Hearing Sarutobi Retsu call his name, Uchiha Yuan stepped forward. Then he felt several gazes lock onto him.
With a slight sweep of his eyes, Uchiha Yuan saw the owners of those gazes.
Hyuga Kagami, Uehara Isami, Hatake Harukaze, and Senju Gen standing among the crowd.
Uchiha Yuan walked slowly as he pondered.
When Hyuga Kagami and the others released their Chakra, Uchiha Yuan had carefully observed and sensed it.
In his perception, Hyuga Kagami and the others' Chakra resembled several glowing currents of different colors, some dense and some faint. His own Chakra, meanwhile, was a viscous stream of light like liquid.
To put it another way, everyone else's Chakra was alcohol of varying strengths, while his was high-octane gasoline.
It looks like I need to dilute my Chakra. Otherwise, I'll definitely draw attention.
At that moment, Hatake Harukaze returned to the line and passed by him, softly saying, "Yuan."
Uchiha Yuan glanced at Hatake Harukaze and used Sound Transmission Secret. "Are you wondering why I told you to hold back?"
Hatake Harukaze softly replied, "Yes."
Uchiha Yuan used Sound Transmission Secret. "Chakra is generated from vital energy and blood. You train with the Standing Meditation Method every day, and your vital energy and blood have continuously been tempered and strengthened through circulation. As a result, your Chakra has already far surpassed everyone else in the class."
"Do you remember our ideal? We are still in our growth stage. To protect ourselves, the best approach is to remain hidden among everyone else."
"Once you go all out, people will see you as a genius. After all, the Hatake Clan has already produced Kakashi-senpai.
"Then you will inevitably attract the attention of the village higher-ups, which would be detrimental to our plans."
At that moment, Uchiha Yuan thought of Shimura Danzō. Whenever a genius appeared, he wanted to recruit him into Root.
Once that old schemer set his sights on someone, all sorts of plots might follow. Although a confrontation with Shimura Danzō and the others was inevitable sooner or later, Uchiha Yuan's wings had yet to grow. For now, he only wanted to be an ordinary, unremarkable ninja school student.
Hatake Harukaze suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. I understand."
Uchiha Yuan solemnly instructed, "Harukaze, you must remember this well. Right now, we are only ordinary students."
Next, Uchiha Yuan arrived before the Testing Pillar. He first took several deep breaths, then gave a loud shout and swung a fist at the Testing Pillar as if putting forth his full strength.
The Testing Pillar's screen lit up, displaying the results: D-rank, 30.
Seeing Uchiha Yuan's results, Uehara Isami smiled, while Hyuga Kagami slightly furrowed his brows.
Uchiha Yuan returned to the line with a dark expression and a frown. Everyone could sense his displeasure.
After several more students had been tested, only the final name remained on the roster.
Sarutobi Retsu called out, "Last one, Senju Gen."
For a moment, the surroundings fell silent as Senju Gen walked to the Testing Pillar under everyone's gaze.
Looking at the Testing Pillar before him, Senju Gen could not help recalling the expectations of his clan members.
"Gen, the clan is dwindling in number now. The task of upholding the Senju name rests on your shoulders."
At that thought, Senju Gen revealed a resolute expression, then threw a fierce punch.
Bang!
The Testing Pillar's screen displayed the results: C-rank, 17.
Although Sarutobi Retsu had been mentally prepared, considering that he was from the Senju Clan, he was still greatly shocked by those results.
As expected of the Senju Clan!
Senju Gen let out a breath. As he returned to the line, his gaze remained fixed on Uchiha Yuan.
Uchiha Yuan met Senju Gen's gaze for a moment, then turned and left.
In the deep forest, towering trees rose into the sky, their lush branches and leaves blocking out the sun.
A massive crimson-black python slowly lowered itself from a tree. Its purplish-red tongue flicked in and out as its cold snake eyes fixed upon a wild deer grazing ahead.
This was the Death Forest on the outskirts of Konoha.
Suddenly, a series of fierce impacts rang out, startling the wild deer into fleeing.
In a clearing deep within the forest, a translucent barrier had been erected. At the four corners of the barrier stood four identical Uchiha Yuans.
At the center of the barrier, amid fierce and piercing metallic clashes, two figures flashed and leaped repeatedly as they fought intensely.
Violent Chakra fluctuations stirred faint ripples across the barrier's surface, unable to escape outside.
A moment later, the two flashing figures abruptly stopped.
Two Uchiha Yuans stood in the clearing. One held a Shuriken in a forward-thrusting stance, while the other, standing opposite him, held the Shuriken between two fingers.
Uchiha Yuan put away the Shuriken and said to his opposite self, "Teacher, I lost."
Though the other Uchiha Yuan looked identical, his eyes were different, filled with solitude and cool detachment.
Standing opposite Uchiha Yuan was none other than his teacher, Hatake Sakumo.
Hatake Sakumo looked at Uchiha Yuan with approval. "Yuan, you are stronger than you were last week. The Hatake Sword Style has completely blended into your moves. What you lack now is experience fighting more strong people."
In Hatake Sakumo's eyes, Uchiha Yuan was the most naturally gifted genius he had ever seen.
The reason he had agreed to Uchiha Yuan's request to become his disciple was, first, because he had been moved by his words. Second, he had hoped that through him, he could pass the Hatake Sword Style on to Hatake Harukaze.
However, after he began teaching Uchiha Yuan, Hatake Sakumo was shocked to discover that he was not only incredibly intelligent, but could also quickly master both Taijutsu and ninjutsu.
Moreover, he was skilled at independent thought, and the questions he raised were novel and profound. Even Hatake Sakumo himself had benefited greatly while answering and discussing them.
For example, Hatake Sakumo's current state was a special application of the Shadow Clone Technique. He had watched Uchiha Yuan begin dismantling and analyzing the ninjutsu after learning the Shadow Clone Technique.
Just the day before, Uchiha Yuan had summoned a Shadow Clone and allowed Hatake Sakumo to possess it.
Then, after being dead for many years, Hatake Sakumo once again experienced the sensation of having a living body.
Even Hatake Sakumo, who had endured countless battlefield killings and infiltrations into enemy territory, whose heart had long become as unshakable as stone, found it difficult to remain calm after successfully possessing the Shadow Clone.
A Shadow Clone could actually be used like this!
After that, Uchiha Yuan shocked Hatake Sakumo once more.
After learning the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, he had actually developed an Earth Release technique that allowed him to travel through the ground.
There was already a similar Earth Release ninjutsu, the Underground Submarine Voyage Technique. Uchiha Yuan had effectively developed a ninjutsu on his own.
Through a conversation with Uchiha Yuan, Hatake Sakumo also learned of several more of his ingenious ideas.
For example, Uchiha Yuan believed that the Flying Thunder God Technique, which the village had classified as a forbidden technique, was not actually all that miraculous. It was not true space-time ninjutsu at all, but an extended application of the Summoning Technique.
Another extended application of the Summoning Technique was the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique.
This made Hatake Sakumo feel that Uchiha Yuan already had a clear line of thought. Sooner or later, he would crack these two S-rank ninjutsu from the village's Book of Seals.
After successfully allowing Hatake Sakumo to possess a Shadow Clone, Uchiha Yuan had wanted to have a real battle with him.
For that purpose, he had specifically found a clearing in the Death Forest on the outskirts of the village.
This place was beyond the surveillance of the village's Barrier Team.
Before you continue