"Today is the first time I met him."
Feng An looked puzzled.
Not only was he not punished by the security team, but they didn't even ask his name and just left.
No, you can't call that leaving. That was more like... fleeing.
Fubuki had a complicated expression.
No matter what, he had helped them in the end.
"Are we still going for ramen...?"
"Let's go."
Now that everything was fine, they would proceed as planned.
Soon, Feng An and the other two arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.
Old Man Teuchi inside smiled happily when he saw Feng An.
Apart from Naruto, Feng An was his second biggest customer. When he first came here, he was curious about the taste of Ichiraku Ramen.
So when he was three years old and had just learned to walk, he'd run over to eat ramen while others were still being fed.
From then on, he visited Ichiraku Ramen as often as Naruto.
"Feng An, it's been a while. Have you been busy lately?"
"Yeah, I've been busy with some ninja stuff."
Then Feng An held up three fingers.
"Three bowls of ramen, please, all with eggs."
"Haha, okay." Old Man Teuchi laughed heartily.
Soon, the steaming ramen was brought to them by his daughter, Ayame.
The three of them ate while getting to know each other.
Yukime asked, "Feng An, what's your background?"
"Uh, I was dead last at the Ninja Academy. Don't ask about me; tell me about you two."
She didn't believe he had no background—even the captain of the security team hadn't dared to touch him.
She just thought he didn't want to tell her.
Feng An asked, "Yukime, what kind of ninjutsu are you good at?"
Yukime said a little embarrassedly, "I... I don't really have any specialties…"
Hearing this, Feng An nodded.
The two were just ordinary Genin, which was within his expectations.
The less capable his teammates were, the more they would depend on him, making it easier to pass the first written exam.
After passing the written test, they would have more confidence in him and be less likely to backstab him during the team battles.
For him, this Chunin Exam was like an open-book test. As long as his teammates trusted him, that was enough.
"Hey! Why don't you ask me?"
Fubuki on the side had an angry expression.
She'd waited for Feng An to ask her, planning to stun him with her abilities, but he'd ignored her.
Feng An glanced at her and continued eating his ramen.
Fubuki was furious and felt insulted.
I'm so angry!
She suddenly picked up her ramen bowl, slurped down the noodles and soup in one go, and then stood up angrily.
"I challenge you to a duel!"
Yukime quickly grabbed her sister. "I'm sorry, Feng An, I told you, she—" Yukime pointed to her own head, hinting to Feng An that Fubuki had hit her head as a child.
Feng An calmly drank his ramen broth and smiled. "Okay."
He was curious how she dared to challenge him after he'd demonstrated strength far exceeding Tayuya's.
Did she have some special ability?
Hearing this, Yukime immediately tried to mediate, trying to talk both of them down.
But she couldn't persuade either of them.
Fubuki, afraid Feng An would attack suddenly, quickly said, "Don't attack yet! Let's duel somewhere else, where there's no one around."
So mysterious? A place with no one?
"I'm warning you, don't get any weird ideas! Or you'll be sorry!"
I'm not thinking anything; you're the one imagining things. Feng An was speechless.
He followed Fubuki and the others, going further and further away, until they finally came to a stream.
No one lived here, and the trees were so dense and hidden that they blocked most of the sunlight.
Feng An remained calm and subtly disrupted the flow of chakra in his body in advance.
Even if ambushed now, it would be hard for an enemy to capture him, but he had to be wary of genjutsu—danger could strike in an instant.
One must always be on guard, especially since I've only known them for half a day.
"Okay, we're here."
Fubuki looked around and stopped.
Then she assumed a ninja combat stance.
"Hmph, be careful. I'm afraid I might hurt you."
Feng An's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.
A warning? Did she really just want a duel? Was I overthinking it?
He shook his head slightly and stopped worrying about it.
Once she made a move, her intentions would become clear.
Whoosh!
Three or four shuriken flew toward Feng An.
He dodged them quickly.
When the shuriken hit a tree and shattered, he realized they seemed to be made of ice.
Before he could think further, Fubuki darted through the woods, throwing ice shuriken from all directions.
Yet, even with such a dense attack, Feng An dodged them easily.
The only tricky part was the environment.
In such a setting, he had to avoid the shuriken while tracking Fubuki's movements.
She wasn't fast, but she used the terrain to its fullest.
"Interesting."
Feng An hadn't expected her to be somewhat skilled.
He quickly used the Shadow Clone Technique.
Two Feng Ans suddenly appeared beside him.
As the ice shuriken flew toward them, the three Feng Ans charged forward.
Bang! Bang! The two clones were pierced and vanished into smoke.
The real Feng An, bringing up the rear, twisted his body to the side, dodged the shuriken, and used the Body Flicker Technique.
His speed instantly increased, and he appeared at the spot the ice shuriken had been thrown from while they were still in flight.
He immediately saw Fubuki hiding behind a tree—her feet sticking out.
Feng An walked over and said, "You lose."
However, as he got closer, he found the figure was a clone.
How could that be?
Feng An's pupils contracted as he stared at the dissolving clone.
Just then, a voice came from above his head.
"You're the one who lost."
In an instant, Fubuki dropped from the tree, kunai in hand, lunging at Feng An.
Using a branch for leverage as she fell, Fubuki wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed the kunai against his neck.
"Hmph, I win."
Feng An paused for a moment, then chuckled. "Yes, you win."
Fubuki frowned, feeling annoyed. "What's so funny?"
But at that moment, Yukime, who had been watching the battle, said, "Fubuki, you lost."
"I have a kunai to his neck! And you're taking his side, saying I lost?"
There was a hint of tears in Fubuki's voice.
Her sister defending an outsider made her feel betrayed.
Hearing Fubuki's tone, Yukime looked reluctant. "Feng An, stop teasing her."
Feng An, with Fubuki holding the kunai to his neck, smiled at her.
Poof! He turned into a cloud of smoke.
Shadow Clone?!
Fubuki's red eyes widened in shock.
Then she saw Feng An step out from behind a tree.
Fubuki rubbed her red eyes and asked with a pout, "Weren't all your shadow clones shattered by my shuriken?"
Feng An looked at Fubuki with a smile. "Did I ever say I could only make two clones?"
Fubuki was stunned.
She'd been tricked by an information gap. When he fought Tayuya, he'd only created two clones, so she'd subconsciously assumed that was his limit.
Fubuki's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I lost."
Feng An walked up to Fubuki and asked, "I have a question for you."
"Hmm?" Fubuki raised her eyes to look at him.
"What is your chakra nature?"
*****
You can read 30 advanced chapters on my Patreon.
Thank you for your support, and have a great day!
patreon.com/Izanami_no_Mikoto