Do You Want My Status?

The next day, Uchiha Chen got up at just the right time and only arrived at the Ninja Academy a few minutes before class began.

The trees by the Ninja Academy gates were covered in dazzling cherry blossoms. Though Uchiha Chen was not the refined sort who enjoyed admiring flowers, even he could not help being drawn in by the beautiful sight.

But that lasted only a very brief moment.

Cherry blossoms were not what filled his mind right now.

All he could think about were the classmates he would be fighting alongside this year.

In other words, the matter of them bringing him points.

Points were art.

My foolish classmates.

"Uchiha Chen, you're going to be late."

A deep, gentle voice called out to him from within the campus. Uchiha Chen turned toward the sound and saw a ninja wearing a light green vest and a Konoha Headband, with a dark complexion and a muscular body.

"Ah, it's that Black-faced Un—no, Teacher Nishimura. Good morning!"

Whew, that had been close. He had nearly called him "Black-faced Uncle" out loud. Would this uncle make things difficult for him in the future?

"You were about to call me Black-faced Uncle, weren't you?"

"Haha, you're overthinking it."

"I'm only in my twenties, brat!"

"What? I always thought you were already in your forties."

"Hmph, is that so?" Teacher Nishimura gave him a dangerous look.

Incidentally, Teacher Nishimura was the Chunin who had tested the students yesterday.

After the test, some student had no idea who gave Teacher Nishimura that nickname. The reason, of course, was the teacher's dark face and that aged look that made him seem as though he were in his forties.

"By the way, under normal circumstances, shouldn't you be saying 'good morning' at a time like this?"

"Ah, sorry. Uh... your complexion is really dark today too."

"You brat, is my complexion more important than the fact that you were late on your first day of class?"

"Oh, so it was that! Sorry, I was late."

"You really are... Get to class already."

Teacher Nishimura sighed and muttered under his breath. Watching Uchiha Chen hurry away, he could not help but smile.

He really was different from ordinary Uchiha.

The Ninja Academy was divided into several classes. Every student was assigned according to their entrance exam results.

Simply put, students with excellent results entered the best Advanced Class, while students with average results entered the Regular Class.

The Advanced Class also contained most of the clan children. They would become Konoha's backbone in the future, as well as key targets for Konoha's protection and cultivation. Once they graduated, outstanding Jonin would guide them.

Meanwhile, students from the Regular Class would become Cannon Fodder on the battlefield. After becoming Genin, the teachers assigned to them would also be quite ordinary. If they were lucky, they might become Chunin, or even Jonin.

That was how realistic and cruel the ninja world was.

Uchiha Chen hurried down the corridor at a pace that was almost a run.

He stopped hesitantly beneath the sign reading Class 1-A.

What would be the best way to make an entrance?

Cool, carefree, or perhaps a little more domineering?

And how could he safely farm points in the future without affecting what others thought of him?

Uchiha Chen shook out his Windbreaker.

"What am I even thinking so much for?"

I'm already nearly five minutes late!

Uchiha Chen shoved the door open and greeted the students in the classroom with his warmest smile.

"Sorry, I was just a little late."

The moment he entered the class, Uchiha Chen felt several hostile gazes. It was not because he had extraordinarily strong perception; those stares were simply far too intense.

If they had not been at the Ninja Academy, Uchiha Chen believed those few would have definitely ganged up on him.

When he turned to look, Uchiha Chen immediately understood. They were the Uchiha Trio he had beaten up yesterday.

There were also children from other clans. They had probably been surpassed by Uchiha Chen by a wide margin yesterday and been scolded by their elders after returning home.

So they were hostile toward him.

Well, that's what happens when I'm a genius, Uchiha Chen thought to himself.

Uchiha Chen did not take these clan children seriously at all. If they came looking for trouble, that would be even better.

It would save him from provoking them one by one. These were all shiny points.

Uchiha Chen shook out his Windbreaker again.

"So handsome!"

"I like him so much!"

Screams like those kept ringing out.

Another wave of intense, burning gazes came his way, but this time they belonged to girls.

After all, Uchiha Chen had placed first in the entrance test and was also a member of the great Uchiha Clan.

More importantly, he had inherited the Uchiha Clan's genes and was extremely handsome.

As a result, he was especially popular among the girls.

Despite having only just enrolled, Uchiha Chen had already made the top ten list of "Most Wanted as a Boyfriend"!

At present, he was gaining momentum and constantly climbing higher. Uchiha Chen stock was soaring all the way up.

His popularity was unexpectedly high.

In any case, he should find an empty seat first!

Uchiha Chen saw Mikoto waving him over.

"Chen, over here."

Uchiha Chen walked over and sat down.

The surrounding area immediately filled with sighs.

There were sighs from both boys and girls.

"Good morning, Mikoto," Uchiha Chen greeted her.

"You're late again," Mikoto said with concern.

"Uh, sorry. I helped an old lady cross the street today, so I was late."

"Mm, Chen really is kind." Mikoto believed him immediately.

Uh, Uchiha Chen's old face reddened.

Uchiha Chen glanced around and discovered that Little Sun with Golden Hair, Minato Namikaze, was sitting on his other side.

At that moment, Minato was seriously previewing his textbook amid the noisy classroom.

Sitting in front of him was Senju Nawaki, the foolish-looking Brown Yellow Hair. Nawaki was staring at him eagerly.

"What are you looking at?" Uchiha Chen gave him a disdainful look and ignored him.

"Mikoto, hasn't the teacher arrived yet?" Uchiha Chen noticed how noisy the classroom was.

"Mm, Teacher Nishimura is late," Mikoto replied.

"What? Teacher Nishimura is the homeroom teacher? I just ran into him on campus."

Was it really okay for him to take the Ninja Academy's salary while wandering around campus instead of teaching?

Sooner or later, he would report him to the Hokage.

The sound of the door opening suddenly came from the entrance. Nishimura entered with a textbook in hand, looking quite imposing.

The classroom immediately fell silent.

Once the room had completely quieted down, Teacher Nishimura stepped onto the podium and slowly began speaking.

"Good morning, everyone. I am Nishimura Shin, the teacher of Class 1-A. Please take care of me."

Teacher Nishimura had originally intended to write his name on the blackboard, but gave up halfway through.

Wow! That was way too lazy.

About fifty students were crammed into one classroom, and spiders brazenly spun webs throughout some of its corners.

A strange musty smell drifted from somewhere within the room and spread through the entire classroom.

"The principal must have pocketed all the Ninja Academy renovation money," Uchiha Chen secretly said to Nawaki in front of him.

"Uh, I think the principal is Hokage Uncle," Nawaki replied.

Pretend I never said that. Uchiha Chen immediately shut his mouth.

"Then let's begin with introductions! Hmm, we'll start with the students seated by the corridor," Teacher Nishimura announced loudly.

After Teacher Nishimura spoke, the students along the corridor began standing up and stating their names.

"My name is Kinoshita Ryo. I like growing flowers most. My wish is to become a Jonin."

Very soon, it was Minato Namikaze's turn.

"My name is Minato Namikaze. My wish is to become Hokage and protect everyone in Konoha." Minato showed a slightly silly smile.

This did not cause much of a stir. Many students dreamed of becoming Hokage.

It also matched the core values Konoha had always promoted.

Love Konoha, support the Hokage, and become the Hokage's successor.

See? Nawaki was the same way.

"My name is Senju Nawaki. My wish is to become someone like my grandfather, the First Hokage. My current goal is to defeat Uchiha Chen."

"..."

At last, it was Mikoto's turn. Mikoto's distinctive tone, slender figure, and shoulder-length hair loosely tied behind her made her incredibly cute.

"My name is Uchiha Mikoto. My wish is to protect the person I like."

"In any case, please guide me this year."

Mikoto gave a light, lovely smile and finished her introduction.

"S-So cute," voices murmured from all around.

Now that the person in front of Uchiha Chen had also finished introducing himself, Uchiha Chen took a small breath and stood up from his seat.

Time for his introduction! First impressions were the most important. To make many good friends and leave a good impression on the Third Hokage and the people of Konoha—

He needed to let them know that he was different from the other members of the Uchiha Clan. He absolutely had to emphasize that he was a cheerful, sunny young man.

That thought flashed through his mind, and Uchiha Chen decided to start with a light joke.

He tried his best to use a humorous tone as he introduced himself to the class.

"Ahem. Uh, my name is Uchiha Chen. You can all call me 'Darling.' No need to be polite."

"Dar-ling!"

A chorus made up of boys' rough voices rose around him, far more disgusting than he had imagined.

"Sorry, everyone. Please forget what I just said."

Uchiha Chen felt like vomiting. He had not expected these ugly boys to really address him that way. It was terrifying.

Uchiha Chen recalled the system's mission tempting him to beat up other people for points.

So he continued in an enticing tone, "My foolish classmates. Do you want my status? If you do, I can give it all to you. Work hard for it! I have placed myself here. Come challenge me."

A brief silence suddenly fell.

W-What was going on? Why did Uchiha Chen have such a bad feeling?

He suddenly felt the killing intent around him grow even stronger.

As expected of a group of trainee ninjas. Their killing intent actually made his skin sting—he had suddenly become hated by most of the boys.

After that came one boring introduction after another, with nothing more than names being given.

A class period quickly passed like that.