radius. Through their blurred forms, one shocking fact became clear: the four Minatos weren't the result of the Clone Technique. They were afterimages created by Minato's blindingly fast attacks!

The name Startled Birds was well deserved. The Kunai in Minato's hands struck without pause, like a flock of enraged birds startled into a frenzy, their beaks unleashing a storm of stabbing attacks!

No wonder he would one day master the Flying Thunder God so perfectly. Without reflexes that fast, teleporting beside an enemy would only get him killed!

After more than twenty strikes hit the same spot, the short sword snapped in two. The Shuriken were knocked away after being deflected fewer than five times. The two daggers quickly crumbled into fragments beneath the unrelenting barrage!

At last, the genin, who had long since run out of weapons, resigned himself to defeat and stood still. Minato, too, returned to his usual good-natured self!

"Namikaze Minato wins!"

Their fight sounded long, but in reality, it had been brief. Even after Kato Taka announced the end, the gale caused by their clash still hadn't died down!

The power system in the world of the Hokage was strange. Shinobi could unleash attacks capable of destroying heaven and earth, yet their bodies were still poorly protected. As a result, many of the students watching nearby were caught off guard and blown around. A few unlucky ones even had their clothes blown right off, leaving them to stare at their airborne garments in silent regret.

Among the graduating students, Zhou Duan was the most at ease and least affected. Knowing that Namikaze Minato's fights would cause a commotion, he had cast a defensive Ninjutsu on himself ahead of time. So when the storm hit, everyone else either hurriedly used Ninjutsu or was blown around, while Zhou Duan alone stood ramrod straight with his hands behind his back, putting on an impressive display of swagger!

But standing with his hands behind his back had one drawback—when four or five fragrant, brightly colored pairs of panties smacked into Zhou Duan's face, he wasn't able to defend himself in time!

Well, perhaps Zhou Duan had deliberately chosen not to defend himself. When he looked in a certain direction and saw four or five girls winking boldly at him in the gale, he decided none of it mattered!