Forced into Combat, His Opponent Burst into Tears

Practical combat drills at the ninja academy had always been the little kids' most anticipated event.

But today was different. It was the annual mixed-grade melee test.

Several Earth Release arenas had been temporarily erected in the center of the field, surrounded by students and teachers from every grade.

Ever since the incident where someone had been "embedded in the wall," Sen's name had been thoroughly placed on the teachers' blacklist.

Especially among the teachers responsible for taijutsu assessments.

The way they looked at Sen was like they were watching a tiny tyrannosaur that could go berserk at any moment.

And now, it was Sen's turn to take the stage.

The taijutsu teacher acting as referee, a burly man with a full beard, stood by the arena with a grim expression.

He lowered his head to check the matchup list, then announced loudly.

"Next match! First-year Sen Senju versus sixth-year Gangzi!"

The moment those words came out, the crowd beneath the arena erupted.

"Wow! It's Senior Gangzi! He's the strongest taijutsu student in the sixth year!"

"I heard he can smash a bluestone slab with one punch!"

"They're making a first-year fight Senior Gangzi? The teachers must want that monster to learn a lesson, right?"

Amid the chatter.

A youth nearly 1.7 meters tall, his body packed with knotted muscles, leaped onto the arena like a young bull.

It was Gangzi, the sixth-year taijutsu specialist.

He rolled his wrists, his joints cracking loudly, and looked down at the crowd with an arrogant expression.

As for Sen.

He was shoved onto the arena by Ishikawa as if he were a lump of mud.

"Sen! Go! Take him down!"

Ishikawa waved his chubby fists below the stage, even more excited than if he had been fighting himself.

Naruto joined in beside him, shouting for his big brother to show the upperclassmen what he could do.

Sen stood listlessly in the center of the arena.

The sunlight shone directly on his face, warm and cozy—perfect for sleeping.

He let out a long yawn, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the "mountain of meat" across from him.

"Senior, what's the point of fighting and killing in this heat?"

Sen kept both hands in his pockets, his tone filled with utter reluctance.

"How about this? I'll just admit defeat. You get the glory, I go down and take a nap. Win-win, right?"

Gangzi's thick brows shot up when he heard that, as though he had been deeply insulted.

"Kid, quit looking down on people!"

He stomped hard, making the arena tremble slightly.

"I heard you slapped Big Bear flying? Today, I'll show you that taijutsu specialists aren't like those trash who only bully the weak and fear the strong!"

Gangzi assumed an exceptionally standard offensive stance, every muscle in his body tensing like a fully drawn bow.

Seeing this, the referee did not waste any words. He sharply swung his hand.

"Match, begin!"

The instant his words fell.

Gangzi charged at Sen with a roar like a maddened bull, kicking up a wild gust of wind!

"Die! Konoha Whirlwind!"

He sprang into the air, his right leg sweeping viciously toward Sen's head with crushing force.

If that kick landed, an ordinary first-year student would definitely be seriously injured on the spot.

The students below cried out in alarm, and some timid girls even shut their eyes.

Yet in the face of that overwhelming blow.

Sen did not even raise an eyelid.

His hands remained in his pockets as he stood there lazily, without even making a move to dodge.

Too slow.

Sen shook his head inwardly.

After fusing with the Divine Tree Origin.

He had not only gained immense chakra and terrifying physical strength.

More importantly, his very level of life had undergone a qualitative leap.

He had begun evolving from an ordinary ninja toward the highest kind of being in nature—a top predator.

Since this big idiot insisted on fighting, and Sen could not just slap him to death.

He could only use another method.

Sen raised his head slightly. His black eyes, usually heavy with sleepiness, suddenly became unfathomably deep.

A thread of predator's pressure, so faint that it could only emerge in nature's most brutal struggles for life and death.

Silently flowed out along with his gaze.

This pressure had no form, nor did it produce any chakra fluctuations.

But it acted directly upon a living creature's most primal instincts!

In midair.

Gangzi, who had been charging with unstoppable momentum and was ready to kick Sen away.

The instant his eyes met Sen's.

His mind exploded with a boom, as if lightning had struck him!

The noisy crowd, the sunlight, the arena—all of it vanished from before his eyes.

The world plunged into deathly, silent darkness.

In his subconscious.

The one standing before him was no longer a six-year-old child.

It was a gigantic man-eating tree that blotted out the sky, radiating an ancient and horrifying aura!

Its branches danced wildly like countless venomous snakes.

A bottomless bloody maw split open in its trunk, dripping nauseating slime as it stared fixedly at him!

An irresistible tremor rising from the depths of his soul instantly froze the blood in Gangzi's body!

He could even smell the stench of death rushing straight at him!

"Ah—!"

A shriek more miserable than a pig being slaughtered suddenly rang across the entire field.

Gangzi, who had only made it halfway through his charge, was like a quail spotted by an eagle.

He forcibly twisted his body in midair, striking an absurdly awkward pose.

Bang!

He crashed heavily onto the arena and scrambled backward on hands and feet.

He did not stop until his back hit the edge of the platform and there was nowhere left to retreat.

Everyone beneath the arena was dumbfounded.

What had they just seen?

Gangzi, the taijutsu specialist hailed as the strongest in the sixth year, had charged forward with such imposing force just moments ago.

Why had he suddenly acted as if he had seen a ghost, fallen down by himself, and let out such a pig-slaughtering scream?

"Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

Gangzi clutched his head in both hands and curled tightly into the corner.

His entire body shook violently as though he had been electrocuted, and a large patch around his crotch was already soaked.

Huge tears mixed with snot, smearing across his entire face.

He actually... actually burst into loud sobs.

"Help! Teacher, save me! There's a monster! A man-eating monster!"

Gangzi cried as he desperately stretched out a trembling hand toward the referee.

His collapsed appearance was more pitiful than that of a three-year-old child.

The entire field fell silent.

Only Gangzi's heart-wrenching cries echoed across the grounds.

The referee's hand, still holding the whistle, froze in midair.

He looked at Gangzi, curled up in the corner and crying his eyes out.

Then he looked at Sen Senju, standing in the middle of the arena with both hands in his pockets, not having moved even a millimeter.

The referee felt like his brain was not working properly.

"W-What... what happened?"

"Genjutsu? Impossible! That kid didn't even use any chakra!"

The students below exchanged glances, completely unable to understand what had happened.

Naruto scratched his blond hair, looking utterly bewildered.

"Big Brother is way too awesome, isn't he? He scared someone into wetting himself without even moving?"

Sasuke's brow furrowed tightly as he stared at Sen on the arena, a deep wariness flashing through his eyes.

"Not even the Sharingan caught any trace of chakra... What exactly did he do?"

On the arena.

Sen looked at the big guy in the corner, who was crying so hard he was nearly passing out.

He sighed helplessly.

He had only released the tiniest bit of pressure, intending to make his opponent retreat in the face of difficulty.

Who would have thought that this hulking brute, who looked so tough and sturdy, had such poor mental resilience?

He had completely broken down from fright.

Well, that's just great. I originally wanted to quietly admit defeat.

With things like this, keeping a low profile will probably be impossible now.

Sen withdrew that trace of pressure.

He slowly walked to the edge of the arena, looked at the referee who was still standing there in a daze, and spread his hands.

"Teacher, it seems he's suddenly come down with some terrible illness."

Sen pointed at Gangzi in the corner, his tone exceptionally innocent.

"Does this count as my win, or is it a draw?"