Just as Luo Yu was puzzling over it, the sounds of a fight came from five hundred meters away.
"Someone's already fighting a Mutant Beast?"
Luo Yu activated his Sharingan and turned his extraordinarily sharp gaze toward the battle.
Through the layers of leaves, he saw an examinee wearing sunglasses, with a crow perched on his shoulder, facing off against a Water Lizard.
The chakra in his body measured 25. If his stamina wasn't lagging behind, he would be at Novice Rank Two as well.
The crow guy nervously formed hand seals. "Fire Release! Dragon Fire Technique!"
As his words fell, threads shot from his fingertips and wrapped around the Water Lizard.
At the same time, the chakra in his body transformed into flames that raced along the threads toward his target.
They resembled a fire dragon roaming through the void.
"A one-and-a-half-star Fire Release Ninjutsu! Looks like he's probably absorbed a ninja legacy."
A flicker of surprise crossed Luo Yu's eyes as he watched the crow guy unleash the Fire Dragon Technique.
In terms of rating, the Fire Dragon Technique was even half a star above the Great Fireball.
This guy was probably either the child of a ninja who had absorbed a legacy or an exceptionally gifted top student.
Judging by that distinctive crow on his shoulder, he had probably fused with Aoba Yamashiro's legacy.
In that case, dealing with a Water Lizard shouldn't be difficult.
"Seriously, I don't have time to watch someone else put on a show. Better get to the danger zone."
Luo Yu muttered to himself.
Just then, the Water Lizard's cheeks suddenly bulged. A jet of pressurized water blasted out like a high-pressure water cannon, instantly extinguishing the Great Fireball.
This was the Water Lizard's racial skill!
High-Pressure Splash!
It also had a one-and-a-half-star rating, higher even than Water Release: Wild Water Wave.
That guy's in trouble.
Luo Yu thought to himself.
The next instant, the water that had snuffed out the flames rushed toward the mysterious crow guy.
The high-pressure stream pierced straight through his calf like a sharp spear.
His face twisted in pain, and the crow guy had no choice but to reluctantly press the withdrawal button on his Scientific Ninja Tool.
An instant later, the Flying Thunder God sealed inside the tool activated, and the crow guy vanished.
"He knew the Fire Dragon Technique and had a decent amount of chakra. He should've been able to place well."
"Too bad he ran into a Water Lizard that countered his Fire Release."
Luo Yu sighed regretfully.
Suddenly, something clicked.
According to the map, this area should have been home to Wind Sprites, and it also led to the danger zone.
Fire countered wind!
That was why he had chosen this route.
On his way to the danger zone, even if he encountered Novice Rank One Wind Sprites-
With both an elemental advantage and a rank advantage, he would face minimal resistance.
The crow guy must have had the same idea.
Instead, the map's information had misled him, costing him his chance to become an Apprentice Ninja.
Could the false information on the map be part of the exam too?!
At that thought, Luo Yu felt his scalp prickle.
Good grief! President Bai was playing dirty!
Still, that worked out perfectly. Though this Secret Realm was Apprentice Level, its Mutant Beasts were on the stronger side.
Even so, one Great Fireball would take care of them.
After all, with his Great Fireball at major mastery and the hashirama cells boosting his ninjutsu's power-
He was practically a high-speed meat roaster at Apprentice Level.
He could farm some points while traveling, and with a little luck, pick up plenty of attribute points too.
With that thought, Luo Yu headed toward the danger zone again, his Sharingan constantly searching for those walking piles of attribute points.
Meanwhile, in the Supervision Group's work area.
A middle-aged man in a black suit stared at the screen in disbelief. "The information on the map is wrong!"
"Otherwise, my son couldn't possibly have been eliminated!"
"Aoba Yamashiro is among the strongest white legacies!"
"He fused with a legacy like that and still failed the Trainee Exam. How am I supposed to explain this to the family?"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man looked at President Bai beside him.
Despite the man's intense agitation, President Bai remained calm. "False intelligence is part of the exam."
"Those superficial forms of power can be passed down through a family."
"Then why can't adaptability, the ability to assess intelligence, and careful thinking?"
Then he gave the middle-aged man a cold look. "Or are you the sort of parent who can only throw money at educational problems?"
The middle-aged man instantly fell silent, as though he had taken a hit from Garen's Q.
The heads of the other ninja families present had looked utterly at ease moments ago. Now their expressions had soured too.
Damn! President Bai was really serious about this!
Forget about the Yamato Fragment for now. At least make sure they don't get eliminated.
"If they can't even clear a little Trainee Exam, how can they talk about inheriting their family's legacy?"
Curator Jiang laughed, clearly unconcerned about the current exam.
President Bai shot him a sidelong glance. "You're pretty relaxed, old Jiang. Aren't you afraid that boy you're backing will get eliminated and I'll make you eat your words?"
Curator Jiang was surprisingly firm. "Enough talk. Are you betting or not?"
Seeing how unconcerned he was, President Bai got a little fired up too. "Fine. If that kid Luo Yu really takes first place, just like you said-"
"I'll give you one white legacy."
"And if he doesn't..."
Curator Jiang declared without hesitation, "I'll give you ten white legacies!"
He was certain Luo Yu would soon crush the competition, so he left himself no room to back out.
Seeing Curator Jiang so confident made President Bai increasingly curious about Luo Yu.
Just how extraordinary was this young man for him to think so highly of him?
Ten minutes later, outside at Site Three.
While Sister Yan was still telling Luo Qingyu how outstanding her son was, Cheng Yu returned with his head hanging.
Chen Yu was dejected now, nothing like the arrogant boy he had been before leaving.
"Yu? Why are you back?" Sister Yan asked in surprise.
She already had an uneasy suspicion.
Cheng Yu said bitterly, "This year's exam is practically designed to screw people over."
"I followed the map to a place where Novice Rank One Mutant Beasts were supposed to live."
"But a Novice Rank Three Giant-Toothed Demon jumped out! I couldn't fight it at all, so I had to withdraw."
"It was ridiculous. I honestly wondered if I'd wandered onto the wrong set and ended up in someone else's Genin-level Secret Realm."
Hearing that, Luo Qingyu immediately grew worried. "This year's exam is that hard?"
"Then isn't my little brother in danger?"
Sister Yan, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. "Sounds like there's a problem with the exam's difficulty."
"It's all right. If that's the case, most people will probably be eliminated."
"If too few people become Apprentice Ninjas, the Association will consider holding another exam and lowering the difficulty."
Then she raised an eyebrow. "Come to think of it, Luo Yu's lasted quite a while. He's actually getting eliminated later than Yu."
"Could he have realized he had no hope of earning points and hidden somewhere to wait for the Mutant Beasts to eliminate everyone else?"
"If that's really what he's doing, he's pretty clever."
It wasn't that she was deliberately thinking the worst of others.
After all, her son ranked near the top of his school every year. If someone as outstanding as him had been eliminated so early, surely Luo Yu couldn't be even better than her son.
With that thought, Sister Yan looked at the points leaderboard on the big screen.
She started from the bottom, but couldn't find Luo Yu's name anywhere.
Had he been eliminated ages ago? Had he just gone to the restroom instead of coming back?
As she wondered, Sister Yan's gaze reached first place.
"Luo Yu! First place! Points: 120!"
Sister Yan instinctively read out the information on the screen's first line, then froze in bewilderment.
Yang Jie, who was currently in second place, only had 30 points.
Yang Jie was a well-known young talent in Jiang Li, so she knew a little about him.
Not only was he highly talented, but he had also taught himself a one-star ninjutsu a few months ago.
And the Yang Family behind him was the most powerful family in Jiang Li.
That made Yang Jie a rising star of Jiang Li.
And Luo Yu had just crushed him?
Before you continue