Spar.

An excited expression appeared on Jin's face when he heard that he could finally enter the yearly sparring session. Usually, there is a smaller, bi-weekly sparring session but the age limit on that was also 5.

That's why Jin never had the chance to enter it before. He had only turned 5 about a week ago and now that the yearly session was here, he could finally debut in it.

"Alright, hold on, let me get my robe and then we'll go!"

Jin immediately stopped practicing and ran inside his little home to grab his robe. A few seconds later, Jin returned to his friend, Daiei as he struggled to pull the black Shaolin short robe over his head.

"And that's why you should have gone bald, brother!"

Daiei helped Jin get the robe past his head and the two laughed heartily as they ran to the main temple courtyard.

The sounds of excited shouting, ringing gongs, and praying monks were all that entered Jin's ear as he neared the stage in the courtyard.

When they finally got in, the place was packed to the brim with monks, both young and old. Most of the elders and high priests sat closer to the stage in a cross-legged position while the younger disciples stayed at the back.

Daiei turned to Jin, grabbed both his shoulders, and said, "Brother, I already registered since this morning. I'm gonna go sit down with the rest of the guys while you can go get registered. When you're done, come find us! Don't take too long! And don't go sit by yourself this time, weirdo! The guys are still mad about you doing that to us yesterday at lunch!"

Daiei then pointed to a direction at the back of the crowd and continued, "Hurry and come join us before the real fighting starts! We'll save you a seat! Hey and don't forget to avoid Brother Hokuei when you come. He's still angry that you got to keep your hair and he's bald, hehe. "

Daiei smiled as he finished and immediately ran off into the crowd, heading towards their friends. Jin laughed as he heard this.

'Heh, all of our friends are two years older than me at most and he calls us 'The guys' like we're grown men. Sometimes I forget that I'm young again and I actually have friends in this life.'

Jin shook his head after this bit of introspection and went to join the long line at registration. About ten minutes later, Jin collected a card that had the number 1005 on it and walked away from the table, turning his attention to the stage as he did so.

Currently, they were two disciples fighting on stage. The tournament worked more according to skill instead of age. If a 10-year-old disciple was good enough, he could fight against 30-year-old disciples and not fall behind, in skill at least.

Physical ability was another discussion entirely.

This way, the younger disciples could push themselves completely against the older ones who would usually give them a pointer or two when they win. The brotherhood and sportsmanship between the disciples were good, usually.

"HAAH! SAI! SHI!"

Two teenage disciples fought intensely on the stage with staffs. Their shouts rang out as their weapons moved like a blur around each other, the sounds of them clashing audible to all ears.

As for Jin, he found a small spot not too far away from the stage and watched the battle with complete focus.

In his eyes, only the stage and the two fighters existed.

In his ears, only the sounds of weapons clashing and robes fluttering entered.

In this state of mind, nothing else but the battle mattered.

'Those two...they're both using the Yin-Hand staff style. It's clear that they both have reached a decent level of mastery with it, but this one has the upper hand.'

As if on cue, the disciple in question suddenly ducked under the swing of his opponent's staff, swept him off his feet, and delivered a final blow to his chest with the weapon. That was the end of the match.

'As expected. The one who lost the match was too impatient and started using slower but heavier attacks to pressure his opponent. It was too telegraphed.'

The disciple helped the other one up and they both bowed to each other as the loser left the stage. Now, the one who won had to keep fighting till he lost. This gauntlet style of the tournament was how the younger disciples ended up fighting the older ones.

Just like that, the battles continued. The first disciple lost in his third match and no one else passed their second. Numbers were called at random so luck was also a part of it.

About an hour later, it finally happened.

"Number 1005 vs. Number 453! The stage is yours!"

Jin immediately ran to the stage and climbed up the steps to wait for his opponent. He was hoping that it was at most a teenager so he wouldn't have to deal with the massive difference in physical power against an adult.

It would make his first battle a bit annoying and tiring.

"Ah, so you're the young disciple everyone talks about! Um...yes! High Elder Eiei's disciple right? They say you train like a wild beast haha!"

The sound of a manly voice erupted on the stage as a twenty-five-year-old disciple walked on wielding a staff. He had nine dots on his forehead, wore a tan Shaolin outfit and his bald head shined fiercely in the sunlight.

His entire presence was truly intimidating.

"My name is Yuhei! Nice to meet you, little brother!!"

It was clear that he was also one of the high-energy types who enjoyed shouting constantly.

But unfortunately, he wasn't going to get an answer from Jin. He had already entered his world of focus.

Jin took a high stance with his left arm extended in front of his right and waited for Yuhei to attack. Seeing that Jin wasn't about to respond, Yuhei laughed loudly and said, "Alright, since you're so focused, let's begin!"

Jin watched as Yuhei rushed forward with wide steps and attacked with a frontal quick strike using the staff. Jin stayed still and waited patiently for the attack.

Closer...

Closer...

Closer...

Then he struck!

He barely managed to sidestep the attack as his left became a blur in the air. Yuhei, of course, was holding back and expected Jin to dodge as this attack was a feint.

But he wasn't expecting Jin's counter to be so quick and sudden.

Whoosh...

All he felt was a silent breeze passing his ear and his vision blurred as everything started going black.

Jin had struck him behind the head before he had even realized it!

This caused him to involuntarily start falling to the ground face first. Jin knew that Yuhei would recover before he even got close to the ground but this one chance was all he needed.

He immediately struck at Yuhei's throat with his right hand, which was noticeably slower than his left, causing the man to throw up saliva as he was jolted back to consciousness.

Yuhei immediately his throat in worry and took deep breaths to compose himself.

'If this boy had more physical strength he would've killed me with that blow! What even happened to me...?'

Jin had the same focused expression on his face as before. Although that strike was successful, he didn't dare underestimate his opponent. Yuhei was more physically able in almost every single way, especially in stamina. If they were similar in age, he would've immediately followed up with a finishing blow while Yuhei was gasping for breath.

Jin had to save everything he had and finish this fight as quickly as possible at the same time.

'Since he used a quick feint earlier, I'm guessing he wouldn't use the same tactic again. But I'll have to be ready just in case. Using a staff means his attack patterns are limited...even more so since he's also using the Yin Hand style. Attacks from the left I can deflect, attacks from the right I can dodge. He's gonna have an innate caution towards the strike that knocked him out...so I'll have to use that to my advantage.'

This was one of the main aspects of the [Snake] style. In simple terms, it was quick attacks with his left hand and heavy attacks with his right. It sounds easy to deal with at first glance but in reality, the style was made to be incredibly versatile.

Quick moves with his left hand were usually shot out at a right angle and could change directions mid-air. That's how he managed to strike the back of Yuhei's head even though he was in front of him.

The right hand was used for grabbing, punching, or stabbing. This particular hand had to be trained even more arduously than the left as it was used to finish off opponents after battering them with the left.

Luckily for Yuhei, Jin didn't start training his right hand properly yet. If he did, Yuhei would've been still been unconscious on the floor and the battle finished. Unfortunately, Jin was just too young and his body a bit too weak to begin it.

At this point, Yuhei had finally regained his breath and a serious expression appeared on his face.

'He looks no older than 6 but his physical strength could already be compared to the strength of an ordinary adult man. Hn....these talented types are always annoying. I'll have to be cautious of whatever attack he's hiding.'

CRACK!

Yuhei suddenly used his knee to break the staff in half and he held the pieces to both sides of his body as he rushed forward.

Yuhei was finally about to take Jin seriously.