The Blacksmith's Children

"Rinto-kun, have you really not mastered any jutsu at all? Can you use even the simplest Three Basic Jutsu?"

Rinto shook his head.

"Teacher Taiku, I really don't know any ninjutsu."

"What about the Chakra Extraction Technique?" Nakaryu Taiku still refused to give up.

Rinto shook his head again.

Nakaryu Taiku froze for a moment, then sighed.

"It's fine. If you can't do it, learn slowly. Fortunately, you only skipped up to the second year, not the third. You still have time to catch up, so don't be discouraged."

After saying that, his expression turned serious.

"Don't worry, Rinto-kun. As your teacher, I won't just stand by and watch you fall too far behind your classmates."

Hearing that, Rinto immediately had a bad feeling.

Then Nakaryu Taiku's next words confirmed his fears.

"How about this, Rinto-kun? From now on, stay for two hours after school every day. I'll give you individual tutoring, and you can use those two hours to train as well, until you've caught up on all the lessons you missed."

Rinto was dumbfounded.

What did that mean? School ended at three-thirty, and he wanted to keep me until five-thirty?

Teacher, don't you need to date, get married, go home, and keep your wife company?

Even if you don't, I do!

I need to go forge iron at Uncle Ippongi's place!

I need to support myself and Rie!

Oh! Shit!

The thought of wasting so much time at the Ninja School every day made Rinto's scalp go numb.

"Um... Teacher, can we discuss something?"

"Go ahead!"

"Uh, Teacher Taiku, can I skip this practical combat class and use that time to catch up on my studies? After all, practical combat is just fighting back and forth. It feels kind of boring!"

Hearing that Rinto did not want to attend practical combat class, Nakaryu Taiku immediately frowned.

What did this brat think the Ninja School was, a place for training secretaries?! Even Medical Ninjas had to take practical combat classes!

Nakaryu Taiku instinctively wanted to refuse, but an arrogant voice beat him to it.

"The new kid?"

"Hehe~ You look like a clown desperately trying to draw attention."

As though he had not heard the mockery behind him, Rinto kept his head tilted and looked at Nakaryu Taiku expectantly.

Nakaryu Taiku had heard it too, and his brow furrowed as he instinctively looked toward the speaker.

Once he saw who it was, his frown deepened.

Uchiha Ryota, one of the top students in the class. His grades were excellent, but the Uchiha Clan's habit of looking down on everyone made him deeply unpopular.

Seeing that Rinto had no intention of acknowledging him, Uchiha Ryota felt a fierce sense of humiliation rise in his heart.

Children his age wanted nothing more than to prove themselves.

At the same time, they were also at their most self-centered.

Even with Nakaryu Taiku standing nearby, he was not afraid in the slightest.

After all, his uncle was Kagami Uchiha, Naruto's personal disciple!

Rinto did not know that this unlucky brat was related to Kagami Uchiha, but even if he had known, he would not have cared.

Though he had only been an undercover agent, the only person who could truly trade a few moves with him in terms of schemes was the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

It was not that Rinto looked down on the Konoha High Council. It was simply that people accustomed to relying on brute force tended to let their minds degenerate into something very simple.

Take Black Zetsu from the original story. He was not actually all that impressive, so why had he been able to plot such a massive web of conspiracies? He simply liked using his brain.

So among all those bloodline children from the original story, there was not a single one Rinto thought highly of.

Instead, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, the tragic Uchiha Itachi, and the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi, were the ones Rinto truly respected.

Uchiha Ryota was furious. His childish face immediately twisted in rage.

"Teacher Taiku, let me fight him and see what he's made of!"

Uchiha Ryota pointed at Rinto with a look of utter disdain.

Nakaryu Taiku immediately felt a headache coming on.

He would not get angry just because some little brat said something arrogant. What gave him a headache was why every member of the Uchiha Clan had this same condescending personality.

Either they walked around with icy faces all day, young in age but already wrinkled beyond belief.

Or they were like Ryota in front of him—being arrogant was one thing, but he could not even tolerate being ignored.

The small commotion on the training field quickly drew attention.

The students stopped what they were doing and gathered in twos and threes. Among them were quite a few of Uchiha Ryota's little fangirls.

It was not exactly shallow or realistic of them. With the Uchiha family's golden name hanging over them, they had plenty of little fangirls wherever they went.

Still, intimidated by the teachers present, the girls did not dare make too much noise.

Yet they still glared viciously at Rinto, as if they shared some deep, bitter grudge with him.

With the support of his fan club, Uchiha Ryota grew even bolder and looked at Rinto smugly.

"New kid, I'll let you use one hand."

As he spoke, he generously tucked one hand behind his back, drawing a burst of cheers from the watching fangirls.

Rinto remained unmoved.

He did not want to deal with this guy. He always felt that once he got involved with someone like this, his own intelligence would be assimilated downward.

After all, people like Naruto Uzumaki were best at dragging their opponents down to their own level of intelligence, then defeating them with their abundant experience.

Seeing that Rinto stood there like a block of wood without even glancing at him, Uchiha Ryota finally snapped.

"Brat, you brought this on yourself."

With that, he suddenly shoved Rinto hard from behind.

Caught off guard, Rinto staggered.

Seeing Rinto about to fall, delight flashed in Uchiha Ryota's eyes.

Hmph! Keep acting tough! Fall flat on your face and see if you can still put on that act!

Nakaryu Taiku had not expected Uchiha Ryota to be so bold that he would bully a classmate right in front of him.

Still, it would be good to teach Rinto a lesson, so he would stop talking about not wanting to attend practical combat class.

Among the crowd, the white-haired boy who had been lying on the ground had already climbed back up. Covered in dust, he silently prepared to step forward and help Rinto up.

Just as Rinto was about to fall, he suddenly stepped forward with his right foot.

Boom!

With a terrifying roar, Rinto's right foot slammed heavily into the ground.

The next second, a three-meter-wide depression filled with dense cracks appeared beneath his foot. Wind pressure and dust exploded violently in all directions around his right foot.

The crowd froze as if someone had pressed pause.

Standing behind Rinto with his arms crossed, Uchiha Ryota no longer looked smug. His expression had turned completely stiff, and sweat immediately poured down his forehead, mixing with the dust blowing into his face and making him look particularly ridiculous.

"M-Monster!"

At that moment, a chubby little kid among the children gathered in a circle pointed at Rinto and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Immediately, the sound of people swallowing rose one after another.

Among the crowd, a pretty girl with a high golden ponytail stared in shock at the ground beneath Rinto's feet, covered in fine cracks, and instinctively wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

Monster. This guy's strength was simply terrifying!

Even among the Senju Clan, renowned for their physiques, no one at Rinto's age possessed such monstrous strength.

It had to be said that he had clearly not gathered strength or charged forward. He had merely stepped out with his right foot on instinct!

Nakaryu Taiku, standing beside Rinto, was even more horrified.

The Ninja School's training field was not simply dirt ground.

The surface here was packed yellow earth!

This kind of extremely compacted ground was ideal for ninja combat. Forget second-years—even sixth-year students who had mastered quite a few ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques could not produce such a terrifying effect.

Nakaryu Taiku's heart pounded as he stared at the ground.

To put it bluntly, even his strongest ninjutsu would not have caused much more damage than this.

The white-haired boy closest to Rinto dropped onto his butt, his eyes wide as saucers, and blurted out, "S-so awesome!"

At that moment, Rinto slowly straightened up.

Seeing this, Nakaryu Taiku instantly appeared in front of the already terrified Uchiha Ryota.

If shoving and pushing could still be considered a children's quarrel, then Rinto's strike would not merely break bones or tear muscles.

If that monstrous strength landed on someone's body, there would be only one outcome: death!

The other two ninjas present reacted just as quickly. One flashed between Rinto and Ryota, while the other cautiously dragged the utterly terrified Uchiha Ryota backward.

Rinto silently stood upright, expressionlessly glanced at the ground in front of him, then abruptly turned around and looked at Nakaryu Taiku.

Nakaryu Taiku felt as though a ferocious beast had locked onto him. Cold sweat uncontrollably broke out across his back as he stared at Rinto with extreme vigilance.

Then Rinto's expressionless face suddenly twisted, forcing out an ugly, awkward smile.

"Teacher Taiku, um... I'm a blacksmith. It's normal for me to be a tiny bit stronger, right? More importantly, I-I don't have to pay compensation, do I?"

Everyone broke out in cold sweat and fell backward.

What the hell? At a time like this, this guy was still thinking about compensation!

I@#￥%...&

Monster! How was this guy's brain even built?!

Too scary! Mom, I want to go home!

For a moment, everyone was drenched in mental sweat.

Only the white-haired brat foolishly got to his feet and heartily patted Rinto on the shoulder.

Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats again.

"New kid, of course you don't need to pay! I saw it all. Uchiha Ryota was the one who pushed you. If anyone has to pay, it should be him."

Rinto's eyes immediately lit up. He threw an arm around the dirty white-haired brat's shoulders.

"Brother, you're absolutely right. Out of everyone here, you're the only one with any sense of justice!"

The white-haired brat burst into laughter and thumped his chest loudly.

"Of course!"

Rinto smiled too.

This guy had been beaten up so badly earlier without flying into a rage from humiliation. When he saw Rinto get shoved, he had even been the first to try and help him up. He was a warmhearted one.

"Good brother, what's your name?" Rinto asked.

"Ha ha! Watch closely."

As he spoke, the white-haired brat let go of Rinto, hopped back two steps, then stood on one foot and stretched out his right palm, striking an arrogant pose.

"Yo! I am the great Jiraiya!"