Chapter 2

"Please give me your guidance." Luo En faced the old man with a friendly smile.

He also wanted to spar; the various Kage distributed across this world made him somewhat curious about their strength.

In an instant, the Hokage's expression changed drastically, a surge of power rose through his whole body, his hair bristled upward, making him look somewhat like a comical clown, laughable in appearance, but those present did not feel that way at all.

Along with this power, other things stirred strangely; though there was no wind, those present could not keep their footing steady, some braced themselves by holding onto things, but cold sweat streamed down their foreheads.

Some simply sat down on the ground, clutching their heads, expressions pained, their hair completely soaked through with sweat.

Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki all sat down one after another, but they could still endure it, only feeling as though their heads were about to split open.

Luo En stood calmly in place, expression unchanged, seemingly entirely unaffected.

The Hokage's eyes went wide; he had trained for at least sixty years, yet the youth before him looked as though he had merely been brushed by cotton.

Where on earth was the bottom line of his ability?

Thinking this, he burst this power outward, coiling it into a ball, spinning it at high speed toward Luo En; Luo En raised an eyebrow and blocked it with one hand.

At this, the Hokage was stunned—was this… caught barehanded? And with one hand at that?

How could that be?

If it were a Kage of his own level, he could understand, but this youth looked to be only about Chunin level, which truly felt somewhat unexpected.

This ball contained seventy percent of his power; he wondered what would happen to this youth if he gathered all of his power.

The Hokage could not help but grow curious, his heart itching to try.

At this moment, Luo En added a layer of power, sending the round, bulging thing back; a gust of wind rose up, and everyone present was forced to retreat.

The Hokage tried to catch it barehanded as well, only to discover this power was greater than his own, and entirely beyond his control; catching this ball even with both hands might not be possible.

The Hokage spun both hands, sending out large swathes of sparks, attacking toward that ball, while himself retreating at extreme speed to the side—yet he was still somewhat caught in the blast.

The Hokage braced himself and barely held his footing, while the sparks collided with that ball of power, kicking up a massive wave of wind, forcing everyone to retreat once more.

Luo En narrowed his eyes, rushed toward that round thing at extreme speed, kicked it in one stroke with tremendous force, and the ball was forced shooting toward the horizon.

Luo En took the momentum and hurled power outward; the ball instantly exploded, producing several six-pointed stars.

The children present could not help pointing and hopping about excitedly, "Look, look, how pretty!"

Seeing this, the Hokage was stunned once more; a power he himself could not escape seemed to this youth like nothing more than a toy—but then again, it was only natural, since this power was his own added in.

"You're not bad at all!" The Hokage laughed. "Your ability is fully capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with ours; I wonder, would you be interested in becoming Hokage?"

Hearing the Hokage's words, those present were shocked once again.

This youth looked like he had just become a Genin—directly becoming Hokage? From Genin to Hokage was an unprecedented case, and merely on the basis of one ball?

Isn't that just too lucky?

Sarada pursed her lips, somewhat unable to figure it out. "We all have to rise step by step from Genin; how can he directly become Hokage?"

"His ability is outstanding, far above ours," Boruto sighed. "Look at that ball—he caught it barehanded, and after adding something into it, even the elder had to dodge, probably unable to catch it."

"The elder has given such a high title; I'm afraid if we went over we'd be crushed like ants in minutes. Still, he probably won't take the exam again later—once he directly becomes Hokage, there's no need to take this little Genin exam."

"I suppose it's an unexpected joy after the envy."

"Mitsuki is right, Sarada—look at it from the other side and be a little happier." Boruto patted Sarada's shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

Hearing Mitsuki and Boruto say this, Sarada nodded repeatedly.

"No interest." Luo En shook his head; he had taken the Genin exam just for sparring. Becoming Hokage would mean completing all sorts of missions, and he did not want to be tied down.

Hearing Luo En's words, the Hokage could not help but be stunned, his face even somewhat awkward.

Usually many people fought to obtain the position of Hokage; if he wasn't interested, why had he taken the Genin exam?

And the others present were shocked once again.

Hokage was a position coveted by countless people; many now start from Genin, enduring much hardship and trials step by step before reaching the position of Hokage.

Now the Hokage had directly offered to let him be Hokage, and he actually refused? So many people here wanted to be Hokage—shouldn't he be happy to have a shortcut?

"Might I ask the reason?" The Hokage was truly puzzled and could not help but inquire.

"Becoming Hokage involves many missions; I value my freedom." Luo En cast his gaze into the distance and smiled knowingly.

Luo En's words could not help but stun the Hokage once more, who hurriedly asked again, "Then why did you take this Genin exam?"

"It seemed interesting, so I took it." Luo En spoke unhurriedly, somewhat indifferent.

"Well then, but if you change your mind, come find me at the house on the edge of the Hidden Leaf Village."

The Hokage sighed, but still unwilling to give up, continued speaking afterward.

Seeing this, Luo En did not refuse again, and nodded, giving the Hokage some hope—but he knew he basically would not go find him to ask to be Hokage.

"Might I ask your name?" the Hokage continued inquiring.

"Luo En." Luo En replied.

The more the Hokage looked, the more satisfied and appreciative he grew, and he nodded. "Young man, may we meet again if fate allows."

"May we meet again if fate allows." Luo En nodded along, then stepped down from the stage.

He felt there was no need to stay here any longer.

The Hokage laughed heartily, then vanished.

The host hurriedly stepped in to maintain order. "Since both of them have already stepped down, please welcome the next person onto the stage!"

"Hello, I'm Boruto." The moment Luo En stepped down, a figure ran over—yellow short hair, black-and-orange clothing, a warm enthusiastic smile at the corner of his mouth, extending a hand; it was undoubtedly Boruto.

Luo En blinked, shook the hand back, and smiled. "Luo En."

"I'm Sarada." The girl made a cute, well-behaved expression, approaching Luo En, but not too close, maintaining a friendly distance.

"Mitsuki." Mitsuki came over at this point, extending his hand toward Luo En with a friendly smile.

Luo En shook it with his other hand, and roughly guessed the purpose behind Boruto and the others actively coming to find him.

2. The Mysterious Visitor

(Word count update, no need to read the Hokage arc, just read One Punch)

%……

Sarada and Boruto said nothing, their gazes already shifting to Luo En, eyes tinged with worry.

Luo En slipped both hands into his trouser pockets. The leader of that group coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, and the other four called out urgently, "Boss, how do you feel?"

"I'm... I'm fine..." the boss stammered in reply. His eyes did not look at his own underlings but turned toward Luo En.

His legs trembled with cold, his pupils filled entirely with fear.

Following their boss's gaze, the four of them also looked at Luo En.

A slender figure, a face as handsome as a youth's, yet the strike just now had been like that of a burly man.

"Let's go!"

Although he looked as though he did not have many injuries on his body, only he himself knew that he was now as though being gnawed by countless ants, nearly crippled.

Hearing their boss's words, the four hurriedly lifted him up—two taking the legs, two taking the arms.

Being jostled like that, several stabs of pain shot straight through his organs to the sensory nerves. The boss grimaced, unable to hold back a cry.

The host on the stage glanced at the boss in his agony, as if already sensing his own miserable fate. His lower body immediately tightened, and he could not help but swallow hard. On his face he strove to stay composed, and with a beaming smile called out.

"Let us congratulate this silver-haired youth on winning the first match. I wonder if anyone else would like to come up next?"

The crowd exchanged uncertain glances, every pair of eyes meeting in panic.

It was only a Genin exam—who could have known it would be this hard? That big fellow had already fallen at the silver-haired youth's feet; if they went up, wouldn't they lose their lives as well?

But now the times called for peace, so they probably would only end up injured like that big man.

"Me!" At that moment, a red-haired beauty stepped out from the crowd below the stage. Her looks were bewitchingly charming, her fiery figure eye-catching, a pair of almond blossom eyes brimming with feeling. In her long, slender, well-defined hand was a dagger.

"There's really someone who isn't afraid!" The crowd murmured among themselves at the sight.

"What a pity, with looks and a figure like that—she might get beaten into a swollen, bruised mess later."

A man sighed, shaking his head again and again at the beauty.

"Exactly, wouldn't it be better to do something else." Another man echoed, also shaking his head.

The beauty stepped onto the stage, first extending a hand to Luo En. "Bai Luo, that bout just now was splendid. I look forward to your instruction."

Luo En nodded, reached out and returned the handshake briefly. "Thank you, Luo En. Please give me your guidance as well."

During the handshake, Bai Luo gave a quick blink, spun into a kick, kicking up a gust of wind. Luo En tried to let go but found Bai Luo gripping tight. He gave a light laugh. "Quite the one to strike when someone's unprepared."

Having spoken, Luo En did not dodge, and also spun into a kick. The two legs met, erupting with a fierce force. The people below the stage were all jolted by this force, nearly falling onto their backsides.

Boruto was astonished. "This showdown is packed with experience—even a Genin exam stirs up such waves. The later exams are probably going to be even harder."

Mitsuki was also stunned. "I had heard before that the Genin exam was relatively simple. Looking at it now, that sounds utterly absurd."

Sarada began to waver. "This kind of power feels impossible to handle. We might end up losing badly. Should we still take part?"

"No matter what, I have to become Hokage!" Boruto was not scared off; on the contrary, his resolve only hardened. "I understand—if you want to quit, I have no objections."