I Only Need One Strike to Beat You

"One more thing. Shouldn't you take these two things off me?"

The gate guard, Rain, looked uncertain. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

Hearing his certain tone, the three immediately grew excited. With free punching bags being offered up, why not hit them?

Hanzo, meanwhile, gave Zhou Yang an appreciative glance and sat down in a chair with interest. He then beckoned downward, and Rain and another man named Shi walked over, as if Hanzo had something to instruct them.

"You two keep an eye on this brat. Don't let him die at the hands of my three disciples."

"Yes."*

After giving his instructions, Hanzo quietly sat down. At that moment, Shi took the initiative to chat with Rain.

"Hey, Rain, how many minutes do you think this kid can last?"

Rain thought for a moment before speaking solemnly. "Uh, according to the intelligence, his strength is pretty good. But if that strength can't hit anyone, it's useless. Besides, we don't know how this kid killed that wandering ninja, but the fatal wound on the ninja's corpse was from a kunai. That means his strength probably isn't enough to effectively injure a genin. Otherwise, there should have been signs of beating on that ninja's body, but there weren't any at all. So his only advantage, his strength, is useless too. As for how long he can last, I think that depends entirely on how long those three kids want to play with him."

"Want to make a bet with me?"

While the two ninjas spoke quietly, Zhou Yang looked at Hanzo. The fact that Hanzo had sat down made it clear that he intended for them to spar here.

Once Zhou Yang understood that, he was secretly delighted. This environment could be considered an advantage for him. As Rain Ninja Village ninjas, most of their ninjutsu was related to water, yet the ground here was dry earth. That practically crippled one of their arms.

As Zhou Yang stretched his previously sore, numb arms, he observed his three opponents. His opponents, however, did not seem to take him seriously at all. They had formed a circle and appeared to be playing rock-paper-scissors. Apparently, they disdained ganging up on him three against one—or perhaps even one-on-one felt like overkill—so they were using this method to decide who would fight Zhou Yang.

Just as they were getting into it, Zhou Yang, who had been casually loosening up, suddenly asked Hanzo, "Has it started?"

The three naturally turned their gazes toward Hanzo. The instant Hanzo heard Zhou Yang's words, he raised his head, seemingly about to nod. But the moment his head started to dip, Zhou Yang had already charged out.

His speed erupted like that of a cheetah, his explosive force stirring the air around him. The three were still turning their eyes toward him, and when their gazes finally focused, what they saw was not that lazy face watching from afar, but a pair of panda eyes right in front of them!

They instinctively tried to dodge, but how could their speed compare to Zhou Yang's now? After a week of integration and training, Zhou Yang had never unleashed his full strength. Even he did not know where his limits lay now. This was the moment for him to truly let loose.

His entire body crashed into the three of them like a bulldozer. The immense force sent two flying, while the last one—Bass from before—took the impact head-on. After that blow, Bass flew toward the wall behind him. But would Zhou Yang let him off so easily?

Of course not. Even a clay Buddha had a temper, let alone a person.

Zhou Yang charged straight after Bass. The instant Bass hit the wall and rebounded, Zhou Yang caught up to him. As Hanzo's personally chosen disciple, Bass was naturally no weakling. The instant Zhou Yang rushed at him, he knew his own speed was nowhere near enough to dodge. He did not waste time wondering why his opponent was so fast, because at a time like this, all that mattered was reflexes and combat experience. He immediately gathered part of his chakra in his back as a buffer, which would also increase his resistance to blows and help him withstand the force produced by the impact's momentum. As for why he did not gather chakra in his arms to block Zhou Yang's strike, it was because he had not been able to react at all before being hit.

As he flew through the air, enduring the pain, he actually felt a little fortunate. Among their trio, he was the only ninja with an earth attribute. In other words, his ability to withstand attacks was definitely better than the other two's. It was fortunate that this strike had come at him. If it had hit either of the others, they probably would have lost the ability to think the instant they were struck, unlike him, who could even consider how to counterattack.

In his eyes, after launching such a powerful attack, his opponent surely would not be feeling any better either. But he had never imagined that this Zhou Yang, this little brat he had not regarded at all, possessed the bloodline of a Saiyan—a race known as Born for Battle.

As he imagined the miserable sight of his opponent suffering the same impact when they collided, he slowly opened his eyes and saw a hand. Unlike the hands of any of his teammates, this hand brought him not hope, but destruction.

That hand had curled into a claw and seized his throat. Because Zhou Yang was shorter, he had used the momentum to leap up for this move.

That hand, belonging to a child of only five, slammed him back against the wall. The shocking force left a dent in the wall behind him, while Zhou Yang took the opportunity to clench his other hand into a fist and pummel his opponent's abdomen wildly. The sounds were like muffled summer thunder. Bang! Bang! Bang! They continued until Bass stopped moving completely.

"My lord, should we—"

"No." Before the other man could finish, Hanzo knew he wanted to stop Zhou Yang, but Hanzo refused. He knew where Bass's limits lay. Besides, he wanted to use this battle to give his disciples a reminder: don't act like you can look down on everyone just because you have talent. No one knew what kind of monster might suddenly emerge in this world—someone like Zhou Yang, for example. Of course, he also knew Zhou Yang was venting his dissatisfaction in front of him. Strong people all had their pride. Hanzo understood that.

"Tsk, this kid is ruthless."

"Yeah. He's probably venting the dissatisfaction he felt earlier."

"Heh, weren't you about to make a bet? How much?"

"Get lost. Didn't you say the outcome depended entirely on how long those three kids wanted to play?"

"Yeah. We were a little too confident."

Hearing Rain and Shi's conversation, Hanzo immediately felt that this spar had truly been worthwhile. Not only had it sobered up his disciples, it had also sobered up these two pillars of the Rain Ninja Village. Then he smiled, because he had nearly forgotten himself. After all, he had been the first one not to believe in Zhou Yang.

This conversation had taken place during the moment Zhou Yang continued his pursuit after the collision. As jonin of the Rain Ninja Village, they had naturally been able to judge Zhou Yang's level at that time, which was why that exchange had occurred on their side.

In front of Bass's body, Zhou Yang slowly stood up and looked toward the other two with his distinctive panda eyes. The two had recovered from Zhou Yang's collision by then. Seeing that their teacher had made no move, they knew the spar would continue. They also knew their teammate Bass was not in mortal danger. They only needed to focus on the battle before them.

Zhou Yang slowly raised his fist and said in a slightly mocking tone, "I only need one strike to beat you."