"What's all the noise about? If you've got a problem, come challenge me!"
Zhao Hai looked at the crowd below and snapped.
At those words, the entire audience fell silent.
Trash talk was one thing, but when it came to actually stepping up, they knew their limits.
"This young man needs to be taken down a peg." President Bai frowned at the swaggering Zhao Hai.
Curator Jiang looked calmly at Luo Yu. "Looks like his opponent plays a little dirty."
"Be careful when you fight him."
Luo Yu nodded slightly, then leaped into the center of the arena. He concentrated chakra beneath his feet and stood on the water's surface.
Seeing someone finally willing to step forward, the crowd began murmuring.
"Isn't that Luo Yu, the top scorer in yesterday's exam?"
"Is he going to challenge Zhao Hai?"
"He might be one of the best Apprentice Ninjas, but Zhao Hai is a Genin! And he's very likely Kisame Hoshigaki's inheritor! There's still a pretty big gap."
"Young people are too impulsive. He might dominate at the Apprentice Level, but a Genin is several times stronger than an apprentice. You can't ignore that difference."
Hearing the crowd's remarks, Zhao Hai looked a little surprised. "You're Luo Yu, the one who made a name for himself in Jiang Li's Trainee Exam yesterday?"
"What are you here for? Are you trying to challenge me?"
Luo Yu chuckled. "I'm just here to have a little fun. No need to be so nervous."
Zhao Hai froze at that.
An Apprentice Ninja was telling him not to be nervous?
This was the first time he had met someone more arrogant than himself.
Just then, President Luo spoke from below the arena. "Zhao, go ahead and force Luo Yu to reveal his trump cards."
"Gathering information on him ahead of time is worthwhile work, too."
Zhao Hai nodded slightly, then looked at Luo Yu. "Since the president asked, I'll play with you for a bit."
"Go ahead and give it your all. We three old-timers will referee for you," President Bai said.
Then he gave the referee in the arena a meaningful look.
Taking the hint, the referee dutifully left the arena.
Then President Bai called out sharply, "On my mark!"
"Three, two, one! Begin!"
As soon as the words fell, Zhao Hai struck first. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Driven by the chakra within him, the surrounding water gathered into the shape of a twisting dragon and hurtled toward Luo Yu.
Although President Luo had asked him to probe Luo Yu's abilities, Zhao Hai had no interest in trading blows with a rookie.
So he opened with a moderately lethal move.
"Water Dragon Bullet is a Two-Star Water Release Ninjutsu commonly used by Jonin!"
"Looks like Zhao Hai wants to end this quickly."
"He's using the water already around him to perform Water Release with very little chakra! Looks like his Water Dragon Bullet has reached Minor Mastery!"
Seeing Zhao Hai open with Water Dragon Bullet, many people looked at Luo Yu with concern.
As a Two-Star ninjutsu, Water Dragon Bullet's power was easy to imagine.
Luo Yu looked so confident. Did he really have a way to deal with it?
Yet the next moment, his response left them dumbfounded.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
What the hell!
So Luo Yu had relied on Fire Release to sweep through the Trial Grounds!
Didn't that make him a perfect target for Zhao Hai's Water Release?
At that sight, everyone grew even more pessimistic about the fight.
Only President Luo burst out laughing. "This Luo Yu certainly has some interesting ideas."
Then he looked at President Bai. "Old Bai, he's certainly a fine talent from your Jiang Li."
President Bai said nothing in response.
Just then, dazzling firelight suddenly flooded the training hall, so bright that everyone struggled to keep their eyes open.
An enormous Great Fireball that covered half the arena surged toward Zhao Hai.
The seemingly unstoppable Water Dragon Bullet plunged into the sunlike fireball and evaporated instantly.
It was a perfect demonstration of trying to put out a raging fire with a cup of water.
In the face of overwhelming strength, even elemental counters were reversed.
Not only that, but the pooled water in the arena kept turning into steam under the intense heat.
The arena immediately became foggy and damp, filled with mist.
And the enormous Great Fireball kept advancing.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Facing that blazing sun, Zhao Hai had no time for surprise. He unleashed another defensive Water Release technique, this one rated one and a half stars.
This time, he dared not hold anything back.
Almost all the water in the arena gathered together, forming an enormous wall of water to block the Great Fireball.
Only after exhausting every bit of pooled water in the arena did he finally extinguish the Great Fireball.
"Are we sure that was a Great Fireball?"
Watching Zhao Hai put everything he had into extinguishing that absurd Great Fireball, the spectators were utterly stunned.
Was that a Great Fireball?
That was clearly a nuclear fireball!
Even a Chunin couldn't produce a Great Fireball that powerful without extraordinarily high proficiency!
And the chakra required would be another problem.
How had Luo Yu done it?
Even Zhao Hai, standing right there in the arena, was dumbstruck.
His Water Formation Wall had reached Minor Mastery, after all, and he had drawn on all the water in the arena. It should have been foolproof against Fire Release.
Yet...
"Using fire to overcome water. President Luo was right-Luo Yu certainly has some interesting ideas."
Curator Jiang looked at President Luo with a smile.
President Luo was staring into the arena in shock, his mouth slightly open, unable to utter a word.
His mind, however, was rapidly making sense of what had just happened.
To produce a Great Fireball of that caliber, Luo Yu's ninjutsu proficiency had to be extremely high.
Even a conservative estimate would put him close to the pinnacle!
Being able to force Zhao Hai into such a desperate position meant Luo Yu was already strong enough to take part in this year's City Exchange Meet.
Now he could only hope Zhao Hai would force Luo Yu to reveal more of his trump cards.
"I never expected Luo Yu to change so much overnight."
"Looks like he'll be able to make something of himself at this year's Exchange Meet."
President Bai was filled with emotion as well.
Even Luo Yu himself, the one who had cast the technique, was startled by its astonishing power.
Since his opponent was Kisame Hoshigaki's inheritor, he had increased the Great Fireball's chakra expenditure to the maximum out of due respect.
That single Great Fireball had actually consumed half his chakra.
With the 100% ninjutsu power boost from his level two Hashirama cells and his Greater Mastery proficiency, it had produced this utterly unexpected result.
"I was careless just now. You're worth taking seriously."
Zhao Hai refused to concede verbally, but his expression turned grim.
He had deliberately laid down all the water in the arena before his previous fights.
His goal had been to turn the surrounding environment into his home turf.
After all, compared with using his own chakra to produce Water Release, controlling water already nearby let him perform better.
It also consumed less chakra.
Only Ninshu-level Ninjas could freely use Water Release when there was no water around them.
As a mere Genin, he was still far from proficient at that.
Yet a single blast of Luo Yu's Fire Release had wiped out all the pooled water.
More importantly, facing Luo Yu had made him feel a pressure he hadn't experienced in a long time.
If he couldn't defeat Luo Yu head-on here, it would shake his confidence.
That would be extremely detrimental to the Exchange Meet in a few days.
Resolving to defeat Luo Yu no matter what, Zhao Hai formed hand seals again. "Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"
As his words fell, the surrounding mist thickened under the influence of his Water Release chakra.
This way, Luo Yu wouldn't be able to determine Zhao Hai's position, and that extraordinarily powerful Great Fireball also consumed a huge amount of chakra.
Naturally, Luo Yu wouldn't dare fire it off blindly.
Before you continue