“Messing around with women… this guy’s a genius at naming moves…”

Green’s mouth twitched a little. Nodaro not only dressed in a very… “unique” way when he fought, even the names of his ninjutsu were on a whole different level.

Should he say, as expected of the number one ninja?

“If you ask me, your only weak point is your move names.”

Taken literally, without any deeper reading, Nodaro should be hiding in that patch of flowers right now.

With the last round as reference, Green was almost sure Nodaro was in the flowerbed again, though he still worried Nodaro might go for a reverse mind game this time.

Either way, no matter what Nodaro was thinking, Green still walked over to the flower field.

“To be honest, these flowers are pretty nice. I kinda hate to mess them up.” Green spoke with a regretful tone, then waved at Lilith. “Lilith, let me borrow Ember Delight for a bit.”

“Huh? Oh! Here you go…”

Green took Ember Delight from her, and the smile on his face brightened along with it.

But to Lilith, that happy smile seemed to carry a trace of malice…

“Wantonly destroying plants is a bad habit, I know. But for the sake of the gods, forgive me this once.”

Green looked sincerely devout, though which god he meant, no one could say.

With Ember Delight in hand, its signature emotional buff washed over him, making body and mind both feel wonderfully relaxed. In this state, even if he didn’t go fight, just rushing homework with it would be amazing.

In that state, Green swung his arm in a big arc.

In an instant, flames burst in all directions.

That seemingly casual motion unleashed a shocking torrent of fire. Lilith felt that even if she tried her hardest, she might not reach this level.

Yet the searing flames passed straight through the flower field without causing any damage at all.

“…Ah. I forgot. Fire doesn’t work here.”

Green’s jaw went slack as he finally remembered: when Lilith tried to burn the forest earlier, the flames had done nothing and he’d just snapped the trees apart with source energy instead.

Right then, Nodaro’s taunting voice cut in at the worst possible timing.

“Chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu! Idiot! Moron! I already told you the environment here can’t be destroyed! Do you even have a brain? Ji-ga-ga-ga-ga…!!”

At that taunt, a sharp “#” popped on Green’s forehead.

“Looks like your memory’s not that good. In that case, I’ll kindly help you out.”

“Chiu? Help me? There you go saying stupid stuff again! Ji-ga-ga-ga…!!”

Green couldn’t hold back anymore—

“You’re chirping and screeching nonstop, shut up alreadyyyyy!!!”

“BOOM——!!!”

With Green’s impatient shout and a thunderous crash, a violent tremor shook the entire Sky Tower.

Lilith and the others felt like an earthquake of magnitude eight had hit. Everyone except Mio almost toppled over.

Ais directly fell onto the floor, letting out a small yelp. She stared at Green’s back in shock, as if she’d just witnessed close contact of the third kind.

She finally understood why Green had been holding back until now. There was no other reason—this power was just too overwhelming.

From the strength of the tremor, Ais started to suspect the whole tower was shaking.

And in fact, the residents of the City of Water could clearly see the towering Sky Tower, which pierced the clouds, actually trembling at this moment.

“What’s going on? What happened? Why’s the Sky Tower suddenly shaking??”

“Don’t tell me some terrifying monster’s about to appear??!”

……

The adventurers inside the tower were a bit better off than Lilith’s group, but they still staggered, barely able to stand. Fortunately, the monsters were affected even more than the adventurers, so no extra disasters broke out.

The tremor came as fast as it went, and the Sky Tower quickly stabilized again. Even so, the adventurers all immediately dropped their current fights and started heading for the exits.

“Insane… is he even human?”

Ais was hit with a life-sized “(1+2)×1” existential crisis:

Is he human?

Am I human?

And what even is a human?

Looking back toward Green, the flower field had completely vanished. All that remained was a pitch-black crater—and that dark surface wasn’t soil, it was the tower’s own material.

“Pop!”

Nodaro’s figure appeared in front of Green, drenched in cold sweat.

“Chiu chiu! Wh-what did you do? The material of this tower is…!”

Green flexed his empty hand and sighed.

“Sorry, didn’t control the force, it carried into the tower. But it should be fine, right.”

“Chiu… what are you, a demon?”

“Don’t say that, I’m not a demon, I’m…” Green walked toward Nodaro with a squinty-eyed smile, then suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at him. “A devil~”

“—Chiu?!”

Nodaro jolted like a startled animal and instantly dissolved into smoke, vanishing before Green, even forgetting to shout his move name.

Seeing that reaction, Green clicked his tongue in boredom.

“How lame. At least act tough so I can feel like punching you.”

In the darkness, Nodaro’s whole body trembled. It was his first time meeting an opponent like this—way too scary, way too scary. He suddenly regretted listening to that lord and becoming an examiner.

But soon, Nodaro’s voice rang out again, full of energy.

“Chiu! You’re indeed very strong, but did you think I’d just give up? That’s impossible! I, Nodaro, am the world’s number one ninja! Bring it on, ‘Nodaro’s Hide-and-Seek’ isn’t over yet! As long as you pass my trial, I’ll bestow the ultimate secret ninjutsu upon you——!!!”

“The secret ninjutsu? So your treasure is your secret ninjutsu, huh? I hope it doesn’t disappoint me.”

Green cracked his knuckles and focused on the last pile of rubble. Nodaro hadn’t shouted a move name this time, but judging from experience, he should be hiding right there.

Just then, Nodaro’s voice sounded again.

“Chiu! My bad, I actually forgot to shout the ninjutsu name just now! As a proper ninja, you must loudly declare your ninjutsu name to the enemy! That’s the basic respect due to ninjutsu!”

“‘Earth Style: Technique of the Inconspicuous Roadside Rock’!”

Then, his voice vanished.

Green: “………………”

“I wanna hit him.”

Satara spoke through gritted teeth.

Lalta nodded in agreement. Lilith tilted her head back and facepalmed in silence. Ais was still stuck in the aftershocks of Green’s power. As for Mio… since she barely moved to begin with, her presence was especially faint right now.

Green couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. He’d assumed there was some deeper reason Nodaro hadn’t called out his move name, but instead the guy just shouted an even more ridiculous name at the top of his lungs.

“Forget it, forget it, let’s just finish this.”

Green stretched out his palm toward the rubble and fired a source energy blast.

This time he controlled his strength, so the Sky Tower stayed still, but the pile of stones was completely gone.

“Pop!”

When the smoke cleared, Nodaro showed up again in front of Green.

“Chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu!! I didn’t think you’d see through my disguise so easily! As expected of the man chosen by the world’s number one ninja—truly a hero at a young age!”

Nodaro started by indirectly praising himself, then his eyes sharpened and his aura shifted in an instant.

“Now, face my final trial!”

His hands blurred through a flurry of seals, then he slammed them onto the ground and shouted:

“‘Ninpo: Finishing Move’!”

“A finisher?!”

Everyone jolted at that move name.

A finisher?

Did that mean getting hit by it meant instant death?

By tradition, Nodaro’s move names were brutally literal—so literal you could guess the effect just from the name. That meant this “Finishing Move” couldn’t be taken lightly.

A faint sense of danger crept over them.

Even Mio, who had absolute faith in Green, felt a flicker of worry at that moment. Lilith had already raised her sword, ready to ambush Nodaro. Satara was hefting Thunder Wrath, about to charge, only to be stopped by Lalta. Ais had already decided: after this fight, she was going home.

Right then, Green chuckled.

“Uncle Nodaro, your move name sounds pretty badass, but if you really had a technique like that, you wouldn’t have died while still looking like a middle‑aged uncle, would you?”

Nodaro’s appearance and voice didn’t match an old man at all, and Green didn’t believe a dead guy kept aging. So he concluded the move was all bark and no bite.

Still, thinking back on all those bizarre yet blunt move names, Green wasn’t entirely sure.

At Green’s question, a glow of admiration flashed in Nodaro’s eyes.

“Chiu chiu chiu! As expected of you, to see through that point! But—don’t you dare underestimate this technique! This is a finishing move so terrifying even I fear it!! As long as you come out of this unscathed, I’ll pass my ultimate secret ninjutsu on to you!”

“Then hurry up and show me what’s so great about it.”

Green replied calmly, face full of disbelief, but Nodaro paid his contempt no mind.

Nodaro slowly raised both hands behind his head, like he was about to throw something. To Green’s surprise, he felt an invisible force well up in his body, pushing him to copy the exact same pose.

Green didn’t resist, letting his body move under that unseen power.

At that moment, Nodaro’s eyes bulged as he shouted:

“Rock, paper—scissors!”

……

The air froze.

Green looked down at his own hand.

Rock.

At the last moment, he had subconsciously broken free of that invisible constraint and threw out “rock.”

He should’ve been “scissors.” But because he shook off the control without thinking, he threw “rock.”

He threw “rock”…

Rock…

Head…

……

Nodaro glanced at his own “paper,” then at Green’s “rock.” A smile curled at the corner of his mouth beneath the pink mask.

“I lose.”

Those words came from Nodaro.