Became a Chunin

While the Central Tower was in an uproar, a Jonin suddenly appeared before everyone. His powerful chakra and killing intent filled the air, and the whole place fell silent at once.

The Jonin gave everyone a cold look and said flatly, "Does anyone want to withdraw? The next stage is individual combat. Withdrawing won't affect your teammates."

Clearly, his words hadn't intimidated anyone. Everyone stayed silent, and no one withdrew.

The Jonin didn't seem to mind. "Next, I'll draw your names. Whoever I call will step forward and fight. I'll be the referee. If I decide you've lost, I'll stop the fight!"

Soon, the Jonin disappeared from sight. Someone had already started drawing names from the highest point. They quickly pulled out two slips, glanced at them, and began calling the names.

Those whose names were called stayed behind, while everyone else made their way to the stairs in the tower.

Li Yi looked around too. The Genin here were pretty good, but they were still far behind him, so he quickly lost interest.

Still, the dull selection process had to continue. The Jonin in the stands would judge whether each candidate was fit to become a Chunin based on the results of their matches.

At last, Li Yi's name was called. He jumped down from the stands. His opponent was a Hyuuga Clan Genin named Hyuga Kaze.

Hyuga Kaze had already activated his Byakugan and was staring at Li Yi.

The Jonin appeared and announced, "Begin!"

Then he used the Body Flicker Technique to move off to the side.

Li Yi knew he couldn't afford to fight a member of the Hyuga Clan at close range. The Byakugan could see chakra flow, and combined with their Gentle Fist, it could easily counter him.

Until he had chakra on the level of a Tailed Beast, he'd better not get hit by the Gentle Fist. Just look at Naruto.

After jumping back a good distance, Li Yi began forming Hand Seals. Hyuga Kaze was already charging at him, striking from afar with a palm.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Li Yi opened his mouth and sent a huge ball of fire hurtling toward Hyuga Kaze.

Hyuga Kaze didn't dodge at all. Chakra seemed to burst from his entire body, its pale blue glow like a sharp blade. It sliced straight through Li Yi's Great Fireball Technique and kept charging toward him.

The confines of the arena worked against Li Yi, leaving him no choice but to run to the side. At the same time, he formed Hand Seals and called out, "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Technique!"

As a fire dragon shot toward Hyuga Kaze, his expression finally changed, and he began dodging. Li Yi stopped and rapidly formed Hand Seals. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!"

One small fireball after another appeared and flew toward Hyuga Kaze in an erratic pattern.

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

A pale blue hemispherical shell of chakra enveloped him, deflecting all of Li Yi's Fire Style attacks.

Li Yi hadn't expected his opponent to be able to use Rotation. This guy was a genius ninja of the Hyuga Clan.

And if he knew Rotation, there was a good chance he also knew the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

That made Li Yi even less willing to let him get close.

Seeing Hyuga Kaze charge at him again, Li Yi ran in circles. As he moved, he drew Ryujin Jakka from his back. With a swing of his arm, Konoha Style: Willow was underway.

Hyuga Kaze froze for a moment. Li Yi had already leaped into the air and brought his sword down at him.

Just then, Hyuga Kaze suddenly began spinning. Chakra surged from his body once more, forming a translucent sphere that sent Li Yi flying.

Li Yi was stunned. His Konoha Style: Willow had been countered. Then he remembered that Hyuga Kaze had the Byakugan, which could see the flow of his chakra. If he tried using an illusion, his opponent would be ready for it. He'd been baited.

Sure enough, Hyuga Kaze suddenly charged at Li Yi. Li Yi had only just gotten back up, and Hyuga Kaze was already grinning. He'd finally caught up to him.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Hyuga Kaze unleashed one stream of chakra after another, targeting the pressure points all over Li Yi's body.

Li Yi formed Hand Seals, completely unfazed. He drew in a sharp breath and shouted, "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

A vast sea of flames burst from Li Yi's mouth and engulfed Hyuga Kaze.

Hyuga Kaze's Eight Trigrams Palm strikes were swallowed up by the flames. He was shocked. How could a Genin unleash such powerful Fire Style?

Of course, Li Yi's Great Fire Annihilation was nothing compared to Uchiha Madara's. At best, it was a smaller sea of flames, and he hadn't even added a change in chakra nature.

The Jonin suddenly appeared in front of Hyuga Kaze. After forming Hand Seals, he pressed one hand to the ground and called out, "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"

Walls of earth, each like a castle rampart, rose one after another, instantly blocking Li Yi's sea of flames.

Li Yi also stopped channeling his chakra. Even for him, using Great Fire Annihilation had consumed two-thirds of his chakra.

"Li Yi wins!" the Jonin announced after removing his Earth Release: Earth Wall.

Li Yi nodded and jumped back up onto the stands. Hyuga Kaze glanced at him, then left as well.

The matches continued, with names drawn and fights underway, but Li Yi was done. He requested permission to leave. Whether he would become a Chunin still depended on the Jonin's decision.

Clearly, the Jonin had approved of Li Yi's Fire Style. He successfully became a Konoha Chunin and received the distinctive little flak jacket worn by Konoha Chunin.

Li Yi thought the vest looked absolutely awful, but it was the standard uniform for Chunin, and it offered some protection against injury.

Kosuke was happy to see Li Yi promoted to Chunin. After living together for so long, Kosuke had come to look after Li Yi like his own little brother. Seeing him promoted made him proud, too.

To celebrate, the two of them went out for a meal at a barbecue restaurant in Konoha.

Back home, Kosuke said, "Little Yi, you're a Chunin now. The village may assign you some dangerous missions, so be careful. Don't end up like me. I'm a cautionary tale."

Li Yi nodded. Of course he knew that being a Chunin was different from being a Genin. There were strict requirements, including a quota of missions each year, and sometimes the village would assign missions by force. Those missions were like opening a blind box: if you were lucky, nothing happened; if you weren't, you'd end up on the Memorial Stone.

"I won't say much more. From now on, you're a real ninja," Kosuke said, patting Li Yi on the shoulder. He sounded deeply moved. After all, he'd watched Li Yi grow into a ninja.