The next day, all of Konoha was still busy rebuilding.
Otsutsuki Toneri had drained Yakumo's chakra, then followed up with an attack that nearly destroyed an entire street. The final casualty count reached several hundred, making this the village's worst loss of life since the Nine-Tails Attack and the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
So even though the attack was over and the attacker had been killed, people were still talking about it everywhere.
The discussion at the Ninja Academy was even more heated.
The mysterious attacker had easily defeated the academy's geniuses Neji, Yakumo, and Sasuke one after another, only to meet a dramatic end at Shinji's hands.
That only made Shinji's reputation as the academy's top student more deserved—and added another layer to his legend!
After all, single-handedly pursuing a mysterious and powerful enemy and killing him in battle was an achievement worth boasting about, no matter who had done it.
On the training field.
Shion clung to Shinji and asked, "Shinji, hurry up and tell me—how did you beat that guy yesterday?"
All their classmates crowded around them. Even Sasuke came over, pretending not to care.
Shinji smiled. "I got a little lucky yesterday. He underestimated me and gave me an opening. Otherwise, it would've been hard to beat him!"
Just as I thought!
Sasuke thought to himself.
Kiba asked, "I heard that guy had a pair of Byakugan. Is that true?"
"Well..." Shinji paused, then said, "What I beat was just a lifelike puppet. So it did look like it had a pair of Byakugan, but they probably weren't real."
"So it was just a puppet?"
"What about the puppeteer? Did they get away?"
"Were they from Sunagakure?"
The classmates who hadn't been there last night began whispering among themselves.
Shinji took the chance to slip out of