Before Departure

Ignoring all that, Zhou Yang continued training his body. After all, the body was the vessel for qi, and a strong physique could never be a bad thing.

That evening, Zhou Yang once again stuffed himself senseless. As for Hanzo, he happened to be busy that day and returned rather late. But when he opened the door and saw the scene before him, he could not help but ask in surprise, "Did we have guests today? Why was there so much food?"

"Lord Hanzo, th-these were all eaten by Young Master Zhou Yang," the maid said, her voice growing softer and softer, as though she was embarrassed as well.

"What? You're saying he ate all of this by himself? His appetite is that huge?"

"Uh... no."

"Oh, that was more like it."

"This is only half of it. There are still some empty plates in the kitchen."

Hanzo nearly threw out his back when he heard that. So this was not even enough for him? He could not be bothered to deal with it anymore and directly ordered his cook to make him a meal, only for the cook to reveal a troubled expression.

"What? Is there a problem?"

"Uh... we're out of ingredients."

"Then what's left?"

"Two loaves of black bread."

"Zhou Yang! You damned beast!"

But Zhou Yang was not there at the moment. He had already returned to the new home Hanzo had arranged for him and Nan. Yet he seemed to hear Hanzo's roar from afar and glanced into the distance with a chuckle, thinking, I got quite a bit back from those five hundred thousand today.

Once home, Zhou Yang flopped straight onto the bed. He had had a rough night, after all. He would sleep for a while first.

The night passed as usual, except Zhou Yang's endurance had increased further.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal colliding echoed from Hanzo's courtyard.

"Your attacks need to be decisive. In real combat, life and death are often decided in an instant. Your opponent will not give you that much time to observe."

"Find your opponent's weakness. That is the only way to fight more efficiently."

"Hey! Could you stop attacking my legs? You know that's underhanded, right?"

"A ninja is an underhanded profession. Only by being underhanded can you live longer."

"But my fighting style is not suited to underhanded tactics."

"That's right, which is why you need more time to train your reaction speed and defensive ability. Keep dragging things out until the enemy's underhanded moves no longer work on you. The Rain Ninja Village focuses primarily on assassination, so there is only so much we can help you with. All I can do is spar with you like this and pass on some experience. You will have to discover the rest yourself. You can only walk your own path yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hanzo made a simple upward slash that sent the sword from Zhou Yang's hand flying, then followed it with a kick. Zhou Yang, who weighed an extra one hundred and twenty-five kilograms, was kicked away as though he weighed nothing at all.

Zhou Yang was covered in scrapes. He had lost count of how many times Hanzo had sent him flying like this, yet he had no way to resist. It had to be said—this was Hanzo.

"I remember telling you that the weights on your legs were still too heavy."

"Yes, but I thought I could adapt to them."

"And now?"

"It's difficult."

"Looks like you're not just stubbornly refusing to admit defeat!"

"But isn't it more interesting when it's difficult?"

"Hahaha! Kid, you really are stubborn. But I have no intention of going easy on you!"

"Come on."

Zhou Yang dragged his exhausted body over and picked up his sword, but before he could even grip it properly, Hanzo had already attacked. Yet unexpectedly, Zhou Yang actually blocked it.

"Eh? Kid, your reaction speed is pretty good!"

"Didn't you say that if I couldn't take the underhanded path, then I should block every underhanded move?"

"Hahaha, not bad!"

Clang!

The two clashed again.

About an hour and a half later, Zhou Yang finally passed out. Hanzo sheathed his sword and hoisted him over his shoulder. Looking back at Zhou Yang's face, Hanzo could not help but sigh. "What incredible willpower." He raised his right hand, the one holding the sword, and found it actually sore.

Then he touched his cheek and discovered a faint bloody mark there. "I've never seen such learning ability in my life!" Finally, he declared proudly, "He is Hanzo's disciple!"

Then, carrying Zhou Yang, he headed to the hospital.

Outside the ninja academy, Nan had originally been waiting for Zhou Yang to pick her up. After waiting for a long time without seeing him, she could only head home in confusion.

On her way back, she happened to run into Shi, who was carrying Zhou Yang toward his home.

"Oh, it's Nan."

"What happened to Zhou Yang? Why is he covered in bandages again? Did he get into a fight with someone?" Nan asked, forcing back her tears.

"No. He got hurt sparring with Lord Hanzo today. Don't worry, they're only superficial injuries. With his recovery ability, he should be fine in no time."

Only after hearing that did Nan finally relax.

"All right, I've brought him home. I'll leave taking care of him to you." With that, Shi placed Zhou Yang on the bed, set the weights on the floor, and vanished.

Nan looked at Zhou Yang lying on the bed, touched his face, and said softly, "You're working so hard. I can't let you leave me behind."

Another day passed. It was now the final day before departure.

That morning, Zhou Yang returned from outside and, as he had the day before, took Nan to the ninja academy. Then he went to Hanzo's courtyard as usual, but Hanzo was not there that day. He seemed to have left early in the morning.

Zhou Yang went to his usual spot and began meditating.

After roughly four meals' worth of tests, Zhou Yang was certain that consuming large amounts of food could indeed increase the amount of qi in his body. After yesterday's battle, his qi had undergone a leap in growth. If he previously had only enough qi to use one Kamehameha, he now had enough for two. However, being able to fire a sustained one was still far off. Even so, it meant he had another trump card. According to Hanzo's estimate, the power of Zhou Yang's Kamehameha was comparable to a high-tier B-rank ninjutsu, while its form already fell within the scope of A-rank ninjutsu. Its main flaw was the lack of any elemental energy.

It had to be said that Hanzo immediately saw through this skill's weakness. After hearing him, Zhou Yang recalled what he knew. Similar A-rank ninjutsu included Chidori and Rasengan. The former could stimulate cells to accelerate the user and had piercing power, while the latter used rotation to increase its destructive force. Compared with those three, his Kamehameha was indeed somewhat weaker. At the same time, he admired Hanzo's observational ability and judgment. After all, ninjutsu like Chidori did not even exist yet!

While he was meditating, Hanzo returned. He had also brought a scroll with him. Seeing Zhou Yang training, he placed the scroll on the ground and left.

,

"You want to apply to skip a grade?"

"Yes."

"But you've only been here for one day!"

"But I think I've already learned almost everything taught in the first year."

"You've learned it? Fine. In that case, I approve your application. But you will probably still need to pass a test."

"No problem."

Not long after the application was submitted, the academy sent over an examiner. The examiner held a test paper in his hand and handed it to Nan.

"Here. As long as you score seventy points, your application will be approved." Clearly, the ninja academy was prepared for grade-skipping applications. Or rather, while they were uncommon, they were not unheard of.