Konoha.
Ninja Academy.
Iruka held a list and read out the students' names one by one as they went through their final review of the Clone Technique.
"Uchiha Yao!"
Yao walked up to the front of the classroom. He didn't make a show of forming hand seals; he simply brought his hands together casually in front of his chest.
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke burst open.
A clone identical to Yao appeared, standing perfectly steady.
"Whoa!"
"Yo-kun is amazing!"
"He got it on the first try, and there's not a single flaw!"
Sakura, Ino, and the other girls in class cheered.
Their eyes sparkled, their faces full of admiration.
Iruka nodded in satisfaction and generously gave him a high score:
"Excellent! Ninety-five points! Everyone should learn from Yao!"
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
Iruka called the second name. The second Pillar stepped up to the front.
The amazing thing was—
The Uchiha Yao from just a moment ago looked exactly like Sasuke.
Their hairstyles, their faces... they looked as if they'd been carved from the same mold.
Everyone was used to it. No one thought it was strange.
After all, Uchiha Yao and Uchiha Sasuke were twin brothers, and the only two surviving members of the Uchiha clan!
But compared to the cheerful, sunny Yao, Sasuke was much colder.
He was like a block of ice, his face practically screaming, "Stay away."
Sasuke performed the Clone Technique with ease, and Iruka gave him ninety-five points too.
"Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Watch this!"
Naruto eagerly leaped up. His hands clumsily tangled together as he shouted, "Clone Technique!"
Poof!
A crooked, orange-colored lump slumped limply onto the floor.
The classroom fell silent for a second, then erupted in laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"What's that supposed to be?"
"Just like always. The dead-last is still the dead-last!"
"He can't even keep his clone together? He's hopeless!"
Naruto's face flushed red. He shouted back indignantly, "Damn it! I messed up this time! Let me try again!"
Iruka rubbed his forehead with a pained expression and said irritably, "That's enough, Naruto! Get down. Thirty-five points!"
"Damn it!"
Naruto trudged back to his seat, looking indignant.
Yao watched Naruto too.
That silly kid had an enormous amount of chakra inside him.
Yet, because of Kurama's interference, he couldn't even use the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques properly.
It had to be said—
He really was unlucky!
But...
Considering Kurama was such an incredible cheat, Naruto had gotten a pretty good deal.
Honestly, if Yao didn't have a cheat of his own, he'd rather be a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
After all, once he became a perfect Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and mastered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, he'd be a Super Kage Level powerhouse for sure!
The review continued, with one student after another stepping up.
The sweet Hinata, the boisterous Sakura, the lively Ino...
The Clone Technique review soon ended, and they moved on to sparring practice.
Iruka looked down at Yao and Inuzuka Kiba and called out:
"Inuzuka Kiba, Yao! Step forward!"
Kiba had been waiting impatiently. He sprang out excitedly with Akamaru.
"Hehe, Yao, I only lost to you last time because I let my guard down. This time... I won't go easy on you!"
Akamaru barked twice from atop his head, baring his little white teeth.
Yao looked at the fired-up Kiba, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
Plenty of people in class wanted to beat him, especially the boys—including his foolish little brother, Sasuke!
But so far, none of them had managed it.
Yao and Inuzuka Kiba walked to the center of the training ground and made the opposing hand seal.
"Yao, I'm definitely beating you today. You'd better get ready!"
Kiba grinned as he shouted.
"Is that so?"
Yao raised an eyebrow and smiled calmly. "Bring it on!"
"Yo-kun! Good luck!"
"Yo-kun is the best!"
"Wow! He's so handsome!"
"Yo-kun..."
Sakura, Ino, and the other girls immediately cheered Yao on.
Yo-kun was just so handsome, and he was cheerful and sunny too.
He was way better than that smug Sasuke, who always had a gloomy look on his face!
Naruto waved his arms and shouted his encouragement too. "Yao! Good luck! Show that jerk Kiba what you can do!"
Iruka raised his hand and shouted, "Begin!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, Kiba shot forward like an arrow, his fist cutting through the air as it flew straight at Yao.
"Eat this!"
Yao didn't dodge.
But just as Kiba's fist was about to land, Yao's figure blurred where he stood.
Smack!
A soft sound rang out. Kiba's sure-to-hit punch struck nothing but air.
"What?"
Kiba's pupils contracted. Before he could change his move, he felt an irresistible force against his waist.
Yao gave him an almost casual tap, then shoved him hard.
Kiba felt an enormous force hit him. He stumbled back five or six steps, nearly falling over.
"He's so fast!"
One student couldn't help exclaiming, "Did you see Yao's move?"
"N-no... It was like he just flickered... He's so fast!"
Sasuke stared fixedly at Yao, clenching his fists in secret. That jerk Yao seemed even faster than before.
Kiba shook out his tingling arm, his expression turning serious.
"Akamaru!"
"Woof, woof!"
Akamaru understood at once.
The boy and dog instantly split up, moving to attack from both sides.
"Beast Human Clone!"
Poof!
Another Kiba appeared behind Yao and to the side. Together with the original and Akamaru, they lunged from three directions at once.
Their claws cut through the air, leaving Yao no room to dodge.
Facing the three-pronged attack, Yao simply took a light breath.
His body seemed weightless as he made an astonishing movement within an extremely small space.
First, he leaned back slightly, avoiding a straight punch from the original Kiba.
At the same time, he shifted his feet, making the Beast Human Clone's kick miss.
Then, like a snake, he darted forward and precisely deflected Akamaru's bite.
It all happened in the blink of an eye, astonishingly fast.
To the watching students, Yao seemed almost like a ghost.
In an instant, he had effortlessly neutralized the attacks coming from all three directions!
"How is that possible?"
Kiba and his clone regrouped, disbelief written all over his face.
Even some of the teachers who specialized in taijutsu would have struggled to deal with his combination attack. How had Yao broken through it so easily?
After being thwarted again and again, Kiba was starting to feel embarrassed.
All the girls in class were watching. This was getting humiliating.
"Yao, you're asking for it! I'm getting serious this time!"
Kiba rapidly formed hand seals and shouted, "Akamaru!"
"Woof, woof!"
Akamaru leaped into the air, rapidly swelling and changing shape before merging with Kiba, who had finished forming his hand seals.
Poof!
A thick cloud of smoke burst open.
A giant beast with two snarling dog heads appeared in the center of the training ground, radiating a fierce aura.
It was the Inuzuka clan's secret ninjutsu: Two-Headed Wolf Beast Human Clone!
"Take this!"
"Fang Over Fang!"
The Two-Headed Wolf began to spin violently, turning into two sharp tornadoes that charged at Yao from the left and right.
The sight was terrifying, and the students watching instinctively backed away.
"Kiba's really going all out... That's pretty impressive!"
"Can Yao stop him?"
Ino and the others grew worried.
Facing this combined attack, enough to make an ordinary Genin despair, Yao's expression remained perfectly calm.
Just as the two Fang Over Fang attacks were about to hit him—
Yao moved.
His movement didn't look fast. He merely shifted slightly to the side.
He narrowly let the edge of the left tornado pass by, while his right hand casually reached behind him.
"Thud!"
A muffled sound rang out.
The fierce tornado on the right ground to a sudden halt.
Every student stared wide-eyed at the scene, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Yao's right hand was resting on one of the Two-Headed Wolf's heads.
With one light touch, he had completely neutralized its immense rotational force as casually as if it were nothing!
"How is that possible?"
Kiba's shocked exclamation came from inside the wolf's head.
He could feel all the force behind his spin vanishing as if it had disappeared into a sea of mud.
"Your power's decent, but your openings are obvious! You need more practice!"
Yao's voice was utterly calm, as if he were giving feedback during class.
Before the words had even left his mouth, he gave his wrist a slight flick, releasing a deft burst of force.
"Whimper—!"
Akamaru let out a plaintive yelp, and the fusion instantly broke apart.
Smoke burst outward. Kiba and Akamaru tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop.
The classroom fell utterly silent.
Before you continue