A Contest!

With the Chunin Exams over, ninjas from the other villages gradually departed, and the Ninja Academy reopened.

After washing up, Shinji arrived at the Ninja Academy early.

Sitting in his seat, he discreetly observed Haku and Karin. Although both of them seemed to have something on their minds, neither displayed anything particularly unusual.

The students in the classroom were all discussing Shinji, Neji, and Sasuke's contest to learn the Shadow Clone Technique. From time to time, someone would sneak a glance at Shinji.

Clearly, the impact of this matter was still growing.

Just then, Neji entered the classroom.

He glanced at Shinji before returning to his seat.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the classroom grew tense.

"Hey, who do you think will win among the three of them?"

"My dad says it'll definitely be Sasuke Uchiha. He's a Chunin, so his judgment can't be wrong!"

"I think Neji is stronger!"

"Shinji isn't weak either. He's mastered the C-rank Great Fireball Technique!"

Listening to the chatter entering his ears, Shinji looked utterly helpless.

From beginning to end, he had never intended to compete with those two little brats, Neji and Sasuke, even though his current body was only eight years old as well.

But for some reason, what had clearly been a trivial matter was attracting more and more attention. This completely went against his original intentions.

So gossip really is human nature, huh?

He stopped paying attention to them and focused all his thoughts on observing Haku and Karin.

He still had to save the ninja world!

Very soon.

With the ringing of the dismissal bell, the morning theory classes ended.

The students began their free time. Shinji called Haku over, and they chatted while eating their lunches.

Shinji casually asked, "What's wrong with you today?"

Haku hurriedly shook his head. "I'm fine! Oh, maybe I didn't rest well last night, so I couldn't concentrate much this morning."

"Don't overthink things. Just live well in the present."

Shinji said something seemingly pointed, then lowered his head and continued eating his lunch.

Haku froze for a moment, then nodded.

Just then, a classmate came over to Shinji and said, "Shinji, someone's looking for you. They want you to go to the small woods behind the school."

"Looking for me? Who is it?"

The classmate spread his hands. "I was just asked to pass along the message, so I don't really know. You'll find out when you get there!"

Shinji shifted his gaze to Haku. There should not have been anyone at the Ninja Academy who would specifically seek him out, so his first reaction was that his actions yesterday had been discovered.

However, Haku still looked distracted.

Shinji then glanced at Karin, who was eating lunch alone in the distance, and saw nothing unusual on her end either.

Strange. Who could be looking for me?

Shinji had been to the small woods behind the school a few times, so he found his way there quickly.

But when he entered the woods, the sight before him surprised him greatly.

Sasuke stood in the middle with one hand in his pocket, while Neji stood with his arms crossed. Around them, dozens of upperclassmen had formed a tight circle.

"What is this...?"

For a moment, Shinji could not tell what exactly was happening.

Sasuke said arrogantly, "Hurry up. You're the only one missing!"

Before Sasuke had even finished speaking, the dozens of upperclassmen surrounding them started making a commotion as well.

"Hey, brat over there, get your ass over here!"

"These lowerclassmen are way too arrogant!"

"Heh heh, today we'll show the three of them what we're capable of!"

Looking at the dozens of upperclassmen surrounding Sasuke and Neji as they shouted and jeered.

Shinji finally realized what was going on, and his expression turned strange. "Don't tell me... I've run into bullying?"

Bullying was not uncommon in Konoha.

There was Kushina Uzumaki in the past, and more recently Hinata Hyuga. Both were Bloodline Ninjas with status and backing, yet neither could escape being bullied by little brats.

Even Itachi Uchiha had been bullied by upperclassmen at the Ninja Academy. It was because of that incident that the academy teachers discovered that the one attending school every day had only been one of Itachi's Shadow Clones.

Still, having something like this happen to him made Shinji feel both amused and helpless.

Such a huge commotion in the small woods obviously could not escape the Ninja Academy teachers' notice.

Iruka and Mizuki, who had recovered from his injuries and been discharged from the hospital, rushed to the woods together after hearing the news. But before they could enter, the ANBU assigned to protect Sasuke stopped them outside.

The ANBU smiled. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen."

Iruka was somewhat dissatisfied. "This kind of behavior must be stopped. The three of them are still children. What if they get hurt?"

The ANBU looked over and said coldly, "They are children, but they are also ninjas."

Iruka asked, "Are we just supposed to stand here and watch?"

The ANBU said, "Aren't you at all curious how the three of them will handle a predicament like this? Don't forget, they aren't ordinary Ninja Academy students. They are Uchiha and Hyuga!"

Inside the woods.

"You three really don't have any respect for us upperclassmen, do you?"

"Hmph, the rumors outside made you sound so amazing. Turns out you're just three little brats!"

"Brats like you can subdue the Nine-Tails? The village must have made a mistake!"

The dozens of upperclassmen surrounding Shinji, Sasuke, and Neji began shoving them around and provoking them.

Shinji swept his gaze across them.

Quite a few were eleven or twelve years old and about to graduate. There were a lot of them too, at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

At that moment, Sasuke looked at Shinji and Neji. "Hey, want to have a contest?"

Neji did not answer, but the Byakugan that activated instantly made his stance clear.

What a pain!

Shinji groaned inwardly.

Although he had experienced quite a bit of real combat and was no longer the rookie he had been when he first transmigrated here.

Almost all of his battles had involved using Susanoo to crush his enemies head-on. There had been no technique involved, only overwhelming force. Now that he had to compete in Taijutsu against so many upperclassmen, he truly found himself in a difficult position.

It was not because he was afraid of losing to Sasuke and Neji.

Winning or losing did not matter to him at all!

The key issue was that the original owner had been the second-best Taijutsu practitioner in the class, behind only Neji. Yet now, Shinji could not even defeat Haku, who ranked somewhere in the twenties in the class in Taijutsu.

Even if Haku had held back during the examination and his true ranking should have been higher, it still showed that Shinji's Taijutsu was actually rather poor.

Facing nearly ten times as many upperclassmen now, losing would be the least of his worries. If anyone noticed that his Taijutsu differed too greatly from the original owner's and became suspicious, that would be troublesome.

"Kid, you're asking to die!"

Sasuke's words had successfully ignited the upperclassmen's emotions. One particularly large student stepped forward and grabbed Sasuke by the collar.

Sasuke ignored the upperclassman clutching his collar, activated his Sharingan, and turned to Shinji and Neji. "Whoever takes down the most people wins!"

The upperclassmen burst into laughter. "Just the three of you? You dare fight back?"

Total Concentration!

Shinji sighed. Even if he lost, he could not lose too badly and let others notice something was off, so he could only go all out.

Whoosh.

In an instant, he sprang forward and lunged at the nearest opponent!

Here is the first update. Please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!