The Legend of Winning Without Fighting

The noon sun poured down like molten gold, baking the enormous open-air arena at the center of Konoha scorching hot.

"Wooooo—!!!"

Thunderous cheers crashed against the arena walls in wave after wave, like tangible shockwaves.

The stands, which could hold tens of thousands, were packed to capacity. Nobles, wealthy merchants, and commoners who had come from every nation waved fans and colorful flags, eagerly anticipating the bloody spectacle about to unfold.

At the very top of the stands sat those at the pinnacle of power.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wore his Divine Guard Robe as he sat in the seat of honor, a kind yet unfathomable smile on his face. Beside him sat a "Kazekage" with half his face veiled, his gaze cold and sinister.

"Kazekage-sama, you must be exhausted from the long journey," the Third Hokage said courteously.

"Not at all. It is my honor to witness the birth of new stars."

The "Kazekage's" voice was somewhat hoarse. His snake-like eyes, hidden in shadow, greedily swept over the arena below while his tongue lightly licked the corner of his mouth beneath the veil.

"Hehehe... Konoha's stagnant waters will boil today."

At the center of the arena.

With an order from Genma Shiranui—the lazy-looking chief examiner with a Senbon in his mouth—the elite Genin who had survived the Forest of Death and the preliminaries finally entered the arena.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna send every last one of you flying!"

Naruto was as overflowing with energy as ever. He charged into the arena like a firework rocket, wildly waving at the stands, though hardly anyone cared about a dead last like him.

Close behind him came the cold and arrogant Neji Hyuga, the half-asleep Shikamaru Nara, Temari carrying a massive iron fan, and even Gaara, whose entire body radiated an aura that warned strangers to stay away.

Yet at the very end of the line was someone who looked utterly out of place.

"Cough, cough... Slow down... everyone, slow down..."

Ye Tian leaned on a glossy tree-branch cane that had been polished smooth by use, while tightly hugging a chipped old-fashioned thermos in his other hand. He staggered into the arena three steps at a time, looking as though he might breathe his last at any moment.

His paper-pale face looked especially frail beneath the sunlight. He had even deliberately wrapped a thick scarf around his neck, making a stark contrast with the murderous ninjas around him.

"Hey, is that guy a contestant too?"

"He looks like he's about to die..."

"This is an insult to the Chunin Ninja Exams! How did he get in?"

Boos and murmurs rose from the stands.

Ye Tian turned a deaf ear to them. Calmly unscrewing his thermos, he blew on the few goji berries floating on the surface, took a sip of hot water, then let out a comfortable sigh. "Hah... A grand occasion really is best for keeping healthy. There are so many people here that even the chill has faded quite a bit."

Genma Shiranui looked at this group of troublesome children and helplessly spat out the Senbon in his mouth.

"All right, stand properly."

Genma took out a match chart and swept his gaze over everyone. "Before the matches begin, there are a few things to announce."

His gaze lingered among the crowd, as though searching for someone, before he said flatly:

"Uchiha Sasuke has yet to arrive. According to the rules, if he does not appear when his match is called, he will be considered to have forfeited. However..."

Genma changed direction mid-sentence and looked toward Ye Tian, who stood in a corner with his eyes closed in quiet repose.

"Regarding the contestant in the fifth match, Dosu Kinata."

At the mention of that name, Shikamaru, Choji, and the others who had been watching idly all perked up. They had witnessed that Sound Ninja's strength during the preliminaries. He was definitely a troublesome opponent.

"What? That guy's late too?" Shikamaru asked with a yawn.

"No."

Genma shook his head, his tone as calm as if he were discussing something insignificant.

"ANBU has confirmed that Dosu Kinata met with an accident in the village several days ago and unfortunately died."

"What?!"

The entire arena erupted in uproar.

The contestants looked at each other, while even a flicker of emotion passed through Gaara's dead eyes—a memory of his handiwork.

"He died?" Naruto gaped. "That guy wrapped all over in bandages died?"

"So..."

Ignoring everyone's shock, Genma looked directly at Ye Tian and announced the final decision.

"The fifth match is canceled. Ye Tian advances directly to the next round."

Silence.

Deathly silence shrouded the entire arena.

Then boos and curses erupted, ten times more ferocious than before!

"What kind of joke is this?!"

"This counts as an exam? He won without even fighting?!"

"Rigged! It's absolutely rigged! Refund our tickets! We came to see blood flow, not watch this sickly guy use connections!"

The audience was furious. They had paid for tickets to see a life-or-death battle, only to be told that one contestant had won by default because his opponent was dead? And the winner was that sickly weakling who looked like the least interesting contestant of all!

Faced with the barrage of abuse and rotten vegetable leaves that did not actually exist, Ye Tian showed not the slightest shame. Instead...

"Cough, cough... Everyone is too enthusiastic."

Ye Tian slowly pulled a handkerchief from his robes and wiped the corner of his mouth. Then, toward the directions where the spectators were cursing most fiercely, he revealed a weak, bashful smile. He even raised his pale hand and gave them a gentle wave.

"Thank you for your... cough, cough... support. Luck... is also part of one's strength."

After saying that, he did not forget to unscrew his thermos and elegantly take another sip of goji berry tea before tens of thousands of people.

"Is... is this guy's skin made from fortress walls?"

Ino covered her face, unwilling to admit that she knew such a shameless specimen. Shikamaru rolled his eyes dramatically. "What a pain... He's famous now, even if it's for all the wrong reasons."

Only Ye Tian himself knew the truth.

What luck? This was clearly all part of my plan.

A gleam flashed through Ye Tian's eyes. On the day the preliminaries ended, he had witnessed Dosu go looking for Gaara to die, and had even conveniently picked up Dosu's Sonic Wave Armguard afterward. This kind of guaranteed profit was practically the model example of a Cultivator's pursuit of fortune and avoidance of calamity.

"All right, quiet!"

Genma released a hint of killing intent, suppressing the restless audience. "Rules are rules. Ye Tian, go rest in the contestant area. Everyone else, leave the arena."

"Now, the first match."

"Naruto Uzumaki VS Neji Hyuga!"

As everyone else withdrew to the resting area, the empty field was left to these two fated opponents.

"It's finally starting?"

Ye Tian found a seat with the best view and placed his cane against his leg. Unlike the other spectators, he paid no attention to who would win. His Divine Sense had already silently blanketed the arena, focusing on Neji.

More precisely, on Neji's activated Byakugan.

"Let me see, then. What kind of 'Dao' does one of the Shinobi World's three great eye techniques truly contain?"

Below the stands.

"Dead last, your luck has run out." Neji assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist. Veins bulged around his Byakugan, and the pressure he gave off made even the air grow heavy.

"Stop rambling! I'll defeat you and prove it to everyone!" Naruto clenched his fists and charged forward with a roar.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The battle erupted in an instant.

Neji's movements flowed like water and clouds, every palm strike accurately hitting Naruto's Chakra points. It was the Hyuga Clan's secret art—the Gentle Fist.

To ordinary people, this was merely a contest of taijutsu.

But through Ye Tian's Heavenly Eye, it was an exquisite energy-severing operation.

"Wonderful..."

As Ye Tian cracked sunflower seeds he had pulled from his pocket, he secretly praised it in his heart.

"So this is the essence of the Byakugan? It isn't simple x-ray vision, but the ability to see the flow of 'qi' inside the human body. And the Gentle Fist uses one's own 'qi' to strike the opponent's 'qi,' causing blockages and chaos in their Meridians."

"In the cultivation world, this would be called the Meridian-Severing Hand or the Spirit-Sealing Finger. But the Hyuga Clan has developed it into a complete martial arts system. They truly have something unique."

Looking at Neji's pure white eyes, a bold idea suddenly emerged in Ye Tian's mind.

"If I could cultivate an eye technique like this and combine it with my Divine Sense... wouldn't I be able to see through an enemy's Spiritual Power circulation at a glance, even directly interrupting their casting windup?"

"A cultivation-world version of the Byakugan... Interesting."

The situation below was completely one-sided. Naruto had been struck at his Chakra points by Neji, his Chakra flow obstructed, and he crashed heavily onto the ground.

"Give up," Neji said coldly. "This is fate. You are destined to be a failure."

"Here it comes again... That same predestination nonsense."

Ye Tian shook his head in the stands, a trace of disdain flashing through his eyes.

"Young man, you've narrowed your path. In the cultivation world, even mortals can defy the heavens and change their fate. Let alone the fact that yours is merely a Curse Mark from the Branch House? If your heart is trapped, then you are truly a caged bird."

Just as everyone thought Naruto was certain to lose.

A massive, evil crimson Chakra, carrying a scorching aura, suddenly erupted from Naruto's body!

It was the Nine-Tails' power.

"Oh? He's finally willing to pay rent?"

Ye Tian sat upright, and the thermos in his hand trembled slightly.

In his perception, Naruto's previously depleted Meridians were now like riverbeds flooded with magma, wildly swelling and surging. That crimson Chakra forcibly burst open every Chakra point Neji had sealed, even overflowing from Naruto's body to form a nearly tangible cloak of energy.

"So this is the 'quality' and 'quantity' of Tailed Beast Chakra..."

Ye Tian drew a deep breath. Even from so far away, he could absorb traces of the life-filled fire-aspected Spiritual Energy leaking into the air.

"It's a little violent, but it truly is a tremendous tonic."

Taking advantage of no one noticing, Ye Tian secretly formed a hand seal and drew the Nine-Tails Chakra particles drifting through the air into his body, merging them into his Dantian.

"Naruto is practically a walking Spirit Stone mine."

Below the stands, the tide of battle turned.

Empowered by the Nine-Tails Chakra, Naruto's speed and strength surged. He actually managed to keep up with Neji's Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.

Boom!

The two forces collided at the center of the arena, kicking up dust that filled the sky.

"The victor has been decided."

Ye Tian leaned back into his seat, a smile curling at his lips.

"Neji's Gentle Fist may be exquisite, but it is limited by the capacity of mortal Meridians. There is ultimately a limit. But Naruto..."

"In his 'Dantian,' there lives a Great Demon that even someone at the Golden Core stage would not dare provoke."

Just as the dust cleared and Naruto launched Neji from underground with an uppercut.

The entire arena boiled over.

Meanwhile, Ye Tian silently wrote a line in his notebook.

"On the importance of 'borrowing strength'—Cultivators should make good use of external things; Tailed Beasts are magical treasures as well."

"Next up... should be that Uchiha Sasuke, right? I hope he doesn't arrive too late, or I'll finish all these sunflower seeds."

Ye Tian glanced at the empty entrance, then at the "Kazekage" atop the platform, whose eyes had grown increasingly cold and sinister.

"A storm is coming..."