A Small Test of Skill

A Small Test of Skill

It was only optical camouflage.

It wasn't all-encompassing.

Movement stirred the air and made faint sounds. Those two things alone were more than enough! Fang Xiu clashed with Scar again and again, repeatedly predicting the elite warrior's position and using his movements to block off his attack routes in advance!

With nothing but a kunai infused with chakra that had no elemental nature to improve its durability, he easily gained complete control of the fight! In just a few breaths, the two exchanged dozens of blows, moving from where they'd first stood all the way to the end of the narrow corridor.

Crack!

Suddenly, the air seemed to burst. Scar's head jerked sideways. He felt something spread from his left cheek to the rest of his face, which quickly went numb.

But he clearly remembered that the mysterious human's short weapon had merely grazed his cheek. Judging by its trajectory, it shouldn't have caused any damage...

A moment earlier.

This was Fang Xiu's first time using Uchiha Style Taijutsu in battle, and his first time controlling this body in close combat. On a trial basis, he channeled Lightning Release Chakra into the kunai.

In an instant, a violent flash of blue light crackled. Its cutting edge extended, inflicting a real wound on Scar.

In fact, the Yautja was lucky Fang Xiu had deliberately held back his chakra output. Otherwise, he would have vanished along with the kunai's lifespan. Ordinary ninja tools simply couldn't conduct chakra well. In the Naruto World, however, the Kusanagi Sword, Kubikiribōchō, Kabutowari, and Kiba could all withstand the enormous chakra output of Kage Level fighters.

Drip, drip...

Glowing green blood trickled from the charred wound, and a vicious gash split the high-tech mask.

After clashing with the top hunter and experiencing a pure Taijutsu duel, Fang Xiu saw the result and casually flicked his wrist. The kunai spun as he decisively leaped out of the fighting ring.

His actions made it clear: the fight was over. The gap between them was so vast that there was no need to say more about who had won.

"Roar!" Scar came to his senses and roared.

This Yautja had killed multiple mutated Drone Xenomorphs with cold weapons and successfully completed his rite of passage. He seemed unwilling to accept defeat. Raising his weapon high, he charged once more.

Boom! The blow landed with tremendous force.

The spear pierced straight through the wall. Its force undiminished, it plunged into the floor tiles of the next corridor, scattering rubble and dust everywhere.

But there was smoke and dust, and no injury.

There was no suspense: the attack had missed completely.

In truth, Scar knew perfectly well that the mysterious human hadn't even used his full strength. Forget the terrifying energy source inside him; his physical prowess alone was enough to make Scar despair...

And the seemingly dazzling fight had reminded Cat-Face, who'd stood by watching without any intention of ambushing Fang Xiu, of his childhood, when the ancient elders of his clan had trained him until he could barely stand.

Boom!!

A tremendous force struck from behind. Scar lurched forward and slammed into the wall, his head sinking into it! Without his armor, he might have been seriously injured...

This time, Scar was fully awake.

He finally accepted the gap between them.

"Hiss, hiss."

But before he could do anything, a dense clatter, like hard objects striking the floor, came from two ventilation shafts overhead.

Cat-Face and Fang Xiu looked up together. One watched the left side, while the other focused on the right.

Ignoring the pain, Scar pulled himself out of the shattered wall, his upper body half-buried in it. Gripping his spear, he joined Cat-Face in warily watching the left.

Subconsciously, he didn't think there was any danger on the right. Fang Xiu had taken care of that area.

"Big bro, I'm on your side, I'm on your side. When the fighting starts, please don't forget about me..." The rookie Reincarnator, who'd been keeping a low profile, hurried over. He stopped neither too close nor too far away, keeping a distance of about ten paces.

In view.

Three Drone Xenomorphs crouched in the right-hand passage, with countless Facehuggers packed behind them. The Queen had laid them all at the very start of the trial.

"Roar!" The Yautja roared first. After all, Xenomorphs ranked as the highest-priority prey in their eyes. Without hesitation, he charged down the left passage alongside Cat-Face.

With the two working together, they should be fine even without the Plasma Shoulder Cannon, unless they ran into some especially contrived plot-driven death trap.

After silently reaching that conclusion, Fang Xiu charged forward too and began forming Hand Seals. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

The Earth Release Chakra inside him connected with the rock, and a thick wall rose behind him.

It was worth noting that because the trial pyramid lay buried deep underground, Earth Release techniques were slightly more effective there, while their chakra cost was a little lower.

"..." The rookie Reincarnator with the crew cut was speechless. The upper-right passage, which had been full of Xenomorphs and Facehuggers, was now blocked by an earthen wall.

But that wasn't the point!

The point was that the side facing outward had a cat's head carved into it... with some kind of special guard hanging from its forehead.

Of course, Fang Xiu hadn't done it on purpose. It was a small habit left behind in his memory fragments.

It didn't cost much Chakra anyway, and the technique mainly tested how precisely one could control it. So deep down, he felt he might as well keep doing it and make it part of his personal style, just as Kakashi liked to hang dog heads on his Earth Style Walls.

Meanwhile.

Inside the dark, sealed ventilation shaft, the Drone Xenomorphs swarmed forward.

Calling it a shaft was almost misleading: it was four or five meters high, plenty of room to fight! The first Xenomorph to charge out whipped its long black tail forward. Relying on its keen senses, it aimed precisely at Fang Xiu.

But his brief skirmish with the Yautja had given him a clear sense of his own Taijutsu. Gradually, he'd grown bolder about what he could do.

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned gently. Leaning back, he easily dodged the lethal strike. But the other two Xenomorphs didn't sit idle, and the Facehuggers crawling everywhere continued to close in as well.

"Thwack! Thwack!" Two tails lashed out like whips, locking onto Fang Xiu's head from both sides.

Xenomorphs ahead, Xenomorphs behind.

It seemed there was nowhere to dodge! But no burst of torn flesh followed. As the Xenomorphs struck, Fang Xiu turned into a cloud of smoke.

"So they've gathered together again."

His voice came from the ceiling in the farthest corner.

Snake–Ram–Monkey–Boar–Horse–Tiger. He'd completed the Hand Seals. His plan had already taken shape before he decided to charge into the passage and use Earth Style Wall:

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."

The blazing sphere surged forth. A terrifying shockwave tore through the Xenomorphs and Facehuggers, vaporizing every trace of the acid blood Fang Xiu had been wary of.

Watching this scene, Fang Xiu glanced at the Main God Watch out of the corner of his eye, tallying his gains as he pondered. In the Naruto World, when Jiraiya worked with Gamabunta to perform the Toad Oil Flame Bullet, he used the same Hand Seals as the Great Fireball Technique.

So was the Flame Bullet an improved technique formed by combining the Great Fireball with Chakra-infused oil?

Once he had time to study it, he could consider trying to unlock another high-level Fire Release technique.