Chapter 653 - Despicable, but Effective

Everyone watched as the two stood opposite each other.

“Brother Hanwu, since you’re an Apprentice, you can have the first strike,” Toutetsu said arrogantly, clearly looking down on Hanwu.

Knowing the original host’s powers, Toutetsu simply couldn’t take Hanwu seriously. Regardless, Hanwu was ready to use his abundance of battle experience to prove himself.

Hanwu carefully checked his interface. While running back to the village, he had accumulated four upgrade points. He decided to cover his weakness and upgrade his Nin.

His Nin value had only been 3 in the beginning. Spending three upgrade points upgraded it to 6. Unfortunately, if he wanted to make it 7, he would need another two upgrade points, so he opted to upgrade Clone instead.

His Clone E turned into Multiclone D. Although clones were all illusions and couldn’t deal damage, they could disorient his foes. It was quite useful.

After spending all his upgrade points, Hanwu glanced at Toutetsu. “Are you sure you want me to attack first?”

Toutetsu scoffed. “I’m an Adept. If I attack first, they’ll say that I’m bullying you, brother Hanwu.”

It was an obvious but infuriating taunt. Hanwu wasn’t the original host, but he was still insulted. The feeling of being looked down on by a junior was uniquely maddening.

“You better not regret it then!” Hanwu made a series of hand seals, but because his Seal value was only 4, his motions weren’t that fast.

The elders laughed when they saw what he was casting.

“He’s using Clone? That’s a useless Ninjutsu.”

“Wait, he’s not executing Clone.”

“Let me see... Those hand seals resemble the Multiclone Ninjutsu. Who did he learn it from?”

Everyone watched as Hanwu completed the seals, and four clones appeared beside him. The clones were realistic to the point that no one could tell which was the real Hanwu.

Hanwu and the clones swiftly attacked Toutetsu from five different directions.

Although startled that Hanwu could use Multiclone, Toutetsu quickly recomposed himself and started making seals. He was much faster than Hanwu, and once the seal was completed, a black ball of water emerged from his body and mimicked his form.

The clone made from the black water was only 70% similar to him, which meant he hadn’t completely mastered it yet. Still, his Ninjutsu caught the elders’ attention.

“That’s a B rank Hijutsu, Water Style: Black Water Clone!”

“He’s so young, but he’s already learned such an advanced Ninjutsu. He just needs to practice more to become a Master!”

“A genius. He’s truly the genius of our household!”

Their praises pleased Toutetsu, but he was in a battle. The slight lapse in his attention created an opening for Hanwu and his four clones to close the distance.

“

Hmph!

It seems you’ve mastered Multiclone well. I can’t even tell which is fake and which isn’t. No matter, I’ll just smash them all at once!”

He and his Black Water Clone attacked in tandem, destroying the four clones and hitting Hanwu in the process. However, at the last second, Hanwu turned into a wooden log.

“Substitute!” Toutetsu immediately turned around. According to the teachers in the village, Substitute was mainly used to redirect one’s attention so that they could sneak up behind them. Toutetsu was ready for an ambush from the back.

Unfortunately for him, Hanwu hadn’t used Substitute at all. He had actually used Transform to turn into a wooden log upon being struck. That gambit successfully lowered Toutetsu’s guard.

Hanwu attacked with Collapse Punch, slamming Toutetsu onto the ground. The genius of the Kokkai family fainted on the spot. The Black Water Clone dissipated when Toutetsu was knocked unconscious.

The elders were stunned. Toutetsu was stronger than Hanwu, but he had clearly lost to Hanwu’s battle experience.

“Do you still doubt me? You can send someone else to test me if you’re not satisfied,” Hanwu suggested eagerly.

Toutetsu had hit him once during the battle, but with Undying in effect, his wounds recovered swiftly. However, as he was fighting against an Adept, his Duel Jurisdiction immediately hit 200%, giving him two upgrade points. If he suffered a few more hits, he could upgrade all of his parameters to the limit.

Thus, Hanwu was actually hoping that the elders would send someone else to fight him, as long as they were Adepts or Masters. He preferred not to fight with an Apprentice as they contributed a negligible number of points.

“Patriarch, Hanwu used a trick to win,” cried Kokkai Takumi, father of Toutetsu. “That match doesn’t count. I want a rematch!”

“Kokkai Takumi, are you dense? Do you think your opponent will always fight you fair and square? I think Hanwu is an excellent child. Patriarch, you must reward him.” One of the elders stood on Hanwu’s side.

“He used Transform flawlessly and redirected the enemy’s attention by faking Substitute,” praised another elder. “It’s despicable, but effective. Patriarch, I agree in rewarding Hanwu for his performance in his coming of age ceremony.”

The patriarch had wanted to kill Hanwu and was naturally pissed at this result.

You get to live this time, but I’ll kill you next time. This is all for the sake of Lord Huangquan.

“Since most of you are in agreement, I announce that Hanwu has attained an Excellent for his coming-of-age ceremony. His resources will be disbursed to him as outlined in the guidelines.”

The elders nodded approvingly. Only Takumi was in disagreement, but there was nothing he could do. Hanwu had defeated his genius son, Toutetsu, in front of everyone. There was no room to twist this situation to his advantage.

Hanwu, just you wait. I won’t forgive you!

Takumi snarled to himself.