Obito and Shisui

Ninja Academy.

It was not yet time for morning classes. The training field was already buzzing with noise, with quite a few boys of varying heights gathered there. At the center of the crowd, a brawl was underway.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

A boy formed hand seals and opened his mouth toward several people in front of him, startling them. In the end, though, he only spat out a tiny flicker of flame.

After a brief pause, the boys facing him burst into laughter.

"You call that ninjutsu?!"

"Get him! Beat him up!"

"...Damn it, take this!"

Around seven or eight boys were tangled in the melee. They seemed to be lower-grade students who barely knew any ninjutsu and were simply trading blows. Two of them, who looked a little older, fought with some semblance of skill, even using the Clone Technique and a few other ninjutsu.

Some in the surrounding crowd shouted encouragement, while others eagerly stirred up trouble. The scene was utterly chaotic. Since it was still early, no chūnin instructors had come to stop them.

"What are you looking at?"

Feng Ye appeared not far from the training field. After glancing at the commotion, he walked a few steps closer and patted a figure standing at the edge of the crowd on the shoulder.

Kurenai Yuhi jumped, then immediately relaxed when she turned and saw Feng Ye. "Morning, Feng Ye."

"Morning."

Feng Ye smiled gently. "Come on, let's go to class."

He had no interest in watching children fight.

Kurenai Yuhi glanced toward the center of the brawl and hesitated. "Um..."

"Hm?"

Feng Ye looked at her.

Kurenai Yuhi said helplessly, "Yo is over there. I think he's getting beaten up."

"Yo?"

Feng Ye asked curiously.

Kurenai Yuhi pointed at one of the boys fighting in the crowd. "There, that's him. His name is Yuhi Yo. He's my cousin from my uncle's family..."

Never heard of him.

Feng Ye shrugged. He had no interest in a character he did not remember at all, someone who did not even qualify as a background extra. "It's perfectly normal for boys to fight. You're a girl, so don't get involved. Besides, the chūnin instructors must be watching from somewhere. There's nothing to worry about."

"But..."

Kurenai Yuhi looked conflicted. It seemed wrong to ignore it, but she did not really have any reason to interfere either.

Seeing how torn she was, Feng Ye curled his lip and stepped forward. He quickly formed a hand seal, then lightly pressed a hand against the ground.

"Earth Release: Earthquake Technique!"

"...Huh?!"

Kurenai Yuhi was initially startled by Feng Ye's actions. Then she felt the ground beneath her feet begin to shake. Fortunately, she had been prepared and did not fall.

The crowd gathered on the training field, however, instantly staggered in every direction. The boys in the brawl were also shaken apart by the sudden tremor.

"Feng Ye, you..."

Kurenai Yuhi steadied herself, but before she could finish speaking, Feng Ye had already raised a finger to his lips and made a quiet gesture. Smiling, he whispered, "There. They probably can't keep fighting now. Let's go."

The many students who had been thrown into disarray had no idea what had happened. Thinking an earthquake had struck, they panicked, and the earlier brawl came to a complete stop.

But not every student was confused.

One student within the crowd frowned in Feng Ye's direction. He had clearly noticed that the tremor just now had been caused by Feng Ye's ninjutsu.

"What a reckless thing to do..."

The boy shook his head.

He looked even younger than Kakashi and wore clothing bearing the emblem of the Uchiha Clan. Though he was inconspicuous among the crowd, his name was widely known.

Shisui Uchiha!

Unlike Obito Uchiha, Shisui was a genius who was almost no less gifted than Itachi Uchiha. Before awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, he had already made a formidable name for himself on the Kirigakure battlefield. After awakening it, he gained Kotoamatsukami, the Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu known as the strongest!

Shisui and Kurenai Yuhi were not the only ones who noticed Feng Ye had used the Earth Release: Earthquake Technique. Rin Nohara, who was also on the training field and had been watching Feng Ye from the start, noticed as well.

"...Feng Ye, that was way too reckless."

Rin walked over from nearby and grumbled at Feng Ye. "But you're amazing, Feng Ye. The Earthquake Technique is a C-rank Earth Release ninjutsu, right?"

Feng Ye had not noticed Rin was there. He made a quiet gesture toward her and smiled. "I copied it from Kakashi. Just a little trick."

Shisui Uchiha watched the scene, curled his lip, and decided not to say anything. He turned to leave, but after taking only a few steps, he stopped again.

Not far away.

A boy dressed like him in Uchiha Clan clothing and wearing goggles stood in front of Feng Ye. He raised a fist at Feng Ye and said:

"Hey! Feng Ye, let's settle this in a fight!"

The one challenging Feng Ye was Obito Uchiha.

For once, he had not run into any mishaps on the way to school. He had arrived early and was not late. But when he reached the training field, the first thing he saw was Feng Ye and Rin chatting and laughing together. His mentality instantly exploded.

The training field also seemed to be in the mood for fighting, so Obito Uchiha angrily clenched his fists and came over.

"Boring."

Feng Ye glanced at Obito.

He truly had no interest in Obito before his descent into darkness. Besides, Obito before that was a kindhearted, sunny boy, and Feng Ye had no intention of bullying a child.

"Damn it... Don't you walk away!!"

But seeing Feng Ye refuse to fight only made Obito more unable to restrain himself. He leaped directly in front of Feng Ye.

Whoosh!

Obito attacked with crude movements.

Feng Ye sighed, sidestepped Obito's attack, grabbed his shoulder, and gave a light pull. Obito immediately lost his balance, spun once through the air, and tumbled backward in an embarrassing heap.

Seeing that, Rin covered her forehead.

Kurenai Yuhi was also speechless for a moment.

"Is Obito really from the Uchiha Clan? The Uchiha name seems a little undeserved..."

Whenever the adults mentioned the Uchiha Clan, they always spoke of it with reverence for a prestigious family. Nearly every member of the Uchiha Clan was a genius and among the best in their class, but the gap between that image and Obito was simply too great.

Yet just as Kurenai Yuhi finished speaking, a voice came from the side.

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that."

Shisui Uchiha had somehow walked close by. He looked at Kurenai Yuhi and spoke calmly.

Obito was from the same Uchiha Clan as him, though their relationship was too distant for Shisui to care much about him. But when the Uchiha Clan itself was brought up, he could not simply ignore it.

"You're..."

Kurenai Yuhi stared at Shisui in slight surprise. "Shisui Uchiha?!"

The name Shisui Uchiha was extremely well known within the Ninja Academy. He ranked first among his peers in every subject and had even defeated a genin not long ago!

With that level of ability, he could undoubtedly graduate early. In the eyes of many, Shisui was the only genius among this generation of students whose talent came close to Kakashi's!