Refusing Might Guy

As for his own son Asuma being beaten into a concussion and rushed to Konoha Hospital, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not care in the slightest.

Konoha possessed the most comprehensive medical ninja system in the ninja world, as well as the most outstanding medical ninja, Princess Tsunade; let alone a concussion, she could even save someone with cerebral palsy.

If he could get a concussion during a mere ninja academy sparring exercise, it just went to show how much of a half-baked amateur Asuma was. If he were on the battlefield, wouldn't he just be finished off by someone?

Taking a sound beating now to learn a lesson was better than being hacked to death later.

On the other side, Uchiha Mai was also very satisfied with today's gains.

In the eyes of an average ninja in the world, the talent of this body could be considered genius, but to Uchiha Mai, it was completely mediocre—merely the standard of an ordinary Uchiha clansman.

So far, his chakra reserves were only at the level of a common genin, and the only ninjutsu he had mastered were the Three Basic Jutsu.

His chakra nature was Fire, but he hadn't mastered any Fire Style ninjutsu yet; he was even inferior to the Second Pillar of the same age.

His overall strength did not surpass Sarutobi Asuma; it was roughly a draw. However, being able to brutally beat up a grade-schooler by relying on Mayweather's boxing techniques was truly an unexpected joy.

Boxing, like racing, appeared to be a sport that stimulated adrenaline and was very passionate, but in reality, it required the athlete to maintain absolute calm.

Because formal matches had many restrictions, the physical fitness of two boxers at the same level would not differ much. How to distribute stamina and how to strike the opponent with the most effective force would become the key factors determining victory or defeat.

The development of boxing techniques and tactics was like being given a prompt with restrictions, then being told to run wild and explore along that prompt.

After decades of exploration in the modern professional boxing world, the various techniques, tactics, and force-application skills summarized were already very mature.

Uchiha Mai learned and absorbed this knowledge; even if he couldn't be called a master of taijutsu theory in the Naruto world, bullying grade-schoolers was certainly no problem.

In the future, when learning various taijutsu, he could also modify them into versions most suitable for himself based on his own knowledge and understanding, molding them into his own shape.

Overall, Uchiha Mai's impression of the damn system had improved.

If a half-star skill was already this powerful, wouldn't higher-level skills make him take off directly?

While satisfied, Uchiha Mai inadvertently glanced at the system and his pupils suddenly constricted.

[Stylishness: 304]

Currently, the system was still in its primary version, supporting only half-star and one-star draws; the former required 100 Stylishness, the latter 300.

Only when the host's strength improved to a certain level would higher-level draw options be unlocked.

Over the past few months, by acting cool and playing the melancholic handsome guy every day, combined with this face, he had only saved up three hundred-plus Stylishness and performed two draws.

Before going to school today, Uchiha Mai had specifically checked, and there was only 106 Stylishness. How did it suddenly skyrocket by nearly two hundred points?

Could it be because he brutally beat up Sarutobi Asuma, and since he was a character with significant screen time in Shippuden, he could obtain more points?

If that's the case, then I'm not sleepy anymore!

Uchiha Mai rubbed his chin, his starry eyes scanning the group of brats at the ninja academy with malicious intent.

Might Guy, Obito, Rin Nohara, Mitarashi Anko, Yuhi Kurenai, Gekko Hayate... they were all characters with plot relevance in Shippuden.

If he were to beat them all up one by one...

Wouldn't that be exhilarating to the point of flying?

And this was just the ninja academy; there was also wool to be sheared in the Uchiha compound. Uchiha Shisui had just turned 4; beating a 4-year-old at 8 was so easy.

Clan leader Fugaku's eldest son, Itachi, had just been born; they had held a full-month banquet in the clan a few days ago and he had attended. If he found an opportunity to flick Itachi's little thing, wouldn't he be able to shear some wool too?

Just as Uchiha Mai was mentally tallying up which kids in Konoha he could bully, the bell rang for the end of the school day, and the brats were off to return to their respective homes to find their respective mothers.

Uchiha Mai withdrew his thoughts; there was no rush to shear wool. These sheep wouldn't run away in a moment or two; there would be plenty of opportunities.

The top priority was to hurry home and, in a safe environment, enjoy a one-star draw.

After repeatedly rejecting several requests from little girls to "walk home together," Uchiha Mai had just stepped out of the school gate when he was blocked by a beast.

The beast from Beauty and the Beast.

A shiny bowl cut, a large nose resembling Jackie Chan, two thick eyebrows wider than the road, and the iconic green spandex suit.

Might Guy spread his arms to block Uchiha Mai, his eyes flashing with the fighting spirit of never giving up, and shouted loudly: "Mai, let's have a showdown!"

"I refuse," Uchiha Mai replied coldly without hesitation.

"Good, I knew that someone like you who loves taijutsu wouldn't refuse a challenge from another taijutsu practitioner... Wait, refuse?"

Might Guy had been spouting off, only to suddenly realize that the person opposite had rejected his challenge.

There was no reason for this!

Uchiha Mai suddenly raised his head, looking at the sunset in the west against the evening breeze, and sighed: "Today is the birthday of my younger brother, Shisui. I promised him I would go back early to celebrate with him.

My parents died on the battlefield when I was very young. Shisui is the only family I have left in this world."

"You have a younger brother?"

"Not by blood," Uchiha Mai lied through his teeth.

They both had the surname Uchiha, and he was younger than him, so why wouldn't he count as a brother? A clan brother was still a brother.

As for why he said he was his only family when there were so many other Uchihas... did he even understand emotions? The definition of family wasn't just bloodlines; this was philosophy!

"Wuu..."

Might Guy suddenly choked up, tears streaming down his face as he said with emotion, "Such a touching display of brotherhood. A birthday for one's only kin is indeed far more important than settling a score."

"It is for the best that you can understand." Uchiha Mai patted Might Guy on the shoulder, relieved to have fooled him.

The bit about Shisui having a birthday was, of course, a lie; the real reason for his refusal was that he was in a rush to get back and draw his lottery.

At this stage, Might Guy should still be relatively weak, so winning against him wouldn't be a problem. However, Might Guy's most well-known personality trait was his unyielding tenacity and his tendency to pester people relentlessly.

If he were to get tangled up with him, he might not make it home until the middle of the night.

"It seems we will have to reschedule for another day," Might Guy said with regret.

"Definitely next time." Uchiha Mai smiled.

After brushing off the obstacle, Uchiha Mai took advantage of the twilight to jog all the way back to the Uchiha compound, arriving at the courtyard left behind by his parents.

Back in the day, the Second Hokage had always wanted to suppress the Uchiha, but to avoid giving people grounds for criticism, he had still placed the Uchiha compound in the center of Konoha and granted them a very large area.

The Uchiha had always adhered to the principle of endogamy, and having gone through the Second Shinobi World War, the number of clansmen was not particularly high, leaving no shortage of empty houses.

This meant that even a brat like Uchiha Mai, who was the last one left in his entire family, could possess an entire courtyard to himself.