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After passing the graduation exam, Shiyu naturally received his Genin Forehead Protector.

Shiyu tied it around his forehead, conveniently covering some of the raised changes caused by his bloodline awakening.

"Wow! Brother Shiyu! You really became a ninja?!" Xiao Xing exclaimed excitedly.

"Isn't the Forehead Protector right there on my head? I wouldn't lie to you!" Shiyu said with a smile.

"Brother Shiyu! Let me treat you to ramen!" Before Shiyu could refuse, Xiao Xing immediately took his hand and led him toward the other end of the village. It wasn't long before they arrived at the entrance of a familiar noodle shop.

"Ichiraku Ramen?" Seeing a place so familiar from his previous life, Shiyu swallowed, then let Xiao Xing pull him inside.

A young man sat inside, seemingly with his eyes closed the whole time.

Looking at the spirited young man before him, Shiyu found it impossible to connect him with the slightly greasy Teuchi he knew from the future.

"Ayame! Uncle Teuchi!" Xiao Xing called out warmly.

"Wow! Big Sister Xiao Xing and Brother Shiyu are here!" The little girl called Ayame was incredibly cute. Though only a few years old, her face was already plump and rosy, and anyone would have found her adorable.

Shiyu and Xiao Xing weren't much older than Ayame, but because of their circumstances, they seemed far more mature. They often came by to play with her.

"Wow! You two haven't been here in ages! What would you like today?" Uncle Teuchi welcomed them.

"One deluxe Tonkotsu Ichiraku Ramen and one regular bowl of udon," Xiao Xing ordered.

"Actually, make mine a deluxe bowl of udon and a regular Tonkotsu Ichiraku Ramen," Shiyu said, declining her offer. He knew Xiao Xing wasn't well-off, yet she'd still upgraded his order, which touched him deeply.

"Wahaha! Don't worry about it! I'll make both bowls deluxe!" Uncle Teuchi clearly liked Xiao Xing, and soon brought out two steaming bowls of noodles.

"Thank you!" Xiao Xing said politely.

"Clap!"

"Let's eat!"

Just as Xiao Xing and Shiyu thought they could enjoy their meal in peace, an unwelcome guest came in from outside.

Shiyu watched with narrowed eyes, while Xiao Xing beside him jumped in alarm.

"You're Uchiha Wei. W-what do you want?!" Xiao Xing was clearly afraid of Uchiha Wei.

Wei acted even more arrogantly, raising the corners of his mouth in the classic, self-dooming villain's grin.

"Shigure! What great luck—you passed the exam?! I ought to congratulate you properly!" Uchiha Wei said with an ill-intentioned smirk.

Shiyu merely turned to ask, "Xiao Xing, did he take your necklace?"

"Y-yes," Xiao Xing said softly.

"What? Got a problem with that?" Uchiha Wei sneered. "If you want it back, come fight me! Meet me in the woods outside the village!" He then pulled out Xiao Xing's necklace.

"That's my necklace!" Xiao Xing said. "But, Brother Shiyu, be careful! We don't have to go!"

"Trust me, Xiao Xing." Shiyu said nothing more and followed Uchiha Wei outside.

They soon reached the woods outside Konoha.

Uchiha Wei turned around with a grin. "Uchiha Shigure, you fatherless, motherless loser! You actually dare defy me! So you got lucky and passed one little exam—now you're bold enough to make an enemy of me?!"

"Get him! Teach him a good lesson!" Uchiha Wei shouted. Five lackeys who had been lying in wait burst out of the thick bushes.

"Oh? You lured me here, so you must have planned to teach me a lesson all along?" Shiyu wasn't bothered by Uchiha Wei's contempt. In his eyes, these people were already on an entirely different level from him.

"White Rinnegan!" Shiyu activated his White Rinnegan, and the five lackeys immediately surrounded him.

"W-what are those eyes? What are you waiting for? Get him!" Uchiha Wei was startled by Shiyu's eyes and hurriedly urged them on.

The little thugs around him raised their fists and swung at Shiyu.

The Three-Tomoe White Rinnegan instantly saw through their attack patterns. Shiyu only shifted his body slightly, and all five little Uchiha lackeys missed.

"H-how is this possible?!" Uchiha Wei was stunned. When had Shiyu become so agile?

"You're so young, and you've got no real skill, yet you dare copy those lowlifes and act so brazenly?" Shiyu sneered.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" For the first time, Shiyu used the Shadow Clone Jutsu in earnest. Five Shadow Clones appeared around him in an instant.

The five clones immediately attacked the lackeys, punching and kicking them. In less than half a minute, Uchiha Wei's men were sprawled across the ground, groaning.

"Ah, it hurts so much."

"That kid hits way too hard."

"Help!"

Uchiha Wei stared at Shiyu through clenched teeth in disbelief, then glanced at his fallen lackeys and cursed, "Pathetic! You can't even beat his Shadow Clones! Get lost!"

The five lackeys struggled to their feet and scampered away in a panic.

"I can't believe you really learned the B-rank Shadow Clone Jutsu! How could you, a nobody like Uchiha Shigure, possibly—?!"

Uchiha Wei was furious, but then forced himself to calm down and said, "So the Shadow Clone Jutsu is your trump card, huh? Hahaha! I'll show you my ninjutsu today!"

Uchiha Wei began forming Hand Seals with exaggerated confidence.

"Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Uchiha Wei gathered a large amount of chakra in his throat, then let it fly in one powerful breath.

A wave of heat surged out, and a large fireball—not particularly bright—hurtled toward Shiyu.

"Bang!"

The five Shadow Clones were instantly engulfed in flames, turning into clouds of smoke and vanishing.

Shiyu hadn't expected Uchiha Wei to manage to perform the technique at all, and was startled.

But Shiyu wasn't afraid. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. With the Three-Tomoe White Rinnegan, he not only grasped the key to the technique with ease, but could also see that Uchiha Wei had performed it clumsily and with great difficulty.

Wei's chakra was nearly depleted, and he was already at the end of his rope.

Shiyu took a step back to put a little more distance between them, then said, "For a student at the Ninja Academy, mastering a C-rank Fire Style is pretty impressive! But... today I'll show you what a real Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu looks like!"