The Little Brat

The young boys and girls all turned to look. From the side came a wave of whispers, loud enough for Yang Xing to hear.

"Conquer the world? Is this guy crazy?"

"I'm sure he is. I remember his parents died in the Second Shinobi World War. Kids without parents just don't turn out right. His brain's obviously scrambled."

"Hahaha! He might not even graduate, and he says the Hokage is insignificant. What a scrambled brain."

Their chatter faded as they walked away, leaving only two people behind.

The little boy with a runny nose stared blankly at Yang Xing, who was looking ahead as usual, gazing into the distance.

"Yang Xing!" The boy sniffed, then asked, "Are you really going to conquer the world?"

"Yeah."

"Can I come with you?"

Yang Xing glanced sideways at him, frowned slightly, then looked away. "Come back when you've grown some hair."

"Hair? Why?"

"You're too chatty, brat. You're only four, and you want to conquer the world? Hurry home. If you don't, your mom will come looking for you."

"Oh, right! My mom told me today that she made my favorite food. She said I should get home early. See you!"

Watching the four-year-old bounce away, Yang Xing sighed softly. Over the past year, while training his chakra, he had somehow gotten saddled with this little brat. And the four-year-old was incredibly exhausting to deal with, even if he did have great potential.

But with that personality? Forget it. What mattered now was his Mobile Dispute System. He needed to figure out everything about it as quickly as possible and work toward his grand goal.

Yang Xing turned and left the hilltop without looking back.

One summer day, in some unknown year, month, and day.

The Third Shinobi World War had just begun. Battles of every scale raged across the nations, including along the borders of the Land of Fire, constantly threatening Konoha's safety.

The school's lessons had grown unusually intense. Even four-year-old kids had to learn how to protect themselves, let alone the eleven- and twelve-year-old boys and girls. In times like these, they had to take on important wartime missions.

In any case, this was the day after Yang Xing had noticed something strange about his phone.

That morning, the teacher entered the classroom. As one of Konoha's special instructor ninja, he had to give his all to educate the village's precious future. But as soon as he stepped inside, he noticed something unusual.

The room was eerily quiet. The long desks and chairs stood in rows, but the space at the center was conspicuously empty, with only one student sitting there.

He thought the boy's name was Yang Xing. It was a strange situation, and Yang Xing was also the student who gave him the biggest headache.

"Um, did something happen?" the teacher asked, forcing a smile as he looked calmly at Yang Xing.

Yang Xing glanced around at the students sitting far away from him and shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, anyway, let's get started." The Ninja Academy teacher looked around at the students whispering among themselves and sighed. Then he raised his head and addressed them with a stern expression. "You should all know the rules of the Konoha Ninja Academy. Starting tomorrow, you'll be divided into different groups and teams. From then on, you'll train together under your team's supervision, and you'll have a new instructor."

"Teams? Really?" The announcement sent the classroom into an uproar.

"I heard the instructors are all jonin. A lot of them might even be special jonin."

"Awesome! We'll finally get to learn powerful ninjutsu!"

The excited students couldn't help cheering.

"You're getting excited too soon." The instructor pushed up his glasses and gave the especially boisterous kids a stern look. "Every instructor is an elite, but their training is no joke. Don't assume this means you'll graduate from Konoha's academy and learn the most powerful ninjutsu. If you can't keep up with your instructor, you may well be sent back to the academy."

"Yes, we understand!"

The students shouted in unison. Their cheers turned into excited chatter. Clearly, they were all eager to be assigned to teams—with one exception.

Yang Xing's brows furrowed when he heard about the team assignments.

Teams? This wasn't a good situation.

He would obviously be separated from everyone else.

Well, compared to him, a man with the mind of someone in his twenties, a bunch of brats might be more trouble than they were worth. Maybe this was a good thing.

Besides, with his current level, there was no telling whether he'd even graduate.

The teacher noticed Yang Xing deep in thought.

Given Yang Xing's poor level, graduating from the Konoha Academy should have been impossible. But with the village facing extraordinary circumstances, the academy had no choice but to make an exception.

"But if this guy has to team up with other people..." The bespectacled teacher muttered under his breath and gave a wry smile. His gaze stayed fixed on Yang Xing as he casually made his way over while the others were talking.

Yang Xing came out of his reverie and found the teacher standing beside him, wearing the friendly expression of a kindly old man.

With a smile blooming across his face like a chrysanthemum, the teacher did his best to sound gentle. "Um, Yang Xing, is there anyone you'd particularly like to team up with?"

"Huh?" Yang Xing frowned and lowered his right arm from where it had been folded across his chest. "Teaming up like little kids playing house is pointless to me. It would only slow me down."

The teacher was speechless.

Right. Ever since Yang Xing had joined the academy a year ago, he'd always been like this.

"I mean hypothetically. If you could choose for yourself, what team would you want to join? Or which instructor would you want?" No matter what, Konoha's future was in these children's hands. Not a single one could be left behind. The bespectacled teacher silently swore to himself that every last one of them would make it.

Yang Xing, however, was taken aback by the generous offer. "I can choose for myself? Is that some kind of special exception? Or an unspoken rule? Or are you up to something?"

"'Up to something,' my foot! Where did you even learn all those words? 'Unspoken rule'? What kind of rule are you talking about?" The bespectacled teacher clenched his fist, almost ready to bop the little brat on the head. That was the thing that made Yang Xing the hardest to deal with.