"My King's Power!!!"

"Fire Release!" Izuna urged. "Infuse it with Fire chakra, and it'll cause a small explosion and flames!"

"Water Release!" Tobirama objected. "Use Water chakra to create a mist that obscures their vision, then retreat while they're distracted!"

Qingyu: "..."

He made a compromise.

He infused one of the three shuriken with Fire chakra, another with Water chakra, and left the third untouched.

A little knowledge of everything made life easier!

Actually, he was out of options, meow~

Then, through a small hole above the crevice, he threw the three shuriken out one after another.

The first, infused with Fire chakra, traced a scarlet arc through the air and shot straight toward the source of the sound.

"Enemy attack! Dodge!"

The second, infused with Water chakra, followed right behind and collided with the first.

The blazing flames of Fire Kid, the surging waves of Water Kid!

When these two forces came together!

"Boom!!!"

Scalding steam exploded in an instant, like the lid blowing off a pressure cooker. In the blink of an eye, the area within ten meters had turned into a mobile sauna!

A scorching heat wave swept along with dust and dirt, making their opponents hop around on the spot. White steam even rose from their clothes.

"Cough, cough! What the hell was that?!"

"I can't see!"

"Retreat! Pull back!"

Watching this familiar scene, Tobirama immediately got into the rhythm. If it were up to him, he'd have used Flying Thunder God to charge straight in!

Like a dragon soaring through the skies!

But that approach clearly wasn't suited to Qingyu.

Qingyu couldn't pull it off!

So, taking advantage of the confusion, Qingyu called out in a low voice, "Go!"

The three of them quickly escaped through the alternate exit on the other side of the crevice.

Even after they had run several hundred meters, they could still hear furious cursing behind them.

Once they reached a safe spot, Qingyu stopped to catch his breath.

"That move just now..." Yamada's eyes lit up. "Qingyu, how did you do that? You used Fire Release and Water Release at the same time?"

"Just luck, that's all." Qingyu gave an awkward laugh.

Truthfully, he hadn't had a choice. The two old men in his head had been arguing.

When times called for it, you had to find a solution with a little flair!

Inside his head, the two big shots were arguing fiercely.

"Idiot!" Izuna scolded.

"You should use a Fire Release shuriken on its own! Create an explosion and chaos, then charge out and attack head-on!"

"Your tactics are the foolish ones!" Tobirama retorted.

"Use Water Release to create a mist, then retreat with Silent Step. That's the best plan!"

"But how did it work out in practice? The Steam Explosion worked, didn't it?"

"That was a fluke! If the proportions of the two chakra natures had been even slightly off, they would've canceled each other out!"

"Then you used your Water Release wrong!"

"Your Fire Release was the one that—"

"You two," Qingyu interrupted them in his mind.

"We got away successfully, right?"

Silence, like the bridge to Cambridge on this very night.

"So," Qingyu continued, "maybe sometimes Fire Release and Water Release... can be used together?"

An even longer silence.

"...An interesting idea." Tobirama spoke first.

"The natures may counter each other, but they can also complement each other... Further experiments are needed."

"Hmph!" Izuna turned away, but there was a trace of approval in his voice.

"At least we didn't mess it up this time."

Qingyu smiled.

Maybe having these two old enemies living in his head wasn't entirely a bad thing?

And if he could survive their bickering and constant attempts to undermine each other, and learn how to make fire and water coexist...

In the distance, the sound of battle came from deep within the Forest of Death.

The Chunin Ninja Exams had only just begun.

No matter how you looked at it, the advantage was...

Never mind. Better not tempt fate, or he'd trigger a defeat CG in a minute.

On the second night in the Forest of Death, Qingyu's team was forced to change their camp three times.

The first time was because they had nearly been ambushed by a Sunagakure team.

They had Tobirama to thank for spotting the ambush in advance by reading the wind and the birds' strange flight patterns.

The second time was because a group of rampaging giant wild boars had targeted the tree hollow where they were hiding.

Izuna had warned them ahead of time by sensing the vibrations in the ground.

The third time...

The third time was because of Qingyu himself.

As for putting what he'd learned into practice...

"So," in the crevice, Nakamura said, applying medicine to the scrape on his arm as he gave Qingyu a complicated look.

"You're actually a hidden genius, aren't you?"

Qingyu was chewing on a Military Ration Pill. At the words, he nearly choked. "W-what?"

This was nothing!

If I were a genius, I'd have awakened Susanoo at eight, ridden a Wood Golem at ten, and pacified the Five Great Shinobi Nations by twelve!

[System: What about after that? Go ahead and make another wish!]

Qingyu (blushing): Obviously, I'd become a hardworking little pony at twelve...

Izuna & Tobirama: Why are you blushing like a teapot?!

"Don't play dumb," Yamada chimed in, admiration on his face.

"The abilities you've shown over the past two days—spotting traps, choosing routes, coming up with tactics, and that Steam Explosion yesterday... That's way beyond an ordinary Genin."

Yamada paused, then innocently delivered another blow. "And you used to fail every exam. Now you're suddenly this good... Could it be that you're a decorated soldier who's returned to action?!"

Qingyu: Actually, I'm a city-dweller, a reborn person, a miracle doctor, and a decorated soldier. Send me 50 yuan, and I'll take you with me to become an expert school beauty's personal bodyguard.

[System: You're pretty good at stacking disclaimers. You must be way too familiar with forbidden terms to dodge so many of them!!!]

Godly Being System, slash your Old Feng in half!

Then Qingyu opened his mouth, unsure how to explain.

Should he say, "Because two great men from the Warring States era live in my head, and they teach me while they argue?"

That sounded like something a person with split personalities, unable to tell reality from fantasy, would say...

This Daoist here wasn't ready to become that, meow~

"I'm just... more cautious than most." Qingyu finally managed to say.

"Cautious enough to spot an ambush ten minutes ahead of time?" Nakamura raised an eyebrow.

"Cautious enough to tell from the direction a leaf is facing whether anyone's passed by in the last two hours? Qingyu, if you were this good before, how could you have come in last in practical lessons at the Ninja Academy every year?"

That was a dangerous question.

If your loyalty isn't absolute, then you're absolutely disloyal.

With talent like that, and you still don't think about repaying Konoha?!

Never forget this about Konoha:

There's no betrayal too small to forgive!

And there's no sacrifice too great to accept.

Some people just never have to make sacrifices, anyway.

The Will of Fire and all that... You know how it is...

Qingyu's mind raced, and at the same time he heard two voices:

Izuna: "Just say you suddenly had a breakthrough! The Uchiha's potential has always been unlocked by pressure!"

Tobirama: "We need a more reasonable explanation. I suggest blaming some kind of unusual Kekkei Genkai awakening, or..."

"Bloodline Disease," Qingyu blurted out.

Tobirama: This isn't a Bloodline Disease!

Izuna: White-hair, shut it!

His two teammates stared at him.

"I... I have a latent hereditary Bloodline Disease," Qingyu continued, forcing himself to keep up the lie.

"Normally, it suppresses my chakra and mental strength, making me seem like an ordinary person."

"But under extreme pressure, like during the Chunin Ninja Exams, the symptoms temporarily ease, letting me show my true strength... probably."

The explanation was full of holes, but Qingyu took the opportunity to pin the blame on a "mysterious Uchiha Clan tradition."

Add "My mighty Uchiha Clan has its own reputation, its own customs, right here!" and his teammates actually believed him.

The Uchiha were pretty mysterious, weren't they?

"I see," Yamada said, suddenly understanding. "No wonder the Uchiha Clan let you take the exams... They wanted the pressure to unlock your potential?"

"A Bloodline Disease, huh?" Nakamura patted Qingyu's shoulder sympathetically. "That must be rough. I heard the Hyuga Clan has had similar cases..."

Yamada & Nakamura, suddenly serious: "Don't push yourself too hard from now on. If it hurts, tell us. We'll help you bear it!"

Don't make your clan laugh.

Of course, if you're a branch family member, pretend I didn't say that...

Qingyu gave an awkward laugh and nodded, relieved that he had managed to fool them for now.

But the two big shots in his head were very unhappy with his explanation.

"A Bloodline Disease?" Izuna's voice brimmed with disdain.

"How can the Uchiha's glory be associated with an 'illness'?!"

"But from a scientific perspective, it's a reasonable cover story." Tobirama agreed with the explanation.

"The relationship between Kekkei Genkai and physical strain has always been a subject of study, but the details you made up are far too crude! The name of the disease? The frequency of its attacks? How the symptoms ease? All of that needs work."

"Work on what?! You should just say, 'My King's Power!!!'"

Or you could just say: Soul-Haunting Wind and Cloud! Come forth!