Chapter 14

"Congratulations! You're the first team to pass the first stage!" Hayama cheered as he greeted his genin.

"Hah! Was that even a doubt?! Of course we would be first with Shiromaru and I!" Kohaku boasted.

Hayama could only feel awkward as the boy's question. 'I'm certain it was all Kenji and his attempts to include you so that this doesn't become a one man show.'

Kenji bonked Kohaku on the head and said, "Shut up! We're not in Konoha, idiot!"

"Anyway, sensei! How many days do we have before the final stage?"

"We get seven days after the first stage officially comes to an end. So, you have enough time to rest and strategize. If you face each other in the tournament round, I don't want you to give up. Fight, even if you feel you will lose."

Kohaku and Kiyomi knew what Hayama meant. They were hurt by their sensei's lack of confidence in them. But, once they looked at Kenji, their hurt feelings vanished.

'Who would even be able to defeat this freak of nature?!' ×2

"We understand, sensei."

Hayama smiled and placed his hands on their heads.

"Don't feel down. Kenji is like a universal anomaly. Like a glitch in the matrix."

"I'm standing right here!"

Hayama glanced at Kenji and said, "Hmm. Definitely a cheat character. Tell me, are you able to touch the fabric of space? Can you tell when a star bursts in the sky? Do you hear the food getting digested in a fish's gutt?"

Kenji's eye twitched as he ground his teeth and said, "Sensei, I'm a shinobi, not a god!! And stop pulling my leg!!"

The three had a good laugh at his expense.

'These losers... Well, they are my friends... I'm stuck with these losers for life... So sad.'

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"Hey! It's you two!" Kenji waved to two Kiri genin.

Shiyoki and Tansui froze upon hearing that voice.

"Where's the third one? Still in hospital? You did take him to the hospital, right?"

The two looked at each other nervously before Shiyoki replied, "We... Kinda threw him off the boat..."

"What?! I left him alive!"

"Uhh... We know. He was alive. But..."

Kenji groaned in his hand as he facepalmed. 'Of course they would get rid of him. A psychopath like that being their leader... Oh well, no blood on my hands.'

*Sigh* "Fine, I guess I can understand. So, what are some local specialties here?"

"Specialties?"

"Hmmmm... Food. Come on! Show me around! I'm your guest! So you should treat me!"

And so, the two teammate killers were dragged around by Kenji and made to use their money to pay for all the food he ate. They couldn't do anything about it. Kenji was a different monster who could easily make them disappear with a snap of his fingers.

Meanwhile, the said boy was having a blast. There was so many dishes he had wanted to try. With a monetary source settled, he ate to his heart's content.

They strolled through the streets of Kirigakure for four hours with Kenji stopping at every single eatery to taste the food. In the end, the two Kiri genin were left with empty pockets and drained spirits as Kenji thanked them for being such gracious hosts while slapping their backs so hard they felt their souls leaving though their chests.

"You two are awesome! Who'd have known that Kiri genin are so accommodating? Hahaha! I can't wait for us to go on another stroll tomorrow! There are so many eateries we haven't visited yet!"

Panicked, Tansui immediately said, "Ah! You see, tomorrow and the few days after are going to be very busy. As our teammate died, we need to look for a replacement and resume doing missions. So, I don't think we'll be able to accompany you any longer, right Shiyoki?"

"Ah.. Yeah! Absolutely! We're going to be very busy! So busy!"

Kenji deflated and complained, "And we were having so much fun... Fine! It can't be helped. I shall never forget you my wealthy friends. Our bond is shared with the food in my stomach! And even if I shall lose the food in the form of poop, I shall never lose the bond!"

Kenji watched with melancholy as his two wallets swiftly ran away from him.

'So sad... Now I'll have to find that other genin team to bully.'

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Kenji spent the days before the tournament in bullying Kiri genin into feeding him tasty food and training his physical skills. In merely ten days, he had gained notoriety of the gluttonous Konoha genin who was not an Akimichi but ate like one who had been hungry for days.

Hayama did nothing to stop his genin's antics. He knew that Kenji was only doing that because it was the last time he would be able to enjoy something so freely.

Once Kenji became a jonin, his responsibilities would increase exponentially and so would his restrictions. Unless, Minato decided to join Kenji and the two formed a terrifying duo who bullied other villages into feeding them expensive cuisine.

Hayama shivered as his body rejected the thought. His other two students had been working hard as well.

After the second phase was over, all the genin who passed were assigned opponents for the knockout tournament via ballots. Interestingly, Kenji wouldn't be facing his teammates before the final round.

It secured that Kohaku and Kiyomi would get to show off their skills more openly than being simply overwhelmed by Kenji's raw power. Their opponents were two Kiri genin who, like most of the other Kiri genin, used katanas and ninjato.

Hayama felt lucky to have helped his genin learn how to counter a sword user.

Finally, it was the day of the tournament and Minato was the chief guest. The Tsuchikage had refused the invitation because Minato was going to be there. The Kazekage, meanwhile, was busy with his village and had expressed his regret of not being able to be there for his genin.

The first match was between Kenji and a Suna genin named Mukade.

'His face... is so average!!' Kenji thought as the proctor announced the match.

"Ready? Start!"

Mukade jumped into action by throwing a kunai at Kenji. The latter simply moved aside to dodge and used 'Shunshin no jutsu' to get behind Mukade.

"Huh?!" Mukade exclaimed as Kenji disappeared, only to feel excruciating pain at his neck.

'Riga Hammer!!' Kenji had chopped at Mukade's neck and made the boy faint.

"Winner, Mimura Kenji!"

'Why bother wasting energy on no good kids. Even though he looks older than me, he was so weak! I think I'll eat some ramen. I'm peckish. Hmmm, maybe some extra chashu with it will be nice.'