State Two

The roar from Sasuke's Susanoo as it vanished echoed in everyone's ears.

The entire training ground, inside and out, fell silent. Everyone's eyes converged on Shinji.

In that moment, the title of "top student" seemed to have gained a standard that everyone could see and touch.

"Th-that's amazing!"

"As expected of Shinji Uchiha!"

"Top student!"

After the brief silence, murmurs and exclamations of astonishment rose from the crowd.

Their amazement was impossible to suppress!

Shinji had used Taijutsu and Ninjutsu—techniques anyone could learn and master—to defeat the theoretically invincible Susanoo!

And he had won so easily, so casually!

"Were those his trump cards? Or is that simply how strong he is?"

Kakashi was momentarily dazed.

He had thought Shinji was hiding some underhanded trump card, but now he realized that Shinji was simply powerful!

Asuma completely shed his earlier disdain. "That secret Taijutsu technique just now, and the one that smashed through Susanoo—could that kid have developed both of them himself? If I remember right, he's only twelve. That kind of talent is astonishing!"

Kurenai sighed. "He's a monster! For ordinary geniuses, being in the same class as a prodigy like that must be downright miserable!"

Kakashi nodded slightly.

The Ninja Academy had produced plenty of super-geniuses who towered over their entire year. The Fourth Hokage was one from further back, while Shisui and Itachi were more recent examples.

They were the sort of geniuses no one else in their year could match, and others could barely even summon the courage to challenge them.

Meanwhile,

Shizune put a hand on Yakumo's shoulder, stopping her from rushing forward.

Yakumo looked at Shizune.

Shizune shook her head. "Now isn't the time. Shinji Uchiha is far stronger than we estimated! If you challenge him now, there's no guarantee you'll win!"

Clearly,

Shizune had