"Ah, so that's the guy? Shangguan Yue?"
Minato Namikaze's eyes lit with admiration. Remembering how Shangguan Yue had kept staring at him before the school year began, he instantly brimmed with energy.
"The senior must have taken a liking to me. I'd better make a good impression later."
Nearby, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio huddled together.
"Shikaku, how about we make a run for it?"
"Choza, what are you afraid of? Doesn't your family have business ties with him?"
"Inoichi, what the hell do you know? That's exactly why we have business ties. If he challenges me, I can't refuse! The problem is, I can't beat him!"
"We can't get away. Just give up resisting. We'll take a beating, and it'll be over in no time."
"Shikaku, won't it be too embarrassing if we just give up?"
"Choza, just listen to me. We need to know the difference between taking one hit and getting beaten over and over.
This guy is the one who tore through the Ninja Academy. Those Genin who graduated last year came back to settle the score, and he beat them black and blue.
And it wasn't just one of them. It was a whole group of Genin. He's probably already at Chunin level, and that's a conservative estimate. I just don't know why he hasn't left the Ninja Academy yet."
Nara Shikaku rested his chin on his hand, utterly baffled. "By rights, Lord Hokage wouldn't let a talent like him go to waste."
As the atmosphere grew tense, Minato Namikaze stepped forward and called out loudly, "Senior, my name is Minato Namikaze. Please give me your guidance!"
"Yoshi! Finally, someone with guts enough to step forward. Come on!"
The two formed the sparring hand seal. Minato Namikaze gripped Ruowu, channeled chakra into his feet, and charged. With no one to teach him, the only technique he knew was the Chakra Extraction Technique.
Shangguan Yue decided to humor Minato Namikaze, and the two traded blows evenly. Only Minato Namikaze knew how miserable he felt.
"Every attack I make, every time I dodge, it's like the senior already knows what I'm going to do. I'm like a puppet on strings, getting tossed around!"
To the onlookers, Shangguan Yue looked as if he were simply giving Minato Namikaze a training session. He held his defenses until Minato Namikaze attacked.
Before long, Minato Namikaze admitted defeat. "Senior, I lost."
"Hahaha! Minato, work hard and get stronger. I believe in you. I'll be waiting for you at the summit."
"Yes!!! Senior!!!"
Minato Namikaze was fired up. Shangguan Yue's approval felt like the greatest honor in the world. The new students who had learned about Shangguan Yue all looked up to him as a role model. The idea of "someone else's kid" had taken deep root in their minds.
Shangguan Yue looked at the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, who were pretending to be dead. "You're the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, right? How about showing everyone the secret techniques of your clans?"
"Shikaku, what do we do?"
Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza panicked and looked to Nara Shikaku to make the call.
"Forget it, we'll fight. The Ino-Shika-Cho name can't be disgraced. We just need to put on a good show."
"Yoshi! Ganbatte! Let's go!"
"'Mind Body Switch Technique!'
'Shadow Imitation Technique!'
'Multi-Size Technique!'"
Akimichi Choza charged at Shangguan Yue, enlarging his hands and swinging them down at the spot where Shangguan Yue stood.
Nara Shikaku stood behind Choza, blocking Shangguan Yue's view, and used the Shadow Imitation Technique. A shadow raced along the ground toward Shangguan Yue, trying to control his movements.
Right in front of Shangguan Yue, Yamanaka Inoichi used the Mind Body Switch Technique. A wave of red chakra surged toward him.
Wanting to experience their techniques, Shangguan Yue didn't dodge. He met Akimichi Choza's massive palm with a punch.
To Akimichi Choza's surprise, Shangguan Yue's strength was no less than his own after using the Multi-Size Technique. His technique could multiply his strength several times over.
Shangguan Yue thrust his hand upward, sending Akimichi Choza flying. Then he faced Yamanaka Inoichi's Mind Body Switch Technique and simply let it hit him.
Shangguan Yue felt someone else's mental energy enter his body, trying to wrest control of it from him.
Before he could react, he saw the shadow on the ground link up with his own. His body and mind were both under attack.
With Shangguan Yue making no attempt to resist, he felt his body and mind fall under someone else's control. "This feels awful."
Shangguan Yue's chakra erupted. The mental energy that came with his Moon Release forced the two of them out of his body.
"What incredible mental strength!!!"
Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi looked utterly shocked. Then came the backlash from their techniques. Yamanaka Inoichi took the worst of it, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing Shangguan Yue looking as if he'd gotten interested and wanted to keep fighting, Nara Shikaku hurriedly called out, "We lose!"
"What? I was just getting into it! I was starting to enjoy myself, and you're already done!? That was quick!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Do you think everyone's a freak like you?
We're only five. We just learned these techniques, and it hasn't been long. We're running low on chakra, too. We can only manage one fight.
We can't fight back anyway, so go ahead and hit us if you want."
Shangguan Yue's mouth twitched. Seeing Nara Shikaku's expression, as if he didn't care if he got scalded by boiling water, Shangguan Yue felt he'd only brought this on himself. There was nothing he could do.
"Fine, fine."
Shangguan Yue looked at the others and spoke bluntly.
"Come at me together. Let me see what the first-years are made of.
If you don't come at me, I'll come to you.
This is a normal challenge. If you want to be ninja, don't back down.
What, a whole crowd of you is afraid to take on one person?"
Shangguan Yue's arrogance riled up the first-year students. One by one, they shouted that they'd teach him a lesson.
Uzumaki Kushina shouted the loudest. She charged forward first, eager to take Shangguan Yue down.
Seeing how bold Uzumaki Kushina was, Uchiha Mikoto, standing nearby, charged after her. The two were desk mates and had quickly become close.
Shangguan Yue saw Uzumaki Kushina charging at him and couldn't help feeling helpless. He wanted to fight back but was afraid of hitting her too hard. If he didn't, he couldn't justify it either.
But Uzumaki Kushina didn't care about any of that. She even started role-playing.
"Shangguan Yue, you little brat, come here and let me beat you up! You're so handsome and cute, so why are you so fierce? Let your big sister teach you a proper lesson."
Shangguan Yue's face went dark. "Is this really the usually gentle Kushina? No!!!"
He caught Kushina's swinging fist and pulled her behind him, leaving her sprawled across his lap.
Shangguan Yue raised his hand and brought it down with a smack on Kushina's bottom.
"That'll teach you to act up! Still going to be naughty? And calling yourself big sister—did you forget who you are? Have you been drinking fake booze?"
Uchiha Mikoto charged up behind them, furious, and shouted, "Shangguan Yue, you pervert! How can you spank a girl on the bottom? You're the worst!"
Mikoto threw several shuriken at Shangguan Yue. Holding Kushina, he leaped away from the spot and set her down to one side.
"Stand right there. I'll deal with you later."
Kushina stuck her tongue out at Shangguan Yue. "You big meanie, hehe."
Shangguan Yue's heart skipped a beat. Seeing Mikoto charging at him, he thought, "She's a little beauty, too."
Shangguan Yue used the same trick again. After a series of "smack, smack, smack" sounds, Uchiha Mikoto clutched her bottom.
"Are you going to behave now?"
"I'll behave~"
Hearing Mikoto's soft, sweet voice, Shangguan Yue's mouth went dry. "Forgive me, forgive me. I'm not into little girls."
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