Cultivating Beloved Leeks, Starting with Seisui's Battle Against Rin Nohara

The black contact lenses Seisui wore weren't ordinary ones bought from the market—they were actually a special ninjutsu he'd developed.

He transformed Water Release chakra into a hydrogel through extremely fine shape manipulation, adhered it to his pupils to hide the physical traits of the Sharingan, and then used a small-scale Genjutsu to mask any leaking Dojutsu.

With this whole process in place, even a highly perceptive Jonin would struggle to instantly detect anything off, as long as they weren't too close to Seisui.

The talent of a Ninjutsu Master (Tobirama Senju edition) let Seisui freely create practical little techniques based on his imagination.

But there was always one person who was special.

Tobirama Senju inside Seisui narrowed his eyes at that moment and muttered to himself, "At least Double Tomoe-level Dojutsu, clever Sharingan Genjutsu techniques, and the ability to modify powerful ninjutsu..."

"What a troublesome brat."

Meanwhile, Iruka Umino, who had been locking eyes with Seisui, swept his gaze across the now-buzzing training ground and smiled in satisfaction.

"Alright then, the nerve-wracking draw begins."

Iruka rubbed his hands together, keeping the Ninja Academy students on edge, savoring their eager and tense expressions before slowly pulling out a white slip with a name on it. He read the bold "Kinosuke Fujitani" aloud, word by word:

"Seisui Uchiha is the first student to go today."

The moment "Uchiha" was heard, the atmosphere noticeably heated up, but the following "Seisui" drew a few sighs of disappointment.

The meaning of those sighs was obvious—everyone wanted to see geniuses clash fiercely on the stage. Hearing the Uchiha prefix, they'd assumed Shisui had been drawn.

As for Seisui's strength, his classmates were all pretty clear on it.

As an Uchiha who hadn't applied to graduate even at nearly twelve years old in this era, Seisui's fame was, in a way, on par with Konoha's current rising star, Kakashi Hatake.

Especially since he was also a descendant of Kagami Uchiha.

Seisui gave a faint smile, winked at Shisui, who was smirking, and walked slowly to the center of the stage.

Iruka frowned, glancing at Seisui with a hint of reluctance.

He had a good impression of Seisui. Though this student was a ninja of the Uchiha Clan, his talent was abysmally poor, but he was a polite kid.

It just went to show that even a prestigious clan could produce members without talent.

If not for the system's rules, Iruka wouldn't have wanted this student he liked to be humiliated in public, but as a Konoha ninja, he had to uphold the exam's regulations.

Shaking his head, Iruka pulled a second slip from the box and read the name "Genma Shiranui" aloud:

"Rin Nohara, please come up!"

Iruka's heart relaxed slightly. Rin Nohara was a talented ninja, but she was a gentle girl.

If it was her, Seisui Uchiha might not lose too badly... Iruka thought to himself.

"Great! Rin, it's you!" Obito shouted excitedly to Rin beside him. "Don't worry, Rin, with your strength, you can definitely beat that dead last!"

"No, not just that dead last—you can win against everyone else, then teach that jerk Kakashi a lesson and get the Third Hokage's attention!"

Obito's voice was loud, drawing the stares of the other Academy students.

Though some frowned at Obito, no one refuted him. In the general perception, Obito's outburst was low in emotional intelligence, but he was just bluntly stating the harsh truth.

Rin took a deep breath, shot Obito a stern look to signal him to shut up, then walked briskly to the stage and stood opposite Seisui.

Kakashi Hatake, who had been reading a book, finally put it down when he saw Rin step up, but upon seeing her opponent was Seisui, he scratched his head in boredom.

Seisui silently watched this scene, taking in everyone's reactions. He was quite pleased with Obito's response.

"Seisui, you brat, what childish game are you playing... letting these Academy students think you're a dead last..." Tobirama twitched the corner of his mouth, though he'd long known Seisui wasn't a normal Uchiha.

But since when did a Double Tomoe Uchiha with a series of ninjutsu and Genjutsu talents play the underdog in the Academy's beginner village?

Was his temper and patience a bit too good...

"Tobirama, why are you always in a rush..." Seisui sighed inwardly and lectured him with a scornful tone. "What's strength? The Will of Fire class, one period a day at the Academy—that's the real priceless treasure here."

"The first Academy principal himself, and you don't even have that awareness? How disappointing."

Tobirama's face darkened. For some reason, whenever Seisui brought up the Will of Fire, even he felt like it wasn't such a great thing...

Iruka nodded to Seisui and Rin, then turned to address everyone. "For today's exam, you may use lethal ninjutsu. Any ninja tools are allowed except Explosive Tags."

"Don't worry—aside from me, Jonin Kakashi is also watching. Go ahead boldly; if there's danger, we'll step in anytime."

"Now, Rin, Seisui, are you ready?" Iruka stepped back and said firmly, "First match of the practical exam, begin!"

"Watch out, Seisui!" Rin warned him first, then seriously formed hand signs: "Clone Technique!"

Three afterimages appeared around Rin, shifting positions as they all charged at Seisui together.

This was a common opening move for Academy students. Without enough Chakra or ninjutsu to back them up, they usually relied on taijutsu and throwing techniques.

The three afterimages mixed with the real body. As she ran, Rin pulled several shuriken from her tool pouch and hurled them forcefully toward Seisui's position.

"Not bad, precise throwing..." Iruka commented to Kakashi beside him.

Seisui, as if giving up resistance, took a few steps back, then stood still, smiling at Rin.

Rin pursed her lips, raised her kunai, and seeing Seisui seemingly cornered by the shuriken, she kept accelerating!

Just as she was about to close in on Seisui, Seisui formed a hand sign first, then slowly spread his arms.

Everyone was startled!

"Giving up..." Kakashi shook his head, lifting the short blade in his hand, ready to leave the arena.

Just as Rin Nohara was about to charge in front of Seisui, her vision suddenly went black. The kunai slipped from her hand, and she lost her balance, stumbling solidly into the embrace Seisui had long prepared...

The entire venue fell into dead silence.

No one knew what had just happened...