Sparring

Zhou Fan and Lin Qianqian stood facing each other.

Lin Qianqian wore a pure white T-shirt and trousers suited for combat.

Her silky hair was tied into a simple high ponytail.

It was the simplest of outfits.

Yet it brought out her beauty to the fullest.

Lin Qianqian made the first move.

"Paper Blizzard: Swallow Dance!"

Sheets of white paper folded into swallows and flew swiftly toward Zhou Fan.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Zhou Fan stayed where he was, formed hand seals, and spat out a massive fireball, effortlessly burning Lin Qianqian's paper to ashes.

The fireball didn't shrink, either. It continued flying toward Lin Qianqian.

Fire Release countered plain paper.

Although the spiritual energy reinforcing these sheets made them far stronger than ordinary paper, they were still paper.

Paper was paper in the end.

As long as it remained paper, it feared fire.

"Paper Explosion Technique!"

Seeing the fireball hurtling toward her, Lin Qianqian immediately flung out more than a dozen explosive tags, using their blasts to stop it.

At the same time, she had already sent a mass of paper sweeping around him.

In an instant, the sheets surrounded Zhou Fan completely!

"Paper Blizzard: Splendid Bloom!"

Every sheet folded into a paper shuriken and shot toward Zhou Fan, leaving him nowhere to dodge!

"An S-rank superpower, all right. You can launch wide-area attacks so easily," Zhou Fan praised.

Immediately afterward, he spat out a broad swath of searing flames.

"Fire Release: Ashen Blaze!"

The scorching flames not only burned away Lin Qianqian's paper but also concealed Zhou Fan from view.

Lin Qianqian hurriedly searched for Zhou Fan.

A second later, Zhou Fan used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of her, slashing at her with the blade in his hand.

"Paper Blizzard: Evasion!"

Lin Qianqian immediately gathered paper into a shield in front of her, blocking Zhou Fan's slash.

Before she could counterattack, however-

A wooden spike suddenly sprouted from Zhou Fan's left hand and thrust through a gap in Lin Qianqian's defenses!

The spike stopped just one centimeter from Lin Qianqian's neck.

Lin Qianqian froze.

She hadn't been able to react to Zhou Fan's strike at all.

It was too fast!

She simply couldn't keep up with Zhou Fan's speed!

Just like in her last simulated battles, the system's simulated Zhou Fan had killed her once with this very same move.

She'd fallen for the same trick twice!

Zhou Fan retracted the wooden spike.

"Again!" Lin Qianqian said.

"You don't need to hold back next time. An attack like that won't hurt me."

"Only a fight where we truly give it our all will help us train."

She had [Paper Transformation], after all. Purely physical attacks like this couldn't actually hurt her.

She hadn't used it right away.

That was because she also wanted to test just how far her strength lagged behind Zhou Fan's.

Going all out from the start would make her seem too desperate to defeat Zhou Fan.

Though she really did want to beat Zhou Fan with her own hands!

"All right."

Zhou Fan returned to his original position, putting distance between them again.

Lin Qianqian immediately activated [Paper Transformation]. Fine cracks appeared across her skin-the seams formed by overlapping sheets of white paper.

"Oh? Interesting."

Seeing Lin Qianqian's transformation, Zhou Fan activated his Sharingan.

Through the Sharingan, he could clearly see that Lin Qianqian's state had changed completely.

Her whole body seemed to have become a mass of pure spiritual energy, able to separate at will and come back together at any moment.

"Paper Explosion Technique!"

Once again, Lin Qianqian attacked first.

And she was clearly taking it more seriously this time.

Explosive tags flew out one after another, shooting toward Zhou Fan from every direction.

There were plenty of Explosive Tags.

But Zhou Fan's Sharingan saw every single explosive tag with perfect clarity!

He swiftly threw out more than a dozen darts.

The darts collided with one another in midair, cleverly changing the trajectories of projectiles that otherwise could only have flown straight ahead.

In the end, each dart struck an explosive tag with pinpoint precision, detonating them in midair before they could get anywhere near Zhou Fan.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

It was Zhou Fan's turn to counterattack, and small fireballs flew swiftly toward her.

"Paper Explosion Technique!"

With a sweep of her hand, Lin Qianqian used explosive tags to block every fireball.

Her [Paper Blizzard] was indeed vulnerable to Fire Release and easily countered by it.

But the explosive tags of [Paper Explosion Technique] were no longer ordinary sheets of white paper. They had gained an "explosive" property.

That meant they no longer feared Fire Release.

But those Fire Release attacks were only a diversion.

While Lin Qianqian was distracted, Zhou Fan swiftly moved behind her and swung his blade without hesitation.

He still held back a little, though, striking with the back of the blade rather than its edge.

Thwack!

Even the back of the blade knocked a large chunk out of Lin Qianqian's body.

But no blood splattered from the missing section. Only sheets of paper fluttered through the air.

Zhou Fan let out a surprised, "Huh?"

He had already noticed that Lin Qianqian's [Paper Transformation] seemed to be some kind of special state, but he hadn't understood exactly how it worked.

Now, however, he had a rough idea.

"Paper Blizzard: Moon Wheel!"

Lin Qianqian immediately flung out a massive paper wheel, sending it crashing toward Zhou Fan.

Zhou Fan swiftly retreated to dodge the attack, then formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Whoosh!

In an instant, raging flames surged like ocean waves and swallowed the paper wheel whole.

Lin Qianqian's pupils contracted slightly.

This was the first time she had seen such a powerful Fire Type superpower.

Yesterday, she had fought Zhou Fan twice in the system's simulated comparison battles, yet she hadn't seen him use such a powerful Fire Type superpower. After all, in both simulations she had controlled personally, Zhou Fan had defeated her in their very first exchange.

So she hadn't had a chance to see Zhou Fan's other Fire Release techniques.

She knew Zhou Fan had Fire Type powers.

She just hadn't expected his Fire Type powers to be this strong!

Besides, Zhou Fan was fighting to spar with her now. He certainly wouldn't go all out right from the start; he was keeping some tricks in reserve.

Even now, he had only used Taijutsu and Fire Release, along with the Sharingan's perceptive abilities. He hadn't used any other ninjutsu.

It wasn't that he was hiding them.

It was simply that Fire Release alone let him trade blows with Lin Qianqian. He had no need for other ninjutsu...

Their sparring match lasted a full half hour!

Only then did they stop.

Neither had scored a clear victory. They stopped of their own accord because they had expended so much spiritual energy.

Lin Qianqian's breathing was slightly labored, the curves of her chest rising and falling with each breath.

"Let's call it a day for training. Did you learn anything?" Zhou Fan asked.

He had gained quite a lot from it.

He just didn't know whether Lin Qianqian had gained as much.

Lin Qianqian nodded. "Yes, quite a lot."

She had found the sparring match thoroughly exhilarating.

They had traded blows back and forth, and it had felt truly satisfying.

"By the way, did you spot any weaknesses in me?"