Take the Scroll by Force

"Cough, cough. Shouldn't we look for the Heaven Scroll first?" one of his teammates asked.

Li Yi paused at his teammate's words. "No need. We just wait at the entrance and take the scrolls from whoever shows up. That'll be enough."

That left the two of them stunned. Easy for you to say. We know that's an option, but with our skills, are we really going to rob people? We'd be handing out charity, wouldn't we?

If the two of them had actually been strong, they wouldn't have been left behind.

Knowing how weak his teammates were, Li Yi didn't say much more. "Just hide when the time comes. As long as you don't get in my way, I'll carry you."

Li Yi wasn't bragging. With his current abilities, he was seriously overpowered among the Genin. Never mind the Rasengan and such—his genjutsu, Fire Style, and Taijutsu were all top-notch. Even if the Konoha 12 showed up later, Li Yi could handle them.

Of course, that didn't include cheat-code Naruto. That guy might unleash the Nine-Tails at any moment, and Li Yi really couldn't deal with that.

Before long, Li Yi and the others arrived and hid in a spot they'd chosen. Not long after, another group showed up and hid the same way.

Li Yi grinned. Looks like there are plenty of others with the same idea.

But Li Yi wasn't worried in the slightest. His chakra reserves couldn't compare to those of people like Uzumaki Naruto, who had special physiques, but among ninja, he still had a fairly large supply. As for why, Li Yi figured it might be because he had so much spiritual energy.

And so, whenever a team tried to enter the tower, Li Yi planned to make his move. He ignored the teams hiding nearby. At last, a ninja team rushed toward the tower. Their clothes were still somewhat disheveled, so they had probably just been through a fight.

Li Yi jumped out. He didn't wait for anyone else to make a move, nor did he plan to sit back and reap the benefits. He had confidence in himself.

When they saw Li Yi blocking their way, the three Genin immediately formed a combat formation. The Genin of Konoha at the time were still very well trained.

They didn't panic, either. Clearly, they'd already expected someone to try to intercept them.

Some of the others who'd been preparing to jump out saw Li Yi charge forward first and held back. Who wouldn't want to sit back and reap the benefits?

"Hand over the scrolls you have, and you'll still have a chance to take someone else's," Li Yi said bluntly.

It was obvious that two sentences wouldn't be enough to make them obediently hand over their scrolls.

"Be careful. He doesn't look simple. I'll attack him with Taijutsu. Xiaomei, use genjutsu to distract him. Saki, attack with ninjutsu!" In the blink of an eye, the three Genin had worked out a plan. One of them, a spiky-haired man, issued the orders.

"Tsuruta, watch yourself!" Xiaomei warned him, then began forming Hand Seals to cast a genjutsu.

Li Yi broke Xiaomei's genjutsu with just a quick hand sign. By then, Saki had finished her Hand Seals, and an Earth Spike shot up from the ground toward Li Yi.

Li Yi leaped to the side and drew Ryujin Jakka at the same time, swinging it in a sweeping strike. Tsuruta, who had used the Konoha Whirlwind, was sent flying.

"What?" Saki cried out. Tsuruta was strong even among the Genin when it came to Taijutsu, yet the Konoha Whirlwind had been swept aside in an instant. Xiaomei's genjutsu hadn't worked at all, and her own ninjutsu hadn't even wounded their opponent.

"Genjutsu: Shackles of the Heart Technique!" Li Yi had already formed the Hand Seals. In no time, he cast the genjutsu on Xiaomei, whose eyes widened in terror as she seemed to fall into some kind of trance.

Saki was just about to warn her teammate when Li Yi kicked out, using the very same Konoha Whirlwind Tsuruta had used moments ago.

With no other choice, Saki raised her arm to block. A powerful force sent her flying.

Li Yi had already taken two scrolls from Xiaomei. He leaped backward.

Tsuruta charged over, but it was too late. Li Yi took the Heaven Scroll, tossed down the Earth Scroll, and ran toward the tower.

Seeing Li Yi snatch his team's scroll, Tsuruta was furious, but he knew their opponent was much stronger than they were. At least he'd left them the Earth Scroll, hadn't he?

"Go!" Two voices rang out. Clearly, there were still teams lying in wait nearby, all thinking the same thing as Li Yi. Seeing him grab the scroll and run, they naturally moved to intercept him.

Six people jumped out at once. Li Yi didn't slow down at all. As he ran, he formed Hand Seals and called, "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Technique!"

It was a C-rank Fire Style jutsu. Li Yi instantly breathed a stream of fire from his mouth, sending it rushing forward. Seeing the fire dragon, the six had no choice but to dodge to either side.

At the same time, they hurled Kunai and shuriken with impressive coordination.

Li Yi threw a few Kunai as well. After striking some of the incoming Kunai and shuriken, they knocked them off course and sent them flying back toward their attackers.

"Uchiha Shurikenjutsu?" someone cried out. They'd seen Uchiha clan members throw Kunai at school, and there was something uncanny about the way they did it.

Coupled with the Fire Style Li Yi had used, they assumed he was an Uchiha.

Li Yi had no intention of stopping. After breaking through their line, he let out a long shout to signal his two teammates that it was time to leave.

His two teammates had been completely dumbfounded. Was this guy really that strong? He'd taken on three Genin teams, and none of them had been able to stop him.

But their shock soon turned to delight. With Li Yi this strong, they'd passed this round. Maybe they could even become Chunin one day.

The tower wasn't far from where his two teammates had been hiding, so they arrived soon after. Once they were there, they counted as the first team to enter the tower. Li Yi opened the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, and a ninja jumped out and explained the rules. Li Yi and the others had passed the preliminary round.

Gradually, more and more ninja entered the tower. Those who failed to arrive by the deadline were eliminated.

Li Yi took a look. At least fifteen Genin teams had made it, which meant a minimum of forty-five Genin had passed the preliminary round.

The Chunin selection exam definitely wouldn't let all of them pass. Chunin were already a village's backbone. As long as the higher-ups weren't idiots, they wouldn't make such a reckless decision.