Test (2)

Mirai Uchiha did not answer immediately upon hearing this. He looked up at the sky; it was nearly noon, and if they fought one by one, it would likely delay lunch. With this in mind, Li lowered his head, glanced at Minato Namikaze, and then looked toward the others who had no intention of moving, saying indifferently, "To save time, you had all better come at me together. From here on out, I will judge during the battle whether you are qualified to become a ninja!"

A breeze brushed past, causing the leaves to rustle and Li's long hair to flutter slightly. At this moment, everyone was dumbfounded; they had not expected Li to want to take them all on at once.

"Oh? Is that the brat known as the number one genius of Konoha? He's got quite a bit of spirit!"

In the nearby forest, the Third Hokage and Jiraiya stood on a tree branch. Jiraiya was holding a pair of binoculars to observe the situation in the Training Ground. After three years, Jiraiya had finished his travels and returned to Konoha some time ago. Having heard the rumors about Li, he had been filled with curiosity.

"Heh, this child is much stronger than you, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were back in the day!" The Third Hokage smiled, then narrowed his eyes, his smile fading. After a moment of contemplation, he added, "It's just that this child's temper is very arrogant, and his mindset is extremely mature. He sees through certain things very clearly; I fear his heart is not entirely with Konoha!"

"Old man, aren't you overthinking it? The kid is only nine years old. Besides, since he's been hailed as the number one genius of Konoha, it's only natural for him to be arrogant, isn't it?" Jiraiya curled his lip slightly, lowered the binoculars, and looked at the Third Hokage with dissatisfaction. This was the one thing he disliked about the Third Hokage—even if it was for the sake of Konoha, he shouldn't go around suspecting others, especially when the person in question was just a nine-year-old child.

"Hmm, perhaps I am overthinking it. This child hasn't made any mistakes so far!" The Third Hokage heard the dissatisfaction in Jiraiya's tone and nodded awkwardly. He was quite fond of his three disciples; unlike Li, Jiraiya and the others—with the exception of Tsunade—were war orphans, and since Tsunade's grandfather was his teacher, those three were his true disciples. This was something Li could not compare to.

"I just hope this child doesn't become the second Madara Uchiha."

"Mirai Uchiha, isn't your tone a bit too big? Do you really think you can defeat all of us by yourself?"

The Training Ground was already in an uproar. Minato Namikaze and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were still able to keep their cool, but the Hyuga brothers and Uchiha Fugaku could not. It was Hizashi Hyuga who spoke; the brothers were full of murderous intent, glaring with rage. Uchiha Fugaku's face was also livid. Uchiha Mikoto, however, was confused; she didn't understand why the Hyuga brothers and Uchiha Fugaku looked so grim, as in her heart, Li was already that powerful.

"Enough talk. Whether you have the ability or not will be seen later. Defeating me is not a prerequisite for becoming a ninja, but if you can't even beat me, you might lose your qualification to be promoted!" Li glanced indifferently at the Hyuga brothers, his scarlet Sharingan showing no fluctuation.

"Fine, today let me see just how strong you've become in these three years!" Hizashi Hyuga snorted. He had been defeated by Li once back at the academy and had held a grudge ever since. Hearing Li's words, he could no longer hold back, assumed an Eight Trigrams Palms stance, and charged at Li.

"Hizashi, be careful!" Hyuga Hiashi was startled; it was too late to stop him, so he followed in Hizashi Hyuga's footsteps while calling out a warning.

Slap! Slap! Bang!

After only a few simple exchanges, Li grabbed the heads of the Hyuga brothers with one hand each and slammed them directly into the ground. The immense force shook the dirt into the air, and Hizashi Hyuga and Hyuga Hiashi rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot.

"Although the Hyuga Clan is famous for its taijutsu, your amateur Eight Trigrams Palms are still too green!" Li stood up, looked at the others who hadn't moved, and said indifferently, "I said it before: if you don't all attack together, you won't have a single chance!"

Two elite genin had been taken down in seconds. Those who hadn't moved were shocked, and Minato Namikaze's expression darkened. He had thought the gap between them had narrowed over the last three years, but now it seemed wider than ever.

"So amazing, as expected of Brother Li!" Uchiha Mikoto, that little girl, didn't seem to grasp the situation and actually cheered softly.

"Damn it, this guy Li is actually this strong!" Uchiha Fugaku's face was gloomy. He hadn't expected that the gap between people who grew up together could be so vast.

This time, without Li having to say a word, the others began to act. They had decided to join forces; the recent events had made it clear that Li had the power to instantly defeat any one of them.

"Multi-Size Technique!" Choza Akimichi was the first to act. One of his chubby arms instantly grew to the size of a giant's, and he punched toward Li.

Shikaku Nara hid behind Choza Akimichi the moment he attacked, while Inoichi Yamanaka moved around, looking for an opening. Although Uchiha Fugaku didn't want to team up with others, he feared being taken out by Li in an instant, so he circled behind Li to coordinate the attack. He began weaving hand signs—it was the seal for the Great Fireball Technique. After three years, both Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto had mastered this Ninjutsu.

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!"

"Wind Release, Great Breakthrough!"

Minato Namikaze was clever; knowing that a single Ninjutsu wouldn't cause much damage to Li, he arrived in front of Uchiha Fugaku just as he unleashed the Great Fireball Technique and added a C-rank Wind Release. With the wind fueling the fire, the power of the Great Fireball doubled instantly.

"Interesting!" Li turned around, jumped back several times to dodge the Shadow Possession Technique from Shikaku Nara, and quickly wove hand signs. With Li's current speed, he could perform at least five signs per second. In the blink of an eye, he finished the sequence: "Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

It was the same Great Fireball, but its power was many times greater than Uchiha Fugaku's. Li's fireball was at least a meter and a half wide, while Uchiha Fugaku's was not even a meter. Fortunately, with the help of Minato Namikaze's Wind Release, the two collided, creating a violent explosion that canceled each other out as billowing smoke spread across the field.

"Here he comes!"

Within the thick smoke, a pair of scarlet eyes were moving rapidly. Uchiha Fugaku's expression changed, and Minato Namikaze also noticed the situation. Knowing that Li was closing in, they didn't hesitate and retreated rapidly.