Rasengan

Chen He felt as if the whole world had gone mad. An elite jonin? That assassin, the one Li Tong had stabbed over four hundred times, was an elite jonin?

Silence!

An eerie atmosphere settled over everyone by the lake.

This was something no one could accept, no matter who they were!

It made no sense at all.

If Li Tong had been hiding his strength all along, how could Konoha Anbu have captured him so easily? Even Konoha Anbu had very few elite jonin, and the ninja who had captured Li Tong had been only a jonin.

Li Tong couldn't have been hiding his strength before joining Konoha. And since joining... it had only been a little over half a month. In half a month, he had gone from a genin to someone capable of killing an elite jonin!

That was absolutely impossible!

"Captain, could you have..." Chen He suddenly began, then hesitantly asked, "Could you have mistaken him?"

Anbu Ninja would never dare question White Fang. As the youngest and strongest Anbu Captain in the history of Anbu, his abilities were beyond reproach. But today's circumstances were too unusual.

"I'm absolutely certain!" White Fang said firmly. "Before Uesugi Kama betrayed Kirigakure, he used a sickle as his weapon. During the first year after his betrayal, Kirigakure Anbu hunted him relentlessly. Since so few ninja used sickles, it was a distinctive trait that could be used to track him. To avoid being found through that trait, Uesugi Kama abandoned his sickle and took up the more common katana instead. He could use a katana to perform the sickle's unique techniques, which was why he came to be known as the 'Sickle Without Hook.'"

"Captain, you..." Chen He sensed something was off. White Fang knew far too much about Uesugi Kama.

"The Intelligence Division has a record of my mission where I fought Uesugi Kama," White Fang continued. "I faced him on a mission four years ago. I wasn't Anbu Captain yet. That mission involved some highly confidential information, so its records were classified as top secret. Only the Hokage and I were allowed to access them."

Four years ago?

Chen He thought back. Four years ago, White Fang had just been promoted to elite jonin.

White Fang had faced Uesugi Kama as an elite jonin, and neither had been able to defeat the other. By that reckoning, Uesugi Kama was undoubtedly an elite jonin!

Li Tong was still soaking in the wooden tub in the bathroom.

He had eaten most of the ninjutsu cards. Only two secret technique cards remained. Both were C-rank secret techniques, and since secret techniques were unique, Li Tong had to carefully read the descriptions of each one.

Secret Technique: Water Concealment: This technique allowed the user to become invisible underwater by bending light through the water. It produced no ripples, scent, or chakra fluctuations. The user couldn't use other ninjutsu while concealed, and the concealment ended if the user was attacked.

Secret Technique: Rapid Costume Change: This technique allowed the user to quickly change all of their clothes.

Both were noncombat support techniques. Although they were only C-rank, their effects were quite useful. Li Tong preferred Rapid Costume Change over underwater invisibility. With his cleanliness obsession, changing clothes several times was a real hassle.

Crack! Crack!

After eating the two secret technique cards, Li Tong now knew one A-rank ninjutsu, four B-rank ninjutsu, and nearly thirty C-rank ninjutsu. That included Fire Style: Flame Bullet, which he had eaten three duplicate cards for and whose power rivaled a B-rank ninjutsu.

Judging by the number of techniques he knew, Li Tong was at least a jonin.

In reality, though, because of his chakra, it was hard to say whether he could fight a jonin head-on. He might have more chakra than an average chunin, but he probably had less than an elite chunin.

Lying back in the tub, Li Tong opened the Reputation Shop again.

Li Tong currently had thirteen thousand reputation points. Three thousand came from killing sixty-seven people over the past half month and completing various achievements and story events. The remaining ten thousand had come from one of the rewards for the kill.

Li Tong still had two cards he could use on the Reputation Shop. A Lock Card could lock one item in the shop, preventing it from changing for a month. In other words, if Li Tong locked an item, each time the shop refreshed, only the other nine items would change.

Then there was the Reputation Shop Refresh Card, which forced the shop to refresh once.

"Oh, right! There's still a reward from that kill."

As he spoke, Li Tong took the A-rank Random Ninjutsu Card out of Item Space.

"Spirits above, hear my prayer and bless me!" Li Tong chanted, flicking his wrist. The card spun through the air, angled into a roof beam, bounced off, then spun back into his hand.

With great ceremony, Li Tong raised the card, closed his eyes, and bit down hard.

"Ding! The host has randomly obtained the A-rank forbidden technique, Rasengan!"

"Rasengan!" Li Tong's eyes flew open.

It was the signature ninjutsu of the original protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki! It had been developed by his father, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Li Tong's eyes shone with delight. It wasn't because the technique was especially powerful, but because he could use it!

Although it was an A-rank ninjutsu, its power came from the tearing force created by compressing and spinning chakra, not from changing chakra's nature. The Rasengan's strength depended entirely on how fast it spun. In other words, the technique relied completely on skill to unleash its power, not on the amount of chakra.

And Li Tong had gained the ability to use the Rasengan by eating the card. The rules had directly granted him the necessary skills, so he didn't need to train to master the technique of spinning chakra at high speed.

The Rasengan had been classified as a forbidden technique because its skills were so difficult to master that it could easily explode right in the user's hand.

That wasn't a problem for Li Tong at all!

"Ha! An A-rank ninjutsu! The Rasengan! Hahaha!" Li Tong laughed for two reasons. First, it was one of the most powerful close-combat techniques. Second, the technique didn't exist in the current world of Naruto!

In other words, Li Tong could use it openly, and it would be his own original technique!

Splash...

Li Tong excitedly sent water flying from the tub.

Whoosh!

A figure suddenly appeared in front of the tub, staring at Li Tong with an utterly impassive gaze.

White Fang!

He had arrived without warning!

Li Tong jumped in fright. He froze with his arms raised, splashing water in excitement, then quickly wrapped his arms around his shoulders and sank back into the water. He looked at White Fang as if he were a pervert, acting as though he feared White Fang might assault him.

"Lord White Fang, couldn't you knock before coming in?" Li Tong said.

"How did you kill the Sickle Without Hook?" White Fang asked bluntly, wasting no time.

"Who?" Li Tong pretended to be confused, his heart giving a jolt.

Had White Fang figured out that guy was an elite jonin? No way. The corpse had been stabbed into a mangled mess. But if he hadn't, why would White Fang come here to ask him about this?

"He was an elite jonin, a professional assassin hired through the Black Market! How did you kill him?"

So White Fang knew!

Li Tong immediately put on an extremely shocked expression, blinking at White Fang in disbelief before exclaiming, "An elite jonin?"

"Yes!"

"How do you know he was an elite jonin, Lord White Fang? That's impossible. Your analysis must be wrong. How could I possibly kill an elite jonin?"

"It wasn't an analysis. I knew him!"

"What?"

"I—I knew him!"

"Damn it!" Li Tong nearly cursed aloud. His mouth twitched. How could he be so unlucky? He'd killed an elite jonin, and White Fang had known him?

He should've checked his horoscope today.

"Answer my question. How did you kill him?" White Fang's voice turned stern.

"Uh... We were underwater, and he swallowed water."

A familiar answer.

Li Tong had said the same thing when he killed Hyuga Anan.

White Fang stared at Li Tong as if to say, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"