Mom, Talent and Abilities.

Wind swept across the sand, carrying a fallen leaf in spirals far into the distance.

The spacious grounds were packed with kids in their early teens. Furuya Daisuke's meaning was simple.

Continue the interrupted practical combat drill, but with one difference.

To give the new student a grand welcome, Furuya Daisuke decided to arrange a close, intimate exchange of flesh and blood!

Tōka stood among the crowd, yet apart from it.

He squinted, studying the expression on Furuya Daisuke's face. "Hmph, so he wants to use a practical drill to establish dominance, does he?"

Tōka was no ordinary six-year-old; even his mental age wasn't far behind Furuya Daisuke's.

This kind of setup didn't faze him. The worst-case scenario was simply forfeiting before the fight began.

But as a man, how could he lose without even fighting?

"Since I can't win by force, I'll have to rely on strategy." Tōka's gaze swept across the many kids one by one.

Might Guy, the dead last in everyone's eyes, was in Tōka's view the darkest horse of them all.

With the Eight Inner Gates unleashed, he could utterly crush every student present.

So Tōka shifted his target to a kid wearing goggles—Uchiha Obito.

A powerhouse who would stir the winds of the Fourth War, but at this moment, Obito was a genuine dead last!

Even so, Tōka's odds of winning weren't high.

A dead last in the Elite Class, and a sixth-year about to graduate at that.

A plucked phoenix was still a phoenix!

In a direct confrontation, Tōka had no chance of victory.

"Since this is to welcome our new classmate, the first round will feature our new student, Tōka, taking the stage!" Furuya Daisuke announced with a straight face.

As he spoke, he even led the applause, his expression so earnest it seemed utterly genuine.

Tōka silently walked out from the crowd and onto the sand.

He chose to ignore Furuya Daisuke's performance—it was far too hypocritical and theatrical.

"Then..."

Seeing Tōka step onto the sand without a hint of hesitation, Furuya Daisuke paused briefly, then deliberated on who to send in.

His gaze swept over everyone present. The strongest among the students was undoubtedly Sarutobi Asuma.

But Furuya Daisuke's eyes lingered on Asuma for only a second before moving on.

Tōka had been brought here personally by the Third Hokage.

Sending the Third's son into battle?

Who knew how much he'd hold back!

Moreover, Furuya Daisuke noticed that Tōka's physique wasn't robust. At only six years old, even if he had trained Chakra, it wouldn't be much.

In other words, Tōka's taijutsu and ninjutsu were both very weak.

"Can't send someone too strong. If he loses too badly, the Third's face won't hold up."

With that thought flashing through his mind, Furuya Daisuke settled on a plan.

Tōka stood expressionless on the sand, appearing somewhat at a loss, but in truth, he caught every nuance of Furuya Daisuke's expression.

Just as Furuya Daisuke was about to decide on his pick, Tōka suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, you shorty with the goggles!"

Uchiha Obito heard the word "shorty" and saw Tōka's gaze fixed on him. He instinctively looked left and right.

To his shock, he discovered that both Rin on his left and Kai on his right were taller than him!!

"Stop looking, I'm talking to you!"

At that moment, Tōka's voice rang out again, and he pointed a short finger straight at him.

Obito's face first flushed red, then darkened completely, as if smeared with ink.

"What did you say, you brat?!"

Obito rolled up his sleeves and charged onto the sand, completely ignoring Furuya Daisuke standing nearby.

Obito was in a full-blown rage, the memory of his classmates' "looking down" on him flashing through his mind...

Shame and fury combined!

Girls matured earlier than boys; it was perfectly normal for Rin to be taller than Obito!

And Kai, who specialized in taijutsu, being taller than Obito—even taller than Rin—was also normal.

Tōka said this only to deliberately provoke Obito; otherwise, his fight would have been hopeless.

"In that case, the first round will be Tōka versus Obito!"

Furuya Daisuke made no move to stop Obito as he stepped forward.

On one hand, Obito was from the Uchiha Clan; on the other, it was because of his strength—second to last!

Being defeated by someone like that left nothing to say even to the Third Hokage.

The kids in the Elite Class didn't look down on Tōka just because he was six years old; instead, they showed eager anticipation.

Because before this, there was a genius named Hatake Kakashi who graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and became a Chunin at six!

And Tōka was, after all, a classmate personally brought in by the Third Hokage.

Even if he couldn't match Kakashi, he shouldn't be a total rookie, especially against the dead-last Obito.

Slap!!

Obito clenched his right fist, slapped it into his left palm, and slammed them together hard.

"You little brat, don't you dare cry when you lose!" He straightened up and roared with fierce momentum.

"Oh." Tōka still stood casually, lazily spitting out a single word.

Obito's face turned purple with rage. He let out a loud shout, sank his body, and charged straight in with his fist swinging.

Reckless and impulsive, hot-tempered and impatient.

A sharp glint flashed through Tōka's eyes as he instantly judged Obito's current state of mind.

Slow speed, unsteady steps.

Watching Obito's charging motion, Tōka gave another assessment.

He had some training on normal days, but he wasn't the type like Gai who could stick with it persistently.

Obito threw a punch full of anger, holding nothing back, putting all his strength into the strike aimed forward.

The fist hadn't arrived yet, but the force of the punch came first.

Tōka's eyes narrowed, and his body suddenly leaned backward.

Thud.

Without any suspense, Tōka's body flew like a kite with a broken string, arcing through the air before crashing onto the sandy ground.

A cloud of yellow sand spread out, kicking up a haze of dust that scattered in all directions.

The crowd was momentarily stunned, staring in surprise at the scene on the sand.

"Did Obito succeed?"

"Knocked down in one hit?"

"Is he that weak?"

Everyone thought Obito had punched Tōka flying away, but only three people knew the real truth.

Furuya Daisuke, as an elite Chunin who had survived the Second Shinobi World War, had an exceptionally sharp eye.

"Knowing he couldn't block that punch, he pretended to fall to dodge?" Furuya Daisuke muttered to himself, then shifted his gaze back to the field.

This six-year-old brat didn't seem as weak as he'd imagined.

Assessing the situation and seizing the initiative.

That was Furuya Daisuke's evaluation of Tōka!

On the sandy ground, Obito stood dumbfounded, staring blankly at Tōka, who was brushing off his clothes and standing up, his face full of confusion.

He had just clearly...

Obito looked foolishly at his own fist.

Maybe... probably... should... he hadn't hit him?

Whether a fist slammed into hard bone or soft flesh, there would always be a distinct sensation.

But just now, there was no feeling at all.

In that moment of Obito's distraction, Tōka gained a new understanding of him.

Lacking killing intent, not ruthless enough in his strikes.

Pfft! A dull thud startled everyone awake.

Tōka quickly adjusted his stance, leaned forward, and kicked off like an arrow shooting from a bow.

"What? That kid is actually attacking?"

"Ohhh!! Is Obito going to lose?"

"As expected of the dead-last, scared stiff by a six-year-old!"

A wave of noise erupted from the Elite Class crowd, and it was this very sound that snapped Obito out of his daze.

Seeing Tōka charge in with his body low, Obito instinctively raised both arms, crossing them in front of him for defense.

Tōka's gaze sharpened as he raised his fingers in a sword-hand seal—one hand!

"What?"

"One-handed hand seal?"

"Is it the Tiger Seal? Or the Ram Seal?"

Hearing the crowd's exclamations, Obito on the sandy ground was even more startled, instinctively stepping back while leaning his upper body backward.

Tōka paid no heed to the surrounding ruckus, suddenly reaching out with a move resembling acupoint striking.

His sword-like fingers aimed straight for Obito's chest!!

"That's not a hand seal—it's the Hyuga clan's Acupoint Striking Technique?"

As a member of the Uchiha, the Hyuga's sworn rivals, Obito naturally understood what this gesture meant.

Only, Tōka didn't have the Byakugan!

But Obito didn't dare gamble. The terror of the Hyuga's Gentle Fist lay in the fact that one hit would seal the chakra at a single acupoint.

Even if it wasn't a critical acupoint that got sealed, continuing to fight would lead to gradual defeat.

In other words, against the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist at roughly equal strength, taking one hit was equivalent to taking countless hits.

Because the Gentle Fist sealed acupoints, preventing chakra from flowing, and with this shift in momentum, defeat was only a matter of time.

These thoughts flashed by in an instant.

At this moment, the distance between the fast-charging Tōka and Obito was less than three steps—there was no time left for Obito to think.

Obito's feet slid as he struggled to retreat.

If he could create a gap of one zhang—no, just one chi—he was confident he could dodge Tōka's move.

"It's over, I can't pull away!" Obito's face turned ashen as he stared at those short little fingers, now less than three cun from his chest!

Suddenly!!

Tōka's hand gesture changed—his sword fingers transformed into a palm, then pushed forward flatly.

A force, not particularly strong, erupted against Obito's chest. Already leaning backward, Obito's feet slipped.

Thud!!

The same scene played out once more.

Only this time, the difference was that Tōka had fallen on his own, while Obito had been pushed down by Tōka!

Time seemed to freeze, the frame locked in place.

On the sandy ground, a small child expressionlessly extended a single palm, his lower stance firmly planted in a bow-and-arrow position.

On the other side, a half-grown boy sat with a look of shock, his butt on the ground and both hands propping up his upper body in reverse.

Not slow in speed, flexible in body.

Though still very weak, he was sufficiently limber.

From this brief exchange, Tōka had gained a preliminary understanding of his body—worthy of being nurtured on the moon for a thousand years.

Before the crowd could snap out of the previous scene, Tōka extended another hand.

"Tōka is going to press the attack!"

"It's over, Obito can't dodge in this state."

"Is he really going to be defeated by a six-year-old brat?"

Obito's face flushed red as he struggled to get up.

But because he moved too hastily and lost his balance, he stumbled and fell back midway!

Seeing this, the crowd's opinion of Obito sank even lower.

A childish voice slowly rang out at this moment.

"I concede." Tōka extended one hand, offering it in front of Obito.

The crowd was utterly baffled: "Huh??"

"What did he say? I didn't catch it?"

"Did I just hear things?"

"Must be the wind messing with my hearing!"

Obito stared blankly at the small hand before him, unsure whether he should take it.

A faint smile hung at the corner of Tōka's mouth, sunlight spilling across his face. To Obito, he looked just like a "fairy."

For a moment, Obito was completely stunned.

"I concede," Tōka repeated once more, his voice clearer and louder this time.

"Why?" Obito snapped back to reality, frowning as he stared at Tōka. He didn't want this kind of charity victory!

Tōka curled his lip, looking speechlessly at this stubborn little brat.

Inside the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage stood before a crystal-clear glass ball, watching the events at the Ninja Academy.

Obito had no idea why Tōka had conceded.

As the professor of the Ninja World, the Third Hokage could naturally see through it.

In terms of ninjutsu, Tōka had no chakra—even if Obito could spit out a fist-sized fireball, it would be enough to give him trouble.

In terms of taijutsu, Tōka had never trained in it, relying purely on his body's agility. If the fight continued, he would only end up getting beaten black and blue.

In terms of genjutsu, Obito—Obito of the Uchiha clan! Even without his Sharingan awakened, he was still stronger than someone like Tōka, who barely understood the theory!

The reason Tōka appeared to have the upper hand in their fight was simply this.

He understood young Obito's personality, step by step setting traps and guiding the battle.

Before the fight even began, Tōka had provoked Obito with words.

Then, while Obito's offense was at its peak, he deliberately created a false impression.

Seizing the moment when Obito hesitated over whether to land a hit, he launched a series of "fierce" attacks.

First, a fake one-handed seal to disrupt the enemy's senses.

Then, a fake Gentle Fist to intimidate the enemy's mind.

Finally, the palm thrust was the real technique.

Everything was calculated... nothing more than a fox borrowing the tiger's might.

And the tiger whose might Tōka borrowed was none other than the Third Hokage!

It was precisely because the Third personally brought Tōka to register at the Ninja Academy that created a false impression in everyone's eyes.

A six-year-old brat brought to the academy by the Hokage himself, placed into the sixth-grade Elite Class!

Even if most people sneered inwardly and mocked Tōka verbally, thinking he relied on connections to cut in line.

Still, everyone would subconsciously wonder—did this kid possess some secret technique? Could he be a genius like Kakashi?

Watching the academy through his crystal ball, the Third Hokage was deeply conflicted.

Such meticulous thinking—was this really a six-year-old child?

Recalling himself at six years old, he seemed to have been playing in the mud, right? Though maybe he'd already stopped...

"This kid's not bad—give him to me!" Suddenly, a low, hoarse voice interrupted the Third's thoughts.

"Give him to you?" The Third raised an eyebrow, not directly answering Danzo's request.

But as an "old friend," Danzo could naturally tell that the Third had already rejected his proposal.

Danzo didn't give up and continued, "So young, yet with such a scheming mind—people like that aren't easy to control!"

"Let me train him!"

The Third bit down on his pipe, white smoke drifting to obscure his eyes.

Danzo showed no fear, staring straight at the Third.

"We'll talk about this later." A refusal that wasn't quite a refusal, yet didn't fully deny Danzo's proposal.

With that, the Third turned around, leaving only his back to Danzo.

Danzo sneered coldly at this, silently mocking in his heart: "Sarutobi, you're still so indecisive!"

The unpleasant conversation ended with Danzo leaning on his cane as he walked out of the room. (To be continued)