Talent

(Chapter 23: Talent)

"Heh heh, Mirai, I'm definitely going to beat you this time!" Sato pointed at Mirai and shouted.

Mirai looked at Sato, a faintly puzzled expression crossing her face. "Do we know each other?"

"Damn it! At least remember your classmates' names! Sato. My name is Sato. I'm the one you beat in the first strength test!" Sato yelled at Mirai.

"You still remember something that happened so long ago? With a memory that good, you must be great at studying." Mirai sounded completely serious.

The other students in the class snickered. Sato came from a fairly well-off family and was something of a rich kid. He was also a decent fighter, thanks to his love of picking fights. It seemed that, in an effort to get back at Mirai, he had trained even more than the average student. His strength was among the best in the class.

His grades, however, were among the worst. As Sato put it, ninjas were meant to fight, not study, so he never bothered with schoolwork. Everyone in class knew his grades were at the bottom, so the students naturally assumed Mirai had been teasing him.

Sato thought the same as everyone else. Clenching his fists, he glared at her. "Are you making fun of me?"

Mirai raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that? Was I wrong?"

"You don't know who I am?" Sato asked, staring at Mirai.

"Sorry, I don't remember ugly things." Mirai spread her hands.

"Damn it!"

Teacher Nakamura cut off their argument. "All right, enough chatting. You can talk after class. Don't keep everyone waiting. Let's begin!"

"Yes!"

Sato clenched his fists and grinned viciously. "I'll show you what I can do!"

"Then I look forward to it," Mirai said with a smile. Those kids didn't pose much of a challenge to her anymore. The System Shop hadn't issued any missions either, which clearly meant it didn't consider fighting these opponents with Mirai's current strength worth even an F-rank mission. F-rank was the lowest possible grade; not even qualifying for that meant it would be a breeze.

"Take this!" Sato shouted. He jumped into the air, pulled out several shuriken, and hurled them at Mirai. They cut through the air, spinning rapidly toward her. Mirai leaped backward, dodging every one. The shuriken embedded themselves in the ground.

"It's not over!" Two kunai shot toward her. Mirai turned aside and dodged again. They were reasonably accurate, but lacked any variation and posed no threat to her.

Sato charged at Mirai. He wanted to fight her head-on. At the Ninja Academy, they taught only basic ninjutsu, which wasn't very useful in a direct fight. It was quicker and more effective to clash head-on with kunai.

Mirai took out a kunai and fought back. She stood her ground, while Sato kept shifting position under her attacks, trying to find an opening. But no matter how he attacked, Mirai easily stopped him. The gap in their basic abilities was obvious.

Facing an opponent like this was far too easy for Mirai—hundreds of times easier than fighting Uchiha Itachi. The difference between a prodigy and an ordinary person in the Naruto world really was enormous.

Mirai had no intention of prolonging the fight. As Sato rushed toward her, she thrust her dagger toward him. Startled, Sato thought she was finally attacking and quickly jumped back, trying to get out of her reach.

But when he looked up, Mirai had vanished. "Where'd she go?" Panic seized Sato. His opponent had disappeared. According to the textbook, that put him at a serious disadvantage. He should hide and wait for a chance to strike.

A chill touched his neck, and his body stiffened against his will. Mirai had appeared behind him without him noticing and held a kunai to his throat. "You lose."

"Damn it!"

Teacher Nakamura announced, "Mirai wins!"

Minato's eyes lit up as he watched Mirai. "Third Hokage, Mirai performed very well."

The Third Hokage nodded. "This year's class is in something of a lull. There are very few children of the right age from the various ninja clans, but the top students are better than those of any class before them."

Konoha had many ninjas, most of them Genin or Chunin, with ranks that weren't particularly high. There were also clan-based ninja, such as those from the Hyuga Clan, the Aburame Clan, and the Uchiha clan. These clans were the main source of students for the Konoha Ninja Academy.

But Konoha had been at war for a long time, and its ninjas were constantly sent out on missions, so there weren't many children of the right age. Mirai's class had coincided with a gap across the various clans, leaving few children of the right age. As a result, there weren't many exceptionally talented students in the class.

Minato was a little surprised by the Third Hokage's assessment. The Third Hokage had been the principal of the Konoha Ninja Academy for many years and had seen countless talented students. The famous Konoha Sannin had all been his pupils, yet he thought this class surpassed every class before it.

Minato glanced over the remaining students and asked, "You mean Mirai and Itachi?"

The Third Hokage nodded. "That's right. They're both geniuses, especially Mirai. She awakened her Sharingan six months ago, and it was a Two-Tomoe Sharingan right from the start. Itachi is also exceptionally gifted."

Minato was astonished. Mirai had been only four years old six months ago. A four-year-old awakening the Sharingan went beyond ordinary talent. She was practically a prodigy.

Mirai returned to her seat. Among the people she was on good terms with, Uchiha Itachi had advanced without question, and both Mikazuki Sora and Hyuga Hiben had made it to the final round. Mirai could understand Hyuga Hiben's success. She was from the Hyuga Clan, even if she belonged to the branch family, and the Hyuga were a major clan known for their ninjutsu.

The Hyuga had their own inherited techniques, which every member of the clan had to train in. That made their strength far greater than that of ordinary students. Mikazuki Sora, however, surprised Mirai. She hadn't expected such a quiet girl to have such solid fundamentals. It seemed she had worked incredibly hard in training—harder than many of the boys.

Shiba Bun and Cunxia Ye had been eliminated in the third round. They couldn't compete with Mirai and Itachi, but they hadn't even outdone the two girls. Both felt embarrassed. For once, they sat quietly and didn't bicker.