Entering the Ninja Academy

And so, Shangguan Yue grew up robustly under the brutal tutelage of Tsunade, and until now, he could finally say he had succeeded.

Shangguan Yue got up to wash, then slipped out of the Senju Compound in a flash, arriving at the main street of Konoha. Looking at the various stalls along the road, he headed straight for the barbecue restaurant with a clear goal in mind.

After tasting the new items on the menu, Shangguan Yue let out a satisfied burp.

"I'm starting now. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"The new ninja beast meat this time isn't bad. You lot are experts at grilling, so I won't say much about that, but the seasoning is the main issue..."

Shangguan Yue ruthlessly tore apart the flaws in the flavor profiles, leaving the chefs of the Akimichi Clan both shamed and filled with admiration, their notebooks filled with dense scribbles.

"Master Yue is truly the one to go to. That tongue of yours is like a ruler; you can taste exactly what's wrong the moment you take a bite."

"Your marinating sequence is also wrong. This batch of meat is high quality; don't marinate it for too long, or you'll destroy the essence of the meat itself..."

Shangguan Yue casually tossed out a list of seasoning ratios, leaving the head chef bowing in absolute reverence.

Under the respectful gazes of the staff, Shangguan Yue walked out of the private room, where a member of the Akimichi Clan had been waiting for a long time.

"Hmm? Who are you, uncle? Where is Uncle Torisui?"

Shangguan Yue looked at the unfamiliar Akimichi clansman before him, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Weren't we supposed to have a proper talk about our partnership? Why the change in personnel?"

"Haha, little one, my name is Torifu Akimichi. Torisui isn't qualified to discuss a partnership with you, so I've come myself this time."

"You are? The clan head of the Akimichi?"

"Mhm. Little one, those recipe formulas you mentioned—I've already experimented with them, and they are unexpectedly delicious."

Torifu Akimichi looked at Shangguan Yue with eyes shining with excitement. "Tell me, little one, come with me."

Shangguan Yue followed Torifu Akimichi all the way to the Akimichi Compound. "Yue-kun, please, have a seat."

Torifu Akimichi led Shangguan Yue into his home and gestured toward the coffee table opposite him. Shangguan Yue didn't stand on ceremony and plopped himself down in the seat of honor.

"Yue, how do you intend for us to cooperate?"

"It's simple, really. I provide the formulas, you provide everything else, and we split the profits. I want forty percent."

"Ah? Yue, this... that's too much."

Torifu Akimichi refused without a second thought. The Akimichi Clan's primary source of income was their barbecue restaurants; if he gave forty percent to Shangguan Yue, he'd be out of a job as clan head.

Shangguan Yue wasn't angry at the rejection, still wearing a cheeky grin. "Uncle Torifu, tell me, what is your monthly turnover?"

"Uh, probably about ten million ryo."

"Are there many barbecue restaurants in Konoha right now?"

"Quite a few, yes."

"Can our family's restaurant be considered top-tier?"

"To be honest, that's a bit difficult."

"How about this, Uncle Torifu: let's make a bet. If you use my formulas and a single shop makes less than fifty million ryo a month, I won't take a single cent of the profit, and the formulas will be a gift to the Akimichi Clan. If we make fifty million, I take forty percent; if we make over one hundred million, I take fifty percent. How about it?"

Torifu Akimichi was stunned. One had to know that raising the younger generation of the clan was incredibly expensive. Beyond the necessary expenditures, the Akimichi had to eat, and a little pocket change simply wasn't enough.

Aside from performing ninja missions themselves, their clan could only earn a bit of extra money on the side, but that was merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause, which is why they started the restaurants.

He could eat, certainly, but when it came to making barbecue, their skill was merely average. However, after having tasted Shangguan Yue's cooking, Torifu Akimichi felt that all other barbecue was impossible to swallow. He felt a surge of greed, but Shangguan Yue had the Senju Clan as his backer.

He wouldn't dare move against him even if he had ten times the courage. The foundation of the Senju Clan was too deep; although the younger generation was currently facing a talent gap, they still had Senju Nawaki, and no one could say for sure what the future held.

He had no choice but to cooperate. After a moment of contemplation, Torifu Akimichi gritted his teeth and agreed. "Fine, it's a deal."

"You must be obedient at school, you hear? Interact well with your classmates and make plenty of friends."

"Little Treasure, eat well at school. Mom will be waiting for you at home, so come back early after school."

"..."

Shangguan Yue, along with Senju Nawaki, arrived at the gates of the Ninja Academy under the guidance of Tsunade. One after another, a crowd of rowdy children gathered at the entrance.

There were inquiries between peers of the same clan, hostility between enemies, confusion among the commoners, and the mutual sizing up of the younger generation.

Tsunade said a few words and then vanished. Shangguan Yue found the whole thing quite boring, though Nawaki was busy glaring at a brat from the Uchiha Clan across the way.

"Nawaki, who is that?"

"Brother Yue, that's Uchiha Fugaku. He's very strong."

"Alright, stop staring. Besides, you've got me here, don't worry."

Shangguan Yue didn't take the children of his age group seriously at all, because as of last night, his God-Slaying Art had successfully merged with his chakra.

Although he wasn't yet sure of its specific power, it had definitely undergone a heaven-defying transformation, effectively becoming a mental-type Kekkei Genkai.

However, because he possessed such a vast amount of chakra, the conversion wasn't complete, and he couldn't unleash it fully just yet.

Nawaki looked at Fugaku, then back at Shangguan Yue. "Brother Yue, he is older than us, and he waited for me on purpose so we could enroll together. This is my destiny, so please don't interfere."

"Fine, fine. Looking at how serious you are, just tell me if you get bullied. I am your brother-in-law, after all; we're family."

"Brother Yue, keep your voice down! If others hear you, I'll never be able to show my face again."

"Students, settle down. The entrance exam begins now. You are forbidden from using chakra during the test."

The crowd surged as the little children followed the teacher toward the interior of the academy, while the parents from the various clans vanished from the spot one after another using Body Flicker techniques.

Only the commoners remained, waiting in place with eyes full of worry, gazing toward the direction their children had departed.

Soon, Shangguan Yue and the others followed the teacher to the academy playground, where they heard the teacher shout loudly.

"Our rules are very simple. On the ground beside you are weights of varying heaviness.

Each of you must choose what you believe to be your limit, strap them on, and run laps around the playground in front of you.

You are not permitted to use chakra while running."

After the freshman teacher finished speaking, he fell silent, used a Body Flicker technique to reach a chair in the center of the playground, and left a group of bewildered children staring blankly at one another.

Shangguan Yue, however, had a sudden moment of realization.

Damn, how could I forget that I can use weights to train my body? With such a great bloodline, if I don't take advantage of this cheat, I'd be doing myself a disservice.

Shangguan Yue walked forward with great interest, weighing the different loads one by one.

It wasn't until he reached the 100-kilogram weights that he felt satisfied, strapping the 100 kilograms of gear onto his body.

The little ones watching from behind, seeing Shangguan Yue finish strapping up, also came over to the 100-kilogram section one by one.

Thinking it was very light, several commoner children tried to pick them up, only to discover they couldn't budge them at all.

Some of the clan children also shakily lifted the weights off the ground before dropping them with a heavy thud, each of them looking at Shangguan Yue with expressions of shock.