Chapter 8

[Toneri's POV]

'Well well well, if it isn't the main character himself...'

As the door opened, Chairman Go and Jin-Woo walked out. I stared at him trying to assess his power but of course, what I'm doing is foolish as I remember what he can do in the future.

Then, Choi Jong-in walked towards them and started conversing with a smile on his face

After conversing, he started assessing everyone else in the training gym's power. He then saw me and I gave a nod at him which he responded with a confused expression.

Shortly after, the rest of the S-Rank Hunters including Goto Ryuji started talking to the person next to them and are discussing Jin-Woo's power.

"That's the S-Ranker before you, Sung Jin-Woo, right?" (???)

I was startled a bit when an unknown person spoke to me.

I quickly turned around and saw a person around the same height as me (184cm), with somewhat tired-looking eyes, and shoulder-length purple hair.

How did he even approach me without giving off his presence?

"Who...?" (Toneri)

"Japanese S-Rank Hunter, Yoshimoto Ryuu. Although acquainting with others is troublesome, I'm trying..." (Ryuu)

Why did this guy suddenly approach me? I don't remember having been in contact with him before. And besides, him being able to get near me without even making his presence known is quite unsettling...

As for that name... I don't remember any names like that in the series... But who knows? Perhaps he wasn't introduced because it was unnecessary. Just like how I couldn't recognize Hisoka from the original series... I might have seriously set off a butterfly effect just because I existed here.

"Uhh, yeah... Ōtsutsuki Toneri." (Toneri)

After I spoke, I reached out my hand for a handshake

Ryuu shook my hand lazily.

I then replied to his previous question.

"As for Jin-Woo... I wonder how strong he is?" (Toneri)

Although I already know Jin-Woo's real power from reading Solo Leveling, I still need to pretend and blend in with the crowd around me. And conversing about the mysterious hunter whose abilities are unknown to us is the way to go.

"It's stated in his profile on the Hunters Association website that he's a mage. But his specific powers were not shown. Quite interesting if you think about it actually..." (Ryuu)

I didn't respond after that and just nodded. Of course no one knows about Jin-Woo's powers. The guy summoned at least a hundred shadows during his assessment which even shocked the Chairman. If I'm correct, he should reveal his powers in the live stream during the raid.

After that, events in the series happened. More people came from different guilds that will join the Jeju Island raid.

Some guy that is the leader of a guild challenged Goto Ryuji's translator and they fought.

The female translator— known as Hanekawa charged at the person named Park Jongsoo. Hanekawa is decently fast and kept on trying to grab her opponent's wrist. As for the latter, he tried kicking her but was blocked. Although it seemed like she got that one right, the guy called Park Jongsoo managed to grab her wrist and the match ended. To be honest, those two were pretty fast for A-Rankers.

But of course, with these eyes of mine, those quick punches looked slow to me as if I was watching a YouTube video at 0.25x speed.

The match ended with Goto Ryuji saying he enjoyed watching the match.

"It's nice to meet you, but I have to go now." (Toneri)

"Alright." (Ryuu)

I jumped down from the second floor leaving lazy-looking Ryuu.

After jumping down, some A-Rankers were glaring at me.

Since I was hidden in one corner from the beginning, other people who didn't see me had shocked expressions. I guess they were shocked that they didn't manage to detect me. I ignored their gazes and just sat down on one of the chairs and looked at what Goto Ryuji is about to say.

Ryuji approached the two people that ended their duel.

"I have something I'd like to offer." (Ryuji)

He then looked at the other S-Rank Hunters including us and announced

"With the same rules as just now, how about dueling with us? Between the S-Rank Hunters." (Ryuji)

'Hm? Is he trying to get us to show our powers? Quite bold aren't you?' (Toneri)

Then, the metal door opened and two figures walked out. It was the Chairman and Jin-Woo

"Alright. But only if Magic and Non-combat type hunters that are hard to distinguish victories are excluded." (Chairman Go)

Yoon-Ho then spoke up and added to the Chairman's words while sweating from his fight.

"Let's add some more rules too. Other than the wrist, touching the back is a win, knocking the opponent over is a win too." (Yoon-Ho)

"The match isn't 1v1, but as a group." (Yoon-Ho)

Everything he said was translated by Ryuji's translator.

"So... Does the opponent agree with this?" (Yoon-Ho)

After pondering for a while, Ryuji responded

"Sounds good. Let's do it like that." (Ryuji)

Hey hey hey, aren't you guys too much? You just decided that we'll fight without the other S-Ranker's consen—... Well, never mind. All of them agreed.

Cha Hae-in approached me and spoke

"Hunter Toneri, will you fight too?" (Hae-in)

What can I even do? Yoon-Ho, Ma Dongwook, and you accepted this duel. Of course I need to accept! I have a reputation too!

"I'll Fight" (Toneri)

I then stood up and walked to the arena. I could swear someone was staring at my back while I was walking. I looked back and saw Jin-Woo looking at me as if he was trying to figure out something. Noticing me, he made an apologetic look. I replied with a slight nod

After arriving at the arena, Chairman Go spoke

"On the Korean Hunters side, there's Hunter Baek Yoon-Ho, Hunter Ma Dongwook, Hunter Cha Hae-in, and finally Hunter Otsutsuki Toneri. These four hunters will fight."

"And for the Japanese Hunters side, there's Hunter Tanaka Kenjo, Hunter Hoshino Minoru, Hunter Kumamoto Atsushi, and finally Hunter Tawata Kanae."

[General POV]

After the announcement was made, the eight S-Rank Hunters suddenly started assessing their opponent's power.

And on the spectator's side,

'I guess Goto Ryuji will be staying back. Is he trying to observe us from the sidelines?' (Jin-Woo)

Jin-Woo quickly guessed that the best way to assess the capabilities of the other party is to send other S-Rankers to test them.

'In any case, you don't get to see an S-Rank Hunter's battle every day. It's good that I came to see it...' (Jin-Woo)

He then focused on a certain white-haired person from the Korean Team.

'Ōtsutsuki Toneri... After I came back from the demon dungeon, I quickly got the news that a new S-Rank Hunter appeared shortly after me. An S-Rank Hunter appearing two times in under a month in one country is not that common. Only about one-in-a-million people could get the chance to awaken abilities that can be compared to that of an S-Rank.' (Jin-Woo)

'Is it just a coincidence?' (Jin-Woo)

- On the Arena -

'Baek Yoon-Ho and Ma Dongwook... I already know how strong they are based on their fight earlier... But I'm sure that bastard Yoon-Ho still has some tricks up his sleeve... As for Toneri... There's not that much information about his specific abilities, but according to the info we received, he should be similar to Yoon-Ho that can transform increasing his prowess...' (Tanaka)

'Since this is a 4 on 4 battle, then I should fight the girl, right?' (Kanae)

'Let's get this over with...' (Toneri)

Then, mana started gathering around Ma Dongwook as he got excited

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET STARTED!" (Ma)

Ma Dongwook started using his 'Gigantification ability', Yoon-Ho's hair turned white, and Hae-in took a fighting stance. Seeing that they were getting ready to battle, Toneri summoned his Truth-seeking orbs.

Black orbs appeared out of nowhere and formed a circular pattern.

Yes, through training, Toneri is now able to summon his truth-seeking orbs without entering the Tenseigan Chakra Mode. And that is not all, he wanted to replicate what the original Toneri did with his truth-seeking balls— and that is to cut them all to tiny pieces.

9 Dark orbs orbited behind Toneri's back resembling an avatar.

Seeing this, Tanaka was confused as to what those orbs behind Toneri were. But his attention was immediately shifted to Ma Dongwook that is about to attack him.

But there is someone from the spectators that looked at Toneri as if they were studying him.

And so, the fight started with Ma Dongwook and Kenjo Tanaka facing each other with brute force. Atsushi Kumamoto vs Yoon-Ho, Kanae Tawata vs Cha Hae-in, and finally Toneri and Minoru Hoshino.

Minoru quickly charged towards him with great speed, but unfortunately, he activated the Tenseigan and easily dodged his dash. He separated the truth-seeking orbs into many pieces and sent them towards him.

'What are those?!' (Minoru)

All of them hit him, but he made the impact small so that Minoru will only get a bruise

"Argh!" (Minoru)

"Tch, what the hell are those?! Aren't you supposed to be a transformation-type?!" (Minoru)

"Relax~ this is just a small trick it did." (Toneri)

"TCH! Whatever! Tanaka! Help me out!" (Minoru)

"I'm busy here! Just stall him!" (Tanaka)

Tanaka replied as he punched Dongwook.

On the spectator's side, Chairman Go made a statement

"This facility is built and fortified with the best magic gems out there. Your average hunter wouldn't even be able to make a mess here. But these hunters... They're quite messy, aren't they?" (Chairman Go)

He then squinted his eyes and pondered silently with a slight regret

'Letting these young ones participate in this battle was quite regretful...' (Chairman Go)

'All of them has their own strength in their own respective fields... But I still hope they're careful.' (Chairman Go)

Meanwhile, with Atsushi Kumamoto,

'What a cheap gimmick.' (Atsushi)

'Who said I'll only be targeting the wrists and the back?' (Atsushi)

Atsushi had always been like this when fighting. Whether it is a duel or a life-or-death situation, he would never follow the fighting rules and always go on top.

He made a fast move and quickly appeared behind Yoon-Ho's back

'It's all about the survival of the fittest!' (Atsushi)

*BOOM!*

Luckily, Yoon-Ho was able to dodge his attack, and Atsushi immediately retreated.

'I definitely felt bloodlust from him... But why did he back off?' (Yoon-Ho)

'Did he get scared?' (Yoon-Ho)

Atsushi is now breathing in relief.

'Thank God I backed off... I really am not fit to be a hunter...' (Atsushi)

'I believe his name was Atsushi Kumamoto... I don't know if he's a genius in decision-making or just a wimp... I guess he's not that aggressive' (Yoon-Ho)

Yoon-Ho then glanced at Goto Ryuji who was watching their battle from the start.

'It seems Goto is trying to assess our skills by using these guys...' (Yoon-Ho)

Then, more mana was released and his sclera turned black with a gold pupil on the center. A grin then formed on Yoon-Ho's face

'If you're going to treat us as test subjects... Then I guess I'll have to get serious too!' (Yoon-Ho)

As for Atsushi, when he saw Yoon-Ho's eye change, see at beads immediately tell from his face as he looked at him with fright

'What the hell happened to his eyes?! He's terrifying! I don't want to be here anymore!' (Atsushi)

Yoon-Ho moved much faster than before and charged at Atsushi. He threw a punch but Atsushi dodged it

He tried provoking him

"YOU'RE MORE OF A WIMP THAN I THOUGHT! YOUR REAWAKENING SHOULD HAVE PUT YOU AS ONE OF THE STRONGEST S-RANK HUNTERS!" (Yoon-Ho)

On the spectator's side, Park Jongsoo commented with amazement and fright when he witnessed the fight

"They're all monsters... Our fight was nothing more than child's play in front of them..." (Jongsoo)

*BANG!*

A loud 'bang' resounded throughout the arena as Ma Dongwook can be seen laying on the ground and Tanaka standing beside him with torn clothes.

"I guess it's my win when it comes to strength." (Tanaka)

Dongwook responded jokingly with a smile

"I got slammed to the ground... This is a first, haha..." (Dongwook)

As for Toneri and Minoru's fight, it is needless to say that Toneri is dominating his opponent. Minoru can't even land a hit on him as when he was about to launch an attack, a truth-seeking orb will come and transform into a shield to block his attack. And since there were 9 of them, Toneri transformed one of them into a pole-shaped object and 'Stab' him.

It is clear that he won the fight as his opponent is already exhausted and has many bruises.

Toneri saw the exhausted Minoru and dashed at him. He then tapped Minoru's shoulder as he whispered

"I win." (Toneri)

Minoru didn't respond as he fell down to the floor panting.

Seeing that Toneri is finished with his opponent, Yoon-Ho called out to him

"Toneri! A help here?" (Yoon-Ho)

Hearing his call, Toneri Instantly appeared beside Yoon-Ho and looker at the other two that they were fighting

Yoon-Ho then smiled and looked at the two.

"Now it's a 2v2." (Yoon-Ho)

On Kanae and Hae-in's side, Kanae is currently in distress as she couldn't keep up with Hae-in.

'Ugh, I thought she would just be fast, but that's not the case at all! I can't seem to read her pattern!' (Kanae)

It was understandable that her reaction would be like this. That is because Cha Hae-in's nickname is 'The Dancer'.

She was given this nickname because of her nimble moves that were similar to dance moves.

But due to her embarrassment of that nickname, she asked her guild leader to prohibit anyone from using that nickname. That is why not so many people know about it.

Hae-In kept throwing a barrage of attacks at Kanae. The latter tried to defend herself but Hae-in moved at great speed and immediately appeared behind her and tapped her back.

"I win." (Hae-in)

She then looked at the four men fighting.

'I should help them...' (Hae-in)

She then dashed at them and made a hand gesture to alert them that she'll join in.

But then, Atsushi appeared behind her.

'Those guys were terrifying as hell, I'm sure Tanaka can stall them just fine. I'll take out this girl first...' (Atsushi)

But before he could touch her back, Hae-in turned around and made a series of fast punches at him.

"Huh?! What was that?!" (Ishida)

Oh, and yes, Ishida and Natsumi had already come back from the restaurant they went to. When they came back, they were told bout what is happening. And so, they watched as one of the spectators along with Kei, Tatsumi Fujishima, and Akari Shimizu.

"It looked like a Gatling gun..." (Tatsumi)

"How many fists did she throw there? 10? No, maybe 14?" (Tatsumi)

"Being spammed with those amount of fists in that short amount of time... Atsushi won't be able to dodge that..." (Tatsumi)

'Ah shoot... I went overboard...' (Hae-in)

As for Atsushi's current state, blood is now coming out from his mouth and his eyes turned blood red

'Huh? That's...' (Akari)

"Atsushi is now angry." (Akari)

"When that bastard gets angry, his personality changes." (Tatsumi)

"It's not his personality, that bastard just loses all reason." (Kei)

"And he doesn't remember anything after the fight is over." (Akari)

"That personality of his isn't meant for competitions..." (Kei)

Right now, Atsushi is in a berserk state while fighting Hae-in. All of his attacks are now wild and unrestrained like a wild animal.

And on Goto Ryuji's side, he ordered his assistant that if Hae-in is seriously injured, she should immediately stop their fight.

Atsushi became extremely fast and charged towards Hae-in

'He's fast!' (Hae-in)

Hae-in didn't manage to dodge as in the next moment, Atsushi appeared and immediately sent an attack.

But his attack was interrupted when an arm stopped his foot from kicking Hae-in. A white-haired person appeared between them and stopped his attack

"Hey~ easy there, this is just a competition... You're letting out way too much bloodlust." (Toneri)

Hearing this, Atsushi became angrier and roared out

"THIS BASTARD!!!" (Atsushi)

He attempted to attack Toneri but was swiftly restrained to the ground because of his Truth-seeking orbs.

'Those orbs...' (Ryuji)

"Hanekawa, are you sure that man is a fighter?" (Ryuji)

"Well... Yes, at least that is what the official site says." (Hanekawa)

"I think it's better to find it out ourselves..." (Hanekawa)

On Toneri's side, everyone is now standing still and halted the fighting.

"I think it's clear that the Korean Team won here, no?" (Toneri)

"Alright." (Hae-in) (Yoon-Ho)

'But to be honest, Tanaka was quite strong...' (Yoon-Ho)

But then, someone approached Toneri while releasing a bit of his mana

"You said your name was Ōtsutsuki Toneri, right?" (Ryuji)

"Would it be alright if we have a one-on-one fight?" (Ryuji)

===

Chapter end. I did this chapter during my free time during the last 3 days.

Don't know when the next chapter will be made tho

Btw, have you guys read the ranked five fanfic in the popular section 'I'm in Naruto: Double package at the start'? I think it's pretty cool, you should read it. I'm definitely not promoting it because I'm the one editing and publishing it here.