Chapter 21: Jiang Xia vs. Wang Shichen

The pace of the following matches accelerated noticeably.

In the third match, a sophomore used his lightning-based ability to shatter the freshman’s defense in just three strikes; in the fourth, a water-affinity sophomore clashed for nearly ten minutes with Wu Qi, eventually winning by trapping his opponent in a water prison.

Subsequent matches mostly saw upperclassmen overpowering freshmen through experience; occasionally, a freshman would briefly gain the upper hand with an unusual ability, but ultimately lost due to insufficient control over spiritual power.

The referee’s voice rang out again across the arena, cutting through the spectators’ murmurs: “Singles match, tenth bout: First-year student Jiang Xia versus second-year student Wang Shichen.”

Hearing his name, Jiang Xia gripped the Kusanagi Sword and strode swiftly onto the stage.

No sooner had he stepped onto the platform than Wang Shichen raised a hand and pressed it against empty air, pale purple spatial ripples swirling around his fingertips. “Many say Itachi’re a dark horse among freshmen—I wonder if Itachi can stir even a sliver of interest in me.” Wang Shichen smirked, the ripples in his palm spreading outward.

Jiang Xia felt a flicker of light and shadow—suddenly, Wang Shichen, who had been standing ten meters away, appeared behind him, palm raised to strike his back.

“So fast!” Jiang Xia’s hairs stood on end; instinctively, he spun and swung his sword. The white-blue electric glow of the Kusanagi clashed against Wang Shichen’s palm—with a sharp *zing!*—tiny spatial cracks erupted at the point of contact.

Wang Shichen leapt back, tapping the air with his fingertip: “Space Tear!” Three semi-transparent, purple-black blade-like energies materialized midair and lunged at Jiang Xia.

“Kamui!”

Jiang Xia’s pupils rotated with the Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan; the space around the three blade-energies twisted violently, shredding them apart.

Wang Shichen stared at the strange crimson pattern in Jiang Xia’s left eye, startled: “What ability is this? Itachi’re directly warping space?”

Since awakening his spatial ability, this was the first time he’d seen someone dismantle his space blades so effortlessly.

“The ability that will beat Itachi!”

As he spoke, two Flying Thunder God kunai shot toward Wang Shichen’s left and right. Before Wang Shichen could trace their trajectories, Jiang Xia vanished from his spot—and reappeared behind him in the next instant, thrusting the Chidori Blade toward his back.

Wang Shichen reacted instantly, flashing away to create distance—but as the Chidori Blade grazed his sleeve, the paralyzing lightning surged along the spatial ripples, clinging to him.

“The records said Itachi had a special-type ability. No wonder Itachi’re SSS-ranked.”

Wang Shichen’s condescension vanished, replaced by grim seriousness. He clenched his hand toward the two Flying Thunder God kunai; spatial ripples formed two invisible hands that crushed them to dust.

“Crush your little toys, and see how Itachi run.”

“Break Army!”

As he spoke, a long sword materialized from the empty air behind Jiang Xia and stabbed straight for his heart.

Wang Shichen smirked, fingers tightening as he accelerated the sword’s thrust.

“Kamui!” Jiang Xia felt a chill at his back; his Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan rotated, his body instantly turning semi-transparent. The sword passed cleanly through his spine and returned to Wang Shichen’s hand.

Seeing the sword miss, Wang Shichen’s pupils contracted sharply. Before he could withdraw his spatial control, Jiang Xia’s eyes activated the Rinnegan—he extended one hand and growled: “Shinra Tensei!”

Wang Shichen felt a colossal force erupt from Jiang Xia’s palm—his body was yanked uncontrollably forward. He frantically raised his hands to tear open space and escape, but found the surrounding space already locked by the Rinnegan’s gravitational pull.

As he hurtled toward Jiang Xia’s blade, Wang Shichen gritted his teeth and detonated most of his internal spiritual power, using the explosion’s recoil to twist sideways—yet still, the Kusanagi sliced open his shoulder.

“What… what kind of ability is this?” Wang Shichen instinctively staggered back, his body trembling uncontrollably.

“Itachi think only Itachi can manipulate space?” Jiang Xia’s gaze turned icy; the Rinnegan flared again. “Chibaku Tensei!”

As he spoke, Jiang Xia clasped his hands together—a black sphere floated into the air. The moment it appeared, it unleashed overwhelming gravity: fragments of stone and broken wooden pillars on the arena’s edge were pulled toward it.

“What is this thing?” Wang Shichen clutched his bleeding shoulder, attempting to tear apart the gravitational field with his spatial ability—but the moment his power touched the sphere’s range, it vanished instantly.

Under Jiang Xia’s control, the black sphere halted three meters above the arena’s center—then its gravity surged violently.

The arena floor began cracking with sharp *cracks*; countless stones surged from the fissures, rushing toward the black sphere.

The stone slabs beneath Wang Shichen’s feet shattered—he was lifted off the ground by an invisible force, his body dragged helplessly toward the sphere.

“Impossible! How can spatial ability be suppressed?!” Wang Shichen roared, detonating his remaining spiritual power. Spiritual energy exploded around him as he struggled to break free.

Seeing this, Jiang Xia raised his right hand—a bolt of lightning shot straight toward Wang Shichen: “Chidori Sharp Spear!”

The instant the Chidori’s lightning touched him, paralysis spread through his entire body; his spiritual flow halted completely.

“Get in there!” Jiang Xia’s eyes hardened; he slammed both hands downward.

The rock sphere accelerated violently, crashing down onto Wang Shichen. His pupils shrank to pinpoints; with his last strength, he twisted sideways—but the edge of the sphere still scraped his back, spraying blood. He could no longer hold on—his body was sucked toward the sphere’s surface, countless shards of rock sealing him entirely within the stone.

The spectator stands fell utterly silent. All eyes fixed on the hovering rock sphere. Jiang Xia slowly lowered his hands, gazing at Wang Shichen—trapped within the sphere, only his upper body exposed—and his voice was weak: “I win this match.”

The referee’s voice trembled with disbelief: “Singles match, tenth bout: First-year student Jiang Xia, victorious!”

No sooner had the words spoken than Jiang Xia’s left leg buckled—he nearly collapsed to one knee. Constantly activating Kamui and the Rinnegan, plus releasing Chibaku Tensei—a technique that drained immense spiritual power—had left his reserves nearly depleted.

He forced himself to raise a hand; the piled rocks crumbled apart. Wang Shichen crashed onto the cracked arena floor, his back still bleeding, but he was already unconscious.

“Quick! Medical team!” The referee finally snapped back to reality, shouting toward the arena’s edge.

Medical staff, already on standby, rushed onto the stage with a stretcher, swiftly applying emergency hemostasis to Wang Shichen, then hurriedly carried him off.

Only now did the spectator stands erupt—cheers and gasps threatened to rip the roof off the arena.

“My god! What eye technique was that? Even a spatial ability user got crushed!”

“Jiang Xia’s brutal! But didn’t he look like he was about to collapse? Did he run out of spiritual power?”

“Who cares! A freshman beat a second-year spatial prodigy—that’s the biggest upset of this year’s tournament!”

“Not necessarily—what if he still beats *him*?”

“No one knows. Based on his performance, except for *him*, no one in our sophomore class can beat him now.”

Jiang Xia gripped the Kusanagi Sword and walked slowly down from the stage. As he passed the contestants’ resting area, a gaze brimming with battle-lust pierced him—he ignored it, walked straight to his seat, collapsed against the chairback, and exhaled deeply.