Freshmen of the First Grade

Noon passed quickly. A group of students who were not yet ninja had little going for them besides hyperactivity, curiosity powerful enough to destroy everything, and boundless energy.

Not long after lunch, many of them were already unable to sit still, eagerly awaiting the return of the Third Hokage's disciples.

But for some reason, the Three Sannin had not arrived at the appointed time.

Could Tsunade be preparing a funeral for Jiraiya?

"By the way, May Day really is hot."

Lying on a picnic blanket spread beneath the shade of a tree, Uchiha Chen was reading a book about Chakra nature transformation and Chakra shape transformation.

Uchiha Chen idly sighed. This knowledge was all very important.

A ninja who did not understand these things could never become strong.

Even an idiot like Naruto had needed Yamato and the others' guidance to create an S-rank Ninjutsu like the Rasenshuriken.

Thanks to the points he had put into Ninjutsu attributes, Uchiha Chen found it easy to understand these things.

"Konoha Hidden Village is in the central region of the Land of Fire, so it's not too bad. The south of the Land of Fire should be even hotter," Mikoto softly replied to Uchiha Chen.

"Minato, aren't you having any tea?" Uchiha Chen raised his head and saw that Little Sun, leaning against a large tree, was not only failing to enjoy this rare bit of leisure before the competition, but was still diligently refining his Chakra. He spoke up.

"It's very refreshing, Minato."

"No." Minato, drenched in sweat from the sun, shook his head and turned down Uchiha Chen's offer. "Compared to that, I'd rather improve my strength."

"It's no use just working hard like that." Uchiha Chen shook his head.

Minato was indeed very hardworking, but being a commoner had still led him down many detours.

"You know the basic principles of Chakra as well. Teacher Nishimura also said that the total amount of Chakra each person could contain was limited at every age. We're still young, and our Chakra capacity is limited. Simply refining Chakra won't allow us to store it effectively; it'll only be wasted."

"Even so..." Minato had just wanted to continue when he saw that the Third Hokage's disciples had somehow appeared on the competition platform.

They were Orochimaru, pale-faced and indifferent, and Princess Tsunade, who was trying to maintain a smile but could not hide the bulging veins on her face.

...And that was it.

That white-haired Pervy Sage who always wore a lecherous expression was nowhere to be seen!

"Huh, where is Lord Jiraiya?" Minato voiced his confusion at just the right moment.

"Who knows?" Uchiha Chen cooperatively shook his head, then gave the conclusion he had already prepared.

"Probably recovering from his injuries at Konoha's hospital."

"Or maybe he's already been buried beneath the Hero Monument."

"..."

"Alright, since time is tight, we'll proceed directly to the second round of matches."

Standing atop the platform, Orochimaru clapped his hands. Once he had drawn the attention of the students below, he continued.

"The rules are the same as this morning, with no changes. Although you are currently divided into three-person teams by grade, the matches will still be one-on-one. The winner may continue challenging the next opponent."

"Of course, you may also stop and let one of your teammates take your place. Those are the rules. Injured students may seek treatment from Tsunade beside me."

"Then, First Grade will face Second Grade, Third Grade will face Fourth Grade, and so on. The final victorious team will receive our instruction."

After Orochimaru finished in his hoarse voice, he glanced at Princess Tsunade again. Seeing that her face was still livid and that she had raised no objections, he nodded.

It was better not to provoke Tsunade right now. Jiraiya had already set an example.

"Then let's begin. I'll serve as the referee and determine the victor of each battle."

After Orochimaru spoke, he and Tsunade moved to stand in a corner of the platform.

The first to take the field were Uchiha Chen's team and the First Grade students who had only recently entered the Ninja Academy.

Uchiha Chen shook out his flashy windbreaker. As someone who had always dominated first place in his grade and firmly suppressed the First Hokage's grandson, he was quite famous at school.

After all, Uchiha Chen was currently ranked first on the list of "Boys Most Wanted as Boyfriends."

He was at the height of his popularity, and compared to the First Grade students who had just entered the school, his support was on an entirely different level.

The cheers among the students were practically one-sided. The number of Uchiha Chen's followers was constantly growing.

"Chen is so handsome!"

"No one is more reliable than Chen."

"As long as Chen is here, no one can beat him!"

"Mm. As long as Chen is here, I don't care about anything else."

"..."

Who was it? Who had been throwing such intense flirtatious looks at me this whole time? Uchiha Chen looked at the fan club in front of him.

"Let's do our best." As members of the Inuzuka Clan, the First Grade team showed no fear. While encouraging themselves, they also encouraged their teammates.

"Of course. The three of us are the strongest." The Nara Clan's intelligence was practically reflected throughout the entire clan, and Nara Akio was naturally no exception. Although the situation might not be looking good, they could lose anything but their momentum.

"Should I go first?" Uchiha Chen turned to ask Mikoto and Minato for their opinions.

Minato, who had been eager to take the lead, saw Uchiha Chen speak up and did not object. Together with Mikoto, he tacitly accepted that Uchiha Chen would go first.

"Chen, do your best." Seeing the First Grade team cheering each other on, Mikoto still encouraged Uchiha Chen, even though she did not believe their side could lose.

"They've got rocks for brains this round. Watch me come back with a triple kill." Chen accepted Mikoto's encouragement, gave Minato a thumbs-up, and lightly leaped onto the platform.

The opening battle began with Uchiha Chen, and the area below the platform was almost completely filled with cheers for him. Compared to that nearly one-sided support, there was hardly any sound from the First Grade side.

But seriously, the top three students in First Grade were all girls!

Where was the pride of you male ninja students? Letting three girls take the top spots was not very good, was it?

"Alright, begin." The hoarse voice came from a corner of the platform. Uchiha Chen and the First Grade girl facing him bowed to each other, then began the battle.

"Senior, please go easy on me."

Then, three seconds later, the battle was over.

The process was extremely simple. Uchiha Chen formed a Genjutsu hand seal, snapped his fingers, and the girl opposite him—who had only just assumed a fighting stance—fell face-first to the ground.

The lively atmosphere below instantly froze. The older students were fine, but the younger students, who had rarely seen Genjutsu, were almost all staring at one another in confusion.

"Could this be a fixed match?"

"Did she take money?"

Orochimaru, standing in one corner, had apparently anticipated this outcome. Without saying much, he merely fixed his snake-like eyes lightly on Uchiha Chen across from him.

He showed an interested expression before announcing, "First battle, Uchiha Chen wins."

"Second battle, begin."

The second person to step up was still a girl. Red markings resembling canine fangs were painted on both sides of her cheeks. Only Konoha's Inuzuka Clan could come up with face paint like that.

The aesthetic sense in the world of Hokage was seriously messed up. Uchiha Chen could not understand this practice that completely disregarded skin health. What was the point?

What kind of aesthetic was that?

Of course, besides them, there was another girl who dressed like this—a girl who had nearly brought destruction to the world: Nohara Rin.

Could it really be a trend? Maybe he should paint some on himself someday.

Of course, that had nothing to do with the current battle.

"Your Genjutsu is powerful, but I won't be afraid of it!" Inuzuka Tsume stared seriously and dangerously at Uchiha Chen while reaching into the Ninja Tool Pouch strapped to her thigh. The senior in front of her was famous, after all, so she had to be cautious.

"Oh." Uchiha Chen nodded, then formed another Genjutsu hand seal.

After Inuzuka Tsume's movements came to an extremely brief halt, she fell to the ground and slipped into a short sleep.

"..."

Uchiha Chen's Genjutsu used sound as its medium of transmission. Chakra was mixed into the sound, making it impossible for the opponent to block.

Unless they covered their ears like Minato and kept their eyes away from Uchiha Chen's hands.