With no one challenging him, Luo Yu went to battle arena seven, where Chen Qi was.
Quite a few spectators stood outside, watching through the glass, but not one dared step forward to challenge him.
In the center of the arena, a boy in a Tengyang school uniform stood proudly with a steel needle between his lips.
He was Chen Qi, Tengyang's rising star.
For tomorrow's assessment, his family had funded his acquisition of Genma Shiranui's inheritance, bringing both his stamina and chakra straight up to tier-three apprentice level.
Given his lack of combat experience, he had come to the dojo specifically to hone his skills.
But he hadn't expected to be so strong!
With Genma Shiranui's inheritance, even battle-hardened apprentice opponents were no match for him.
Against apprentice ninjas who only knew the Three-Body Technique, a single Shadow Clone was enough to give them trouble.
Combined with his ultimate finishing move, Ninja Art: Senbon Rain, it was downright lethal.
Before his overwhelming strength, any technique seemed insignificant.
Seeing that no one dared challenge him, Chen Qi grew impatient and looked miserable.
It was all my fault for being too strong. I couldn't even find a sparring partner.
Besides, crushing these apprentice ninjas did nothing to help him improve.
It's hard to spot my weaknesses when I keep winning.
He desperately yearned for a defeat.
If only I could fight a Genin. Unfortunately, under the apprentice arena rules, Genin can't challenge me.
"I want to challenge arena seven."
Just as Chen Qi was fretting over his own strength, a voice rang out and immediately caught his attention.
A handsome boy had approached the male receptionist in front of the arena and was registering his information.
It was Luo Yu.
Finally, someone's here to challenge me.
Chen Qi brightened, but then he noticed that Luo Yu wore the same Tengyang ninja student uniform as him.
His face fell again, and he sighed inwardly.
An apprentice ninja would've been better. At least I could warm up.
Against a mere ninja student, even winning would bring him no joy.
After retrieving Luo Yu's information through a facial recognition scan, the receptionist kindly warned him, "Both your stats are only five. If you challenge arena seven's champion, there's a good chance you'll get hurt."
Although the dojo's medical staff and referees were always on standby and could prevent most accidents, there were limits.
After all, the referees for apprentice arenas were only tier-three Genin. If the gap between the fighters was too great, even they couldn't guarantee that no one would be injured or killed.
"It's fine. Those stats are from a few days ago. I've already reached apprentice level."
Luo Yu waved it off casually.
The spectators around him said nothing, but they couldn't help laughing to themselves.
He went from an ordinary student's level to apprentice in just a few days?
Did this kid see Chen Qi from his school slaughtering apprentices and assume they were weak?
Little did he know that most ninjas only reached apprentice level in their entire lives.
In fact, reaching apprentice level and earning a monthly stipend was already enough to take pride in.
Seeing Luo Yu insist, the receptionist couldn't say much more. He pointed to the QR code on the counter. "An apprentice arena costs three hundred per match."
"Three hundred!"
At that, the corner of the otherwise unruffled Luo Yu's mouth twitched.
Three hundred could buy my sister several pairs of black stockings!
Even using a pair each time, they'd last quite a while.
Still, he knew that three hundred ninja coins was a fair price.
After all, with so many staff members on-site and the arena's maintenance expenses, the costs were far from small.
That price was only possible because the Jiangli Dojo had the wealthy Ninja Association behind it, allowing it to charge slightly less than other dojos.
After scanning the code and paying, Luo Yu followed a middle-aged referee into the arena.
Seeing that Chen Qi's next opponent was an unremarkable ninja student, the referee immediately focused his attention.
Earlier, he had let his guard down because Wu Quan's strength appeared close to Chen Qi's, resulting in Wu Quan leaving on a stretcher.
The young man before him wasn't on Chen Qi's level, so he had to be even more careful.
Luo Yu greeted him amicably. "Hello, I'm Luo Yu."
"Chen Qi," Chen Qi replied aloofly.
He understood full well that true experts spoke little.
Then, under the referee's direction, the two took their positions on opposite sides of the arena.
"Ready-begin!"
As soon as the referee announced the start, Chen Qi spat out the senbon held like a toothpick between his lips.
The senbon shot straight toward Luo Yu.
Seeing Luo Yu remain motionless in the face of the approaching threat, the referee thought he had failed to react. He was about to draw a shuriken to knock the senbon away and declare Chen Qi the winner.
Suddenly!
Luo Yu activated the ocular power in his right eye, and the Sharingan's three tomoe appeared in his pupil.
After tracking the senbon's trajectory, he shifted slightly sideways, dodging its attack as though by chance.
Chen Qi, who had thought victory was assured, froze. "He dodged it!"
The referee also looked at Luo Yu in bewilderment, until he noticed that crimson eye and felt a surge of shock.
That was...
Among the spectators outside, some also noticed something unusual about Luo Yu.
"It's a Sharingan! That Luo Yu actually has a Sharingan, and it's the top-level three-tomoe version!"
"It really is! No wonder he dodged the senbon with such a subtle movement. Looks like he'd already seen through Chen Qi's attack trajectory."
"Isn't it only members of the Jun Family who've obtained the Uchiha inheritance who can wield the Sharingan's power?"
"Look closely! That kid only has his Sharingan activated in one eye!"
"Could he have obtained Kakashi's inheritance?"
"Impossible! Although Kakashi's inheritance is blue-grade, it consumes an enormous amount of chakra. A mere student couldn't use it!"
Hearing the crowd's discussion, Chen Qi also noticed the power in Luo Yu's eye.
A Sharingan!
And a three-tomoe one at that!
"I underestimated you before. Now I'm going all out!"
Chen Qi didn't panic. Instead, he felt a little excited.
Compared to his earlier overwhelming victories, he looked forward more to an evenly matched fight.
"Shadow Clone!"
Chen Qi formed hand seals, and the chakra inside him immediately split.
Two Shadow Clones appeared behind him.
Together with his original body, the three quickly surrounded Luo Yu.
Seeing Chen Qi use Shadow Clones, the spectators immediately grew excited.
"Shadow Clones again! This time, he actually made two at once! His proficiency must be close to minor mastery!"
"How is he so proficient at it?!"
"Knowing Shadow Clone at just tier-three apprentice level is already overpowered, but he's even this good at it!"
"For a white-grade inheritance, Genma Shiranui's is way too strong! It completely crushes some of those trash green-grade inheritances!"
"I'm so jealous of these second-generation ninjas. I'm a tier-three Genin and still haven't mastered Shadow Clone, while others can pay their way to learning it as apprentices."
"Exactly. Although it's a one-star ninjutsu, Shadow Clone is as hard to learn as a two-star ninjutsu!"
Basking in everyone's envious gazes, Chen Qi looked at Luo Yu confidently. "Do you want to concede?"
Although Luo Yu had a three-tomoe Sharingan, Chen Qi had mastered Shadow Clone, a technique normally only Chunin could learn. His battle formation was every bit a match.
With his advantage in stamina and chakra on top of that, defeating Luo Yu shouldn't be too difficult, right?
Before you continue