Takizawa Dan's smile looked absolutely terrifying to Nochi Yoshino!
"Help! Mom, I wanna go home!!!"
In an instant, Nochi Yoshino was so scared he nearly wet himself. He tried to run away without a second thought.
But Takizawa Dan merely bent forward a little, then shouted:
"Ha!"
At Takizawa Dan's roar, Nochi Yoshino, a huge ball of flesh, was lifted clean off the ground!
Every examinee was stunned!
What the heck? Nochi Yoshino had to weigh at least a hundred and fifty pounds with all that fat!
At thirteen or fourteen, they'd struggle to carry someone that heavy even with all their strength. And he'd lifted him with one hand!?
But Takizawa Dan had done it!
And that wasn't even the extent of the shock Takizawa Dan gave them!
He suddenly raised his arm, then swung it to the side!
Nochi Yoshino's body swung back and forth above Takizawa Dan's head like a giant sandbag, just like...
The magic of love, spinning round and round!
Finally, Takizawa Dan released his grip with a sharp swing:
Whoosh—
Nochi Yoshino was flung away with tremendous force. Like a kite with its string cut, he flew a good thirty or forty meters before crashing headfirst into a wall behind him with a tremendous boom.
More than half his body was embedded in the wall!
Everyone in the exam hall felt the ground beneath their feet shake violently, as if there'd been an earthquake.
That showed just how terrifying the force of that blow had been!
Everyone was stunned!!!
"M-Medical team! Hurry, get over there and save him!"
The referee froze for a moment before shouting.
Two medical ninja in white coats hurried forward with a stretcher.
The medical ninja hadn't come onto the field before. The earlier fights had been intense, but no one had been injured badly enough to need to be carried away.
After all, they were all from the same village, and many of them were friends. It wouldn't have been right to deal a lethal blow to someone on the field.
Who would've thought Takizawa Dan's match would be the first time the medical ninja had to make an appearance?
Up in the stands.
"This kid... didn't he have no chakra at all? How could he hold on to Nochi Yoshino so firmly? He even threw him that far!"
Saga, one of Konoha's high-ranking officials, watched the scene in disbelief.
Chakra was essential to a ninja not only because it let them use jutsu, but because it was the foundation of everything they did!
With chakra, ninjas could walk on water, run up trees, strengthen their bodies, and lift heavy objects...
Even Rock Lee had plenty of chakra in his body to use jutsu like the Front Lotus. He simply had no talent for ninjutsu, genjutsu, and the like.
Even the ninjas in the anime could teleport and run and leap freely across tree branches in the forest thanks to chakra enhancing their bodies!
If Takizawa Dan had been a ninja with chakra, it would've been easy to accept that he could grab Nochi Yoshino and throw him.
But... he didn't have any chakra at all. How had he done it!?
"No, Saga. Takizawa Dan didn't use chakra."
Tsunade had been watching the match from beginning to end. Hearing Saga's question, she shook her head.
She didn't have Sasuke's Sharingan, which could see the flow of chakra, but she was a top medical ninja in her own right. She could tell how chakra was distributed in someone's body at a glance.
Throughout the match, Takizawa Dan had stood there like an ordinary person, without the slightest trace of chakra surging through him.
"He... didn't use chakra!?" Saga was completely dumbfounded. Tsunade was young, but her strength spoke for itself, so he trusted what she said. "Then... how did he beat Nochi Yoshino?"
"It's simple. Strength... pure strength!"
Tsunade took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
As she watched Takizawa Dan on the field, excitement appeared in her eyes!
If that was the case, then it also explained how he'd beaten Hyuga Niuda and Hyuga Niuer.
Perhaps, for some unknown reason, Takizawa Dan had overcome his frail constitution and become naturally strong—so strong that his physical strength alone surpassed that of his peers. He could even defeat ninjas of comparable strength who had chakra!
If that was really the case, Takizawa Dan could become her student and inherit her style of fighting with monstrous strength!
She'd decided. He would be her student!
Takizawa Dan had no idea that Tsunade had taken an interest in him and already decided he'd be her one and only student!
He simply looked down at his palm, excitement surging in his heart!
The strength his body had now was far beyond anything he'd imagined.
The system really hadn't deceived him. It had improved his frail body and bestowed top-tier ninja talent on him. The benefits were enormous!
Even without chakra, his physical abilities alone let him crush everyone his age!
And that wasn't even mentioning his ability to pick up the attributes of all things!
In this era, in this world—
Takizawa Dan was completely confident he could become the strongest ninja!
The medical ninja struggled for a long time before finally pulling most of Nochi Yoshino's body out of the wall!
Nochi Yoshino's head was split open and bleeding, and he was in a deep coma. It looked like he wouldn't wake up anytime soon.
"Referee, can you declare me the winner now?"
Takizawa Dan looked at the referee beside him and asked calmly.
The situation was obvious. Nochi Yoshino was completely unconscious and couldn't continue fighting.
This was only the Chunin Ninja Exams. In a real fight to the death, he'd probably already be dead!
"Tak... Takizawa Dan wins!"
The referee spoke in a strained voice.
After the referee announced the result, the arena fell silent.
All the examinees, and even some of the high-ranking officials, looked at the boy standing in the middle of the field with complicated expressions.
Who could've imagined this would be the outcome?
Takizawa Dan, Konoha's infamous number-one dead last, had come to take the Chunin Ninja Exams—and won his very first match with a single move!
It was undoubtedly the biggest news since Konoha was founded, and one of the greatest reversals in its history!
Takizawa Dan paid no attention to what the others thought. He nodded and prepared to leave the field.
He'd been very careful not to use any jutsu in that fight, making it look as if he'd won with physical strength alone.
He still didn't dare reveal all his trump cards if he wanted to keep growing.
But then a furious shout suddenly rang out from the stands:
"Takizawa Dan! How could someone so young be so vicious? You beat my son up like this! Have you no humanity? Have you no sense of solidarity with your fellow Konoha ninja?"
After speaking, a figure leaped down with a whoosh and landed in front of Takizawa Dan, blocking his way!
Tsunade's heart tightened in the stands.
Damn it, how had she not thought of this?
The person blocking Takizawa Dan was a middle-aged male ninja wearing a combat vest.
His name was Noji Daishi, one of the jonin assigned to maintain order at the event.
Exams like this required ninjas to be assigned to supervise and guard against accidents. It wouldn't do to have Lord Hokage or the other high-ranking officials handle everything themselves, would it?
Noji Daishi was one of the people assigned to this protection detail.
But he had another identity, too: he was Nochi Yoshino's father!
As a father, he could accept seeing his son lose on the field. But Takizawa Dan had thrown him so hard he was now unconscious on a stretcher. How could Noji Daishi swallow his anger?!
So he'd come out without hesitation to berate Takizawa Dan.
He was going to stand up for his son!
Before you continue