With a light tap of his toes against the ground.
Genya turned into an elusive, motionless afterimage and easily evaded Sarutobi Taro's attack.
When he appeared again the next moment.
Genya was already behind Sarutobi Taro.
A kunai rested against his throat.
Even though the kunai had not been sharpened, having it pressed to his throat made Sarutobi Taro's hair stand on end. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
If this had been a battlefield, Sarutobi Taro would already have been a corpse.
After the kunai moved away, the sensation of a blade at his back vanished. Sarutobi Taro collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "As expected of a man acknowledged by me. Your strength is indeed extraordinary. I admit it, Uchiha Genya. You are qualified to become my bond!"
"When I become Hokage, having you as my bond will bring you glory too!"
"Heh..." Genya inwardly complained.
Why did the word "bond" sound so strange?
"Genya, you're amazing!" Nami emerged from the crowd and cried out softly.
Genya was so awesome!
Nami's appearance had not changed much.
She had an oval face, fair skin, bright watery eyes, and shoulder-length hair. When she pressed her lips together and smiled, faint dimples appeared on her cheeks. Some of her baby fat had faded, giving her features more definition and making her even more beautiful and charming.
Once she grew up.
She would definitely be considered one of Konoha's most beautiful women.
"Just luck." Genya smiled.
Watanabe Yu put down his notebook, stepped before the students, and said.
"In this spar, Uchiha Genya is the winner!"
"Genya's strength comes entirely from the hard work he has put in."
"Before dawn, he is already training his body."
"During breaks, he is either practicing Ninjutsu or practicing how to use ninja tools."
"So you should all learn from him. Strive to pass the graduation exam in half a year, become Genin, and make your parents proud!"
Watanabe Yu encouraged the students.
The Third Shinobi World War had cost Konoha far too many ninja, so the Ninja Academy graduation age had been lowered to nine.
Genya and the others were now eight and a half years old.
In another half year.
It would be time for the Genin exam.
By then, Genya and the others would be leaving the village to take on missions and might even head to the battlefield.
The Shinobi World remained as cruel as ever.
After all, the world of Hokage was primarily agricultural.
Aside from the Land of Fire, which had flat terrain and fertile land, the other four nations all had relatively barren soil.
Conflicts over food supply and demand often led to war.
The main reason, however, was that wherever people existed, there would be conflict. It was an unsolvable problem.
All Genya could do was strengthen himself and protect himself.
"Open the status panel!"
Analysis and Plans
A virtual screen appeared on Genya's retina.
Information surfaced on it.
Host: Uchiha Genya Gender: Male Age: 8 Appearance: Extremely handsome Faction: Uchiha Ninjutsu: Substitution Technique, Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame, Wind Release: Gale, Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, Wood Style: Cutting Technique, Wood Style: Strangulation Technique, Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall, Wood Style: Great Forest Technique. Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan Lv2 (712/1,000,000), Sage Body Lv2 (982,000/1,000,000), Wood Release Lv2 (1,876/1,000,000). Chakra: 2000/2000 (ordinary Jonin: 1000). Reserve Chakra: 8000 (can store four times his own chakra)
After more than two years of effort.
Genya had finally raised all three Kekkei Genkai, including Sage Body, to Level 2.
Level 2 Sage Body had increased Genya's chakra from 500 to 2000. Even his reserve chakra had increased to 8000, four times the amount of chakra he could normally store.
Upgrading Sage Body not only increased his chakra reserves but also gave him extremely powerful self-healing abilities.
Genya had once suffered an injury deep enough to expose bone.
Yet Level 2 Sage Body had allowed him to heal completely in just an hour.
The power of Sage Body was plain to see.
After Wood Release advanced to Level 2, Genya obtained two secret techniques: Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall and Wood Style: Great Forest Technique.
Now, Genya had begun looking forward to the secret techniques of Level 3 Wood Release.
He was also curious about when he would obtain "Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands"...?
Besides that.
Level 2 Sharingan had also allowed Genya to awaken the Two-Tomoe.
After his spar with Fugaku, Genya had concluded that his strength had reached the Jonin level.
As long as he did not recklessly provoke powerful figures such as Obito, Nagato, Sarutobi Hiruzen, or Jiraiya, he possessed a certain level of self-preservation.
Most importantly.
Genya was only eight years old.
He possessed limitless potential for growth.
After all.
Even Kakashi, Konoha's top genius, had only become a Jonin at twelve.
Genya was a full four years ahead of him!
He was even more monstrous!
Under normal circumstances.
There was no way Genya could have raised three Kekkei Genkai to Level 2 in only two years.
But starting a year ago.
Genya had often gone out to hunt ninja from enemy nations and rogue ninja who committed evil deeds, devouring their chakra to upgrade his Kekkei Genkai.
Otherwise.
There was no way he could have raised all three Kekkei Genkai to Level 2 so quickly.
His Sage Body might even have reached Level 3 already.
"Sage Body is still short by 18,000 energy points." Genya muttered. He planned to head out again soon and raise Sage Body to Level 3 first.
If Sage Body reached Level 3.
Then even if he faced one of the many powerhouses of the Shinobi World, he could escape with the explosive power of Sage Body even if he could not win!
However, what troubled Genya greatly was this.
Going from Level 2 to Level 3 actually required one million energy points.
That was simply too much, wasn't it?
Upgrading the other two Kekkei Genkai would also be a long road.
Pulling his thoughts back, Genya glanced at Sarutobi Taro and smiled. "Taro, don't forget what you promised just now."
Sarutobi Taro and Genya had agreed that as long as Genya was willing to spar with him, he would treat Genya and Nami to grilled meat.
After enduring for two years.
Sarutobi Taro had wanted to defeat Genya in one fell swoop and strengthen his resolve to become Hokage.
Although Sarutobi Taro had trained diligently over the past two years and reached the level of a Genin, enough to graduate from the Ninja Academy, his opponent was Genya, a cheat who possessed three Kekkei Genkai.
Defeat had been inevitable!
Genya had easily defeated Sarutobi Taro.
Sarutobi Taro squeezed his bulging wallet.
His funds should be enough today, right?
After all, Sarutobi Taro had witnessed the "ravenousness" of Genya and Hyuga Nami before.
It was truly terrifying!
Especially Genya. His stomach was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much he ate, he never seemed full.
"Taro, I've been dieting lately, so I can't eat much. I'll help you save money, don't worry." Nami smiled shyly, a hint of mischief shining in her large, bright eyes.
Under Genya's influence over the past two years, Nami had become a little more cunning as well.
"I, Sarutobi Taro, am a man who has aspired to become Hokage since childhood. How could a proud man like me possibly go back on his word?"
"It's just one meal of grilled meat. Let's go!"
With a grand wave of his hand, Sarutobi Taro led them off for grilled meat. He looked calm and expressionless on the surface, but inwardly, his heart was bleeding.
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
Why had he overestimated himself and challenged Genya?
Sarutobi Taro, you fool!
Genya and Nami exchanged a look and smiled in unspoken understanding.
Taro really was such a good person!
When it came to the Uchiha, the Sarutobi clan was divided into the Radical Faction and the Moderate Faction. The Radical Faction advocated discrimination and suppression, while the Moderate Faction promoted harmonious coexistence.
Sarutobi Taro belonged to the Moderate Faction.
That was why the three of them had become good friends over the past two years.
The three strolled down streets built in Japanese style.
Over the past two years.
The village had also undergone some changes.
The most eye-catching were the neat rows of closely packed apartment buildings.
Most of those apartments were Uchiha real estate projects. They valued housing quality, so they had built a strong reputation.
Genya had once considered introducing the concept of shared-area fees, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.
You couldn't pull up the leeks by the roots.
Before you continue