Watching Hyuga Aoki collapse to the ground, the training field erupted in an uproar.
The students looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.
Akimichi Ryoko, who had just been defeated by Ueno Mori a moment ago, had now, in the blink of an eye, easily dealt with Hyuga Aoki—one of the top-ranked students in the class—with an almost crushing dominance.
In particular, his performance of taking the Gentle Fist head-on without a scratch completely overturned their understanding.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, when used on an ordinary person, was enough to disrupt their Chakra and leave them writhing in pain on the ground, yet on Ryoko, it truly felt like nothing more than a tickle.
What was even more terrifying was that he hadn't even adopted a proper defensive stance; he had simply stood there and won.
This result instantly made Ueno Mori, who had "luckily" defeated Ryoko earlier, the center of attention.
The gazes of the commoner children fell upon him, filled with surprise, curiosity, and even a hint of admiration.
A commoner child had defeated Ryoko, and Ryoko had defeated Hyuga Aoki—didn't this mean he had indirectly defeated a genius of the Hyuga Clan?
Ueno Mori felt the scorching gazes around him, and he couldn't help but reveal a complex expression, a mixture of guilt and a hint of smugness.
The victory he'd bought with a lunch box didn't seem too bad after all.
Soon, Teacher announced the new match-up list after two rounds of screening.
Those who remained were basically the cream of the crop in the class.
Coincidentally, Ueno Mori had some ability, and since his opponents hadn't been too strong, he had luckily made it through again.
As soon as the new match-up list came out, Ryoko's opponent turned out to be Uchiha Tekka of the Uchiha Clan.
He was a member of the Uchiha Clan, a family in Konoha equally famous for their Dojutsu Bloodline Limit.
Uchiha Tekka walked into the arena with his hands in his pockets, chin slightly raised, wearing a rebellious expression.
His cold gaze swept over Ryoko, then flicked toward Hyuga Aoki, who had just been carried away, his tone carrying undisguised contempt.
"That waste Hyuga Aoki has truly disgraced our Dojutsu families."
He locked his gaze back onto Ryoko, like a hawk eyeing its prey. "Just you wait. I will personally wash away this shame."
Watching the arrogance and fighting spirit practically written all over the other boy's face, Ryoko sighed helplessly in his heart.
Great, this business deal was definitely ruined.
With the Uchiha Clan's snooty nature, how could they possibly accept a "humiliating" deal like trading a lunch box for a victory?
"Sigh, it looks like my lunch box revenue is going to plummet this week."
He muttered to himself, but his eyes darted around, not having given up completely.
"Once we start fighting, I might still find a chance to 'pitch' the idea. What if he gets hurt and changes his mind?"
With this unrealistic hope and fantasy, Ryoko slowly walked to the center of the arena, preparing to face the battle against Uchiha Tekka.
Just as Ryoko and Uchiha Tekka were confronting each other, another battle not far away had already quickly concluded.
Ueno Mori, whom everyone had high hopes for and regarded as a dark horse, was facing Minato Namikaze.
However, in just a single exchange, before he could even see how the opponent had moved, he was knocked to the ground by a clean taijutsu strike from Minato, losing the match decisively.
This swift defeat was like cold water splashed into a hot pan of oil, instantly waking up the students who were still immersed in the myth of Ueno Mori "indirectly defeating the Hyuga."
"No way? How did Ueno Mori lose so quickly? That's pathetic, right?"
"I knew something was wrong. How could he have beaten Akimichi Ryoko earlier? It must have been fake!"
"Minato is the true genius among us commoners. Ueno Mori must have used some underhanded methods."
...
The surrounding whispers pricked Ueno Mori's back like needles, making his face flush red, wishing he could crawl into a hole in the ground.
He scrambled up from the ground in a sorry state, filled with regret.
If he had known he would be exposed so easily, he would never have accepted the temptation of trading a lunch box for a victory, even if it killed him.
Now, not only had he failed to save face, but he had also become a laughingstock in everyone's eyes.
He cast a complex gaze toward the battlefield where Ryoko was, only to see that the fighting style there was completely different from his own just now.
Rather than a battle, it was more like a solo performance by Uchiha Tekka, with Ryoko as the sole, immovable spectator.
Uchiha Tekka's figure was swift, constantly circling Ryoko. His fierce taijutsu moves, combined with precise shuriken throws, launched attacks from all sorts of tricky angles, attempting to find a flaw in Ryoko's defense.
However, facing this dazzling offensive, Ryoko remained as lazy as ever.
He didn't dodge or evade, only occasionally tilting his body slightly or swaying his massive frame casually.
That layer of plump fat seemed to come alive, forming a tough and elastic defensive layer on his body surface.
Fists struck him and sank in, only to be neutralized by the soft force; Kunai were either deflected or stuck in the surface of his fat, as if glued there.
"Damn it, what kind of monster-like defense is this?"
Uchiha Tekka grew more alarmed and helpless the more he fought, with fine beads of sweat even seeping from his forehead.
His Uchiha-style taijutsu and throwing techniques, which he took great pride in, appeared so powerless before that fat.
"Could it be... is this the true power of the Akimichi Clan's secret techniques?"
As a genius of the Uchiha Clan, the education he had received since childhood was that the Sharingan was supreme, that Bloodline Limits reigned above all else, and that while secret techniques were strong, they were limited.
Therefore, apart from the few classmates from Bloodline clans, he looked down on everyone else.
Yet, this Akimichi Ryoko before him had rendered him helpless with nothing but his physical body. This completely overturned his understanding and dealt a significant blow to his arrogant heart.
By now, Uchiha Tekka had exhausted all his methods, yet he couldn't even make Ryoko take half a step back. The intense physical exertion and psychological anxiety made his breathing ragged, his face full of unwillingness.
"Damn it, if only I could awaken the Sharingan... The mere secret techniques of the Akimichi Clan would be no match for the power of the Uchiha!"
He blamed all his failure on the fact that he hadn't awakened his eyes yet, stubbornly believing that as long as he possessed those eyes, defeating this fatty in front of him would be as easy as turning over his hand.
Just as he was panting for breath and lacked the strength even to throw a Kunai, Ryoko was performing an action completely at odds with his style.
He was secretly picking up the Kunai stuck in his fat and those scattered on the ground one by one, calculating in his mind.
"These should be worth some money, right? Enough to buy a few dozen dango sticks?"
After estimating the value of his loot, Ryoko felt it was time to end this boring fight.
Facing Uchiha Tekka who was charging over again, he took a step forward, seemingly casually, and swung his right fist in a simple, direct manner.
There were no fancy moves, only pure, extreme strength and speed.
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