Genin

Just as the central tower was filled with a noisy clamor, a jonin suddenly appeared before the crowd. A powerful surge of chakra and killing intent radiated from him, and the scene fell silent at once.

The jonin cast a cold glance at everyone and said indifferently, "Is there anyone who wishes to withdraw? The next stage will be one-on-one combat. Withdrawing will not affect your teammates."

Clearly, the jonin's words did not intimidate anyone; they all remained silent, and no one stepped forward to quit.

The jonin did not mind, saying, "Next, your names will be drawn. Whoever is called must step forward to fight. I will be the referee, and when I deem you defeated, I will stop the match!"

Soon, the jonin vanished from everyone's sight. At the very top, someone had already begun drawing lots, and after quickly checking two slips of paper, they began to call out names.

Those whose names were called remained, while the others filed toward the stairs of the tower.

Li Yi watched as well. The quality of the genin at this time was decent, but compared to him, there was still a significant gap, so after a cursory look, he lost interest.

However, this tedious selection tournament had to continue. The jonin in the viewing gallery would judge whether each individual was qualified to become a chunin based on the results of the matches.

Finally, it was Li Yi's turn. He leaped down from the gallery. His opponent was a genin from the Hyuga clan named Hyuga Kaze.

At this moment, Hyuga Kaze had already activated his Byakugan, staring fixedly at Li Yi.

The jonin appeared and said, "Begin!"

With that, he vanished to the side using the Body Flicker Technique.

Li Yi knew that when fighting someone from the Hyuga clan, one could not get close. After all, the Byakugan could see the flow of chakra, and combined with their Gentle Fist, it was very easy to be countered.

Unless he possessed Tailed Beast-level chakra, it was best not to get hit by the Gentle Fist; one only had to look at Naruto to understand why.

After leaping to a certain distance, Li Yi began to weave hand signs. By then, Hyuga Kaze had already charged toward him, striking out with a palm from a distance.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Li Yi opened his mouth, and a massive fireball surged toward Hyuga Kaze.

Hyuga Kaze did not dodge in the slightest. His entire body seemed to be emitting chakra; the pale blue energy acted like a sharp blade, slicing directly through Li Yi's Great Fireball Technique and continuing to charge at him.

The arena restricted Li Yi's movement, forcing him to run to the side while weaving hand signs with both hands. He shouted, "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Technique!"

As a fire dragon surged toward Hyuga Kaze, the fellow finally changed his expression and began to dodge. Li Yi stopped, his hands moving rapidly through signs as he said, "Fire Style: Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!"

Small fireballs appeared, flying toward Hyuga Kaze in irregular patterns.

At this, Hyuga Kaze gritted his teeth and shouted, "Rotation!"

Instantly, a pale blue sphere of chakra enveloped Hyuga Kaze, deflecting all of Li Yi's fire techniques.

Li Yi hadn't expected his opponent to be able to perform Rotation. Good grief, this was truly a genius ninja of the Hyuga clan.

Since he knew Rotation, he likely knew the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms as well.

That made Li Yi even more determined not to let him get close.

Seeing Hyuga Kaze charging at him again, Li Yi ran in a circle while unsheathing Ryujin Jakka from his back. With a flick of his arm, he unleashed Konoha Style: Willow.

Hyuga Kaze paused for a moment, and Li Yi leaped up, slashing his blade toward him.

Just then, Hyuga Kaze suddenly began to spin, his chakra erupting once more to form a translucent sphere that sent Li Yi flying backward.

Li Yi was shocked; his Konoha Style: Willow had actually been broken. He realized that since his opponent possessed the Byakugan and could see through his chakra flow, any genjutsu he attempted would surely be anticipated. He had been played.

Indeed, Hyuga Kaze suddenly charged at Li Yi. As Li Yi scrambled to his feet, Hyuga Kaze smiled, thinking he had finally caught him.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Hyuga Kaze unleashed streams of chakra, attacking Li Yi's various pressure points.

Li Yi wove hand signs, not panicking in the slightest. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

A vast sea of fire erupted from Li Yi's mouth, engulfing Hyuga Kaze.

The Eight Trigrams strikes Hyuga Kaze had unleashed were completely swallowed by the sea of flames. Hyuga Kaze was stunned; how could a mere genin like him unleash such a powerful fire technique?

Of course, the Great Fire Annihilation Li Yi performed could not compare to Uchiha Madara's; at best, it was a smaller sea of fire, and it didn't even incorporate nature transformation.

At that moment, the jonin suddenly appeared in front of Hyuga Kaze. After weaving hand signs, he pressed a hand to the ground and said, "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

Instantly, walls resembling a fortress appeared, shielding Hyuga Kaze from Li Yi's sea of fire.

Li Yi withdrew his chakra; even for him, performing the Great Fire Annihilation had drained two-thirds of his internal reserves.

"Li Yi wins!" the jonin announced after dispelling his Earth Wall.

Li Yi nodded and leaped back to the gallery. Hyuga Kaze glanced at Li Yi before departing.

Next came more draws and battles, but Li Yi was no longer involved. He requested to leave, knowing that whether he became a chunin would depend on the jonin's decision.

Clearly, Li Yi's fire techniques had earned the approval of the jonin, and he successfully became a Konoha chunin, receiving the signature chunin tactical vest.

Putting on the vest, Li Yi thought it looked hideous, but it was the standard-issue uniform for all chunin and provided a certain level of protection.

Kosuke was happy to see Li Yi successfully promoted. After living together for so long, Kosuke had come to look after Li Yi like a younger brother, and he felt gratified by his promotion.

To celebrate, the two of them had a meal at a yakiniku restaurant in Konoha.

Back home, Kosuke said, "Xiao Yi, now that you're a chunin, the village might assign you some dangerous missions. You must be careful. Don't be like me; I'm a negative example."

Li Yi nodded. He knew that chunin were not like genin; there were strict quotas and requirements for missions every year. Sometimes the village even assigned mandatory missions, which were like opening a blind box—if you were lucky, you'd be fine, but if you were unlucky, you'd end up on the memorial stone.

"I won't say too much more. From now on, you are a true ninja," Kosuke said, patting Li Yi on the shoulder with a sigh, having watched him grow into a ninja himself.