On the other side of the training ground, Kurenai looked at Asuma strangely. "You said that guy wasn't weaker than you, and yet Soseki took him down instantly... So Soseki had been going easy on you whenever you sparred, right?"
Asuma looked embarrassed and annoyed as he argued, "How was I supposed to know that idiot wouldn't guard against Soseki's Genjutsu at all?!"
Shizune timidly added, "But Soseki-kun is a Medical Ninja. Isn't it normal for his opponent not to be wary of Genjutsu?"
Asuma and Kurenai exchanged a glance and laughed awkwardly. "Haha, isn't being wary of a Medical Ninja's Genjutsu common sense?"
The people waiting upstairs in the school building to watch the show were all speechless. Was this guy really not here just to be a joke?
"What a letdown. It's already over?"
"Were they putting on an act for us?"
"He's from the Uchiha Clan, yet a regular person took him down with Genjutsu."
"Yeah, he couldn't even beat a regular person... Wait, you call that a regular person?"
Several third year delinquents mixed into the crowd wore expressions of relief mingled with lingering fear.
"Good thing we didn't follow Boss Shūnen into doing something stupid. That first-year brat is a monster among monsters!"
"Yeah! Boss Shūnen was obviously so strong, but one Genjutsu took him down instantly!"
"You're still calling him boss? I say we should cut ties with that idiot who only ever gets us into trouble as soon as possible."
"Mm-hm, that makes sense."
In the field, Soseki put away his kunai and smiled as he spoke in a gentle, soothing tone. "Shūnen, don't forget your promise. Go back to class. You'll be late if you wait any longer."
"Go back... to class..." Seeing Soseki's unconcerned expression, as though he had not taken this battle to heart at all, combined with the unceasing mockery from all around him, Shūnen's eyes suddenly clouded with a bloody haze.
"You bastard, don't look down on me!"
"A Single Tomoe? Though it's only in his right eye, that's still quite an impressive achievement!" Seeing the single tomoe spinning in Shūnen's scarlet pupil, Soseki was genuinely surprised.
Other than certain unreasonable geniuses, awakening the Sharingan at the age of eight, even in just one eye, absolutely qualified someone as a genius.
After all, Second Pillar, whose talent many believed even surpassed Itachi's, had only awakened a Single Tomoe in fury after the entire clan was slaughtered.
Sure enough, the more severe the illness, the better the talent... Soseki mused to himself before chuckling softly. "Shūnen, is there anything else?"
Seeing how relaxed and composed Soseki was, Shūnen finally realized that he seemed to have already lost.
Even if his strength had now broken through, the other party had no reason to fight him again.
This was unbearable!
Shūnen wore a stifled, gloomy expression when the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of the underlings who had claimed they were going to the mall to buy discounted toilet paper, only to mingle in the crowd and watch him make a fool of himself. Amid his anger, an idea flashed through his mind.
"Shimizu Soseki, I'll keep our agreement and apologize to your classmate, as well as the students I bullied before. But do you want to raise the stakes?"
Soseki hesitated for a moment, then asked as if he had made up his mind, "How do you want to raise them?"
This guy is so easy to fool. He clearly saw that I awakened the Sharingan, but after a little provocation, he still took the bait. Shūnen secretly sneered, inexplicably feeling intellectually superior.
"Let's fight again. As long as you win..." As Shūnen spoke, he suddenly gritted his teeth. "No, whether I win or lose this round, I'll drag those 'companions' of mine to apologize to your classmate and everyone we bullied before."
Only after hearing their conversation did the spectators truly understand why Soseki was fighting.
"Wow! This first-year is actually helping us get justice!"
"That's so touching. He doesn't even know us."
"I don't care anymore! I'm going to fail my classes, repeat a year, and wait to join them!"
For a time, nearly everyone developed a favorable impression of this first-year "little sun."
As for the few delinquents hiding in the crowd to watch the show, they were furious enough to spit blood. That idiot boss had sold them out just like that!
After thinking for a moment, Soseki nodded seriously. "Since it's for everyone, I suppose I can only skip class once!"
Shūnen nearly exploded on the spot. He had thought the other party was worried about losing too badly, but he was actually agonizing over something so trivial. At that thought, Shūnen nearly roared right in Soseki's face, "I awakened the Sharingan! Can you show me a little respect?"
But remembering his image as a cold and aloof powerhouse, he suppressed his anger and said, "You'd better get ready. Here I come!"
As he spoke, he slipped his right hand into the tool pouch at his waist.
For some reason, though, at that instant, he inexplicably recalled the scene he had seen in the Genjutsu. His right hand inside the pouch subconsciously reached for shuriken.
Whoosh—Shadow Shuriken Technique!
Facing the shuriken raining down like falling blossoms, Soseki calmly threw every shuriken he had already prepared in his hand, knocking down each of Shūnen's shuriken with astonishing precision.
"He knocked down my shuriken using only shuriken? Even with the Sharingan, I can't achieve that kind of unbelievably precise control!" Shūnen could not help widening his eyes. Of course, he knew how difficult such a feat was. "But the ones I hid in his blind spots..."
Clang—the final shuriken fell to the ground as well.
Seeing this, Shūnen's eyes went blank. "Hehe, a dream really is just a dream."
At that moment, the sound of something slicing through the air suddenly rang out beside his ears.
"Oh no, I forgot about his Chakra Threads!" Shūnen instinctively dodged to the left, then hurriedly drew a kunai from his tool pouch to block during the gap as the shuriken curved back through the air.
"Wait, this speed..." The tomoe in Shūnen's right eye spun rapidly. As his arm moved, he surprisingly deflected Soseki's entire wave of attacks with ease.
"It's too slow—no, my Sharingan slowed it down!" Shūnen was ecstatic. So this was the true foundation that allowed the Uchiha to become renowned throughout the Shinobi World?
The crowd, which had just been shocked by Soseki's incomparably precise shuriken technique, had their understanding overturned once again by Shūnen.
"Amazing! Is this the Sharingan?"
"He was instantly defeated by Shimizu Soseki's Genjutsu just moments ago, but after awakening the Sharingan, he can actually suppress him instead!"
"That's practically cheating!"
"It can't be helped. That's the foundation of the prestigious Uchiha Clan!"
Before you continue