Mito Uzumaki

Jueming: "!"

Just as Jueming was spacing out, a woman's voice rang out in his mind.

"The Three Great Sage Lands... the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, finally..."

the woman said.

"When the time comes, the Destined person of my clan will arrive at the Ancestral Hall, and I shall guide him as his mentor, allowing him to lead the Senju Clan to rise again!"

The woman muttered in Jueming's mind for a moment before beginning to examine this descendant of hers.

"Senju Jueming, a good name... 'jueming' is a common medicinal herb with yellow flowers, capable of clearing the liver and improving eyesight. It possesses extraordinarily vigorous vitality among plant communities and often competes with other plants for nutrients. In some parts of the Ninja World, jueming is regarded as a weed that is difficult to eradicate... Hm?"

The woman's voice suddenly froze, and a moment later...

"His Chakra isn't strong enough, his stamina is weak, and his Chakra control is average... Why are you the Destined person? Other than being 'handsome,' you're utterly ordinary in every way. I've only been gone for six years... Has my Senju Clan already declined to this extent?"

She let out a long sigh and fell into a brief melancholy.

The next moment—

"Woman, are you talking to me?"

Jueming tried transmitting his thoughts to the woman through his mind, since that was usually how this sort of thing worked.

Seeing Jueming's tense face and cold expression, the woman could not help but freeze for a moment.

Then, she raised her voice. "What woman? I am your elder... Mito Uzumaki! You should address me as Lady Mito!!"

The one residing within Jueming's body was Mito Uzumaki.

The woman in the portrait Jueming had been staring at all along.

So what was this situation now?

As long as one was bold enough, even a female ghost...?

Jueming gave it a try and found that, for the time being, he could only communicate with the other party in his mind through thoughts.

Mito Uzumaki's figure stood within his Sea of Consciousness.

In person, she looked even more beautiful than in the photograph.

In this world without Photoshop or filters, she seemed so real.

"Everyone, keep up the good work...! In the new year, let our Senju Clan regain its glory!"

As Jueming pondered, the Great Elder's words pulled him back to reality.

"Yes!"

Jueming shouted together with the other clansmen, swearing before their ancestors that they would make the Senju great again.

Jueming realized...

The Great Elder and the others seem not to have seen this woman's soul fly into my body??

Throughout the rest of the worship ceremony,

everyone else appeared completely normal, confirming Jueming's suspicion that he was likely the only one who had seen Mito Uzumaki's soul.

Once the worship was over,

the Great Elder nodded in satisfaction.

He swept his gaze across the scene, his eyes landing on one youthful face after another.

"In one week, it will be time to register for the Ninja Academy. This old man has already prepared the list, but whether you can ultimately enroll will depend on your own performance."

Jueming was five years old this year.

He was exactly at the minimum age for admission to the Ninja Academy.

Studying at a professional institution was an unavoidable step toward becoming a ninja.

Before this,

Jueming had already learned to read and write and mastered the most basic Chakra Refinement, which counted as completing preschooler preparation.

Theoretically, all he had to do next was wait for the week to pass.

But Jueming clearly had other ideas.

After leaving the Ancestral Hall, Jueming walked with several young clansmen.

They passed through several streets.

Regarding applying for admission to the Ninja Academy... some were worried, while others were excited.

Just as the Great Elder had said, the Senju Clan was declining by the day and had become little more than a super-sized background prop.

And being a background prop often meant not even making a splash. They might be eliminated in the very first preliminary round of the Ninja Academy assessment.

The urgent matter was to continue improving their foundations so they could pass the Ninja Academy entrance test.

"Are you confident?"

"What about you?"

"Maybe... probably."

Watching his Peers seek confidence from one another despite clearly having none themselves,

Mito Uzumaki, residing within Jueming as an observer, took in the entire scene with perfect clarity.

"Sigh..."

She sighed.

Having only recently awakened from her long slumber, she had already learned of the Senju Clan's current state.

They truly had declined to the extreme.

"What the Senju Clan lacks isn't merely material strength. Even its spirit has begun to lose its inheritance..."

As Mito Uzumaki lamented,

Jueming tried to touch her, only to find that he could not do so for the moment.

The woman simply remained quietly within the consciousness space in his mind.

Then...

Jueming turned his attention to this "Grass Release System." How exactly was he supposed to use it?

[Everyone has a first time. Do one Nefarious Deed to activate the system.]

The system popped up a prompt.

"Nefarious Deed?"

Jueming looked at the system prompt.

Did that mean doing something bad?

So Jueming looked at several of his Peers.

Weren't there some ready-made targets right here?

Jueming quickly stepped forward and directly blocked their path.

"Trash like you, with no confidence at all, might as well hide your names and become Ordinary people so you don't disgrace the Senju Clan's name."

Jueming's words rang out.

Mito Uzumaki, who had been feeling melancholy, froze.

"This Kid..."

she thought.

"Though his aptitude is average, his temperament is unexpectedly good. At the very least... he's very confident."

But could confidence alone defeat others?

The answer was quickly displayed before her eyes.

"What did you say?!"

Jueming's words stirred the group's anger.

One of them walked straight up and met Jueming's gaze.

His name was Senju Takeshi. He sounded fierce just from his name.

He and Jueming were merely acquaintances who nodded to each other. Though they were clansmen, they were not particularly familiar.

"Senju Jueming, I challenge you to a duel!!"

Senju Takeshi assumed a stance, ready to spar on the spot.

"Weak."

Jueming's single word made him panic. He panicked.

"You...!"

Senju Takeshi threw a punch, launching the first attack before the eyes of the other Peers.

Yet in Jueming's eyes, there were ten ways to put him in his place.

Jueming raised an arm and knocked aside the other's fist from below.

Then he stepped forward and punched Senju Takeshi in the face.

Senju Takeshi only felt a sharp pain across his face.

Then Jueming's storm-like barrage of attacks rained down upon him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As they watched Jueming instantly knock down Senju Takeshi and straddle him while repeatedly beating him... the nearby kids were dumbfounded.

Only after a savage beating left Senju Takeshi's face covered in blood did Jueming stop.

"He has some skill."

Mito Uzumaki, who had watched everything, quietly praised him in her heart.

"His timing and control of strength are both precise. It seems he really has trained hard..."

Mito Uzumaki did not know what kind of person Jueming had been in his previous life.

For Jueming, the Liver God's grueling training... was merely routine, a basic ability he always had to max out.

Coming to this world had not made Jueming abandon training.

He had merely switched to a different training method.

His will and methods from past life-and-death struggles were still there.

Just as Mito Uzumaki was about to praise Jueming,

something happened that left her stunned.

Jueming began patting down Senju Takeshi's body.

In the end, he found more than a dozen coins and several lollipops on him.

Only after stuffing them all into his pockets did he stand up.

"..."

Mito Uzumaki froze, feeling utterly miserable.

What... what was this supposed to be?!

Meanwhile, having completed his Nefarious Deed, Jueming received the system's response as he wished.

[One Nefarious Deed completed. Mental Energy collected... Officially activating the "Grass Release System"!]

An indescribably profound sensation appeared in Jueming's mind.

A great amount of text streamed past his eyes, flooding his retinas like a waterfall...

Therefore, he failed to notice Mito Uzumaki's expression gradually turn cold.

Like the expression of a strict elder preparing to teach a child a lesson.

"Type-1 Lamp Array... Seal!"

Strange, scribble-like symbols immediately appeared beneath Mito Uzumaki's feet.

The symbols spread outward, filling Jueming's Mental Space.

At the same time, they affected Jueming's body...

After beating up his Peers, Jueming had just tried to move when he suddenly discovered that he could not.

Not only that, his body stalled as he rose.

With a thud, he fell straight onto the ground.