Shushi: As a medical ninja, it's reasonable for me to know a few genjutsu, right?

Asuma stepped forward self-consciously, rubbing his fists together and saying, "You punk, are you looking for a beating?"

Hearing Asuma's words, everyone in the classroom chuckled. They were already annoyed, and this bastard had just walked right into their trap.

Seeing the smiles on the first-years' faces grow more ferocious, Shūnen quickly stopped them. "Wait, I'm not here to fight you guys."

With that, he turned his gaze to Soseki. "Shimizu Soseki, control your lackeys!"

"Your attempt at provocation isn't very clever," Soseki said, spreading his hands. "There are no lackeys here, only my companions."

"Of course, the world is what you make of it, so people like you wouldn't understand the meaning of companions!"

The people in Soseki's class weren't so easily swayed, but they were still a bit annoyed. After hearing Soseki's words, they all retorted with arrogant sarcasm.

"Yeah, what happened to your 'companions' from before?"

"I bet your 'companions' all abandoned you!"

Shūnen felt a surge of frustration, but he couldn't refute them.

Because when he'd mentioned wanting to reclaim the Uchiha's honor, his "companions" had either claimed a family member's wedding prevented them from attending, or that toilet paper was on sale and they needed to go stock up.

Did they really think he was an idiot? If they were going to lie, they should at least come up with a better excuse!

Seeing Shūnen speechless, Asuma's eyes lit up. He taunted in an extremely irritating tone, "Did we hit a nerve? Tsk tsk, you're a pretty big failure as a person!"

Shūnen waved his hand in embarrassment and anger. "You, just stop talking. I'm not here for you today."

With that, he widened his eyes, trying to look imposing as he glared at Soseki. "You get up where you fall down, so the honor I lost at your hands, I will reclaim myself!"

Soseki blinked. Even he was a little unsure of the other's intentions for a moment.

What else can you say? People with mental issues have broad thinking.

Thinking this, Soseki spread his hands helplessly. "Alright, then how are you going to reclaim your honor?"

"I will defeat... in front of everyone..." Shūnen shouted with a fierce gaze, but before he could finish, he was met with a collective glare from the people behind Soseki, his imposing aura instantly deflating into that of a wilted fish. "...have a friendly exchange with you."

Asuma scoffed from the side, "You said you weren't here to fight us!"

Shūnen's mouth twitched. Of course, he wasn't here to fight "you guys." Fighting one against sixty-nine? Who could handle that!

Soseki smiled slightly. "You're a third-year fighting a first-year. That doesn't seem very fair."

Shūnen looked troubled. Although Shimizu Soseki hadn't participated last time because he was treating that Mizuki, judging by the battle on the first day of school and Asuma Sarutobi's strength shown in the previous brawl, it wasn't hard to infer that the opponent's strength was definitely not weak.

He was confident in a full-power fight, but if he had to hold back, he wasn't so sure.

"Then, then I won't use the Three Basic Ninjutsu. Would that be acceptable?"

"That's not necessary." Soseki cupped his hands, resting them on the table. "As long as I win, you just have to agree to one condition."

Shūnen asked warily, "What condition? Let me say first, I won't be your subordinate."

In his mind, this despicable guy must be trying to recruit him as a subordinate.

"Of course not." Soseki smiled helplessly, then said with a serious expression, "I just hope that if you lose, you'll apologize to Mizuki, and also apologize to the classmates you've bullied before!"

Hearing the condition Soseki proposed, the admiration in the surrounding classmates' eyes grew even stronger, and their gazes towards Shūnen were filled with disdain.

Compared to this person from the Uchiha Clan, their Class Leader was truly magnificent!

Shūnen opened his mouth. He had never expected the other party to use this as a condition. This was someone who had little to do with him, even a stranger he'd never known. Why would he go this far for those people!

This was a golden opportunity to recruit him, a genius of the Uchiha Clan!

Even as an opponent, Shūnen instinctively felt a sense of respect.

"Okay, I agree!"

"Good, then let's go outside now."

Soseki didn't reject the idea of a fight. His refusal of the previous "one-on-one" proposals was actually more about strengthening class cohesion.

As for now, displaying a bit of strength was also a necessary means of strengthening leadership.

Of course, this decision was also made based on his understanding of the opponent's strength from the previous day's brawl.

Meanwhile.

"Won't Soseki-kun be in danger?" Shizune asked, clasping her hands worriedly.

"It's a bit troublesome. That bastard's strength isn't weaker than mine!" Asuma's expression was grave.

"Oh, oh, then I can rest easy." Shizune patted her chest with relief.

Asuma suddenly turned back, a look of confusion on his face. He felt offended.

For energetic children who crave external validation, it's not uncommon for many to learn one or two ninjutsu and then show off to the entire school.

But this battle was different. One was a rising star who had stirred up a storm as soon as they entered school, and the other was a ferocious bully who struck fear into students of all grades. Therefore, many people were quite interested.

Before Soseki and the other could even reach the training ground, the railings on each floor of the teaching buildings were already crowded with people.

"Has Uchiha Shūnen lost his mind? He still dares to bother the first-years."

"Who knows? Anyway, people from the Uchiha Clan aren't quite right in the head."

"Exactly, that jerk even stole my lollipop before! First-years have to beat him!"

Uchiha Shūnen was unaware of the opinions the people above had of him, or rather, he wouldn't have cared even if he did know.

After forming the "Seal of Opposition," Shūnen immediately grabbed a handful of shuriken from the tool pouch at his waist and threw them at Soseki.

"Shuriken Throwing Technique? If you had watched the fight two months ago, you would know that this happens to be my specialty as well!" Soseki held a kunai and easily deflected all the shuriken that came from every direction.

"If you have nothing else... wait, what is this!" Soseki exclaimed, horrified to discover that a shuriken was hidden within the shadow of the last shuriken he had blocked.

Without time to think too much, Soseki quickly dodged to the side.

"Heh, this is the Shadow Shuriken Technique, hiding a second shuriken in a blind spot! To dodge even this, you are indeed quite skilled. It's a shame that any mistake when fighting an Uchiha means failure!"

Shūnen sneered coldly, as if he had foreseen the future, appearing in the direction Soseki dodged. He knocked Soseki away and then stomped on him, "Is this all the so-called 'strongest newcomer' is capable of? You are nothing before the name of Uchiha!"

Soseki couldn't help but cry tears of blood, "I am too weak, Lord Shūnen, please take me as your subordinate!"

Shūnen threw his head back and laughed maniacally, "Hahahahaha..."

"What's that idiot laughing about?"

"I don't know, maybe the shock was too much, and he's gone mad!"

The annoying voices faintly reaching his ears, coupled with a chill at his neck, jolted Shūnen awake.

Then, he saw Shimizu Soseki, who should have been under his foot, holding a kunai and stabbing at his neck.

"That was... Genjutsu?" Shūnen was stunned at first, then realized, and looked at Soseki with grief and indignation, "Why... why would you, a Medical Ninja, use Genjutsu?"

Soseki said matter-of-factly, "As a Medical Ninja, it's reasonable for me to learn some Genjutsu to make patients forget their pain, right?"

Thanks to Bai Jiūshisān Yōu for the 100 reward, and Shàng Shàn Yú for the 100 reward. Uh, I suddenly remembered that I got two recommendations this week, so please help vote for recommendation tickets. It would be awkward if the recommendations were cut off due to poor performance, haha. I'm quite forgetful to only remember this on Wednesday (.`ω).