Do You Think You Deserve My Full Strength?

For the next month, Ebisu kept challenging Uchiha Ling.

Ebisu, whose name had managed to remain in the original story, clearly had something going for him. He was like some fleeting name in the history books—perhaps, in life, he had been an important figure capable of deciding the fate of tens of thousands.

Since he couldn't resist, he might as well enjoy it.

During every sparring class, Uchiha Ling seriously practiced the basics with Ebisu.

He suppressed his Chakra, extracted half of it each time, sent it into his muscles, and sparred with Ebisu using pure Taijutsu.

Straight punches, hooks, front kicks, side kicks, snap kicks, knee strikes, shuffling steps, sliding steps...

Before long, Uchiha Ling discovered a little trick.

Taijutsu actually began with footwork.

Whenever Uchiha Ling changed his footwork, he could suppress Ebisu even while using very little Chakra.

Forward, backward, left, and right sliding steps, rushing steps, retreating steps, circling steps, crossing steps, triangular steps, feint steps, stance-switching steps...

He discovered a new source of fun: practicing these steps with the basics instead of using White Fang Flow Body Technique.

Of course, during practice, he couldn't let his mouth rest.

"Ebisu! How did your legs get weak at such a young age? No way. Did you discover the secret of men?"

"Your family must be pretty rich. This is the seventh pair of glasses I've broken this month, isn't it? What's wrong? Is Teacher Huìdài about to be expelled from the school? Are you planning to open an eyeglass shop?"

"After raising a useless son like you, your father really ought to be fired!"

"Ebisu, help me check whether I stepped in dog shit today."

A large foot slammed into Ebisu's face and sent him flying.

Ebisu climbed to his feet with a footprint still stamped on his face.

"Don't move. Let me get a good look at that shoe print on your face... Damn, I must have stepped on chewing gum."

Ebisu said nothing. He wiped his face and charged at Ebisu again.

The students witnessed a bizarre sight.

Even after Teacher Yamano called a halt to the sparring, Uchiha Ling would still practice with Ebisu off to the side.

The two of them seemed tireless as they studied every movement the other made.

Until the final week of the End of Term.

"Teacher! I want to challenge Uchiha Ling!"

Uchiha Ling walked to the center of the field and looked at the unyielding Ebisu.

"Ebisu, I've been using you as a whetstone all this time. You no longer have any value.

"I've mastered all the basics you claim to know, and I'm even better at them than you.

"This is our last spar. Are you prepared?"

The words were somewhat harsh, but Uchiha Ling's eyes held a rare hint of gentleness.

After sparring for so long, Uchiha Ling had developed his fundamentals by practicing with Ebisu.

Ebisu pushed up his new sunglasses and said, "Skinny Pole, I know. This is my last challenge against you."

Uchiha Ling and Asuma Sarutobi had a Wager. Asuma Sarutobi had said he would defeat Uchiha Ling in the Final Exams.

Ebisu had completed the task his father had assigned him. He had held out until the End of Term and bought Asuma Sarutobi enough time.

During this period, whenever Uchiha Ling encountered Asuma Sarutobi on the road, he would taunt him a few times without disrupting Asuma Sarutobi's training rhythm.

Ebisu could do no more.

The corner of Ebisu's mouth suddenly twitched. He had noticed the different emotion in Uchiha Ling's eyes. Could that actually be gentleness?

This spar wasn't for Asuma Sarutobi. It was for himself!

"Uchiha Ling! I know you've been holding back your Chakra all this time. Use your full strength this time and let me see the true difference between us."

"Oh? Don't end up lying in the dirt and crying like you did when my Shadow Clone Technique defeated you."

"You're underestimating me! You can defeat me, but you'll never make me cry!"

As usual, Ebisu charged at Uchiha Ling.

Uchiha Ling still had a few moves he needed to save for Asuma Sarutobi in the Final Exams.

"I don't need to use my full strength to beat you, Ebisu!"

Uchiha Ling kept using sliding steps to evade Ebisu's attacks one after another.

Every one of Ebisu's attacks missed. His fist skimmed past Uchiha Ling's shoulder, and his foot brushed past the hem of Uchiha Ling's clothes, making him feel as if all his strength had struck cotton.

At first, Ebisu had been extremely unwilling to take the hits for Asuma Sarutobi.

But as they continued sparring, he had grown used to—and even come to enjoy—being pressured by Uchiha Ling.

His improvement was genuine.

But this spar was for himself. His fighting spirit had never burned brighter.

"Uchiha Ling! Show me at least a little respect! Use your full strength against me!"

Uchiha Ling sidestepped Ebisu's palm strike. He still had enough energy to stamp his foot and shake the dust from its surface before saying:

"Oh? Do you think you deserve my full strength?"

Ebisu thought he had already grown accustomed to Uchiha Ling, but he hadn't expected those words to instantly clog his chest.

"This is our last spar! Don't you have a heart? Don't you understand how important this spar is to me?"

"You're actually asking me whether I have a heart?" Uchiha Ling used a retreating step for the first time.

Standing two meters away, Uchiha Ling continued:

"I was ostracized by the entire class. Did I need a heart? Who was I supposed to open my heart to?"

Ebisu took two steps forward and continued throwing punches at Uchiha Ling.

"Even if you were a punching bag, after beating you for months, you'd develop feelings, right? Why do you always look down on me?

"Even in our last spar, you still have to look down on me?"

Uchiha Ling was slightly surprised. Ebisu's punch was clearly several times faster.

The other students rubbed their eyes. They found that Ebisu's arm seemed to have become a black blur.

Ebisu was clearly stronger—so strong that the others could barely see him.

Asuma Sarutobi said to Kurenai beside him, "Ebisu has suffered so much at Uchiha Ling's hands. It's really paid off."

Kurenai Yuhi was confused. She asked, "Ebisu clearly can't beat Uchiha Ling, so why does he keep challenging him?"

Asuma Sarutobi fell silent. He couldn't exactly reveal the truth—that Ebisu was taking the hits for him.

Yamano turned his head and glanced toward the school building. Beside a pillar in the corridor on the second floor, Team Leader Huìdài was watching them.

Team Leader Huìdài had noticed it too, hadn't she? Ebisu had used the strongest Uchiha Ling as a whetstone and had clearly grown stronger.

Just now, in that fleeting instant, his long period of bitter cultivation had triggered a qualitative change. Ebisu's Taijutsu had broken through its limit and risen to a new level.

When ninjas trained, they would encounter a plateau—the upper limit of their talent or physique during a certain period.

But after suffering an instance of overburdening physical damage, the body would undergo Supercompensation, breaking through its limits.

The few punches Ebisu had just thrown had produced the effect of Supercompensation.

Uchiha Ling dodged three of Ebisu's punches in a row, each one more dangerous than the last.

It seemed he could no longer spar with Ebisu while using only half his Chakra.

He secretly extracted more Chakra and once again dodged Ebisu with ease.

"Ebisu, do you think you're worthy of making me use my full strength? Why would I use my full strength against the weak?

"You're too ridiculous. Go back and practice your basics.

"When you encounter an enemy, you'd better run through your basics from start to finish like you're doing aerobics. Use your basics to scare the enemy to death."

Uchiha Ling whispered into Ebisu's soul: "Ebisu, you don't deserve my full strength..."

Ebisu's face flushed bright red. He had endured Uchiha Ling's torment for so long that he thought they had developed some kind of friendship.

He hadn't expected it. He hadn't expected...

[There is a ninja near the host who has suffered a Defense Break. The Defense-Breaking System is activating...]

Uchiha Ling's heart leaped with joy. Ebisu had surprised him again.