White Lightning Without an Incantation

Under Ino's control, the Sound Ninja's companion leaped up, charged into the crowd without a word, and lunged straight at Yakushi Kabuto.

His eyes widened as he pulled back the fabric over the back of his hand, revealing a bracer-like weapon.

He slashed through the air with a fierce gust of wind, swinging viciously at Kabuto's face.

Though Kabuto was a seasoned veteran with quick reflexes, the sudden sneak attack still caught him off guard.

He hurriedly twisted aside, barely dodging the Sound Ninja's swing.

Yet although Kabuto had avoided the blow, he suddenly felt nauseated. His chest tightened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"There's something strange about this guy's attack!"

Kabuto was horrified, his face turning deathly pale.

Su Bai had vented some anger for Gale and picked up some experience points in the process.

Just as the examination room was about to erupt, a puff of white smoke rose from the podium.

A voice rang out, "Everyone, sit down! Keep making noise, and your exam qualifications will be revoked!"

The examiner had arrived and promptly stopped the dispute in the room.

The examiner swept his blazing gaze across the room and barked, "Especially you Sound Ninja. Cause trouble again, and you'll be disqualified immediately. Do you understand?"

The examination room instantly fell silent.

"Very good. Now, the written exam will begin. Take your seats according to the order in which your application forms were submitted. Violators will receive zero points."

"A written exam?!"

The moment Naruto heard the words "written exam," he panicked and quietly poked Su Bai beside him.

"Hey, Su Bai, what do we do? It's a written exam, you know? I can't answer questions, you know..."

Su Bai crossed his arms, his tone calm. "Don't panic. Leave the written exam to me. Just take a nap and wait for the results."

"Really? That's great, you know!"

Naruto beamed, thinking that he could finally relax.

With Su Bai looking out for him, a written exam was nothing to worry about.

Once all the ninja were seated, the written exam began.

Su Bai looked around and discovered that Hinata was seated right beside him.

Hinata gave him a small smile and said softly, "Su Bai, let's do our best together."

Su Bai merely nodded without saying anything more.

At that moment, the examiner began explaining the content and rules of the exam.

Su Bai only half listened.

He had known the rules from the original story long ago.

It was nothing more than nonsense about cheating being forbidden. If someone was caught cheating five times, their entire team would be disqualified.

There was also a collective penalty system.

There were ten questions in total, but only nine questions on the paper.

The tenth question would be announced half an hour later.

If even one person on a team failed to answer even a single question correctly,

then even if all the other members got perfect scores, the entire team would still be eliminated.

These questions were extremely difficult.

The purpose of making them so difficult was to force the examinees to cheat.

This was meant to test their intelligence-gathering abilities.

But Su Bai, who knew the original plot, understood that he could pass this exam even by handing in a blank paper.

So, he simply ignored the questions and entertained himself instead.

In the examination room, many ninja grasped the true meaning of the rules and began using various ninjutsu to cheat.

Some used exceptionally clever techniques, while others used clumsy methods and were quickly caught, resulting in their entire teams being eliminated.

Then Su Bai received a system notification:

[Ding! Ninja combat detected nearby. Obtained 4000 experience points.]

"Hmm?" Su Bai was a little surprised.

"Looks like the system considers this exam a form of combat too."

"I'm rich!"

Su Bai was overjoyed.

As the exam continued, the system kept issuing notifications about experience gained.

[Ding! Ninja combat detected nearby. Obtained 5000 experience points.]

[Ding! Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto template fusion progress: 6%. Current experience: 5000/3000000.]

Right afterward, another system notification surfaced in his mind:

[Hadō #4: "White Lightning" has been upgraded. The host can now use "White Lightning" without chanting an incantation!]

"Excellent!" Su Bai cheered inwardly.

He quickly checked the system panel:

[Host]: Su Bai

[Fused Character]: Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto

[Zanpakuto]: Ryujin Jakka

[Current Fusion Rate]: 6% (5000/3000000)

[Initial Release]: None

[Bankai]: None

[Hand-to-Hand Combat]: Mao Spiritual Arts Academy Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat

[Kidō]: Hadō #4: "White Lightning" (Can be used without chanting an incantation)

[Footwork]: Shin'ō Academy Intermediate Flash Step

[Swordsmanship]: Mao Spiritual Arts Academy Basic Swordsmanship

Being able to use White Lightning without chanting meant that Su Bai's Kidō abilities had undergone a qualitative leap.

In actual combat, chanting incantations greatly slowed the casting speed of Kidō and exposed one's intentions in advance.

For example, during his last battle with Zabuza, the lengthy incantation had allowed Zabuza to prepare early, making it impossible to pose enough of a threat to him.

But now, with a single thought from Su Bai, Hadō #4: White Lightning could be unleashed at once, instantly blasting his enemy!

This improvement would greatly enhance his flexibility and assault power in battle.

When facing enemies, he could take advantage of White Lightning requiring no chant to launch unexpected attacks and deliver fatal blows.

At the same time, free from the restrictions of incantations, Su Bai could combine Kidō with taijutsu and swordsmanship more freely, creating a complete coordinated combat style.

For Su Bai, who excelled at close-quarters combat, this was undoubtedly a major breakthrough.

Ino in the distance seemed to be making a move. She swiftly formed hand seals and used the Mind Body Switch Technique to help Naruto answer the questions.

Before long, Naruto woke up and saw that his test paper had already been filled out, crying out in surprise.

"Wow!"

Naruto looked overjoyed. He silently thanked Su Bai for the arrangement, feeling that having such a reliable teammate was truly wonderful.

As for Sasuke and Sakura, Su Bai was not worried about them at all.

With Sakura's academic knowledge, she could surely handle the questions with ease;

and Sasuke had the Sharingan, so he only needed to casually copy someone else's answers.

Su Bai continued waiting leisurely for the exam to end, with no intention of answering any questions.

Hinata, beside him, caught sight of Su Bai looking as if he had no idea how to solve the questions. Worried, she whispered, "Su Bai, do you want to look at my answers? Hurry and copy them. Don't waste time."

Seeing Su Bai's bewildered expression, Hinata urged him again, "Hurry and write what I wrote. There isn't much time left."

Su Bai asked in confusion, "Why do you want to help me?"

Hinata blushed, stammering for a long while before finally saying softly, "I... I just don't want to see you get eliminated."

Fragments of memories related to Hinata surfaced in Su Bai's mind.

Perhaps it was because the Hayate Clan and the Hyuga Clan had deliberately tried to bring them together.

When they were children, Hinata often came to the Hayate Clan to play with him;

after his parents passed away, she would often come keep him company and chat with him to cheer him up.

But later, he had focused on training and neglected to keep in touch with her, so they gradually grew distant.

At that moment, Su Bai smiled faintly and said to Hinata, "Can't you tell? I know every one of these questions. Everyone calls me a genius. You really don't need to worry about me."

Only after hearing Su Bai say that did Hinata finally feel at ease.

Afterward, the examiner began announcing the content of the tenth question.

The chief examiner, Ibiki, was a notorious interrogation maniac. This question was meant to test the examinees' psychological endurance.

He droned on at length, saying nothing more than that anyone who chose to take the tenth question and got it wrong would be forced to remain a genin forever, never again allowed to take the Chunin Exams.

These words were clearly meant to intimidate the examinees and force them to withdraw voluntarily.

Sure enough, once the bad news was announced, quite a few examinees chose to quit on the spot.

More and more people gave up, and the atmosphere in the examination room grew heavy.

Su Bai sensed that something was wrong.

He knew that the upcoming survival test would be the main source of experience points.

If too many people withdrew now, it would be extremely disadvantageous for him.

After all, fewer people fighting meant fewer experience points.

"I need to think of something."

After thinking for a while,

Su Bai came up with an idea.

Since Ibiki was playing psychological warfare, then I'll help everyone defeat him mentally!

And the simplest way was to speak up and lash out at the examiner.

So Su Bai suddenly slammed his hand down on the desk.

He shouted at chief examiner Ibiki, "Don't look down on us! We're not cowards who retreat at the last moment!"

He deliberately used the word "us," including every examinee present, as though they had always been one whole.