Entrance Exam

Seeing Shangguan Yue moving as if nothing was wrong made everyone stare in disbelief. Uchiha Fugaku snorted at the sight.

"I refuse to believe he's stronger than me. I'm Uchiha Fugaku, after all."

Seeing Uchiha Fugaku put on the 100-kilogram weights, Nawaki gritted his teeth and put on a set too.

"Good grief, Brother Yue, you're gonna be the death of me."

Shangguan Yue didn't care how they felt. He dashed over to the training field and started running laps.

"Let's see how well this works. If it helps, I can try wearing weights in my daily life, too."

Unwilling to fall behind, Uchiha Fugaku followed, and Nawaki did the same. The other clans—the Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho, and so on—joined in one after another.

Only the civilian children took their time choosing their weights. Some gritted their teeth and tried to push through, only to collapse on the spot. The others came to their senses and stopped trying to show off.

As Shangguan Yue slowly adjusted to the weights, Uchiha Fugaku suddenly shot past him.

Then came the Hyuga brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi. Only Senju Nawaki stayed behind Shangguan Yue.

"Brother Yue, why are you running so slowly? They've already passed you!"

"What's the hurry? Running with weights is about endurance. Let them get two laps ahead. We'll pick up the pace later."

Shangguan Yue watched Uchiha Fugaku with a sly grin. Seeing the taunting look on Fugaku's face, Shangguan Yue gave him the finger.

Uchiha Fugaku flew into a rage and sped up. Before long, he had lapped Shangguan Yue and Nawaki, and came around to them again.

"Hmph. I don't care who you are, kid. I'm Uchiha Fugaku, and I'll remember you. Just you wait, you loser."

With that, Uchiha Fugaku sped off without looking back, hoping to lap them a few more times. Each time he passed, he taunted Shangguan Yue.

Shangguan Yue didn't say anything, but Nawaki was getting annoyed. "Brother Yue, let's pick up the pace and leave him in the dust. Then we can taunt him back."

"Haha, sure. Keep up with me, and don't fall behind."

"Yes! Let's do this!"

Seeing Shangguan Yue agree, Nawaki perked up, filled with energy.

--

Elsewhere, out of the children's sight, Tsunade, the Uchiha, and the Hyuga stood at the front, with the other minor clans behind them.

They had all gathered in their own little groups, chattering away. Around Tsunade were the Ino-Shika-Cho, Jiraiya, who had come to watch, and Nawaki's teacher, Orochimaru.

"Tsunade, who's that kid Nawaki keeps following?"

"Jiraiya, please keep your distance from now on. Stop looking at me with those lecherous eyes."

Seeing Tsunade's serious expression, Jiraiya dropped his usual silly grin and solemnly nodded.

"Okay. Wakarimashita."

Seeing Jiraiya take her seriously, Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is... I... never mind. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, come over here."

Tsunade beckoned them closer and whispered into their ears.

The moment Jiraiya heard her, he froze. Orochimaru licked his lips but didn't seem taken aback; instead, he looked at Shangguan Yue with interest.

"Yare yare daze? He's actually your... ah!"

Tsunade punched Jiraiya on the head. "Jiraiya, I told you to keep your voice down and keep it secret. Don't you understand?"

Jiraiya glanced at the people around them and fell silent. He crouched down, rubbing his head, lost in thought. He felt as if something important had disappeared, leaving him hollow inside.

After thinking over what Tsunade had just said, Jiraiya slowly stood up and loudly exclaimed in feigned surprise, "He's actually your student?"

Only then did Tsunade let him off. She looked toward Shangguan Yue with satisfaction. "Of course."

Hearing Tsunade confirm it, the people around her looked toward Shangguan Yue, where her gaze had fallen, utterly baffled.

"That kid looks pretty ordinary. The Uchiha, the Hyuga, and the others have lapped him several times already."

"Don't speak too soon. They've only just sped up."

"Isn't it too late? He's already been lapped several times."

"The results aren't in yet. The Senju have never been weak."

"..."

The crowd began murmuring among themselves. The focus of their discussion was, unsurprisingly, Shangguan Yue and Nawaki.

Now that Shangguan Yue was connected to the Senju, his every move was attracting scrutiny and debate.

The Hyuga and Aburame nearby could tell there was more to him than met the eye. The Hyuga widened their eyes.

"He has an enormous amount of chakra—more than Senju Nawaki beside him, almost as much as a jonin. But it isn't very concentrated, and his chakra conversion rate is too low. He can only be considered a Genin for now.

"By comparison, Nawaki's chakra isn't quite at a jonin's level, but its concentration is already close to a Chunin's. What a genius.

"Just who is this boy?"

The Hyuga clan leader, Hyuga Tenkawa, looked utterly baffled. He hadn't paid attention to Shangguan Yue's name; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so surprised.

The Uchiha were also watching Shangguan Yue with their three-tomoe Sharingan. After all, he was Tsunade's student, and seeing him up close was a real eye-opener.

"The boy's body is incredibly strong. Judging by that Hyuga fellow's reaction, he must have a lot of chakra, too.

"Whose bloodline does he come from? To reach this level at just five years old... With physical strength like that, he could already qualify as an elite Taijutsu Genin."