Ethan glanced at Rock Lee not far away. The guy looked incredibly excited, celebrating with his teacher, Guy. You'd think he had already won.
But anyone who knew these two understood that the reason for their joy was that Lee had drawn the opponent he most wanted to face.
"This is quite interesting... but if Lee is fighting me now, I wonder which unlucky soul will end up with a black eye later."
Most likely, it would be some unfortunate participant from the Sound Village. The third round was designed to be a spectacle in front of countless spectators and important figures. It wasn't a stage prepared for just any small ninja village. If someone with decent strength made it through, that was fine, but if there weren't enough talented participants from major villages, those from smaller villages would be sacrificed.
But this had nothing to do with Ethan. He was only focused on the present.
A match with Rock Lee? That would definitely be interesting.
"Contestant Rock Lee, please enter the arena as soon as possible!"
"..."
Because he had been so caught up chatting with Guy, Rock Lee had completely forgotten that these matches started immediately. Only after Gekko Hayate reminded him did he hurriedly jump down and apologize to Ethan, who had already been waiting a while.
"I'm very sorry!"
"It's alright."
They were both from Konoha and saw each other often. Besides, Lee wasn't the kind of person to get on your nerves. Ethan smiled and waved it off, showing he didn't mind.
"This kid has a good personality!"
As Lee entered the arena, Guy also came over to stand beside Yamashiro Aoba, chatting with his two colleagues.
"Ethan has a great personality. He hardly caused me any trouble."
"That's good. Mine aren't so easy to handle."
Kakashi glanced at Naruto and Sakura standing next to him, then thought of Sasuke, who had already been sent to the hospital. Each one gave him more of a headache than the last. Sometimes, he thought that if he could swap one of them for Ethan, his life would be much easier.
But then he remembered Ethan's terrifying learning ability.
"But when it comes to teaching him, Aoba must have a headache too, right?"
"Haha."
Yamashiro Aoba gave an awkward laugh. Since being assigned such a genius student, he had often gone around asking other jonin for advice or even assistance. This had already become a running joke among the jonin.
Because of this, although Ethan didn't have much of a reputation among regular chunin and genin, he was already well known among the jonin.
Core jonin like Kakashi even knew that Ethan had already drawn the attention of Lord Third Hokage. As a ninja from a civilian background, reaching this point was enough to prove how outstanding his talent was.
"Maybe this match is something Lord Third wanted to see as well."
Among the audience, the most prominent was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The old man remained low-key, standing quietly in a corner after the opening, silently watching these excellent genin showcase their abilities.
"They are all the future of Konoha..."
Rock Lee, a boy who could barely use genjutsu or ninjutsu, had devoted all his effort to taijutsu. He was extremely talented in it and was highly likely to inherit Guy's legacy, becoming the next generation taijutsu specialist of Konoha.
Ethan, who had initially been thought of as just another slightly talented newcomer, had gradually piqued Hiruzen's interest thanks to reports from Yamashiro Aoba and Kakashi.
Originally, he believed Ethan was just highly gifted in taijutsu, with his powerful Body Flicker Technique and acute reflexes allowing him to instantly detect weak points in an enemy's defense and deliver lethal strikes.
What he hadn't expected was Ethan's remarkable aptitude for ninjutsu as well. According to the feedback from the two jonin, Ethan had not only mastered the Earth Style ninjutsu he possessed but had also developed Water Style and learned most of the basic Water Style techniques.
From this, it was clear that Ethan wasn't just a specialist, but a true all-rounder genius with excellent talent across multiple fields.
His weakness was that he had started training too late. The question was how much of that knowledge he could actually digest in such a short time.
After all, learning something didn't necessarily mean it could be turned into actual combat power. Those were two different things.
"Ah, I'm really looking forward to it..."
Not only the Third Hokage, but all the genin and jonin present were anticipating this match.
Shikamaru had long seen through Ethan's concealment and was very curious about the level of strength he truly possessed.
Neji wanted to see for himself what kind of genius this person, specifically mentioned by Guy-sensei, really was.
Sakura and Naruto wanted to know if they had narrowed the gap between themselves and Ethan.
Several jonin were also curious to see whether this genius from a civilian background lived up to the reputation his teacher had been spreading.
Compared to the previous matches, this one was definitely more anticipated. Even Gekko Hayate, who stood in the arena, could feel the intense gazes focused on the match as he firmly announced the start.
"Preliminary Round Match Nine! Begin!"
Rock Lee had already taken his stance. Ethan no longer looked like a bystander either, his right hand already reaching toward the short sword on his back.
At the exact moment Gekko Hayate called the start, both of them vanished from sight.
"So fast!"
The genin were startled by the speed on display, and even the jonin couldn't help but be impressed. For genin, this level of speed was astounding—let alone the fact that two of them had it.
In just the blink of an eye, Ethan and Rock Lee had already exchanged blows, disengaged, shifted positions, and clashed again. This repeated countless times. The sound of fists and feet colliding echoed constantly throughout the arena, and some of the slower-reacting genin could no longer keep up with what was happening.
"This... is already beyond the genin level, isn't it?"
Anko, standing beside Hayate, who had retreated to the edge of the arena, couldn't help but sigh. She realized this year's batch really had some exceptional genin.
"Yes, indeed."
The Third Hokage was also nearby. He didn't say much, just quietly holding his pipe. Then he muttered in a voice only he could hear, "This warm-up is pretty intense..."
The corners of his mouth involuntarily lifted as he watched the two fighters in the arena with visible satisfaction.
The genin were all shocked by the level of strength on display. Only Gaara's group remained relatively calm. They had seen plenty of powerful opponents, so to them, this level of battle was just "decent."
As for the genin from Konoha, none of them had expected Ethan and that bushy-browed Rock Lee to possess such astonishing strength.
"You've got to be kidding me. That guy Ethan can actually talk big now!"
This kind of strength clearly wasn't something you could gain after just graduating. Which meant Ethan had perfectly hidden his true strength back at the academy.
Shikamaru had seen through some of it before, but even he hadn't expected Ethan to be this strong.
But what happened next completely shook the genin's view of the world.
After another exchange, the two were blown back by each other's powerful force. Their blurry, high-speed movements finally came to a halt, and everyone could see them clearly again.
The short sword in Ethan's hand had become tattered. As expected, you couldn't expect much from a cheaply bought weapon.
"Let's end the warm-up here."
Casually tossing the broken short sword aside, Ethan looked at Rock Lee across from him. Just like him, Lee hadn't even broken a sweat. For both of them, that intense flurry of attacks had indeed just been a warm-up.
What felt completely normal to Ethan and Rock Lee was unbelievable to the watching genin.
"Warm-up? That guy Ethan is actually acting all cocky now!"
Ino was stunned. To her, the two had already shown overwhelming strength. Yet Ethan claimed that was just a warm-up? That kind of bragging was ridiculous!
"I'm afraid it's not bragging..."
In contrast, Shikamaru saw things much more clearly.
"These two just fought at that level, but neither of them is sweating. Even their breathing hasn't changed!"
His timely explanation helped the slower genin finally understand what had just happened. That intense exchange really was just a warm-up for these two.
Ethan didn't care how shocked everyone else was. He glanced at Lee a few more times, then nodded slightly. "That thing on your leg. You should take it off."
"This..."
Lee wasn't surprised that Ethan had noticed. After all, he had just used his legs to smash Ethan's sword. That kind of impact couldn't have been done with fists or bare feet.
He looked up at his teacher on the second floor. Guy gave a firm nod. "Go for it, Lee!"
"Okay, Teacher!"
Lee happily removed the weights tied to his legs. Even though he wasn't standing on a statue when he dropped them, the heavy thuds they made when hitting the ground outside the arena still startled everyone.
"That's way too much..."
While Kakashi muttered about Guy's teaching methods, Ethan also removed the wrist guards hidden under his sleeves.
"This way, we're even."
Under Lee's slightly surprised gaze, Ethan also took off the weights on his legs. Finally, he removed his jacket and tossed everything outside the arena. The pile landed with a dull thud.
"These two are monsters, right? They were that fast while wearing all that?"
Lee stared at the jacket Ethan threw aside, then suddenly gave him a thumbs up. "As expected, you're the genius that Guy-sensei always praised!"
Looking at the excited Lee, Ethan pursed his lips helplessly.
"I don't know why, but I really don't want this kind of praise..."
Before the words had even finished, both of them vanished from their spots again.
(To be continued.)