The Big Move Went Wide

The quiet voice swept across the entire battlefield like a hurricane.

Arrogant and overbearing?

Or just crazy talk!

In the eyes of the Cloud Ninja, and even the Konoha Ninja, there was no doubt it was the latter.

Given the situation, whether in numbers or strength, they had Qin Yu trapped like a turtle in a jar.

Yet Qin Yu was making such outrageous claims. It was nothing less than a show of contempt for the Cloud Ninja.

"Just as I thought, you're an ignorant brat. Today, we'll see how you plan to kill us."

"Hmph. Kill him first and show him what a real gap in strength looks like."

"A Chunin's first lesson on the battlefield is how to judge the difference in strength—and how to stay alive!"

"Kill him!"

A Cloud Ninja roared, whipping out a kunai and charging forward first.

The squad right behind him moved at once.

In an instant, seven or eight men came charging toward Qin Yu at full speed.

"Qin Yu, watch out!" Shizune cried anxiously.

But Uzuki Cangwu, standing beside her, suddenly shrank his pupils.

Facing the seven men closing in at speed, Qin Yu showed no sign of dodging. His hands blurred as he formed a string of hand seals at an astonishing pace.

"Uzuki, isn't that your Lightning Release: Falling Thunder Technique?" Inubou cried out.

"Has he lost his mind? He's trying to use Falling Thunder at a time like this!" Uzuki Cangwu cried, about to leap out and help.

Rumble!

A low rumble of thunder sounded in the sky.

Qin Yu's hands abruptly stopped forming seals.

"Lightning Release: Falling Thunder Technique!"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Seven pillars of lightning suddenly blazed across the sky.

The next instant, they came crashing down at tremendous speed on the seven Cloud Ninja, who were only a dozen or so meters from Qin Yu.

They were so fast, and there were so many, that no one could react in time.

Rumble!

The seven Cloud Ninja were swallowed up by the lightning.

Its rampant destructive force overwhelmed the earth, which split apart with a crash.

Pale blue lightning illuminated the entire gorge.

The billowing dust and flying shards of rock made everyone's hearts clench.

When everything finally settled, the crater blasted open by the lightning was a good seven or eight meters across. Every Cloud Ninja was covered in blood, and some had lost limbs.

They were unquestionably dead.

"What... what kind of ninjutsu is that?"

"That looks like A-Rank Falling Thunder. Even some highly skilled jonin can only summon three bolts of lightning. How did a Chunin manage to kill all seven of He Wu's men with pinpoint accuracy?"

"There's something strange about this kid. Spread out, quickly! Don't let him pull that off again!"

The scene descended into chaos.

A moment ago, they had paid no attention to Qin Yu, convinced that a mere Chunin couldn't threaten them.

But now Qin Yu had struck, killing seven men in an instant.

That changed everything.

But compared to the Cloud Ninja, the Konoha Ninja were even more stunned.

They knew that Qin Feng had only started learning Falling Thunder three days ago.

Now he had not only mastered the A-Rank ninjutsu, he had taken it far beyond mere proficiency.

He must have grasped its underlying principles to unleash seven bolts of lightning in an instant.

A, standing atop a small hill, glanced over and said, "Don't panic. Our opponent is just an unknown Chunin. Perhaps he has some talent for Lightning Release and has grasped the principles behind this technique."

"Sato, you're skilled in Lightning Style: Body Flicker Technique. Go bring him back."

The masked Cloud Ninja who had been standing guard beside A nodded and stepped forward.

But his foot soon froze in midair.

A wave of scorching heat swept toward them.

Qin Yu's hands abruptly stopped moving. The instant the blazing chakra burst forth, it transformed into a gigantic fireball twenty or thirty meters across.

It surged through the air, crushing everything in its path!

"W-what on earth is going on?"

"Am I dreaming? Is that still the Great Fireball Technique?"

"Pfft!"

The air seemed to be pierced. Hundreds of meters vanished in the blink of an eye.

Everything in its path, whether rock or tree, instantly caught fire.

Sato had already taken a step forward. His face went deathly pale as he hurriedly retreated.

Even A and Killer B tensed up, instinctively dodging out of the way.

But at the crucial moment, the Great Fireball coming straight at them messed up.

No!

Rather, it was clearly aimed at the wrong angle. It shot skyward at a forty-five-degree angle.

Rumble!

The fireball, tens of meters across, exploded in midair.

Flames danced across the sky, illuminating half of it.

As sparks drifted down, it was like a spectacular fireworks display.

Everyone present was dumbfounded, especially the Cloud Ninja, who had been scared out of their wits and were now running for their lives.

They stared at the trench the enormous Great Fireball had carved into the ground.

The trees all around them were still burning fiercely. They could only gape, unable to process what they were seeing.

Whether it was the Lightning Release: Falling Thunder Technique just now,

or the Great Fireball now,

the power was astonishing!

He had nearly turned low-level ninjutsu into S-Class techniques.

Just imagining what would have happened if that fireball, tens of meters across, had hit them head-on was enough to make them realize they would have been reduced to bones and ash.

"Hmph. A brat who relies on empty bluster. I thought you had some real ability, but it seems your chakra is so abundant that it makes your ninjutsu mutate," A said with a cold snort.

With victory all but assured, A couldn't let his men keep embarrassing themselves in front of everyone. He had to restore their pride.

Looking at Qin Feng, whose expression remained unchanged, A said disdainfully, "Unfortunately, pursuing power for its own sake is your greatest weakness."

"A technique that can't even hit its target is useless, no matter how powerful it is. It's just like that firework display—flashy, but all show."

The Cloud Ninja's commotion gradually died down.

"Lord A is right. We can't let ourselves get rattled."

"Someone who can't even control his own ninjutsu can't possibly defeat the Cloud Ninja."

"Besides, he's just used two techniques that focus entirely on power. He must be running low on chakra. I doubt he can use more than one technique now."

"As long as we withstand his next attack, taking him down will be no problem."

The Cloud Ninja's eyes lit up as they looked at Qin Yu with renewed hostility.

"What a shame that last attack missed. Otherwise, the Cloud Ninja would have suffered huge losses."

"I never expected Qin Yu to have been hiding his abilities so well. He can take ordinary ninjutsu this far."

"Uzuki, what should we do now? Qin Yu clearly has a special talent. Besides his powerful genjutsu, he's grasped the principles behind Lightning and Fire techniques with such ease. If we entrust him to the Third Hokage for personal training, Konoha will surely gain an even more powerful shinobi in the future."

The Konoha Ninja all spoke at once.

Even Uzuki Cangwu was moved by those last words.

After the grinding battles across the three fronts, he knew all too well how much a single genius could affect the course of a war.

Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, whose reputation was at its peak, was the perfect example.

If Uchiha Qin Yu could grow to that level, he would be a powerful new asset for Konoha.