"It's not chakra."
Hyuga Akira had determined the nature of his opponent's ability. Explosive Tags contained a small amount of chakra, which could not be hidden from the Byakugan.
"Is it wind and sound?" Hyuga Akira listened to the whooshing wind by his ears.
His hands rapidly formed hand seals, and he suddenly turned in midair, launching the Shuriken in his hands once again.
Kumate.
Unknowing Fire.
The Shuriken turned into fireballs and shot toward the five at tremendous speed.
Boom, boom, boom!
The Shuriken scattered the five of them.
Hyuga Akira landed on a branch and charged straight at the nearest Cloud Ninja.
His opponent rapidly formed hand seals.
Bird-Snake-Monkey-Ram.
A ninjutsu he did not recognize.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique!"
Yellow lightning balls hurtled toward Hyuga Akira.
The next instant, his figure vanished from the spot again, leaving a Shuriken to meet the lightning balls.
He appeared near the sensor Shinobi instead, pushed off a branch, and charged at her.
The Shinobi on either side of the sensor Shinobi immediately rushed at Hyuga Akira, Kunai in hand.
He took out a Kunai and hurled it straight at the sensor Shinobi.
The sensor Shinobi swayed left, about to dodge the Kunai.
Just then.
Hyuga Akira suddenly switched places with the Kunai, evading the two Shinobi's attacks and leaving only a Kunai to fall to the ground.
The two looked back.
He had spread his arms and wrapped them around their companion's waist, even allowing a Kunai to pierce his shoulder in the process.
The sensor Shinobi's pupils contracted. Although she did not know what Hyuga Akira intended to do, a trace of panic appeared on her pretty face.
Yes, the sensor Shinobi was a woman.
She did not think Hyuga Akira was doing this just to cop a feel, either.
The next instant, Hyuga Akira vanished from the spot.
An Explosive Tag was stuck to her leg.
The two Shinobi had no time to come to her aid.
Boom!!
Flames engulfed the female sensor Shinobi.
Chapter 29: Leveling Up Twice in a Row
Leaning against a tree trunk, Hyuga Akira continued observing the Shinobi with his Byakugan.
A notification flashed before his eyes.
[Experience: 845]
"She was actually a substandard Chunin." Hyuga Akira cursed.
Which ninja village was she from, anyway? Just how lenient had they been in that Chunin Exam?
If he found out, he would definitely file a complaint!
He would keep complaining until they went bankrupt.
Of course, it was also possible that she simply had a lot of chakra and was actually still a Genin.
After all, the Byakugan judged an opponent's strength entirely by their chakra reserves.
Whether she was a Chunin was still open to question.
He pulled the Kunai out of his shoulder.
"Ding! Obtained one Kunai."
Hyuga Akira supplied his own notification sound. He had very little chakra left now. Although the Substitution Technique was powerful, it was also a huge chakra drain.
Using it five times in total had consumed over a hundred chakra points.
Much of the rest had gone toward Kumate and Unknowing Fire.
[Chakra: 24/130+50]
"I can still use the Substitution Technique once."
The Chunin surpassed him in both ninjutsu and taijutsu. Without the Substitution Technique, he really could not have turned the tables and killed one of them.
Through his Byakugan, he saw the remaining four split into two groups, watching their surroundings warily while arguing about something.
They were too far away for him to hear.
Hyuga Akira took a deep breath.
"Level up."
[Name: I'm Xiao Ming] [Class: None] [Level: lv14 (0/3000)] [Chakra: 190/140+50]
The wound on his shoulder began healing visibly, and his depleted chakra rapidly replenished. He was back at his peak.
His physical capabilities improved by a tenth.
[Experience Pool: 1635]
"3,000 experience." Hyuga Akira looked at the ever-increasing experience requirement. Now he needed to kill two enemy Shinobi before he could level up.
The two groups watching their surroundings warily soon reached a decision.
The two Shinobi from an unknown faction actually chose to leave, quickly heading off in another direction.
Only the two Cloud Ninja remained.
"Without a sensor Shinobi, they're practically blind. Did those two not want to keep fighting?"
Hyuga Akira made a guess at their thinking.
A shame those two bundles of experience had just left.
But there were still two Cloud Ninja left.
"I have eight Explosive Tags left." He silently calculated his chances of defeating the two.
His Substitution Technique had already been exposed. Tricking one of them to death like before was no longer possible.
Although two Chunin had left, that did not mean the danger had lessened.
"Phew." Hyuga Akira slowly exhaled.
He suddenly leaped out from behind the tree and threw the Shuriken in his hands at the two in the distance.
"Shuriken: Heavy Fire! Fireballs!"
The fireballs formed from the Shuriken were even faster than the Shuriken themselves.
The two Cloud Ninja quickly leaped to either side, dodging the incoming fireballs, which punched through several trees.
Hyuga Akira had anticipated that the sneak attack would fail, but he was still somewhat disappointed when it did.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Beast!"
Thunderclap took the form of a rampaging beast and swiftly lunged at Hyuga Akira.
Hyuga Akira flickered, swiftly switching places with a Kunai. But the instant he appeared, the other Cloud Ninja charged at him with a sword. The lightning-enhanced blade was astonishingly fast.
Hyuga Akira used the Substitution Technique again.
Only an Explosive Tag remained in his place.
The long sword crackling with lightning sliced through the Explosive Tag, cutting it in half, and its wielder pushed off the ground to rapidly retreat.
Bang! The Explosive Tag produced few sparks, only some shock waves. Hyuga Akira rode the shock waves to quickly retreat.
"It's defective." The other Cloud Ninja leaped over and frowned at the Explosive Tag, which had barely produced a blast.
They were even bringing out defective goods these days?
Just how short of money were they?
Neither said anything more. Their figures suddenly turned into two streaks of lightning at the same time.
Lightning Body Flicker Technique!
They instantly appeared behind Hyuga Akira, lightning flashing along both their swords as they slashed at him.
"Body Flicker Technique." Hyuga Akira's expression was grim. A high-speed movement ninjutsu. His movement speed was fast, but it could not outpace the Body Flicker Technique.
Substitution Technique.
His figure instantly vanished from the spot.
The next instant, both of them sliced through the Shuriken he had substituted.
Hyuga Akira appeared where they had been fighting earlier. His pupils contracted as he saw the Explosive Tag on the ground.
He could trick others, and others could naturally trick him.
Since they knew the key to Hyuga Akira's technique, they had naturally made preparations too.
"Heh." Hyuga Akira sneered, stepped forward, grabbed the Explosive Tag that was about to explode, and swiftly tossed it into his backpack.
[Explosive Tag About to Explode]
Time stood still for anything placed in the backpack, and Explosive Tags were no exception.
The two Cloud Ninja used the Lightning Body Flicker Technique again and appeared behind Hyuga Akira.
Hyuga Akira's Byakugan had already spotted the two appearing. He turned and threw out the [Explosive Tag About to Explode].
"Take it back."
Boom!!
The blast wave from the powerful explosion sent all three flying.
Hyuga Akira rolled twice on the ground before stopping in a crouch. Green light shone from both hands as he held one over his chest and the other over his head.
"Three broken ribs, internal organs shaken, and a blow to the brain."
The world in his vision swayed.
These injuries already qualified as severe, and he could not help coughing up a mouthful of blood.
He used the Mystical Palm Technique to treat himself.
No experience notification appeared before his eyes, but those two had been closest to the explosion. He did not believe the two Cloud Ninja had escaped completely unscathed.
He merely stabilized his injuries before quickly running toward the two who had been blown away.
He soon saw them supporting each other. Both were covered in blood and filth and appeared severely injured as well.
"A member of the Hyuga Clan." One of the Cloud Ninja looked at Hyuga Akira and asked weakly, "Are you Hyuga Hiashi or Hizashi Hyuga?"
"Those two aren't the only members of the Hyuga Clan." Hyuga Akira grinned, and Shuriken appeared in both his hands.
Kumate.
"Shuriken: Heavy Fire! Saturation!"
Before you continue