First Meeting with the Kids

"All right, you two, come in," Teacher Iruka called toward the door.

Sasuke and Chen, who had been waiting outside, entered the Classroom and stood on the podium.

"Teacher Iruka." Chen politely bowed to Iruka, while Sasuke stood beside him with a cold, aloof expression, making no response.

"Wow! So handsome, so cool!" "Are they twins? They look exactly alike!" Once Chen and Sasuke entered the Classroom, the students below immediately began chattering. The girls in particular had hearts practically shining in their eyes.

"Quiet. Introduce yourselves to everyone first," Iruka said to Chen and Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Chen. Please take care of me." Chen introduced himself to the elementary school students below the podium. "Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke coldly stated his name.

"Uchiha? They're from Konoha's Uchiha Clan?" "Yeah, I heard every member of the Uchiha Clan is a genius." "I can't believe I'm classmates with an Uchiha. I'm so lucky." The Classroom, which had just quieted down, erupted into discussion again after Chen and Sasuke revealed their names.

After all, they were Uchiha—the Uchiha Clan, one of Konoha's great noble clans, possessing the Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai renowned throughout the Ninja World. To Konoha's civilians, the Uchiha Clan was an untouchable giant, and every one of its members was considered a genius. Now, people they would normally never be able to approach had appeared here and even become their classmates. That was more than enough to excite this group of children.

Listening to the chatter below, Sasuke Uchiha proudly raised his chin and slipped both hands into his pockets, immediately putting on his cool-guy act. Chen, however, scoffed inwardly at their words. Tch! Every one of them is a genius? What a bunch of idiots who don't know anything. In Chen's eyes, the Uchiha only had the Mangekyō Sharingan and Fire Style ninjutsu worth fearing; the rest was nothing special. Yet at this point, no one in the Uchiha Clan possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Tch! As expected of young masters from a great clan. They were late on the first day of school," a rather arrogant voice rang out from the crowd.

Sasuke and Chen looked in the direction of the voice and saw a child with messy hair and two red markings painted on his cheeks looking at them with disdain. It was Kiba Inuzuka, one of Konoha's Twelve Rookie Ninjas from the Original Story. "Exactly! They're really full of themselves!" Naruto also chimed in restlessly from the other side.

"Naruto, Kiba, both of you shut up!" A pink-haired girl and a blonde girl with a ponytail shouted at Naruto and Kiba. They were Sakura Haruno and Yamanaka Ino, both currently starry-eyed over the newcomers. Their words immediately received the support of the girls in the class, who all began condemning the unfortunate duo of Naruto and Kiba.

"Honestly, women are such a pain," a child sitting beside Ino said lazily, only to immediately earn an angry shout from Ino. "Shikamaru, you shut up too!" On Shikamaru's other side sat a chubby boy who kept stuffing snacks into his mouth, utterly unaffected by the noise around him. This chubby boy was Choji Akimichi, another of Konoha's future Twelve Rookie Ninjas. (Note: Ninja Academy desks seated three students each.)

"You can't be late for class. That's the rule," the child sitting beside Kiba quietly remarked. He wore dark glasses and was Shino Aburame, of Konoha's insect-controlling Aburame Clan, and one of Konoha's future Twelve Rookie Ninjas.

Sitting beside Shino was a girl whose eyes looked almost clouded over. Her index fingers were twisting together as she secretly watched Naruto, two adorable blushes blooming on her cheeks. She was Hinata Hyuga, the eldest daughter of Konoha's Hyuga Clan and one of the future Twelve Rookie Ninjas.

The arrogant Kiba Inuzuka, the goofy Naruto, the lovestruck Sakura and Ino, the lazy Shikamaru, the plump Choji, the cool-looking Shino, and the shy Hinata.

Ah, Konoha's future Twelve Rookie Ninjas. Including that poser Sasuke beside me, nine of them have already appeared. Should I get to know them? Chen thought. After all, he had quite liked Konoha's Twelve Rookie Ninjas when he watched the anime in his previous life.

"All right, all right, quiet down!" Iruka shouted at the students from the podium.

Once the Classroom had quieted down, Iruka pointed at the empty seat beside Sakura and said to Sasuke, "Sasuke, you can sit next to Sakura Haruno." "Yay!" The moment Iruka finished speaking, Sakura nearly jumped up in excitement. "Tch, making the great Naruto Uzumaki sit in the same row as someone like him? What a pain," Naruto complained from Sakura's other side, only to receive a heavy punch from Sakura in response.

"Seriously, Sakura beat me to it. Why do I have to sit with these two weirdos?" Ino complained helplessly as she looked at Shikamaru and Choji beside her.

"Ah, what a drag," Shikamaru grumbled lazily.

"Chen, you can sit beside Amano Koi," Iruka told Chen, pointing to an empty seat beside a cute long-haired girl in the back row. "All right, go take your seats." "Yes, Teacher Iruka." The two headed toward the seats their teacher had assigned them.

"All right, all right, let's continue class," Iruka told the students after Chen and Sasuke had both taken their seats.

"Hello, Chen. My name is Amano Koi. Please take care of me," the long-haired little girl named Koi greeted Chen after he sat down.

"Uh, hello. Please take care of me too," Chen replied politely. Looking over, he saw that the girl had beautiful long hair reaching all the way to her waist. Though she still had a childish air about her, her delicate little face and refined features were already apparent.

Ah, a beauty who never appeared in the Original Story! Chen thought with a mischievous grin.

"Hmph, brat, you're not allowed to talk to Koi. Koi is going to be my bride someday." At that moment, a brat's voice came from the seat on Koi's other side. "If you dare set your sights on Koi, I'll beat you flat. I don't care if you're an Uchiha or not."

"Taichi the Idiot, what nonsense are you spouting?" Koi angrily said to the brat beside her, glaring at him with wide eyes.

"Taichi the Idiot? Never heard of him." Chen curiously looked at the child named Taichi the Idiot. The brat was sturdier than most children, with a ridiculous bowl cut perched on his head. His eyes were opened wide, making him look rather comical.

"Idiot," Chen said disdainfully. A mere extra dared to act so arrogant?

"Bastard! If you've got guts, don't leave after school," Taichi the Idiot gritted out a threat at Chen. "I'll show you that I, Taichi the Idiot, have a hundred ways to hurt you."

"Tch! Idiot." Chen turned away and ignored Taichi the Idiot's taunts.

"Chen, something's wrong with his brain. Don't pay attention to him," Koi told Chen, and there was clear anger in her voice.

In truth, Koi deeply hated Taichi the Idiot. It was only because their homes were next to each other and their families were neighbors. Taichi the Idiot constantly pestered Koi, insisting that she become his bride when she grew up. Then, relying on his larger build, he would beat up any boy who spoke to Koi. Gradually, Koi was left without a single friend; they had all been driven away by Taichi the Idiot.

That was why Koi had always been lonely, with no one to talk to or play with. She hated Taichi the Idiot to the core.

"Heh, I wasn't bothered by it," Chen said to Koi with a smile.

"Mm, as long as you weren't bothered." Koi stuck out her tongue, looking somewhat playful and adorable.

When Taichi the Idiot saw Chen ignoring his words and chatting cheerfully with Koi instead, rage immediately rose in his heart. "Very good. Do you really think I wouldn't dare hit you just because you're an Uchiha? I, Taichi the Idiot, love going after people who think they're exceptional. Since you're courting death, I don't mind playing with you. I'll show you that I, Taichi, never make empty threats," Taichi the Idiot said through gritted teeth.

"Taichi the Idiot, class is in session. No talking," Iruka said unhappily from the podium.

"Hmph, just you wait, brat!" Taichi the Idiot snorted at Chen and stopped speaking. Iruka was glaring at him with obvious displeasure.

"Heh, idiot." Chen had no interest in dealing with Taichi the Idiot, because the system had issued a notification: "Ding! Host has completed the mission 'Enroll in the Ninja Academy.' Mission reward: 300 Points. Host's current Points: 315."

Heh, I finally have some savings. What should I exchange for? Chen thought excitedly.

"System, what should I exchange for first?" Chen felt it would be more appropriate to leave the question of what to exchange for to the more professional system.

"It is recommended that the Host exchange for the Chakra Refining Technique first," the system answered.

"The Chakra Refining Technique? The Academy should teach that, shouldn't it?" Chen asked.

"Answering Host: The Chakra Refining Technique taught at the Ninja Academy requires study and training before Chakra can be refined. However, the one exchanged through the system allows the Host to instantly master the Chakra Refining Technique and use Chakra immediately," the system replied.

That's true. If I wait for the Academy to teach it, who knows how long that'll take? Then I'd still need to refine it afterward. I don't have that much time to waste. I need to increase my strength as quickly as possible to deal with the major events that will happen in the future. Although Sasuke Uchiha was spared by Itachi in the anime, now that there's someone like me who didn't exist in the Original Story, there's no telling what changes might occur. It's safer to raise my strength as soon as possible.

"System, exchange for the Chakra Refining Technique," Chen said inwardly.

"Chakra Refining Technique. Item rank: D. Required exchange Points: �. Confirm exchange?" "Yes!"

"Ding! Exchange successful. Points deducted: 150. Remaining Points: �."

Afterward, a warm current merged into Chen's body, and an additional set of memories appeared in his mind.

At that moment, Chen was already able to refine and use Chakra.