Entrance Exam

Seeing Shangguan Yue acting as if nothing were amiss left them all dumbfounded, and Uchiha Fugaku let out a muffled snort at the sight.

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

Seeing Uchiha Fugaku strap on the 100-kilogram weights, Nawaki gritted his teeth and did the same.

"Good grief, Brother Yue is going to be the death of me."

Shangguan Yue couldn't be bothered to care about their feelings; he took off toward the track and began running laps.

"Time to test the effects. If this works, I can wear these weights during my daily routine later."

Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku refused to fall behind and followed suit, with Nawaki trailing close behind, followed shortly by the others from the Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho, and various other clans.

Only the commoner children were left slowly picking out their own weights; some tried to push through it, only to be flattened onto the ground, causing the rest to lose heart and stop trying to act tough.

Just as Shangguan Yue was slowly adapting to the weight, Uchiha Fugaku suddenly surged past him.

Next came the Hyuga brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi, leaving only Senju Nawaki behind Shangguan Yue.

"Brother Yue, why are you running so slow? They've already overtaken us."

"What's the rush? Weighted running is a test of endurance. Let them have the first two laps; we'll exert our strength later."

Shangguan Yue watched Uchiha Fugaku with a dark smirk, and when he saw the other boy's provocative expression, Shangguan Yue flipped him the middle finger.

Uchiha Fugaku was instantly enraged and accelerated, quickly lapping Shangguan Yue and Nawaki to pull up alongside them.

"Hmph, kid, no matter who you are, I, Uchiha Fugaku, will remember you. Just you wait, you loser."

With that, Uchiha Fugaku left without looking back, speeding up to try and lap them again, mocking Shangguan Yue every time he passed.

Shangguan Yue didn't say a word, but Nawaki grew annoyed. "Brother Yue, let's put on a burst of speed, blow past him, and mock him back."

"Haha, alright. Keep up with my pace, and don't fall behind."

"Yes! Ganbatte!"

Seeing Shangguan Yue agree, Nawaki brightened up, his entire body brimming with motivation.

On the other side, out of the children's sight, Tsunade stood at the forefront, flanked by the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, with the smaller families behind them.

They were all gathered in their own little circles, whispering and discussing, while Tsunade was surrounded by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the meddlesome Jiraiya, and Nawaki's master, Orochimaru.

"Tsunade, who is that little guy Nawaki keeps following around?"

"Jiraiya, do me a favor and keep your distance from now on. Stop looking at me with those lecherous eyes."

Seeing the serious expression on Tsunade's face, Jiraiya put away his playful grin and nodded solemnly.

"Right, wakatta."

Seeing Jiraiya respond with such sincerity, Tsunade let out a sigh of relief.

"This is... my... never mind. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, come here."

Tsunade beckoned them to lean in, whispering into their ears.

Upon hearing her words, Jiraiya stood frozen in place, while Orochimaru merely licked his lips; he didn't lose his composure, instead watching Shangguan Yue with keen interest.

"Nani sore? He is actually your... ah!"

Tsunade punched Jiraiya in the head. "Jiraiya, I told you to keep your voice down and keep it a secret. Can't you understand that?"

Noticing the surrounding gazes, Jiraiya shut his mouth and crouched down to rub his head, lost in a daze, feeling as if something important had vanished, leaving him feeling hollow inside.

Recalling what Tsunade had just said, Jiraiya stood up after a moment and shouted in feigned surprise, "He's actually your disciple?"

Tsunade finally lowered her hand, looking at Shangguan Yue with satisfaction. "Of course."

Hearing Tsunade's affirmative reply, the people around them looked toward where she was pointing, but Shangguan Yue's figure left them completely baffled.

"This little guy looks pretty average. He's already been lapped several times by the Uchiha and Hyuga kids."

"Don't speak too soon; they've started to pick up the pace, haven't they?"

"Isn't it too late? They've already been lapped so many times."

"The dust hasn't settled yet. The Senju have never been weaklings."

"..."

The crowd whispered among themselves, and the protagonists were, unsurprisingly, Shangguan Yue and Nawaki.

Now that he was linked to the Senju, every move he made became a subject of intense debate.

Nearby, the Hyuga and Aburame clans could tell there was more than met the eye, and the Hyuga were staring with wide eyes.

"He has so much chakra—more than the Senju boy next to him. It's almost at the level of a Jonin, though it lacks density and his conversion ratio is too low; he can still only be considered a Genin.

Relatively speaking, Nawaki's chakra volume hasn't reached Jonin level yet, but its density is already approaching that of a Chunin. He truly is a genius.

What exactly is this person's background?"

The Hyuga clan head, Hyuga Tenkawa, was filled with confusion; he hadn't paid attention to Shangguan Yue's name, otherwise, he wouldn't have been so surprised.

The Uchiha side was also watching Shangguan Yue with their Three-Tomoe Sharingan; after all, he was Tsunade's disciple. They didn't know what to expect, but what they saw shocked them.

The Hyuga's Byakugan could only see meridians, the Dantian, and observe chakra size, but the Uchiha's Sharingan was different; it could simply see the flow of chakra, focusing more on surface-level observation.

"How is this person's physical strength so high? Seeing the shocked expression on that Hyuga guy's face earlier, I imagine his chakra reserves are quite large too.

Whose bloodline is this? To reach this level at five years old—with this kind of physical strength, he could at least be considered an elite Genin in taijutsu."