Sarutobi Tarō

Afterward, Hyuga Nami handed out the remaining takoyaki to the other students.

The students thought it tasted great and praised her one after another, showing great approval for her cooking.

Before long, the homeroom teacher arrived in the classroom. His name was Watanabe Yu, a young man in his early twenties. He was tall and thin, with an ordinary-looking face, the kind that would go unnoticed in a crowd. He possessed Chunin-level strength.

The next part was nothing more than the students introducing themselves to one another.

There were over thirty students, and it took more than an hour to finish the introductions.

Once the introductions were over, homeroom teacher Watanabe Yu began teaching.

The lesson was simple, mainly introducing the strength of the five great hidden villages of the shinobi world.

The Naruto world had five powerful nations.

They corresponded to five powerful hidden villages.

At present, the Hidden Leaf Village was still the strongest village.

Powerful shinobi such as Hashirama Senju, Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Namikaze Minato had emerged from there. It also possessed the strongest Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, making it the undisputed number one hidden village.

Although the Hidden Leaf Village had lost the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina after the Nine-Tails incident, its overall strength still placed it among the top tier.

Second came Kumogakure, followed by Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure.

However, Kumogakure currently possessed the Fourth Raikage and Killer B, who could freely control the power of the Eight-Tails Gyuki. Its strength was already rapidly catching up to the Hidden Leaf Village.

The weakest was Sunagakure, located in the desert.

Although the Third Shinobi World War had ended some time ago and the shinobi world was in a relatively peaceful era, that peace was merely superficial. Beneath it, undercurrents surged.

Among the five great nations, only the Land of Fire had fertile land, covered in hills and plains, making it most suitable for growing food. The lands of the other four nations were all extremely barren.

The Land of Wind, in particular, was located in the desert.

Shinobi could not eat their fill or sleep warmly. They could only obtain everything they wanted through war. Peace was merely temporary.

The morning lessons soon ended.

Genya ate the bento he had brought with him.

The afternoon consisted of simple training classes.

There were chakra extraction classes, physical fitness classes, taijutsu classes, and the like. Genya had already roughly mastered these things, but he still kept a low profile and studied seriously.

The first day of school ended with homeroom teacher Watanabe Yu's announcement of "Class dismissed."

Most of the students cheered as they slung their schoolbags over their shoulders and headed home in small groups.

Just as Genya was about to pick up his schoolbag and leave, a cold voice sounded behind him.

"Hey, you Uchiha guy! The future Hokage challenges you!"

Sarutobi Taro

"Challenge me?"

"Who did I even offend?"

Genya raised his head in surprise and looked toward the voice. A chubby little boy stood indifferently in the doorway, staring sharply at him with eyes full of disdain.

The chubby boy was not very tall, with a sturdy, childish build. His pretended fierceness only made him look adorably simple-minded.

Genya frowned.

He had a good memory.

He vaguely remembered that this chubby boy was called Sarutobi Taro.

He belonged to the same clan as the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Ever since Sarutobi Hiruzen became Konoha's Hokage,

the status of the Sarutobi clan had risen accordingly.

It had now developed into one of Konoha's foremost clans.

There were many people in the clan.

There were also quite a few experts.

Influenced by his family from an early age,

Sarutobi Taro had long developed unfriendly feelings toward the Uchiha clan.

There was only one Uchiha in Class Three, Year One: Genya.

Thus, Genya had the misfortune of becoming the one "favored" by him.

"Sarutobi, we're classmates. Don't be like this!" Before Genya could speak, Hyuga Nami, who had yet to leave, hurriedly ran over to Sarutobi Taro and pleaded with him.

"Everyone is classmates. We'll become good friends in the future, so we should get along properly."

Sarutobi Taro turned his face away and snorted. "This is between me and that Uchiha guy. It has nothing to do with your Hyuga clan."

"Move aside!"

He held his head high like a proud rooster.

"Why do you want to challenge me?" Genya asked slowly in confusion. He had kept a low profile in class all day, so how had he provoked this young master of the Sarutobi clan?

He could not understand it.

Sarutobi Taro said blandly,

"The Uchiha possess the Sharingan and boast that it is Konoha's strongest bloodline limit. Today, I want to see whether that reputation is deserved."

"Come on!"

"Let me see how powerful your Sharingan really is!"

After saying that,

Sarutobi Taro spread his legs apart, one forward and one back, and struck an exaggerated, cringeworthy battle pose.

"I'm not. I didn't. Don't make things up." Genya immediately gave him a triple denial.

The Sharingan was certainly powerful, but the Uchiha would not arrogantly claim it was Konoha's strongest bloodline limit. Wouldn't that be disregarding the First Hokage's Wood Release bloodline limit?

"Any further explanation only makes you sound weak!"

"You are destined to become a stepping stone on my path to becoming Hokage!"

"If you tell people in the future that you were defeated by Lord Taro, it'll even bring honor to your face!" Sarutobi Taro said in a pompous, old-fashioned tone.

After pondering for a moment, Genya replied, "How about this? The Sharingan is the worst bloodline limit. I surrender. Can I go home now?"

Genya was confident he could defeat this chubby boy in one move, but the other party was from the Sarutobi clan. What he feared most was beating the little one only for the old one to come afterward. If he truly got into trouble and Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up for this chubby boy, Fugaku would not be able to protect him.

Better to avoid trouble whenever possible.

He would figure out the situation first.

Couldn't he just hide?

"What?" Sarutobi Taro staggered unsteadily, his eyes widening as he stared at Genya in disbelief.

This concerned the dignity of two clans, yet the other party did not take it seriously at all?

"Do you have no sense of clan honor?" Sarutobi Taro demanded angrily.

"Clan honor? Can it fill your stomach?" Genya asked calmly.

It was just a fight between two little brats, yet he had elevated it to clan honor.

Was something wrong with his brain?

"If you don't accept my challenge today, I won't let you leave. I'll stay here and waste time with you!" Sarutobi Taro's large body directly blocked the doorway as he sneered.

Fortunately, only the three of them remained. Otherwise, the scene would surely have been unbearably awkward. Cringeworthy teenagers really were hard to deal with!

After thinking for a while,

a faint smile rose on Genya's lips.

"It's not impossible for me to accept your challenge!"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Sarutobi Taro's eyes lit up, and his opinion of Genya improved slightly. It seemed the other boy had some backbone after all!

"Tonight at ten, at the clearing behind Hokage Rock. We'll settle this there!"

"How could a proud Uchiha possibly be frightened off by a few words from you?" Genya snorted, speaking with great momentum!

"Fine! Whoever doesn't show up is a pig!" Sarutobi Taro was overjoyed. Genya's subsequent display made him regard him a little more highly.

"Fine, tonight I'll definitely let you witness the power of the Sharingan!" Genya indicated that he would absolutely meet the challenge.

Tonight, they would duel atop Hokage Rock!

Sarutobi Taro suddenly raised his brows, realizing the time was too late. "Why ten at night? Can't it be earlier?"

Genya replied, "I'll go home and rest for a while, conserve my energy, and meet your challenge in my most alert state!"

"Fine!"

Sarutobi Taro nodded happily, accepting Genya's explanation.

Beside them, Hyuga Nami clenched her small fists, her heart full of unease and anxiety.

If I tell the teacher, they'll definitely be punished. No, I can't tell on them. If I do, they'll definitely hate me.

They're both from prominent Konoha clans, so they should know their limits. Tonight, I'll sneak out and watch them. If anything goes wrong, I can help immediately.

Yes, that's settled. You can do this, Nami! Hyuga Nami encouraged herself inwardly.

With his schoolbag on his back,

Genya slowly headed toward the clan compound. The streets were crowded with people, and quite a few villagers pointed at him behind his back. Many even looked at him with eyes full of disgust.

Genya did not care.

When he returned to the Uchiha clan compound, the atmosphere clearly changed. Many people greeted him kindly.

The Uchiha appeared cold on the outside, but most clan members were actually passionate at heart. They often helped one another and were extremely united.

Except for the two lunatics, Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito.

After returning to his courtyard home,

Genya began preparing dinner.

Some simple vegetables and cheap meat.

After dinner, he took a comfortable bath.

Before nine o'clock,

Genya was already lying in bed.

Young people should still sleep early and rise early.

"I feel like I forgot something?" Genya turned slightly, pausing for a moment before comforting himself. "Maybe it's because I'm tired."

"Sleep!"

He closed his eyes and drifted into dreamland.

Eleven at night.

Behind Hokage Rock.

"I've already waited an hour. Why hasn't Uchiha Genya arrived? Could he be scared?"

"As expected, the Uchiha clan are all cowards!"

At that moment, Sarutobi Taro stood on the mountaintop behind Hokage Rock, gritting his teeth with a face full of anger that needed release.

"I'll wait until midnight. If he still doesn't come, I'll deal with him tomorrow!"

Behind a distant boulder, Hyuga Nami was hiding. Taking advantage of the night, she had secretly slipped out. Since she was not from the main family, the restrictions on her were not as strict.

"Why hasn't Genya come?"