Orochimaru's New Apprentice

The Ninja Academy training ground.

All the students of Class 1-A formed a large circle.

Naoto Yamanaka stood in the middle of the circle, holding a class roster and giving them a pep talk.

"This test is being held both because Lord Orochimaru is taking on apprentices and because it's a school assessment, so I hope everyone gives it their all. Understood?"

"Understood!"

Natsume and the others answered in unison.

"Good. That's the spirit."

Naoto Yamanaka opened the roster and said, "When I call your name, step out and fight. The winners will advance to the next round."

Natsume sat down cross-legged.

To be honest, the situation on the field could only be described in four words: two amateurs pecking at each other.

The graduation requirement for the Ninja Academy was mastering the Three Basic Ninjutsu.

It was easy to imagine how terrible the first-years were.

Natsume had already mastered five ninjutsu.

Aside from the Three Basic Ninjutsu, he also knew the Body Flicker Technique and Water Release: Water Wave.

He could completely point at them and say, Itachi Uchiha, stand up first. Everyone here is trash.

Natsume watched for a while and figured out the pattern.

The winners were basically all clan students.

There was nothing to be done about it. Civilian students were disadvantaged from birth and had no way to access more advanced ninja knowledge ahead of time.

Take Sakura Haruno, for example.

Her performance in the early story was nothing special. She called for Sasuke whenever nothing was happening and Naruto whenever something did, making her a complete burden.

But she was already one of the best among the civilian students, practically a top student.

The others were even worse.

"Natsume versus Kenji Kuzuryu."

Naoto Yamanaka glanced at the roster and called out.

Hearing his name, Natsume immediately stood up and leisurely walked into the circle.

"Go, Natsume!"

A group of girls cheered him on.

"Damn it! So what if you're good-looking?"

Kenji Kuzuryu said unwillingly, "I'll definitely defeat you!"

"Do you play Shogi?" Natsume asked.

"Wha... what?" Kenji Kuzuryu froze.

Come on, take this seriously!

I'm trash-talking you, and you're asking whether I play Shogi?

Could you show me a little respect?

"Do you play Shogi?"

Natsume repeated, then said, "I have a friend who also has the surname Kuzuryu. He's pretty good at Shogi and is known as the Dragon King."

"No!"

Kenji Kuzuryu said stiffly, "Trying to use connections now won't do you any good."

All right, then.

Natsume stopped wasting words.

Body Flicker Technique.

Chakra currents coiled around his legs, and he suddenly appeared in front of Kenji Kuzuryu. He kicked out, and Kenji had no time to react before landing in a dramatic sprawl.

"Natsume wins."

Seeing that Kenji Kuzuryu had been unable to get up for quite some time, Naoto Yamanaka immediately announced the result.

Itachi Uchiha nodded from not far away.

The Body Flicker Technique was decent.

But it was still far inferior to Big Brother Shisui.

"Itachi Uchiha versus Nekoyama."

Natsume sat down again and looked toward Itachi Uchiha.

Hmm, the three-second man.

He only saw Itachi Uchiha enter the field and then leave it.

Nekoyama lay unconscious on the training ground.

The movement had been so fast that most people had not seen it clearly.

Natsume estimated that Itachi Uchiha was already close to Chūnin level.

The fights continued one after another.

In the end, only two people remained in Class 1-A.

Natsume and Itachi Uchiha.

Naoto Yamanaka was not surprised.

The former was Tsunade's apprentice, while the latter was Fugaku Uchiha's son.

They could be considered blessed with exceptional advantages.

While their peers were still playing in the mud, they were already learning ninjutsu.

"You two will fight each other. The winner will represent our class in matches against the other classes, and the final ten will have a chance to become Lord Orochimaru's apprentices, so give it your all."

After encouraging them briefly, Naoto Yamanaka stepped off the field and left the stage to the two of them.

The raised platform beside the training ground.

"Lord Orochimaru, the one on the left is Itachi Uchiha."

Vice Principal Yoshiyuki Nara introduced him respectfully. "At school, he gets full marks in both theoretical and practical classes. He is the undisputed top student."

Orochimaru licked his lips.

He had not entirely believed Natsume's claim that Itachi Uchiha could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

But whether it was true or not, he had to personally assess Itachi's potential, so he had to take him on as an apprentice.

"What about the other one?" Orochimaru asked casually.

"Natsume, Lord Tsunade's apprentice," Yoshiyuki Nara replied.

Orochimaru showed a little interest and asked, "What Kekkei Genkai does he have?"

"None. His talent for Water Release is fairly good."

Yoshiyuki Nara's words immediately extinguished the interest that had just arisen in Orochimaru.

Not having a Kekkei Genkai made him completely useless in Orochimaru's eyes.

Besides, he was Tsunade's apprentice, so Orochimaru could not be bothered to interfere.

As the two spoke, the battle on the field had already begun.

Itachi Uchiha stood where he was and directly flung six shuriken.

Natsume retaliated without hesitation.

Clang, clang, clang.

The sound of shuriken colliding rang out.

But in the next moment, Itachi Uchiha slightly raised both hands. The six shuriken, which should have exhausted their momentum and fallen, suddenly spun back around before raining down like droplets.

Natsume's eyes narrowed.

Only then did he notice something resembling steel wire tied to Itachi Uchiha's fingers.

This was the Shuriken Manipulation Technique.

Even ordinary Genin could not use it.

Body Flicker Technique!

Natsume's body abruptly accelerated, taking him out of the shuriken's attack range.

However, Itachi Uchiha had anticipated this. As Natsume accelerated, the shuriken accelerated as well, turning into homing projectiles.

Water Release: Water Wave!

Natsume emerged from his movement, formed hand seals, and gathered Chakra in his mouth. Almost instantly, a stream of water burst forth.

The watching students suddenly cried out in astonishment.

At the Ninja Academy, anyone who could use one of the five elemental releases was the coolest person around.

Itachi Uchiha, however, remained completely calm. He severed his connection to the shuriken and formed hand seals in an instant.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

A huge fireball shot toward the stream of water.

Water Release should normally counter Fire Release.

But Itachi Uchiha's Chakra far exceeded Natsume's, and he instead used his elemental advantage in reverse, evaporating the stream of water.

"I surrender."

Natsume used the Body Flicker Technique again and appeared at the edge of the circle.

It was perfectly normal that he could not defeat Itachi Uchiha at his current level.

Besides, he could not use Wood Style either.

"Student Natsume has already performed exceptionally well."

Naoto Yamanaka said with a hearty smile, "Let's congratulate Student Itachi Uchiha. Next, he will participate in the following round of matches."

At the same time that Class 1-A determined its winner, the other classes did as well.

Because Orochimaru was taking on apprentices, all grades from first to sixth participated.

Under normal circumstances, the lower grades could not defeat the upper grades.

But Itachi Uchiha was a freak, and he won all the way to the end.

As evening approached, ten people were selected.

They stood on the raised platform, each gazing at Orochimaru with excitement.

Itachi Uchiha was the only exception. He remained relatively calm.

Shisui Uchiha had not told him that Orochimaru had attacked him, so Itachi still viewed Orochimaru favorably.

Itachi Uchiha felt that becoming his apprentice would not be bad. He would be able to study the Will of Fire more deeply.

As the apprentice of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Will of Fire should be quite impressive, right?

Orochimaru swept his gaze over the ten people before him, pointed twice rather casually, and said, "You two."

At the same time, Natsume received a reminder from the Sacred Ring of Destiny.

Because of your actions, Itachi Uchiha's destiny has changed. You have gained eighteen Destiny Points.

Because of your actions, Uzuki Yugao's destiny has changed. You have gained forty-nine Destiny Points.

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