Undercurrents

Touma silently etched the title Sea of Scripture into his mind. Once teams were assigned and he began taking missions outside the village, he would definitely look for it.

The battles in the arena were gradually drawing to a close. Hideaki Uchiha had narrowly defeated Kyo Sarutobi.

Kyo had been sufficiently wary of Hideaki's Sharingan Genjutsu, and had deliberately created shadow clones to stay close and use taijutsu to restrict Hideaki's movements.

However, Hideaki still found an opening. Using the water covering the arena that he had just created with Water Release, he indirectly triggered a Sharingan ocular jutsu from a considerable distance and took control of Kyo, making him raise his hand and surrender.

Honestly, both of them had fought beautifully. If Kyo had had a little more experience and closed his eyes ahead of time, relying only on chakra sensing, the outcome would have been anyone's guess.

After all, when it came to chakra reserves, the Uchiha Clan truly couldn't compare with the Sarutobi Clan. And with the Sharingan consuming so much chakra, Hideaki's stamina in battle was definitely no match for Kyo's.

Still, their match had been spectacular. Even more importantly, neither had gone for the kill, limiting the force of their techniques and leaving the spectators cheering that they'd gotten their money's worth.

Yes, because the graduation exam was being held in the arena, it was open to the public. However, Ninja Academy students and the parents of fifth- and sixth-year students needed tickets to enter. Ticket sales were also one of the arena's main sources of maintenance funding.

The next two matches would pit the fifth-year students ranked third and fourth against the Genin they had drawn by lot.

The third-ranked student was also in Team Ise: none other than Hinata's biological father in the original story, Hyuga Hiashi, the young head of the Hyuga Clan.

Hiashi and Hizashi truly lived up to their reputation as twins. Without the bandages on their foreheads concealing the Caged Bird Seal, even classmates who had studied with them for five years couldn't tell them apart.

What was more, Hizashi seemed to imitate his brother's words and actions unconsciously. From their every frown and smile to their style of dress, the two were nearly identical.

As a result, their opponents at school often suspected that Hiashi was secretly taking his younger brother's place in matches, carrying him into the top ten in their year.

But in Touma's eyes, the two had noticeably different habits when using Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms.

When Hiashi performed the Eight Trigrams Palm, he led with his right palm and followed with his left, striking from two inches below the ribs. As a result, most of his attacks targeted the opponent's upper body.

Hizashi's Eight Trigrams Palm was the exact opposite. He led with his left palm and followed with his right, striking from below the waist. He usually had to crouch to prepare, and most of his attacks targeted the opponent's lower body.

This might have had something to do with whom the two trained against within the clan. Hiashi probably often sparred with adults, so he could reach the pressure points in an opponent's lower body simply by raising his hand. Hizashi, on the other hand, likely sparred with people his own age, so he had to crouch and dive low to strike important pressure points below the waist.

So, to Touma, the theory that Hiashi had dragged Hizashi into the top ten was a joke.

Of course, Hiashi easily defeated the adult Genin facing him in fewer than "Thirty-Two Palms," securing his place in the waiting area for team assignments.

His opponent never even got the chance to use taijutsu. As soon as the Eight Trigrams Palm formation took shape, it threw off the rhythm of his attacks.

Normally, he should have kept his distance to make the most of the Leaf-style taijutsu. But he acted timid and hesitant, as if he were afraid of something.

Touma had just turned around to ask Uncle Shishin what was going on when he realized that the elite Jonin Squad member from the Aburame Clan had disappeared without his noticing.

Shibi noticed Touma's gaze but said nothing. Instead, he released a Xiao-Destroying Bug from his sleeve and sent it to Touma's ear with a message.

The Xiao-Destroying Bug had two ways of transmitting messages. One was to gather in a group and form encrypted text; the other was to transmit encrypted messages through these low-frequency infrasound waves.

The Aburame Clan had a secret technique for deciphering these low-frequency infrasound waves called Ninja Art: Listening Insect. Touma and Zhao, who were good friends with Shibi, had already become proficient at using it to secretly pass notes by their third year!

Although Touma had scraped by with a passing score of six in information cryptography for four years running, he, Shibi, and Zhao had actually become quite skilled at cracking codes through their long-term use of Xiao-Destroying Bugs to pass messages.

After a few breaths, Touma had decoded Shibi's message.

His father, Shishin Aburame, had noticed the opposing Genin's strange behavior during the third match and suspected that an enemy-village spy might have taken his place.

The main reason was that the Genin had been far too obvious in his attempts to avoid Gentle Fist strikes to his pressure points. He was almost certainly trying to hide some unusual change to his body.

Unfortunately, Hiashi hadn't activated his Byakugan earlier. Otherwise, no matter what level of transformation jutsu the Genin used, it wouldn't have escaped the Byakugan.

Uncle Shishin, who oversaw intelligence gathering for the Jonin Squad, had gone to find a colleague from the Hyuga Clan to see if his Byakugan could uncover the flaw in the Genin's disguise.

By then, however, the fourth match had begun. As soon as Nawaki, the darling of the Senju Clan and the fourth-ranked fifth-year student, stepped into the arena, the spectators outside erupted into cheers!

That kid knew how to put on a show far better than the future Hokage. He had brought along a shadow hat emblazoned with the character for "wood," and he was wearing a ceremonial robe embroidered on the back with "Konoha's Number One Genin."

Most importantly, he had ridden into the arena on a spirited wooden horse, circling the grounds once to acknowledge the audience.

That wooden horse was one of the First's old Wood Release creations. After being replenished with Yang Release Chakra, it could be used again and again. It was considered an important relic of the First in the Senju Clan, just like the towering tree in the village known as the Canopy of Protection. Everyone in the village was familiar with it!

Just as everyone's attention was fixed on Nawaki, Touma and Shibi both noticed a faint trace of disdain on the face of the Genin he had drawn as an opponent.

After exchanging a knowing glance, Shibi quickly tapped the jar of Black Ice Kiln bugs at his side. A swarm of milky-white Xiao-Destroying Bugs flew out and sped toward the back of the arena.

Touma was certain that Nawaki's opponent wasn't a shinobi from Konoha. As the First's grandson, Nawaki was treated with kindness by nearly every villager.

And although Nawaki was brash, he never bullied the weak. He didn't care about differences in status and often took the initiative to help villagers with whatever he could, earning the title "Konoha's Young Village Chief"!

Even the Uchiha shinobi, who were at odds with the Senju Clan, had never shown Nawaki any hostility. On the contrary, his thoughtful way of handling things had helped the Konoha Military Police Force resolve many misunderstandings with villagers.

Touma was certain that if Nawaki grew up safely and proved himself capable, the Uchiha Clan would absolutely support him becoming the next Hokage!

Therefore, there was no way this Genin, who had suddenly shown such disdain, was a shinobi from Konoha!