Watching Hyuga Hoshishaku run excitedly out of the Hokage Building.
Senju Tobirama smiled slyly.
He really was still just a child. A little goading was enough to stir up his competitive spirit.
Had he even stopped to think? If famous Jonin were going to attend the course, why would they need to be selected?
And if they did need to be selected, how would the selection work?
Could they really put everyone through a series of tests and send the best candidate to the school for further training?
They could just assign someone directly.
As for why he was doing all this, of course it was to lay the groundwork for the upcoming Five Kage Summit.
These thoughts flashed through Senju Tobirama's mind.
Ever since his big brother and Madara had fought some time ago, the Ninja World had suddenly become "peaceful."
But in turn, there were more and more spies in the village.
Getting his big brother to "show off his strength" wasn't an option.
Stubborn as a mule.
But having his student "show off his strength" on the stage he'd built could achieve the same goal by other means.
A seven-year-old Jonin—what other village in the entire Ninja World had such a deep foundation?
If this kind of genius grew up, wouldn't he become the next "Senju Hashirama"?
Wouldn't that indirectly achieve his goal of using military might to intimidate the other villages?
"Ha ha, my foolish big brother!"
At the thought, Senju Tobirama laughed aloud for the first time in a long while.
Hyuga Hoshishaku had, of course, sensed that something was off.
But he didn't look into it.
Rather than dig into the motives of those close to him, he figured he'd be better off making more preparations for tomorrow's entrance exam.
After returning to the clan grounds, Hoshishaku began preparing.
First were the Sealing Cards he'd carefully made. They could store chakra over time, which could then be drawn out all at once when needed.
However, after weighing things up, he decided not to use them for now.
He'd worked hard to build up that chakra little by little. Rather than spend it on the exam, he'd be better off saving it for when it really mattered.
Besides, having such a large chakra reserve at such a young age might arouse suspicion.
Next, he reviewed the abilities he already had.
Hoshishaku began recalling the techniques he'd mastered.
In Taijutsu, he had Rotation for defense, and Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Palm for offense.
He'd also mastered Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm through training lately, and could now land one hundred and twenty-eight strikes with Eight Trigrams Palm. It counted as one of his finishing moves.
As for ninjutsu, apart from the basic Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, he had Chidori, which used lightning-style shape transformation, and Rasengan, which used wind-style shape transformation.
He'd mastered all the low- and medium-difficulty Sealing Techniques. For summoning, he had only Rashomon, along with the Multi Shadow Clone Technique.
He'd tested it before. His Multi Shadow Clone Technique could just about reach Naruto's everyday level—around twenty or thirty clones at a time. Any more, and the fatigue that piled up when the clones dispersed would leave him feeling seriously unwell.
Finally, there were the secret techniques Sai had brought him and the Flying Thunder God Technique he'd been training on his own.
Hoshishaku had considered training to fight like Namikaze Minato.
But he soon realized he didn't have Minato's reaction speed, so he had to give up on that idea.
And because his abilities were too numerous, too varied, and didn't form a coherent system, he'd asked his teacher, Tobirama, for tactical advice.
Tobirama's advice was to familiarize himself with all his abilities and then adapt to the situation.
That was as good as saying nothing.
As for the Natural Energy Body Tempering Technique and the Natural Energy Sealing Technique—
Those two techniques didn't seem all that useful to Hoshishaku, given that he had cheats.
His stats increased by one point in every attribute every seven days, which was nothing compared to drawing a complete C-rank ninja card that added a hundred points outright.
Still, something was better than nothing. Besides, Lady Mito had said that once he'd accumulated enough Natural Energy in the Natural Energy Seal, he could draw on it to enter Sage Mode at a critical moment.
The difference from conventional Sage Mode was that it didn't last as long, since it used more concentrated Natural Energy.
But in theory, this Sage Mode was more powerful. Just how powerful?
Hoshishaku had no idea.
He'd only just started training, and the seal inside him had accumulated just over two months' worth of Natural Energy.
The next day.
Senju Yuto arrived early at Hyuga Hoshishaku's courtyard, waiting for them to head out together to take the entrance exam.
That's right, Yuto was going too.
His spiritual energy had now reached seventy points, so he was basically in the clear of becoming half-paralyzed or suddenly passing out.
And as he trained in the Natural Energy Sealing Technique, Hoshishaku had noticed that Yuto's spiritual energy was increasing faster: one point every six days instead of seven.
He might even break the hundred-point mark by the end of the year.
Now that he was past that hurdle, Yuto could be considered a genius, more or less.
And having a Sage Body went without saying.
His skill in Sealing Techniques was no worse than Hoshishaku's, either.
He didn't have much in the way of Taijutsu, but his Wild Flailing Fist had started to take on a bit of the Strength of a Hundred Seal Fist's flavor.
After witnessing the battle between his father and Madara some time ago, he'd even started trying to learn Wood Release.
As it happened, he'd inherited earth and water affinities. He'd already gotten the hang of it well enough to make tiny sapling-sized Wood Release constructs.
Thinking of this always left Hoshishaku feeling deeply moved.
If Yuto had had a little more spiritual energy in the original story and hadn't died young, would Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others have been able to cause so much trouble in Konoha?
"Let's go."
After checking that they had everything they needed, Hoshishaku changed into a matching T-shirt and shorts like Yuto's and announced that they were leaving.
As for Lian and Kenshi—
Hoshishaku had sent them off early to attend training at the Ninja Accelerated Training Class at the Ninja Academy.
It was a crash course for older Chunin and Genin.
Yun Fei, on the other hand, was going with them to take the Ninja Academy entrance test.
Konoha was bustling today.
Usually, you hardly saw anyone their age on the streets.
Today, they were everywhere.
As Hoshishaku walked along the street, looking at the somewhat "weathered" faces of his peers, he couldn't help sighing to himself.
This era was too cruel.
Or maybe the entire Ninja World was too cruel.
It was like a meat grinder controlled by the daimyos, constantly grinding away at the lives of the ninja.
He hoped his arrival could bring about some change.
They chatted as they walked.
The three of them soon arrived at the Ninja Academy.
Hoshishaku looked past the crowd at the campus, which was clearly different from the small school in the original story, and was secretly astonished.
With the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans involved, the academy had grown much larger. There were also many more buildings whose functions were a mystery, and it counted as one of the few places in Konoha with tall buildings.
Following the signs, the three of them came to a huge building and realized it was a large arena.
It was a little like the venue for the final round of the Chunin Ninja Exams in the original story, but not as large.
After filling out their entrance test forms, they were led into the waiting room to wait for their turn.
During that time, they also saw many adult villagers and merchants from outside the village walk through another entrance toward the stands.
This left Hoshishaku wondering: what was there to watch about entrance tests for Ninja Academy students who hadn't even become ninja yet?
Before you continue