"Step right up, don't miss out!"
On the bustling street, iron wires were wound around kunai to cordon off an open space. Nawaki held a bronze gong in one hand and a wooden mallet in the other, shouting as he struck it.
Clang! Clang!
Quite a few people were drawn over.
At the center stood Hyuga Arin, planting a red banner into the ground.
Written on it were three large characters:
Genin Battle
"Genin battle? What's that supposed to be?"
"Those eyes—he's from the Hyuga clan."
"What are they trying to do?"
The crowd buzzed with discussion, clearly confused.
When enough people had gathered, Nawaki brought the mallet down hard on the gong.
Clang!
The sharp sound drowned out the chatter.
This was Hyuga Arin's cue.
"Ahem." Hyuga Arin cleared his throat. "Fellow villagers, life is not easy. Hyuga Arin is putting on a humble performance today. Due to financial hardship at home, I've set up this challenge arena."
He cupped his fists toward the crowd and continued,
"I hereby lay down a wager. I'll put up fifty thousand taels. Whoever defeats me will receive the full fifty thousand taels as a reward."
"If you want to challenge me—one thousand taels per attempt. Genin only."
This was Hyuga Arin's solution to making money.
It didn't just earn cash—it earned EXP too.
Taking missions required the team leader to accept them, and Tsunade clearly wasn't in the mood to take him out of the village anytime soon.
Ninja also weren't allowed to casually engage in other professions.
So he'd come up with this—setting up a challenge arena.
He was confident in himself. Among genin, there were very few who could beat him.
Anyone truly capable probably didn't have the time to mess with him here anyway.
As for chunin—he had enough self-awareness to know he wasn't their match yet.
Even though chunin gave more EXP, he could only look on with envy.
"Is this for real?" someone asked eagerly.
Genin made up the majority of Konoha's ninja. Not everyone could become a chunin.
Many people spent years stuck at the genin level.
"Of course," Hyuga Arin said, signaling to Nawaki.
Nawaki reluctantly pulled out a stack of silver notes totaling fifty thousand taels.
Who would've thought—
The boss was making money, but the investment came from the little brother.
This was all of Nawaki's pocket money.
But thinking of Hyuga Arin's spotless record, he decided it was still worth supporting him.
Definitely not because they'd agreed to split the profits fifty-fifty.
Fifty thousand taels was a massive sum for a genin.
Soon, someone hopped over the iron wire.
It was a young man, his eyes gleaming as he stared at Hyuga Arin.
Hyuga Arin extended one hand, striking a lofty, expert-like pose.
The young man reached toward his ninja pouch—
"Wait." Hyuga Arin suddenly stopped him.
The young man paused, raising an eyebrow. "What? Scared?"
Hyuga Arin shook his head calmly.
"There are rules for challenges. To prevent serious injuries, ninTechnique and ninja tools are forbidden. Only taiTechnique is allowed."
The young man frowned, sizing Hyuga Arin up.
Competing in taiTechnique against a Hyuga?
Everyone knew the Hyuga clan specialized in taiTechnique.
Before he could say anything, Hyuga Arin continued,
"And besides—do you really think fifty thousand taels is that easy to get?"
That made sense.
If it were that easy, it'd just be free money. No one was that stupid.
And while the Hyuga clan specialized in taiTechnique, Hyuga Arin looked like a freshly graduated genin—his taiTechnique might not be that terrifying.
The young man withdrew his hand from his pouch, pushed off the ground, and charged at Hyuga Arin.
"Wait!" Hyuga Arin raised a hand again.
The young man screeched to a halt, nearly crashing into him.
"What now?!"
Hyuga Arin rolled his Byakugan—then rolled them again.
"You haven't paid yet. What are you fighting for?"
"Even if you win, you won't get any money."
The young man laughed awkwardly.
Nawaki stepped forward and held out his hand. "Payment."
With a sigh, the young man took out a one-thousand-tael note and placed it in Hyuga Arin's hand.
Only after Nawaki stepped aside did the young man raise his fists again, preparing to strike—
"Wait!!" Hyuga Arin shouted yet again.
"Are you done or not?!" the young man snapped.
The next instant, a palm struck his chest.
The young man's eyes went wide, foul words about to spill from his mouth—
Before he could say them—
"Eight Trigrams · Mountain-Shattering Strike!"
Bang!
The young man was sent flying, crashing outside the iron wire. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out on the spot.
Hyuga Arin nodded in satisfaction as a prompt flashed before his eyes.
[EXP: 325]
This guy was stronger than those two bandit bosses last time.
Two more like this and he'd level up.
Nawaki slapped his forehead.
The surrounding crowd erupted in gasps and sighs.
This was so Hyuga Arin's style.
Hyuga Arin wasn't bothered at all.
"Next."
Seeing no one immediately step forward—and noticing the crowd's disdainful looks—Hyuga Arin said righteously,
"This is called strategy. All's fair in ninja combat, got it?"
"If you fight fair and square, can you still call yourself a ninja?"
Seeing how shameless he was—and how proud of it—
The crowd had words stuck in their throats.
Annoyingly enough… he kind of had a point.
Just then, a figure leapt over the iron wire and landed in front of Hyuga Arin.
"You really are just as shameless as ever," the newcomer growled through clenched teeth.
On his blue outfit was the flame-fan crest.
"Uchiha."
"It's an Uchiha."
"This'll be interesting."
Hyuga Arin looked at him helplessly and waved dismissively.
"Shoo, shoo. Kids should go play somewhere else."
"Bastard!!"
The newcomer exploded in rage.
Uchiha Sōsuke glared furiously at Hyuga Arin, tossed a one-thousand-tael note to Nawaki, and charged forward.
Nawaki glanced at the silver note on the ground, shook his head, and bent down to pick it up.
He knew this guy.
The eternal runner-up in their year—always suppressed by Hyuga Arin.
He'd challenged Hyuga Arin countless times, losing every single one.
Who knew that even after becoming a ninja, he still hadn't given up that dream.
Well—
Dreams were fine, as long as you kept them dreams.
Uchiha Sōsuke rushed in fast—
And flew back even faster.
He landed right at Nawaki's feet, eyes shut tight, sleeping peacefully.
Hyuga Arin looked at the tiny bit of EXP he'd gained and frowned in dissatisfaction.
"You've already become a ninja, and you still haven't grown at all."
Uchiha Sōsuke had long since been "farmed dry" by him.
Unless there was a qualitative jump in strength, he wouldn't give normal EXP anymore.
"Next."
Hyuga Arin scanned the surroundings.
This time, people began to hesitate.
One opponent had been an experienced genin.
The other was from the Uchiha clan.
Both had gone down into such deep, peaceful sleep.
Everyone felt their own sleep quality was already pretty good—no need to test it further.
Just as the crowd wavered—
Another figure lightly vaulted over the iron wire and stood before Hyuga Arin.
"I'll give it a try."
The newcomer revealed the same pale eyes.
Byakugan.
Hyuga Arin's lips slowly curved upward.
"Hyuga Hizashi," he said lightly.
"You really do have a lot of free time."