Winning Streak!

The discussion around the arena gradually grew louder.

"Arena-style tournament? He's going to fight everyone by himself?"

"He beat Hyuga Osamu and got full of himself? Osamu isn't even the strongest."

"But still, that was a pretty impressive win..."

The girls, though, were focused on something else.

Looking at Qingyu's handsome face, they couldn't help thinking he looked better and better.

"Qingyu is so handsome."

One girl murmured softly, and her friend immediately nodded in agreement, blushing.

The boys' reactions were much more complicated.

"He's way too arrogant."

Yamanaka Tsukano folded his arms, frowning slightly.

"You need to have the strength to back up that kind of arrogance."

Akimichi Domaru paused in the rare act of shoving chips into his mouth and mumbled through a mouthful.

"Wasn't Hyuga Osamu proof of that?"

"Qingyu is strong, I'll admit that."

Nara Inshui leaned against a tree at the edge of the arena, resting his hands behind his head as he lazily yawned.

"But ninjas aren't machines. Chakra and stamina run out eventually. He's getting ahead of himself. He'll learn his lesson when he gets in trouble."

"Father, isn't Qingyu being a little too arrogant?"

Kakashi knew Qingyu was powerful—powerful enough that he had to admit Qingyu had surpassed him.

But even he wouldn't face another opponent without resting after a fight.

The Qingyu he knew wasn't the sort to get carried away. Since entering the academy, everything he did had been methodical. He never did anything unless he was sure he could pull it off.

So what was going on today?

Hatake Sakumo glanced down at Kakashi.

"Do you think he'll lose?"

Hatake Sakumo asked in return.

Kakashi fell silent for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head.

"Probably... not?"

For some reason, Kakashi felt Qingyuan could win.

"Then let's keep watching."

Hatake Sakumo turned his gaze back to the arena.

Umino Shika and Koji Moku exchanged a look and briefly discussed it.

In the end, Koji Moku nodded. Umino Shika turned back and cleared his throat.

"Then we'll do as Qingyu suggested. From now on, it'll be an arena-style tournament. Anyone who wants to challenge him can come forward."

"Are you going first, or am I?"

Uchiha Domon looked at Inuzuka Saori.

Inuzuka Saori crouched and patted the gray-and-white Ninja Dog beside her on the head.

"I'll go first."

Inuzuka Saori stood and took two Military Ration Pills from her ninja pouch, stuffing them into the Ninja Dog's mouth. She chewed one herself.

She stretched her wrists and ankles, and her joints gave faint cracks.

She was different from Hyuga Osamu.

Osamu had lost because he'd underestimated his opponent. He'd tried to end the fight quickly with Eight Trigrams Palms, only for Qingyu to wear him down with ranged ninjutsu.

She wouldn't make the same mistake.

The Inuzuka Clan excelled at smell and speed. As long as Qingyu didn't put too much distance between them, she wouldn't be forced onto the defensive.

Inuzuka Saori stepped up to the white line and exchanged the Seal of Confrontation with Qingyu, then formed a hand seal.

"Beast Human Clone."

The Ninja Dog beside her blurred, then transformed into an exact copy of Inuzuka Saori.

The technique let a Ninja Dog take on its user's appearance to confuse the opponent.

Qingyu watched the two identical Inuzuka Saoris with interest.

Did this count as beast-human roleplay?

The next moment, Inuzuka Saori and her Beast Human Clone dropped to all fours and charged at Qingyu like wild animals.

Four-Legs Technique!

Just as the two of them were about to pounce, Qingyu formed hand seals.

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."

His body sank into the ground.

Bang!

Inuzuka Saori lunged at empty air. She and her clone skidded to a halt, then looked around.

The Inuzuka Clan had senses far beyond those of ordinary people, especially their sense of smell.

Inuzuka Saori lowered her head, nostrils twitching slightly.

Soil, something burnt, sweat... and the faint herbal scent that clung to Qingyu.

The smell was coming from underground. His position was...

"Left!"

Inuzuka Saori whipped around, and the Ninja Dog clone turned its head at the same time.

But it was too late.

A hand burst through the dirt beneath her feet and grabbed her ankle.

Then a tremendous force surged from its grip.

Qingyu heaved from underground, flinging Inuzuka Saori and her clone through the air.

The clone burst into a cloud of white smoke midair. Inuzuka Saori's body spun wildly, and before she could adjust her landing, a flash of cold steel stopped in front of her neck.

Inuzuka Saori lay on her back, chest heaving.

She stared at the knife point glinting in front of her, then let out a heavy breath.

"I give up."

[Detecting collectible trait: Superhuman Smell]

[E-rank trait: Superhuman Smell]

[Effect: Detects more subtle scents. Sense of smell increased by 20%.]

Qingyu sheathed his sword and reached out to help Inuzuka Saori to her feet.

Superhuman Smell.

That was a pretty good trait.

In battle, it could be used to track enemies by scent, making it more subtle than relying on sight alone.

And the sense of smell couldn't be fooled by ordinary tricks. Smoke bombs and the Substitution Technique would be much less effective against it.

"Next."

Qingyu said flatly.

"Interesting."

Uchiha Domon stepped out. He was a head taller than Qingyu, with shoulders a good deal broader.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

As soon as he entered the arena, he launched a Fire Release jutsu.

A huge fireball erupted from his mouth.

Unlike Obito's half-sized, half-baked Great Fireball, this one was a full two meters across.

Qingyu stamped on a spot on the ground.

The earth beneath his foot suddenly sank along a line, revealing a shallow pit.

It was the tunnel he'd left behind when he burrowed underground with the Headhunter Jutsu. The ground beneath Uchiha Domon was hollow.

Domon was putting all his strength into maintaining the Great Fireball when his foot suddenly found nothing beneath it.

His balance shifted in an instant, and he lurched sideways, nearly wrenching his back.

The Great Fireball skimmed past Qingyu.

"Damn it!"

Uchiha Domon hadn't imagined the ground beneath him would give way.

Qingyu seized the opening, pushing off the ground and darting through the sparks and smoke thrown up by the Great Fireball.

Water glimmered along his sword, a blade of water spinning rapidly around it.

"Water Release: Water Blade Slash."

Uchiha Domon had no time to regain his balance and hastily drew a kunai.

Clang!

Uchiha Domon's hand went numb, and the kunai flew from his grasp.

He stood frozen, both hands empty, staring down at the blade point against his throat.

He felt an inexplicable frustration, like someone who'd dreamed of roaming the world with a sword, only to have his teeth knocked out around the corner.

He hadn't even had a chance to show what he could do. One careless mistake had thrown off his rhythm, and he'd lost the whole match!

"You win."

Still, Uchiha Domon said it plainly.

The proud Uchiha didn't make excuses!

He could always fight properly next time.

[Detecting collectible trait: Sword Path Mastery]

[D-rank trait: Sword Path Mastery]

[Effect: Sword techniques flow more smoothly, and sword moves come instinctively.]

Qingyu sheathed his sword.

Sword Path Mastery did exactly what its name suggested.

He'd already acquired Swordsmanship Foundation from Kakashi and Sword Fanatic from Hatake Sakumo.

Stacked together, these traits had completely changed the way it felt to hold a sword compared with when he'd first started school.

He glanced at his trait panel.

One more trait should be enough to combine into Sword Bone.

Sword Fanatic + Counter-Attack Intuition + Sword Path Mastery could be combined into Sword Bone.

Now, Qingyu only needed the last one: Counter-Attack Intuition.