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When the other seven first-year classes arrived, the spectator seating of the Ninja Battle Arena filled with a crowd of six and seven-year-olds.
A masked Mist Ninja walked into the center of the arena.
The chief examiner, by the looks of it.
Mei Terumi and her two teammates stood in a triangular formation around the arena’s outer perimeter, each escorted by a Mist Ninja.
The exam was about to begin.
“Now! The ninja academy graduation exam requested by student Mei Terumi shall commence!”
“The rules are as follows: Mei Terumi, along with teammates Kaguya Nariki and Onizuma Gyokuji, will engage in a three-way free-for-all. The last one standing earns early graduation and becomes a genin!”
Yagura Karatachi understood immediately.
Mei Terumi wasn’t the only one with a chance.
Her two teammates had the same opportunity.
If Mei Terumi died, whichever teammate survived could also graduate.
And from what he could see, her two teammates had already reached an understanding.
Both watched Mei Terumi with wary hostility, paying little attention to each other.
Their surnames were worth noting too.
“Kaguya. Shikotsumyaku.”
Yagura tapped his knee, watching Mei Terumi’s opponents.
“Onizuma. Meiton. All scions of major Bloodline Limit clans.”
Arranging clan heirs into the same squad, just like how he’d been placed with Mangetsu Hozuki and Kaede Onime.
No matter who won, at least two clans would lose an outstanding heir.
Still, compared to these nobodies, Yagura naturally hoped Mei Terumi would graduate safely.
The chief examiner glanced at his watch.
“In that case, the graduation exam now begins!”
The chief examiner and three assistant proctors vanished from the arena using Body Flicker.
Mei Terumi stood still.
Her two opponents immediately took position, one in front of the other.
Kaguya Nariki stood forward.
“We stick to the plan. I’ll close in, you cover me with your Bloodline Limit!”
Onizuma Gyokuji was heavyset.
Facing Mei Terumi’s killing intent, sweat broke out on his forehead.
He didn’t want to die.
He gritted his teeth.
“Fine!”
“So you’ve discussed this already?”
Mei Terumi had given her friends of two years enough time and opportunity.
She raised both hands and formed seals.
Kaguya Nariki knew they couldn’t let her launch a ninjutsu offensive.
They had to end this fast.
He swung both hands hard.
“Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!”
The Shikotsumyaku Bloodline Limit.
Those who possessed it used their own bones as weapons, regenerating and growing rapidly under chakra’s effect.
Finger bones tore free from flesh and shot out.
“Futton: Skilled Mist Technique.”
Mei Terumi completed her final seal.
Dense, highly corrosive acid mist spewed from her mouth, enveloping her body and surroundings.
The hard bones corroded and dissolved upon entering the mist’s range.
Before reaching Mei Terumi, they transformed into puddles of pale liquid on the ground.
This was one of Mei Terumi’s two Bloodline Limits: Futton!
The acid mist’s concentration grew thicker as Mei Terumi fed it chakra, spreading rapidly toward them.
“Tsk, acid mist!”
His first strike failed.
Kaguya Nariki swiftly pulled bones from his arm to wield as a longsword, crouched low, and charged straight at Mei Terumi.
“Gyokuji!”
“Y-yes!”
Onizuma Gyokuji didn’t dare hold them back.
He immediately matched Kaguya Nariki’s movements, extending both hands.
Chakra formed a small black vortex on each palm.
The chakra Mei Terumi used to produce the acid mist was sucked into the black holes.
The mist vanished at a visible rate.
Use Meiton to absorb chakra, weaken the acid mist, then use Shikotsumyaku for close-quarters assault.
Mei Terumi saw through their tactic.
Exactly as she’d anticipated.
If she faced a Yoton or Futton ninja with Shikotsumyaku and Meiton at her disposal, she’d choose the same approach.
She’d already devised a counter.
Mei Terumi twisted sideways, ducked low, and nimbly dodged the bone sword Kaguya Nariki swung at her.
She spun and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach, creating distance.
“Water Release: Water Trumpet!”
Seizing the window, Mei Terumi leaped backward and spat a water column at Kaguya Nariki.
Kaguya Nariki swiftly evaded.
Onizuma Gyokuji caught up from behind and absorbed the water column with Meiton.
Kaguya Nariki grinned cruelly, brandishing his bone sword to resume his assault on the now-landed Mei Terumi.
“Switched to Water Release? Running low on chakra?”
Mei Terumi didn’t engage.
Nothing to say to someone about to die.
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”
An earthen wall shot up the instant her seals completed, separating Kaguya Nariki and Onizuma Gyokuji.
“What?!”
Neither had ever seen Mei Terumi use Earth Release.
They froze.
Their pre-planned tactic had no answer for Earth Release.
Not using it didn’t mean Mei Terumi couldn’t.
Her innate chakra natures were Water, Fire, and Earth.
Most of the time, Yoton and Futton were sufficient to dispatch enemies.
Mei Terumi gave them no time to recover.
“Futton: Skilled Mist Technique!”
Even though Kaguya Nariki’s reaction speed was fast, even though he immediately retreated the moment he realized, at close range, the acid mist Mei Terumi expelled surged over him.
Clothes and skin corroded and dissolved in an instant.
Red flesh exposed to air.
BOOM!
The Earth-Style Wall’s chakra was absorbed by Meiton.
The wall collapsed into black mud.
The moment Onizuma Gyokuji saw Kaguya Nariki hit by acid mist, his heart went half-cold.
Not daring to slow down, he immediately used Meiton to absorb the surrounding mist, lowering its concentration to pull Kaguya Nariki out.
Kaguya Nariki pulled himself free and retreated behind Onizuma Gyokuji.
His entire body burned and corroded, the second his body sensed safety, his strength gave out.
His legs couldn’t hold him.
He dropped to one knee.
Pain.
Pain like ants gnawing at his entire body.
His body wouldn’t move anymore.
Now that Kaguya Nariki had lost combat capability, with no need to worry about close-quarters threats, Mei Terumi could deploy her most proficient tactic: ninjutsu suppression.
The acid mist was being absorbed by Meiton.
It no longer spread or intensified.
Mei Terumi stood silently at the mist’s center, watching them with almost no emotion in her eyes.
Sweat poured down Onizuma Gyokuji’s face.
His fingertips maintaining Meiton were pale and trembling.
“Nariki! Are you good yet?!”
His chakra was almost depleted.
If Kaguya Nariki still couldn’t threaten Mei Terumi…
STAB.
STAB.
STAB.
Kaguya Nariki tried several times to prop himself up with his bone blade, but searing pain throughout his body made it impossible to stand.
Defeated by that Earth Release, and by Mei Terumi’s chakra reserves that completely outstripped theirs.
Mei Terumi had never once used Earth Release techniques.
Finally, Onizuma Gyokuji’s chakra could no longer sustain Meiton.
The two small chakra-absorbing vortexes on his hands vanished.
The acid mist Mei Terumi created was no longer suppressed.
Watching the mist draw closer, Mei Terumi’s figure within it growing harder to see, Onizuma Gyokuji knelt toward Mei Terumi in despair.
“Don’t, don’t kill me, Mei! We’re teammates! We’ve had two years of friendship, surely you… Ah! AAAAHHHH!”
The acid mist gradually engulfed them completely.
“Help, help me! Help! I don’t want to…”
“Exam over! Mei Terumi wins!”
Mei Terumi couldn’t bear to watch what they became under the acid mist.
It certainly wouldn’t be a pretty sight in death.
After the chief examiner announced the conclusion, Mei Terumi turned around without lingering thoughts.
She left the arena through the exit.
➤ Next: Your Side Shall Pledge No First Use of Lightning Release