"Seriously, we barely played for fifteen minutes before they called us back. They clearly said we'd get to play for half an hour."
The black-haired little loli, Yuhi Kurenai, puffed out her cheeks and grumbled. Then she tugged at Uchiha Mai's arm twice and pleaded coquettishly, "Big Brother Mai, could you dance another routine after school, pretty please~"
"Next time, definitely. Next time, definitely."
Uchiha Mai gave an extremely perfunctory reply and smoothly pulled his arm free. Cover it up. I'm not interested in lolis. Come back in ten years.
The other little brats watching, seeing that Uchiha Mai had stopped dancing, all sighed in disappointment and lined up in front of Murakami Keining.
Uchiha Mai was older than the others, so he stood at the very end of the line, deep in thought.
It had already been over four years since he transmigrated into the Naruto world. Over the years, Uchiha Mai had clearly felt the increasingly tense atmosphere in Konoha.
Take the Ninja Academy, for example. When he had first enrolled a few years ago, the curriculum from first to sixth grade hadn't been too demanding. Aside from theory and practical exercises, they had still gotten half a day of rest every week.
As time passed, even that half-day had gradually been reduced. This time, they had only gotten a little over ten minutes.
The flames of war were about to ignite.
Once the class had assembled, Murakami Keining held the roster, called the roll, and then said, "Everyone seems to have had a good time.
"Because of special circumstances, today's lesson will be changed slightly. We'll be temporarily adding a match to assess your abilities.
"You may freely choose your opponent. If the challenged student is in a higher grade than the challenger, they cannot refuse, though they may surrender."
The moment Murakami Keining finished speaking, Sarutobi Asuma, who had disliked Uchiha Mai for a long time, immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Teacher, I want to challenge Uchiha Mai!"
Asuma's dislike of Uchiha Mai had long since ceased to be a one-day affair.
Because his father was the Third, Asuma received considerable favoritism from the teachers at school. A group of little brats had gathered around him as well, giving him the air of a School Dragon Gang or Evil Wolf Group. It was extremely chuunibyou.
The fearless sixth-grade boss of the Ninja Academy.jpg
Most people in the Ninja World matured early. They fell in love early and married early. Before he had even enrolled, Asuma had already taken a liking to the little loli from the Yuhi family, Yuhi Kurenai.
A piece of candy today, a hair clip tomorrow—the two of them had originally been getting along quite well. But from the day they entered the Ninja Academy, everything changed...
In this tiny Ninja Academy, there were actually two hidden Wolong and Fengchu—referring to their looks. Most of the girls at the academy became fans of the two of them.
Little girls being obsessed with looks was perfectly normal.
A year later, Fengchu Kakashi graduated, but the most handsome Wolong, Uchiha Mai, remained.
Things had been fine at first. Like young Uchiha Sasuke in Shippuden, Uchiha Mai had taken the path of the aloof, melancholic pretty boy. He treated everyone with indifference, charmed countless girls, but wasn't especially aggressive about it.
Every day, Sarutobi Asuma told himself: Don't worry. Kurenai is still young and doesn't know any better. It's normal for her to like a pretty boy like Uchiha Mai.
Once she grows up, Kurenai will realize who likes her most and who is best suited for her.
Sarutobi Asuma considered himself the boss of the Ninja Academy and felt he ought to be magnanimous, so he had never gone looking for trouble with Uchiha Mai.
But several months ago, everything suddenly changed. Uchiha Mai's aloof pretty-boy act remained, but his aggressiveness increased, and he became much better at putting on a show.
Today, he sat on a tree branch with one hand propping up his chin, pretending to be melancholy. Tomorrow, he sat by the river with his back to the setting sun, playing the harmonica. The day after that, he sang, danced, rapped, and played basketball on the school field... except there was no basketball.
Combined with that handsome face that charmed both young and old, who could withstand it?
Damn it, why isn't someone this handsome me?
Watching Yuhi Kurenai sink deeper and deeper, Asuma felt as if his heart were being cut by a knife. My Kurenai, how could you fall for a pretty boy like this?
Sarutobi Asuma's anger welled up from his heart. He raised a hand and pointed at Uchiha Mai, taunting him. "Sissy, if you've got the guts, don't refuse my challenge.
"Today, I'll expose your true face and let everyone know that you're nothing but a useless pretty face."
"Good!"
"Asuma, you rock!"
The male brats on the field all applauded and cheered. They wished they could replace Asuma and take the field themselves, beating Uchiha Mai's face to a pulp.
He really was the enemy of all men.
Among the entire school, the only people on fairly good terms with Uchiha Mai were Might Guy, whose head was filled with nothing but muscle, and his fellow Uchiha, Obito Uchiha.
Obito's crush, Rin Nohara, liked Kakashi, so Obito didn't dislike Uchiha Mai.
"Sigh."
Uchiha Mai sighed. The children of the Ninja World really do mature early. They can even put on a melodramatic rivalry over a woman in elementary school. Honestly, who does that?
"I don't think there's anything sissy about me," Uchiha Mai said.
Uchiha Mai's handsomeness was the kind possessed by peak Bai-skinned Louis Koo, Takeshi Kaneshiro, or Brigitte Lin: sharp brows, bright eyes, and distinct features. His face was fair, but he had nothing feminine about him.
"Your name is sissy," Asuma continued to provoke him.
Uchiha Mai: "..."
Ah, well... I can't refute that. The character "Mai" is indeed used more often by women.
"You don't understand the Uchiha," Uchiha Mai could only say vaguely.
Do you have any idea how much weight this name carries? Just this one name already puts us ahead of most members of the Uchiha clan.
"Enough nonsense. Do you dare accept my challenge?"
Sarutobi Asuma pressed him relentlessly. "The two of us will fight one-on-one. If I win, you're not allowed to speak to Kurenai anymore.
"If you win, I'll call you Grandpa in front of everyone."
Beauty belongs only to the strong.jpg
In the office, Sarutobi Hiruzen's wrist trembled. He wanted nothing more than to rush out and give Asuma two hard slaps. What the hell? This little brat is throwing his own father under the bus!
If you call him Grandpa, what am I supposed to call him?
Yuhi Kurenai's cheeks flushed red. She covered her face with both hands, utterly bashful. One was the boss of the Ninja Academy, and the other was the academy's heartthrob—and they were actually fighting over her...
Wasn't this exactly the kind of clichéd scene found in trashy romance novels?
Stop fighting! Don't fight over me anymore!.jpg
The corner of Uchiha Mai's mouth twitched slightly. Can I possibly agree to these terms? If word reaches the Third's ears, won't he kill me on the spot?
Besides, my surname is Uchiha.
"Change the terms," Uchiha Mai said. "If I win, you'll be my sparring partner for a month."
"Deal."
Asuma agreed immediately. A sparring partner? Isn't that just being his underling? No problem.
Seeing that the two had finally settled the terms, Murakami Keining nodded slightly. I knew someone would challenge Uchiha Mai. Being the enemy of all men isn't a joke.
As the Hokage's biological son, Asuma already possessed Genin-level strength. He wasn't weak, so he was just right for testing Uchiha Mai's abilities.
The rest depended on how much substance this Uchiha, Uchiha Mai, actually had. Murakami Keining was still confident about that.
Even the weakest Uchiha was still an Uchiha. Uchiha Mai's grades in every subject had consistently been above average. He should be able to hold his own against Asuma for quite some time.
Add in that absurdly handsome face and a little exaggerated praise from himself, and they would have a late-blooming, not-obviously-talented genius—a young prodigy.
The children spread out and formed a circle. They split into two clearly defined factions, almost along gender lines: the boys supported Asuma, while the girls supported Uchiha Mai.
Obito hesitated, then pulled Guy over to the girls' side and stood beside Rin Nohara.
Uchiha Mai narrowed his eyes slightly. Finally, he could test whether the cheat he had obtained several months ago was any good.
After transmigrating into the body of an Uchiha clan member, Uchiha Mai had felt both excited and uneasy. Being an Uchiha was great—the Ninja World's foremost Kekkei Genkai clan, with high rewards and high risks.
Who could have guessed that after muddling along in Konoha for several years, Uchiha Mai would discover that this body's talents were mediocre in every respect? At best, he would become a Jonin in the future.
A Jonin? Wasn't that just a weak cannon-fodder character? Bah, even a dog wouldn't want to be one.
What was more, becoming a Jonin was the most optimistic outcome. He had transmigrated to several years before the Third Shinobi World War, and whether he could even survive to adulthood was still unknown.
This was a war that would engulf the entire Ninja World, so brutal that children who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy would be sent straight to the front lines.
The Uchiha would certainly participate in the war as well. Shisui earned the title "Body Flicker Shisui" near the end of the Third Shinobi World War.
With death looming before his eyes, how could Uchiha Mai not be depressed? How could he not act like an aloof, melancholic pretty boy?
Fortunately, heaven never completely blocked every path. Several months ago, his late-arriving cheat had finally come online. It was just... the cheat was somewhat useless. Put another way, its future prospects were promising.
In general, whenever the host struck a pose and shouted a chuunibyou line, he could gain a certain amount of "Style Points."
By spending Style Points, he could draw various characters and randomly obtain that character's items, abilities, talents, and so on.
It was under the coercion of the crappy system that Uchiha Mai embarked on an irreversible path toward becoming a show-off.
After saving up for several months, he had accumulated two lottery draws. He had drawn boxer Mayweather's Shoulder Roll technique and Peng Yuyan's Flying Armbar.
Mayweather was a boxing champion from America in his previous life. He had a professional record of forty-nine wins and zero losses, possessed superb boxing skills, specialized in counterpunching from defense, and was proficient in techniques such as the Shoulder Roll and probing hooks.
Peng Yuyan was a Chinese male actor who had played the boxer Lin Siqi in the film Unbeatable. His signature move was the submission technique known as the Flying Armbar. Strictly speaking, what Uchiha Mai had drawn was Lin Siqi's skill.
After the two draws, Uchiha Mai had wanted nothing more than to materialize the crappy system as a Gree refrigerator, smash it to pieces, stuff the remains into a cement barrel, and dump it in the sea.
What the hell is this?
This is the Naruto world! What use are boxing and jujutsu skills? Even Konoha's Genin can run across rooftops and walls and unleash a descending dragon with their palms.
Bring Mayweather here and see if he can beat a Konoha Genin.
The crappy system's explanation was that these were only half-star skills from half-star characters. As the host's strength increased, higher-level characters would gradually unlock.
Besides, there were no useless skills, only useless hosts. Were Konoha's Strong Fist in Naruto and the space-faring fist techniques of Ultraman Leo in the Ultraman series really more advanced than Mayweather's boxing skills?
If you were as powerful as Ultraman Leo, even a half-star boxing skill could become a space-faring fist technique. Isn't it simply because you're too weak?
Uchiha Mai was rendered speechless. This crappy system was like a sow wearing a condom—it always had another trick up its sleeve.
Emmm... It does make some sense.
There are no useless skills, only useless hosts. Keep working hard. The Golden Light-Speed Fist of Saint Seiya is waiting for me. As long as I persevere, sooner or later I'll be able to shatter a planet with one punch.
Using the A-Q spirit to numb himself, Uchiha Mai had spent the past several months painstakingly training both techniques. Starting from those two techniques, he had learned and mastered even more boxing and jujutsu skills.
After all that training, his strength had indeed improved considerably. The abilities granted by the crappy system weren't completely useless after all.
Today's match against Sarutobi Asuma would be the moment he made a stunning debut! Three months of hard training could finally be put to great use!
Before you continue