Leaning against the tree trunk, Hyūga Ming continued observing the remaining shinobi with his Byakugan.
A notification flashed before his eyes.
[Experience +845]
"Only eight hundred?" Hyūga Ming cursed under his breath.
"So that one wasn't even a qualified chūnin?"
Which village was that from?
How much water did they pour into their chūnin exams?
If he ever found out, he'd definitely file a complaint.
Straight to bankruptcy.
Of course, there was another possibility—
the opponent might have had a large chakra pool but poor actual combat ability.
The Byakugan judged strength purely by chakra volume, after all.
Whether that woman truly counted as a chūnin was still debatable.
Hyūga Ming pulled the kunai out of his shoulder.
"Ding! Acquired: Kunai."
He even added a sound effect for himself.
Right now, his chakra was almost depleted.
The Substitution Technique was powerful—but it was also a chakra guzzler.
Five uses alone had burned over a hundred chakra.
On top of that were the costs of Bear Grapple Hand and Fire Release.
[Chakra: 24 / 130 + 50]
"One more Substitution. That's all I've got."
A chūnin surpassed him in both ninjutsu and taijutsu.
Without Substitution, counterkilling would've been impossible.
Through the Byakugan, he saw the remaining four enemies split into two groups, cautiously scanning their surroundings while arguing about something.
Too far to hear.
Hyūga Ming took a deep breath.
"Level up."
[Name: I'm Little Ming]
[Level: Lv.14 (0 / 3000)]
[Chakra: 190 / 140 + 50]
The wound on his shoulder visibly healed.
His depleted chakra surged back to full.
Peak condition—restored.
His physical stats rose again, roughly another tenth overall.
[Experience Pool: 1635]
"Three thousand to the next level…"
He needed to kill at least two more enemies.
The two remaining groups finally reached a decision.
One pair—no idea which side—turned and fled without hesitation.
"Smart choice," Hyūga Ming muttered.
Without a sensor-type, they were practically blind.
Still, losing two walking experience packs hurt.
That left two Cloud ninja.
He checked his inventory.
"Eight explosive tags left."
The Substitution Technique was already exposed—
pulling off another instant kill like before would be much harder.
Even though two enemies had withdrawn, the danger hadn't dropped much.
Hyūga Ming exhaled slowly.
Then he stepped out from behind the tree.
Shuriken flew from his hands toward the two Cloud ninja.
"Shuriken—Heavy Fire! Fireball Mode!"
The flaming projectiles moved even faster than normal shuriken.
The Cloud ninja split apart instantly, dodging to either side.
Several trees behind them were punched clean through.
Hyūga Ming had expected that.
Still—seeing it fail stung a little.
"Lightning Release · Lightning Beast!"
Crackling lightning formed into a roaring beast and charged straight at him.
Hyūga Ming vanished—
swapping places with a kunai mid-air.
But the instant he reappeared, the second Cloud ninja rushed him, blade blazing with lightning.
Fast.
Too fast.
Hyūga Ming activated Substitution again.
An explosive tag was left behind.
The lightning blade sliced through it, cutting it cleanly in half as the Cloud ninja leapt backward.
Boom.
There was barely any flame—only a shockwave.
Hyūga Ming rode the blast backward, using it to create distance.
"A defective one," the other Cloud ninja muttered after landing nearby.
Even now, cheap goods were being used?
How poor was this guy?
Without wasting more words, both Cloud ninja vanished—
Lightning Body Flicker Technique!
Two streaks of lightning appeared behind Hyūga Ming instantly.
Blades descended from both sides.
His expression darkened.
"So it's Body Flicker…"
He was fast—but not that fast.
Substitution.
Again.
The replaced shuriken was cleaved in half.
Hyūga Ming reappeared at the previous battlefield—
and froze.
An explosive tag lay right at his feet.
His pupils contracted sharply.
He could ambush others.
Others could ambush him too.
They had figured out the core of his technique.
"Tch."
Hyūga Ming grabbed the explosive tag just before detonation and shoved it into his inventory.
[Item: Explosive Tag (Primed)]
Anything placed into the inventory had time frozen.
Even an active explosive tag.
The two Cloud ninja flickered behind him again.
Hyūga Ming turned, Byakugan fully locked on them, and threw the primed tag back.
"Return to sender."
BOOM!!
The explosion sent all three flying.
Hyūga Ming tumbled across the ground twice before stopping in a crouch.
Green chakra flared in both hands—
one pressed to his chest, the other to his head.
"Three broken ribs. Internal shock. Mild concussion."
The world spun.
This was already classified as severe injury.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
He used Mystical Palm Technique on himself, stabilizing the damage.
No experience notification appeared—but the two Cloud ninja had been closest to the blast.
There was no way they'd escaped unscathed.
Hyūga Ming didn't wait.
He rushed forward.
Soon, he spotted them—
supporting each other, soaked in blood, barely standing.
A Cloud ninja looked at him weakly.
"You're… from the Hyūga clan.
Are you Hyūga Hiashi… or Hyūga Hizashi?"
"The Hyūga clan has more than two people," Hyūga Ming grinned.
Shuriken filled his hands.
Bear Grapple Hand.
"Shuriken—Heavy Fire! Saturation!"
A wall of shuriken slammed toward them.
They tried to dodge—
but their injuries were too severe.
They raised their blades, desperately blocking a few—
But shuriken empowered by four bears' worth of strength were overwhelming.
Who throws shuriken like this!?
And faster than hand seals!?
They still had chakra.
They still had strong bodies.
None of it mattered.
They were riddled through.
Blood and flesh scattered across the forest floor.
[Experience +1556]
[Experience +1365]
"Level up!"
[Name: I'm Little Ming]
[Level: Lv.15 (0 / 3500)]
[Chakra: 200 / 150 + 50]
His injuries vanished.
Chakra surged back again.
Hyūga Ming stood alone in the forest—
breathing steadily.
Alive.
Stronger.
And very much not done yet.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
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