I'm Leaving First!

Shinji's move was like a starting pistol.

Almost at the same moment, Sasuke and Neji attacked too!

In the distance,

Iruka stared in disbelief as he watched Shinji and the others take the initiative and attack more than twenty older students. "How dare they?"

The ANBU and Mizuki watched intently.

Clearly, this was a test for the young geniuses.

Of the three, Sasuke was the most famous for subduing the rampaging Nine-Tails, but the other two were no less impressive.

Shinji Uchiha had mastered a C-rank jutsu at just eight years old, while Neji Hyuga was the most brilliant young genius the Hyuga Clan had produced in years.

So it wasn't just them—many other Ninja Academy teachers had also stopped outside the grove.

Everyone watched from a distance, tacitly agreeing not to interfere in the brawl between the students.

Such a commotion naturally caught the attention of some students near the grove.

The news quickly made its way back to Shinji and Sasuke's class.

"What!?"

Haku was startled. He hurried to his feet and rushed out of the classroom.

"Wait for us!"

Tenten and Rock Lee chased after him too.

Soon, more than a dozen classmates still in the classroom followed them. Even the aloof Karin hesitated for a moment before joining the crowd.

In the hallway,

Haku and the others ran into Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Hinata, Sakura, and a group of others who had heard the news as well.

Like Haku and the others, Shikamaru's group had heard that their classmate Sasuke had been cornered by a gang of older students in the grove, so they'd rushed out too.

The two groups joined up and hurried toward the grove. They were all ninja, after all; no one was afraid of a fight.

In the grove,

The instant the fight began, only one thought remained in Shinji's mind: take down as many people as possible, and don't let Neji and Sasuke leave him too far behind and make others suspicious.

On top of that, he couldn't activate his Mangekyō Sharingan, so he'd lost the overall awareness that came with its keen perception.

As a result, he had no time to check how Neji and Sasuke were doing. He could only focus on dealing with the enemies in front of him.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He punched, kicked, dodged, and punched again!

He brought the skills he'd honed sparring with Haku to their limit, then added the boost to his strength and agility from Water Breathing.

Almost no one could withstand a full combo from him.

As he fought, fewer and fewer figures stood in his way. When he finally came to his senses, a whole crowd lay scattered behind him.

"What..."

He didn't need to count. One glance told him he'd knocked down at least thirteen or fourteen people.

And because he'd taken them out so quickly, everyone on the field—including Shinji himself—was stunned.

"Damn it!"

Sasuke had only just managed to knock down his second opponent. He turned around, and his face darkened.

He had his Sharingan activated, with two Tomoe spinning in his Red Pupils, yet Shinji—who hadn't even awakened his eyes—had left him so far behind. How could he put up with that?

"How is this possible!?"

Neji was just as shocked and furious.

Taijutsu was the Hyuga Clan's strength, but he'd only managed to knock down four people so far. As someone who prided himself on mastering Gentle Fist, he couldn't bear the embarrassment.

So Sasuke and Neji went all out, launching a frenzied attack on the remaining older students.

Outside the grove,

The ANBU was taken aback.

He'd come to see how Sasuke, the genius who had subdued the rampaging Nine-Tails, would perform.

He hadn't expected Shinji Uchiha, who hadn't even awakened his Sharingan, to take down a whole group of older students so cleanly and decisively.

Iruka and Mizuki were stunned too.

They knew that Shinji, Neji, and Sasuke were geniuses, but they hadn't expected the three of them to handle a group of older students nearly ten times their number as easily as chopping vegetables.

Shinji, in particular, had such sharp taijutsu. He hardly seemed like an eight-year-old boy!

On the field,

Shinji looked indifferent on the outside, but inwardly he felt that something had gone terribly wrong.

Especially when he saw the older students around him looking at him like he was a monster. A few had even wet themselves after one look from him. He was all the more sure he'd made a huge mess of things.

"Haku, you've really screwed me over!"

He was secretly annoyed.

The only people he'd ever fought were Haku and a ghost.

He'd always crushed the ghost with his Mangekyō Sharingan, so Haku was the only point of comparison he had for judging his taijutsu.

And since he couldn't even beat Haku, who ranked somewhere in the twenties in the lower-grade class, how could he afford to hold back against a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old upperclassmen?

But once the fight actually started, those upperclassmen had all stood around like wooden dummies. The hard-fought battle he'd expected had never happened.

Just then,

A commotion rose outside the grove. The next moment, Haku and a large group of classmates came hurrying over.

Quite a few of them were ready to jump in and help.

They all knew they couldn't beat the older students, but they couldn't let themselves be intimidated. The worst that could happen was taking a beating.

But the sight inside the grove left them dumbfounded.

Shinji stood quietly alone in the middle of the field.

More than a dozen older students lay sprawled around his feet. Quite a few had passed out, while the rest groaned in pain, unable to get back up.

Shinji looked completely unharmed and wasn't even sweating much.

The scene was astonishing!

Several older students lay at Sasuke's and Neji's feet too, but their fights were still going. They didn't make nearly as powerful an impression as Shinji, who stood there in silence.

"That's way too incredible!"

Everyone couldn't help exclaiming in amazement.

The sight had stunned them so much that they forgot they'd come to help. They stood at the edge of the field, caught up in the spectacle.

As more and more classmates gathered around, Sasuke and Neji grew increasingly anxious as they continued fighting.

Sasuke was especially bothered.

He glanced at Shinji out of the corner of his eye and saw him standing there at ease, as though waiting for Sasuke. That infuriated him.

Neji got serious too and went straight to Eight Trigrams Palm!

Before long, Sasuke and Neji had each knocked down six or seven older students. Only one remained standing, trembling with fear.

"That one's mine!" Sasuke hurriedly declared.

Neji refused to back down. "Why should you get him?"

"!?"

The last older student still standing stared at them, utterly bewildered.

Of course, Shinji wasn't nearly as calm as he looked.

More and more people had gathered to watch—students and teachers alike—and everyone's eyes were fixed on him. He couldn't stay there another second.

His current identity really wasn't suited to standing out.

So he turned and walked straight toward the edge of the grove, casually calling out, "You're too slow. I'm leaving first!"

As Shinji approached, the crowd at the edge of the grove automatically parted to make way, watching him leave.