The Rest of You, Come at Me Together

The Gentle Fist focused on precisely striking chakra into the opponent's body, destroying their meridian system and internal organs.

But now, he could not even touch Qingyu's clothes, while his chakra was rapidly being drained by the successive bombardment of water bullets and flames.

Hyuga Osamu tried to charge forward again.

He pushed off with his feet, taking advantage of the opening after dispersing a water bullet to gather chakra beneath his soles and abruptly increase his speed.

This was also one way to use the Body Flicker Technique.

A delighted look appeared on Hyuga Osamu's face.

As long as he got one step closer, his Gentle Fist could reach Qingyu's body.

Unfortunately, Qingyu fired another Fire Style: Snake Bullet, forcing him to roll sideways to evade it.

Pathetic.

Utterly pathetic.

Hyuga Osamu climbed to his feet, his white robe covered in dirt and blades of grass.

More than half of his chakra had already been consumed, and his stamina was steadily being drained away.

Meanwhile, Qingyu remained where he was, without even a hitch in his breathing.

Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!

Hyuga Osamu gritted his teeth and struck out with his palm from afar.

An invisible air blast shot from his palm, hurtling toward Qingyu with a deep whistling sound.

Qingyu ducked, and the air blast grazed past his shoulder before slamming into the ground behind him, leaving a shallow crater.

Then, he formed seals once more.

Fire Style: Snake Bullet.

Hyuga Osamu could only dodge in haste. The flames swept past his robe, scorching a small section of its hem.

His face was full of frustration.

He had never encountered an opponent like Qingyu!

However, this was precisely the opening Qingyu had been waiting for.

The next moment, Qingyu kicked off the ground and directly used the Body Flicker Technique, instantly crossing the distance between them.

Hyuga Osamu had only just steadied himself when Qingyu's fist struck his chest.

Bang!

With a dull thud, Hyuga Osamu was sent flying backward with both feet off the ground, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Kakashi stood at the edge of the field, staring at Qingyu as he withdrew his fist and straightened up, his heart shaking.

So Qingyu could use ninjutsu like this too, in addition to swordsmanship.

Kakashi had thought Qingyu's strength came from his talent with the sword. Now it seemed that his mastery of ninjutsu was equally astonishing.

He alternated between Fire Release and Water Release, using long-range firepower to suppress the Gentle Fist's advance, then finished the fight with taijutsu once his opponent's stamina ran dry.

From beginning to end, Hyuga Osamu had not had any chance to fight back.

Kakashi silently replayed the battle in his mind.

If he had replaced Hyuga Osamu on the field, he was confident he could have done better, but whether he could defeat Qingyu...

Kakashi was not so sure.

Would I win?

Hatake Sakumo saw his son's confusion and gently placed a hand on his head.

"Everyone has their own strengths."

Hatake Sakumo comforted Kakashi with a gentle smile.

"Qingyu can switch freely between ninjutsu and swordsmanship because he has enough chakra to sustain that fighting style. You don't need to imitate him. You only need to find the path that suits you best."

Kakashi fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

At the edge of the field, Umino Shika stood with his mouth open, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.

"That amount of chakra... I have to say, is that what one would expect from the Senju clan?"

That level of chakra was already above average among academy students.

And that was only the chakra Qingyu had displayed. As for how much chakra he truly possessed, Umino Shika had no idea.

Ninjas drew out chakra as they used it. They could only gather large amounts of chakra for a short time.

But how old was Qingyu?

Koji Moku stood beside him, equally stunned.

He had originally thought that even if Hyuga Osamu could not win, he could at least use the Gentle Fist's suppressive power to force Qingyu into a difficult battle.

Yet throughout the entire fight, Hyuga Osamu had not even touched Qingyu's clothes.

This was no longer merely a matter of talent.

This child surpassed his peers in every possible aspect.

"The winner is Qingyu!"

Umino Shika came back to his senses and hurriedly announced it aloud.

[Detected collectible trait: Arrogance of the Main Branch]

[E-rank Trait: Arrogance of the Main Branch]

[Effect: Fist technique training speed increased by 20%.]

Qingyu sheathed his sword and glanced at the text prompt that had appeared before him.

Another trait had dropped.

Although its effect had nothing to do with the "arrogance" in its name, perhaps Hyuga Osamu's self-assured, disdainful attitude had been converted by the system into something positive.

Qingyu thought it was not bad.

At least it was not limited to the Gentle Fist.

A twenty percent increase in fist technique training speed would be quite helpful when he practiced taijutsu in the future.

After all, in the ninja world, the Strong Fist was more widespread than the Gentle Fist.

It referred to direct physical attacks that mainly inflicted visible injuries such as broken bones. The Eight Inner Gates was a representative taijutsu of this kind.

Qingyu was curious. If he learned the Eight Inner Gates, would the Seventh Gate's Daytime Tiger become even more powerful?

For the Eight Inner Gates, opening the Seventh Gate was the most cost-effective approach.

Because opening the Eighth Gate meant death.

Hyuga Osamu climbed to his feet, his white eyes filled with unwillingness.

He instinctively wanted to throw out some harsh words, but seeing how many people were nearby, he merely patted the dirt off his clothes and turned to walk back into the crowd.

No matter how stubbornly he tried to talk, it could not change the fact that a lower-year freshman had crushed him head-on.

Uchiha Domon watched from afar, rubbing his chin.

"This guy..."

His gaze settled on Qingyu.

Just seeing Hyuga Osamu, that arrogant little brat from the Main Branch, suffer a setback was enough to earn Qingyu some of his favor.

And that final punch had looked incredibly satisfying.

It even gave Uchiha Domon a sense of mutual appreciation for Qingyu.

As expected of a ninja with Uchiha blood.

Uchiha Domon thought to himself.

Could any other ninja clan produce such an exceptional genius?

Only the Uchiha clan could reliably produce one genius after another!

Soon, Umino Shika was about to turn to the next page of the roster and call out the names of the next sparring pair when Qingyu's voice rang out first.

"Teacher Umino."

Qingyu spoke.

"The rotation system is too slow. Why not switch to a king-of-the-hill format?"

Qingyu suggested.

"The rest of you can fight me one at a time. If I lose, I'll step down. If I win, I'll keep going."

Qingyu felt that this would be more efficient.

Otherwise, if he kept rotating with Kakashi every so often, when would they ever finish?

Umino Shika's hand paused slightly as he held the roster, and he looked up at Qingyu.

"Don't you need to rest first?"

Umino Shika asked.

He felt Qingyu was being a little overconfident.

"No."

Qingyu shook his head.

Umino Shika opened his mouth, unable to find anything to say for a moment.

He had personally witnessed Qingyu's strength just now.

But any battle consumed chakra. Muscles accumulated fatigue, and reaction speed gradually declined as well.

A ninja's battle was not simple addition and subtraction. The depletion from one fight directly affected the next. That was common knowledge.

Qingyu could not possibly be unaware of that.

Umino Shika suddenly felt as though he had lived all these years for nothing.

No, are students these days really this incredible?

Unfortunately, he was only a civilian ninja, with virtually no room left to improve his strength.