"Wah, this smells absolutely amazing!"
Mei Terumi cradled the steaming ramen bowl in her hands, inhaled its rich aroma deeply, and dove in with obvious delight.
Before long, she had finished every last noodle and gave her stomach a contented pat, releasing a quiet sigh of satisfaction.
Completely unladylike.
"Boss, your cooking is incredible! This is the best thing I've ever tasted!"
After finishing her meal, Mei Terumi gave Teuchi a thumbs-up in appreciation.
"Haha, thank you," Teuchi chuckled warmly as he brought complimentary drinks to the pair.
"Just a bowl of ramen? Is it really that great? You're making such a huge deal out of nothing."
Suddenly, a jarring voice came from the next table.
It was Obito Uchiha.
As usual, this guy had zero emotional intelligence and wore an obnoxious smirk.
"Who are you?" Mei Terumi frowned slightly, asking with clear displeasure.
"Me? Listen carefully! I'm none other than Obito Uchiha! Make sure to remember this name — one day I'll be the Hokage!"
Obito proudly pointed his thumb at himself while giving his introduction.
"Obito Uchiha? Never heard of you."
Mei Terumi shook her head dismissively and turned away.
Before arriving at Konoha, she had secretly done some research on Konoha's young talents. If possible, she wanted to test her strength against them someday.
But clearly, this person named Obito Uchiha didn't make that list.
Just another nobody.
Was that seriously your response?
Seeing the indifferent expression on Mei Terumi's face and the subtle disdain flickering in her eyes, Obito felt instantly underestimated.
Remember, he was an Uchiha — a member of Konoha's most prestigious clan. That surname represented honor and pride; no one dared underestimate any Uchiha.
"So then, who exactly are you?"
Offended, Obito loudly shot back.
Upon hearing this, Mei Terumi looked toward Yuhan. Seeing him nod in approval, she proudly lifted her chin and replied,
"Since you asked so sincerely, I'll be generous enough to tell you — this young lady here hails from Penglai Ninja Village! My name is Mei Terumi, humph!"
Penglai? Mei Terumi?
"Penglai? Where's that supposed to be? Have any of you heard of this village before?"
Looking completely baffled, Obito turned to ask his companions. Might Guy and Rin shook their heads in confusion, while Kakashi continued eating silently in his corner without even glancing over.
"Oh, so it's just some obscure little ninja village!"
Obito suddenly grinned smugly, "But none of that matters now — because soon, there'll only be one village left in the entire world of shinobi — our very own Konoha! And the Uchiha Clan will rise from being top clan in Leaf to becoming the ultimate number one clan across all shinobi nations!"
"You wish! Penglai will never join your Leaf Village. It's way more prosperous and lively than yours. If the shinobi world ever does unify, believe me, it'll be Konoha joining Penglai!"
Mei Terumi immediately countered Obito's claim without holding back, naturally expressing her own opinion.
Indeed, the current Penglai Ninja Village was no longer inferior to Konoha and in some aspects had even surpassed it.
Penglai's four islands—Mikazuki Island held abundant natural resources, Shikkotsu Forest served as a holy land for training in Sage Arts, Fangzhang Island was the physical manifestation of the divine beast Samehada, and Wuge Fortress could soar through the skies.
Penglai's current national power, if fully displayed, would surely shock the entire world of shinobi.
However, in Obito's eyes, Mei Terumi's words were utterly ridiculous.
"Hahaha! Too funny! That's the best joke I've heard today!"
He slammed the table, bursting into laughter.
"Don't make me hit you!"
Mei grew angry and snorted bitterly, "As a ninja, I don't want to bully ordinary people."
Oh?
Upon hearing this, Obito finally noticed the forehead protector on Mei's right arm, with the character 'immortal' engraved in its center.
"You're a ninja?" he asked in surprise.
"Of course. I just got promoted to Penglai Chunin. If you know what's good for you, apologize now and I might let you off easy."
Mei folded her arms across her chest, looking down at Obito with a bird's-eye view.
"Pfft, so you're from a small ninja village? You actually think someone your age can be a Chunin?"
Obito shrugged indifferently. There was no way he'd apologize or admit fault.
After all, Kakashi, the strongest among them, graduated from the ninja academy at age five—in Konoha, that made him a once-in-a-decade genius.
Even Kakashi probably couldn't become a Chunin by age six.
Obito's disbelief was shared by Guy and Rin.
Upon hearing this, Mei immediately became displeased and stood up abruptly:
"Dare you fight me? Don't look down on others."
"I, Obito Uchiha, never pick on girls, but if you insist on challenging me, I wouldn't mind showing you how powerful the Uchiha are."
Obito declared proudly.
Mei then looked toward Yan, who gave a slight nod and suggested, "Let's go to the training grounds."
"Obito, are you sure you can handle this?"
Meanwhile, Might Guy leaned over and whispered into Obito's ear.
After all, this guy was a well-known dead last at school—it was even questionable whether he could graduate. And the red-haired girl across from him was, no less, a Chunin.
"Obito, maybe just apologize already."
Rin stepped forward to persuade him too, clearly worried about him.
"Who said I can't do it? Rin, just watch closely—you'll see what I've trained for today."
Obito beat his chest proudly, determined to prove himself.
Thus, the group left Ichiraku Ramen together and headed toward the suburban training grounds.
"Sorry, the training ground is closed now. Come back tomorrow."
Unexpectedly, Kakashi, who had been walking behind everyone else, walked forward with his hands in his pockets and politely addressed the old man:
"We really appreciate it if you could make an exception for us. Thank you."
"Oh, it's you. Alright then, you may go in."
The gatekeeper smiled warmly at Kakashi and shifted his tone cheerfully.
After all, this was the son of Konoha's White Fang. Besides, Kakashi often came to the training ground at night for extra practice, so he was already familiar with the old man.
Bright lights bathed the whole training ground in light.
Mei Terumi and Obito Uchiha stood several meters apart, raising their hands to signal readiness.
"Can we begin?" Mei asked.
"Just remember, if I make you cry later, I'm not taking responsibility," Obito said confidently, completely unaware of the level of opponent he faced.
"You talk too much."
Mei lost patience. She pushed off the ground hard, covering seven or eight meters in an instant, and threw a punch straight toward Obito's face.
So fast!
Obito was startled inside. By the time he reacted, it was already too late to dodge. He could only cross both arms in front of himself, trying to block the punch.
Bang!
With just one punch, Mei sent Obito staggering backward.
Moreover, she clearly didn't intend to give Obito any chance to recover. She immediately chased forward with aggressive attacks, unleashing a series of consecutive taijutsu strikes directly onto Obito like a sudden storm.
"Ahh!"
After several moves, Obito let out a scream of pain as Mei kicked him right in the stomach, causing him to kneel down in agony.
From start to finish, the whole fight lasted less than five seconds.
He didn't even get a chance to fight back.
"That's it?"
Mei felt extremely disappointed, unable to believe her opponent could be so weak. After all, those few seconds of combat hadn't even counted as a warm-up for her.
She really couldn't figure out where Obito Uchiha, now on his knees before her, had gotten his confidence from.
Sure enough, just like the rumors claimed, every last Uchiha was a cocky know-nothing.
Thinking about this, Mei shook her head and turned to walk toward the edge of the field.
"Obito, quickly stand up! Don't shame Konoha ninjas!"
On the sidelines, Might Guy was still waving his arms energetically, cheering Obito on.
Meanwhile, Rin Nohara hurriedly ran onto the field, helping Obito up with concern and asking, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
Facing Rin's care, Obito felt nothing but shame. There was nothing more humiliating than being beaten so thoroughly in front of the girl he liked.
"Rin, please step aside first. I was just careless earlier. This battle isn't over yet!" Obito, his face flushed red, pushed Rin aside before chasing after Mei and shouting, "Stop!"
As soon as the words fell, he raised both hands and formed seals somewhat awkwardly. Though unskilled, he did manage to complete them successfully before opening his mouth and exhaling.
[Fire Release: Flame Bullet!]
Whoosh! Woosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Several fireballs flew from Obito's mouth. Their trajectory through the air resembled phoenix sage fruit, attacking Mei Terumi head-on.
This was Obito's treasured technique developed through rigorous cultivation—a C-ranked Fire Release jutsu belonging to the Uchiha clan, typically mastered only by Chunin.
Originally, he had planned to defeat Mei Terumi first and then challenge Kakashi, using this move to defeat that annoying guy. But now, desperate to redeem himself, he had no choice but to reveal his trump card early.
"Not giving up yet, huh?"
"Mei Terumi," seeing the fireballs flying toward her, said with a frown instead of panic.
The very next moment, she raised both hands and formed seals rapidly, then opened her mouth to spit out.
[Water Release: Wild Water Wave]
Whoosh.
A torrent of water burst from her mouth like a raging river, easily swallowing all the fireballs. Maintaining its momentum, it surged straight toward Obito.
"What?!"
Obito stood frozen on the spot. Only now did he finally realize just how vast the gap between him and Mei Terumi truly was.
He remained motionless, nearly swept away by the rushing water.
Suddenly.
Boom.
A tall earthen wall swiftly rose from the ground in front of Obito, forming an unbreakable defense that blocked the impact of the wild water wave.
[Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall]
It was Kakashi who had acted.
Swoosh.
He leapt upward and landed atop the earth wall.
"Kakashi..."
Obito gazed at Kakashi's back, murmuring bitterly. He resented being saved by him.
But Kakashi completely ignored him. Instead, his eyes locked onto Mei Terumi not far away.
Clearly, she had caught his attention.
"And you are...?"
Seeing this silver-haired youth neutralize her Water Release ninjutsu with Earth Release, Mei asked curiously.
"Kakashi Hatake."
"You're Kakashi?" Mei couldn't help but be surprised upon hearing this name.
This name had reached her ears from Master Heiyan himself, and Master Heiyan had praised Kakashi, saying his talent ranked among the strongest tiers—comparable even to herself.
Since then, Mei had become intensely curious about the perpetually masked Kakashi.
"Fancy a match?"
Her gaze ablaze with excitement, she directly challenged Kakashi.
"Sure."
Kakashi agreed readily. All along, he had never considered anyone his equal among peers—until he met Mei Terumi.
The very next moment.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Both shot forward simultaneously, each holding a kunai knife. Like two mirage shadows, they collided at the center of the training grounds.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Within just a dozen seconds, they launched multiple attacks and counters against each other. The clashing kunais rang sharply, sending sparks flying.
The fight was extremely intense.
He and Mei were equally matched in taijutsu.
On the sidelines, Obito and Rin watched stunned speechless, unable to follow Kakashi and Mei's movements clearly. Might Guy also widened his eyes just to barely keep up.
After a fierce struggle.
Both realized continuing like this would make it hard to decide a winner quickly. Therefore, they simultaneously retreated backward, preparing to create distance for ninjutsu techniques.
Swish!
Kakashi completed his hand seals first and struck, summoning a massive sharp earth spike hurtling straight toward Mei.
Mei remained calm. After forming simple hand seals, she created a high-speed rotating circular water shield around her body.
[Water Release: Water Formation Wall]
This technique once belonged to Master Heiyan's signature moves.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
The seemingly sharp Earth-style spike could advance no further upon meeting the water wall, and instead was destroyed by the super high-speed rotating water currents. It gradually crumbled from tip to base.
Hmm?
Kakashi, who possessed vast knowledge, immediately noticed something unusual about Mei Terumi's Water Encampment Wall—it appeared different from ordinary Water Encampment Walls. Was it…a style passed down from the Second Hokage?
Just as he was momentarily distracted,
Mei Terumi's figure had silently appeared behind Kakashi at some point, launching a powerful kick toward his back.
Puff!
Kakashi took the hit directly but didn't fly backward. Instead, quite unexpectedly, he turned into a puff of white smoke.
Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Even at only five years old, Kakashi was already capable of using this B-ranked ninjutsu.
He'd only pretended to lose focus—it was a trap to get Mei Terumi to attack.
Next second,
Woof-woof-woof-woof!
Several ninja dogs of varying sizes erupted from the ground beneath Mei Terumi's feet. They opened their mouths wide and tightly bit down on her calves, waist, arms, and shoulders, restricting her movement.
[Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique]
"Surrender."
Kakashi emerged from the shadows and said to Mei Terumi.
"You wanted to show off? So can I!"
Mei Terumi suddenly flashed him a smile, then right before Kakashi's eyes, transformed into nothing more than a puddle of water.
Water Clone.
You showed off—so will I.
Mei Terumi's true body hadn't moved forward at all. From a distance, she completed the hand seals and summoned a massive water dragon from behind her. It roared through the air with claws bared toward Kakashi.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Shot]
Without time to think, Kakashi quickly erected another Earth Flow Wall. But clearly, he underestimated this technique's power—the towering earthen barrier was torn apart by the water dragon and sent crashing heavily into Kakashi himself.
Boom!
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