Champion!

Li Tong's twisted sense of humor!

He certainly didn't actually want to marry Mikoto Uchiha; the age gap alone made it inappropriate. He was simply using his own peculiar method to rebuff the Uchiha Clan, hoping to ensure they wouldn't bother him in the future.

Mikoto Uchiha's expression froze.

It truly froze this time.

She could hardly believe her ears. This outsider brat before her actually dared to propose such an unreasonable demand—he was utterly ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth! How shameless!

Waves of fragrance drifted into Li Tong's nostrils.

"Ah... achoo!" Li Tong couldn't help it and suddenly let out a massive sneeze.

Mikoto Uchiha felt as if something wet had been sprayed onto her face.

"Ah! My apologies, sorry, I'm allergic to certain scents." Li Tong quickly offered an explanation, leaning back and pulling out a clean handkerchief to wipe his nose.

Mikoto Uchiha's eyelashes fluttered; it looked as if she had reached the brink of an explosion.

Several ninjas emerged from behind Mikoto Uchiha and surrounded the dining table. They were all Uchiha Clan ninjas, including an Elite Jonin with a reputation score of over thirteen thousand. They had come with Mikoto Uchiha and had been sitting at the table next to them the whole time.

Clearly, they had heard what Li Tong said; otherwise, their faces wouldn't have been so dark.

Mikoto Uchiha sat in her chair like a legendary gang leader, surrounded by a group of tall, burly adult male ninjas, all of whom were glaring at Li Tong with hostile intent.

Li Tong suddenly felt a flicker of worry: would Mikoto Uchiha suddenly wave her hand and say, "Cut him down!" and have this group of ninjas draw their blades to hack this loose-lipped fellow into mincemeat?

However, sticking to the spirit of "if you don't court death, you won't die," Li Tong added, "If you don't agree, then don't come bother me again, thanks!"

Mikoto Uchiha stared at Li Tong, her gaze never wavering, while one hand reached into her robes to pull out a handkerchief, slowly wiping her face.

She was furious!

Though she didn't express it, one could tell by the way she gripped the handkerchief—her knuckles were white, and she was squeezing with such force! It was as if the handkerchief were her sworn enemy.

"The Hyuga Clan will kill you!" Mikoto Uchiha finally spoke, truly gritting her teeth as she said, "I will be the one to collect your corpse!"

"Does your Uchiha Clan have a tradition of collecting corpses for people?" Li Tong asked reflexively, remembering that Fugaku Uchiha had said something similar at noon.

"Let's go!" Mikoto Uchiha didn't bother with any more nonsense and rose to lead her people away.

"What a pain." Li Tong watched Mikoto Uchiha and the others exit, muttered to himself, and looked down at his noodles again. He couldn't eat anymore!

"Brother, you're a Champion! Let's have a drink, we absolutely must have a drink!"

A figure suddenly darted over and sat down opposite Li Tong, looking at him with a face full of admiration—no, it should be absolute reverence!

This was a young ninja around twenty years old named Umino Ri, a Chunin. Li Tong remembered this guy had been eating noodles at the table to his right just a moment ago.

"Uh... what's the meaning of this?" Li Tong blinked and asked.

"Buddy, bring a pot of sake!" Umino Ri snapped his fingers at the waiter, then looked at Li Tong as if he were a rare treasure. "Brother! Seriously, you are the boldest person I've ever seen in my life! Let's have a drink, we must have a drink! It's on me!"

"Why?" Li Tong raised an eyebrow.

"Look, you first offended the Hyuga Clan and killed Hyuga Anan." Umino Ri began counting on his fingers; he was truly the type to get familiar quickly. "The Hyuga Clan definitely won't let you go; no one can stop that."

"And then, the fact that you acted like a hooligan toward Kushina Uzumaki has already spread. I reckon it won't be long before Lady Tsunade comes to have a 'talk about life' with you... and just now, what did you say to Mikoto Uchiha? You asked her to marry you? Hahaha! Brother! You've got guts! Do you know how many admirers Sister Mikoto has? I admire you, I really do! You've now offended the Uchiha Clan as well. Two of Konoha's great ancient clans, plus the one person you absolutely cannot provoke, Lady Tsunade—you've offended them all. Seriously, brother! If you weren't about to die, I'd really want to become your sworn brother!"

Li Tong's mouth twitched. This guy was a total lunatic!

A twenty-year-old ninja calling a twelve-year-old ninja "brother" at every turn—one could easily guess what kind of personality this guy had.

The waiter brought the sake along with two cups.

Umino Ri stood up, snatched the sake pot, quickly poured two cups, and raised his own.

"Come on, brother, have a drink, I toast you!" Umino Ri said with a face full of sincerity. "A Champion like you doesn't appear even once in a hundred years. Brother, just eat well and drink well these next few days; you might not get the chance later. I won't say much more, I'll finish mine first!"

Umino Ri downed the sake in one gulp and even turned the cup upside down to shake it at Li Tong.

Li Tong stared at Umino Ri with dead-fish eyes, just watching him, not moving a muscle.

"Brother, finish your drink!"

"Brother, give me some face."

"Brother, brother, eat well and drink well... I won't disturb you anymore!"

Umino Ri felt a bit unnerved by Li Tong's stare, set his cup down, and scurried back to his own seat, refusing to look at Li Tong again, as if nothing had happened.

"Screw you!" Li Tong finally voiced his thoughts, gritting his teeth as he cursed under his breath. He then stood up abruptly, slapped a bill on the table, and strode outside.

He felt he had to do something, otherwise, this was just too aggravating!

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Early morning, the morning glow hung on the horizon like a curtain of blood.

By the lake, in front of the wooden cabin.

Li Tong sat cross-legged on the grass, facing the lake, as motionless as a statue.

This was Li Tong's eighteenth day in the world of Naruto. After the initial turbulence of the first few days, his life had returned to peace. No one came to bother him anymore; the Hyuga Clan made no moves, the Uchiha Clan sent no one to find him, and even Tsunade, who had wanted to learn gambling techniques from him, never appeared.

It was as if everyone had forgotten about Li Tong entirely!

Yet, behind this calm, there was an unsettling feeling.

It was like the silence before a storm!

Discussions about Li Tong in Konoha had never died down; instead, they grew more intense. Even the casinos had opened betting pools on the method by which Li Tong would be killed!

In the woods behind the wooden cabin, Chen He watched Li Tong.

Whoosh!

A whirlwind kicked up white smoke, and a figure appeared out of thin air on the branch beside Chen He, saying respectfully, "Lord Chen He, the autopsy report from yesterday is out. The Intelligence Division has determined the identities of every one of them."

"And?" Chen He asked without turning his head.

"Of the five people killed by Li Tong yesterday, only one could be confirmed as coming from Amegakure, while two others were confirmed to be from Kirigakure. The remaining two lacked sufficient identifying features to be certain, but it is confirmed that they were foreign spies."

"Mm, as long as he didn't kill the wrong people, that's fine. Go." Chen He waved his hand behind him.

The ninja performed a hand seal and vanished.

Chen He gazed at Li Tong, who was sitting cross-legged on the grass by the lake, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He found Li Tong increasingly difficult to fathom.

In half a month, Li Tong had killed a total of sixty-seven foreign ninjas, including three elite chunin, nine chunin, and the rest were all genin! He hadn't killed a single wrong person! This was truly incredible!

One had to realize that if you counted the ninjas, permanent residents, and the floating foreign population of Konohagakure, the total number was approaching two hundred thousand!

To find sixty-seven spies out of two hundred thousand people in just half a month!

In terms of efficiency alone, a single Li Tong was already comparable to the entire Konoha Anbu!

And that wasn't all!

Li Tong's rate of growth also shocked Chen He. Over half a month ago, Li Tong was still an amnesiac genin, but now, Chen He felt he was at least a chunin, and he had mastered assassination techniques capable of killing elite chunin. Chen He even suspected at one point that Li Tong had regained his memory, but because Li Tong was currently a Konoha ninja, this could not be verified; there was simply no way to probe his memories.

Regarding the situation of Li Tong's strength, only the Konoha Anbu was currently aware of it. His ninja ranking had not been adjusted, so to the outside world, he remained a genin!

Chen He highly suspected that Li Tong was still hiding a portion of his strength, because he had never seen Li Tong use his full power while killing! In all sixty-seven instances of killing spies, Li Tong had resolved the targets quickly and never missed!

Whoosh!

Another figure suddenly appeared out of thin air beside Chen He, possessing a unique aura.

"Captain." Chen He immediately greeted him respectfully.

The one who arrived was White Fang!

White Fang looked toward Li Tong's direction, and seeing that Li Tong was training, he said, "The few Hyuga ninjas who went to the black market have already returned. Go and warn Li Tong to be careful."

"Yes!" Chen He respectfully accepted the order.

White Fang flashed and vanished.

By the lake.

Li Tong opened his eyes and flipped up, performing rapid hand seals while in mid-air. His body vanished into thin air, and he immediately reappeared in the center of the lake, his feet landing steadily on the water's surface. He held his breath, focused his mind, and brought his hands together to form a seal!

"Water Style: Violent Torrent Technique!"