Naruto: Choosing from Birth

"Others might not do something like this, but Uchiha Cheng was another story. It wouldn't be normal if he didn't stir up some trouble every day." Inoichi Yamanaka frowned.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and take the other route. I'm exhausted already, and the others are about to catch up." Choza Akimichi stretched his bulky body.

"No, I think we should follow him. I'm afraid he did this on purpose for us to see, so we'd do the opposite. This flaw is way too obvious."

"Damn it, then why did you waste all this time talking to us? Hurry up! I want that top-ten reward."

"I was just telling you about the possible problems so we could all discuss them."

"Forget discussing it. Making me think is less useful than buying me food. Hizashi already followed him. If it's wrong, then at worst we'll all have gone the wrong way together."

"Fine..."

The classmates catching up from behind gradually followed those ahead of them by inertia, running toward the Lumberyard...

After Uchiha Cheng's Shadow Clone arrived at the Lumberyard first, it immediately used the Transformation Technique to become Ishibashi-sensei.

It then went inside and borrowed dozens of logging tools from the lumberjacks, including axes and saws. It told them to rest as much as they liked—the morning's logging would be handled by his students!

Sharp ones, dull ones, discarded ones, unsharpened ones—it borrowed every logging tool in one sweep.

By the time "Ishibashi" emerged carrying the tools, Hizashi Hyuga had arrived just in time.

"Come, Hizashi. Bring out all the logging tools inside too."

Seeing his teacher struggling to carry such a large pile of tools, Hizashi had no doubts. "Yes, sensei."

Once the students gradually arrived, "Ishibashi" selected ten relatively sharp axes from the tools as rewards for the first ten to arrive.

"Very good. Today, I'm giving you a task. Each boy will fell three trees and split them into firewood. Each girl will fell one tree."

"This is a form of potential-training. Only by relying on your willpower to move again when you are at your most exhausted can you deeply uncover your potential."

"Of course, as for the top ten, you've all seen the little surprise Sensei prepared for them. That's right—the sharpest logging tools."

"They'll save you time and effort. Students who finish the task first can have free time this afternoon!"

"Ishimura" distributed the logging tools with a stern expression.

"Um, Sensei, where is Uchiha Cheng? He was running ahead of us just now. Why can't we see him now?"

Shikaku Nara stepped out from the crowd and stared at "Ishibashi"-sensei as he asked.

"As the first-place finisher, he has already received my approval to have free time. If you want the same, then get first place next time."

"Any more questions? If you do, cut down two more trees first, then come ask me after you finish."

Shikaku Nara looked at "Ishimura"-sensei, who was no different from usual. Even his personality and strictness toward students had barely changed.

Then he glanced at Mikoto Uchiha, who had been with Uchiha Cheng, as well as his three lackeys, Big Bear, Bear Two, and Bear Three.

Although he still felt that something was off, he eventually decided he was overthinking it.

"No more, Sensei!"

Heh, trying to compete with me? You're still too young. "Ishibashi" smiled slightly.

"Then get to work!"

Thunk, thunk, thunk...

In an instant, led by several lumberjacks, all the students began chopping trees with all their strength.

"How... how am I supposed to chop with this? My axe hasn't even been sharpened. The edge is as thick as the back of the blade."

"Stop thinking so much and chop slowly. It's not like we're really chopping trees. This is training! If you want to become a ninja, you have to endure hardships ordinary people can't."

"You're holding a sharp axe. Of course it's easy for you to say that."

"I'm so jealous. If I'd known, I wouldn't have slacked off earlier. I could've sprinted for the top ten too."

"Damn, I'm exhausted, and now I have to chop trees? Wait, Sensei never said we couldn't use ninjutsu!"

"That's only if you know any. I only know two of the Three Basic Techniques."

"Heh heh, Ninja Art: Multi-Size Technique! Human Boulder!"

Damn Konoha noble clans...

PS: I said there would be another update, but I didn't expect all the revising and writing to take this long. Sob... It's late at night, and I have to get up early tomorrow. Good night, friends and bosses. *

Meanwhile, Uchiha Cheng's real body arrived at Shin River Reservoir.

What greeted his eyes were ten prepared barbecue grills. There was also a large tent beside them.

At that moment, Ishibashi-sensei was grilling a Big Silver Fish weighing at least twenty pounds on one of the grills.

Several seasonings for grilling had been placed beside it.

Wave after wave of fragrance wafted over.

"As expected, you were the first to arrive. Here, this grill and this fish are your reward. You can use them."

"The top ten all get grills. Everyone after that can obediently move rocks and make yourselves simple grills."

Ishibashi-sensei looked at Uchiha Cheng as he spoke.

"So this was the surprise after the marathon—outdoor camping. I like it!"

Uchiha Cheng took the grilled fish Ishimura-sensei handed him, drizzled a layer of golden vegetable oil over it, and placed it back on the grill.

"Of course. After running, you need to replenish your energy and fluids. You get to enjoy yourselves while training too. That way, you little rascals won't lose your enthusiasm for training."

"By the way, Sensei, after you blew the whistle, I didn't see you run up here. How did you suddenly get ahead of me?"

"Oh, that was just one of my Water Clones. It'll follow behind the last of you and protect you on the way here."

Uchiha Cheng thought of Minato Namikaze, who had been punished to run five laps around the school. Then your Water Clone probably won't get here for a while.

Still, Minato could turn misfortune into fortune and become the second to reach Shin River Reservoir.

"Hm? Where is everyone else? How did they fall so far behind you? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

Ishibashi looked toward the road they had come from in confusion. Not a single person could be seen on the winding gravel path.

"Oh, I forgot to tell Ishimura-sensei. Wasn't there a fork in the road ahead? I wanted to check out both sides, so I made a Shadow Clone."

"As a result, they followed my Shadow Clone and ran toward the Lumberyard. I couldn't stop them. I guess they thought the reservoir wasn't fun and wanted to experience life at the Lumberyard..."

"Nani? What are you up to again?"

"It's nothing. I'd only just learned to use Shadow Clones, so I wanted to test how effective they were."

"Besides! What does anything a Shadow Clone does have to do with me, Uchiha Cheng?"

Lumberyard!

After a brief rest, the ninja students began chopping trees with great enthusiasm.

Naturally, a few clever ones actually used ninjutsu! He could only blame himself for not reminding them.

Uchiha Cheng's Shadow Clone, "Ishibashi," paced around as it watched them one by one.

Once nearly everyone had felled their first tree—

"Ishibashi" walked over to the girls' group and shouted, "All girls, come with me. We're going to find ingredients and prepare lunch."

"As for the boys, if you want to eat, help split the tree each girl chopped down into firewood too."

"Yay! We finally don't have to chop trees and split firewood anymore."

"Ishibashi-sensei is the best!"

"It was fine until you mentioned it, but now my stomach really is a little hungry."

Then "Ishibashi" led more than twenty girls in a grand procession toward the path that led directly to Shin River Reservoir.

He had only learned about this path after specifically asking the lumberjacks.

Half an hour later...

"Something's wrong! That person just now wasn't the real Ishibashi-sensei!"

The boys, who had been happily splitting firewood while thinking about delicious food, looked over at the sound.

They saw Shikaku Nara standing on a tree stump, viciously throwing his logging axe to the ground.

"Do you all remember? Back at the school, Ishibashi-sensei clearly said our destination was Shin River Reservoir, but now we're here chopping trees."

"When we first arrived, we were tired from running. After seeing Ishibashi-sensei and asking two questions, we didn't think too much about it. We assumed there was a small Lumberyard like this before Shin River Reservoir."

"But just now, I specifically went deeper into the Lumberyard to take a look. There isn't any reservoir in this whole area. There isn't even a river."

"In other words, we came to the wrong place from the very beginning. This isn't Shin River Reservoir, and that person just now wasn't Ishibashi-sensei either. He was Uchiha Cheng, who arrived here first!"

Shikaku Nara said bitterly.

"Damn it, I thought it was strange too. The destination was clearly the reservoir, so why did we come to the Lumberyard? But seeing that none of you objected, I thought I'd misheard at school."

"Nani, I saw all of you eagerly taking axes, so I also thought I had misheard at first. And Ishimura-sensei was right here too."