You Recover!

The night was filled with a scattering of stars.

Star of Fire Style lay on the lower bunk, while Obito slept on the upper, slurping ramen in his dreams.

Things are about to get better.

Ruohuo thought to himself.

His foundation was solid.

With the Sharingan as his core, he was advancing steadily in every aspect.

Defeating Kakashi proved that his first five-year development plan had been a success.

Next, he would enter a period of rapid growth.

Graduation, Chunin, the battlefield, the Anbu.

The path of a genius was always the same.

Itachi, Kakashi, Shisui—they all followed this route.

Before Minato becomes Hokage, the Uchiha should be able to reach S-rank, right?

His second five-year plan was the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

Based on known intelligence, the one who awakened the Mangekyo the fastest was that ingrate Itachi.

Of course, it could also have been Shisui.

But Ruohuo's method of awakening his eyes would be different.

Joining the Anbu or the Root would be enough to trigger it.

That was even simpler; as long as he became a Chunin and stood out as the brightest star on the battlefield, getting into the Anbu would be a matter of minutes.

Minato would take office at the end of Konoha 46; nearly six years was plenty of time.

As for the Root?

Hah.

The noble Uchiha would never stoop to collaborating with rats in the sewer!

If Danzo actually came to recruit him, Ruohuo would agree without a moment's hesitation.

Then, after collecting the rewards, he would flip Danzo the middle finger...

Turn around, and report it straight to the Konoha Military Police Force!

Don't ask why; the answer is that he looks down on him.

Got the guts to start a war?

The Uchiha are so evil, why not keep the Uchiha off the battlefield then?

I bet you wouldn't dare!

Come to think of it, if Obito isn't swindled by Madara into running a pyramid scheme, maybe... maybe Nagato's side could be won over?

...I wonder if external personnel count toward the Uchiha's strength.

Ruohuo suddenly thought of this.

The original Akatsuki was sabotaged by Danzo and Hanzo.

Hanzo's sickle had grown dull, and he feared the Akatsuki would threaten his rule.

With Danzo fanning the flames, the two major organizations in the Land of Rain lost any possibility of cooperation.

And he, he only needed to descend from the sky at the moment of the Akatsuki's greatest crisis, executing justice in the name of the Uchiha...

[Affiliate Faction module not yet unlocked. Please complete an A-rank clan mission to check the system panel.]

The system suddenly popped up a notification, nearly startling Ruohuo.

It actually exists... unlock it by completing an A-rank clan mission?

Ruohuo blinked. The system really had this function?

Then perhaps he could add a little more to this five-year plan...

Develop the Akatsuki into the Uchiha's Land of Rain branch?

Hey! The Akatsuki was originally Uchiha Madara's affiliate anyway; taking it over to use for himself was perfectly fine!

Perfect.

Ruohuo closed his eyes, feeling satisfied.

The direction was set.

Next, he would test it out in his dreams...

A week at the academy always passed slowly.

As the class representative, Ruohuo had to lead by example, so he didn't skip class to train.

Of course, this also had something to do with the fact that he didn't know how to use the Shadow Clone Technique yet...

There was no helping it; the Shadow Clone Technique was a B-rank ninjutsu, after all.

He didn't have any scrolls at home, and his grandmother didn't know it either, so he had nowhere to learn it even if he wanted to.

He finally made it to the weekend.

The entire grade at the Ninja Academy was having a mock exam.

The results of this exam would determine who would hold the title of top student for the grade.

They called it the top student.

But in Ruohuo's eyes, it was really just a different kind of "model student" award.

The spot would change based on future exam results anyway.

It was essentially handing out certificates in advance to encourage the other students to study hard.

The competition was still somewhat intense.

However, having lived two lives, Ruohuo naturally found such minor occasions easy to handle.

But to ensure the top student spot was foolproof and to pave the way for early graduation.

After the exam ended, Ruohuo went straight to find Oki.

Come to think of it, Oki had been saying he would report the previous fight to the Hokage.

But a week had passed, and Ruohuo hadn't received any news.

Knock, knock, knock—

Ruohuo stood at the door and knocked politely.

"Oh, it's Ruohuo. What is it?"

"I'm here to help you grade the test papers, teacher."

"..." Oki thought for a moment, but still declined Ruohuo's "help."

He would rather rely on his own shadow clones.

"You don't need to worry about this. Go have your lunch; the results will be announced this afternoon."

Oki waved his hand and took out a red pen, preparing to work overtime.

But before he could start, he noticed Ruohuo hadn't left yet. Feeling a sense of foreboding, Oki asked helplessly, "Is there anything else? Class monitor?"

Oki put a slight emphasis on the words "class monitor."

"The content of this exam was very simple, teacher."

Ruohuo said coolly, "I want to know, will future exams be this simple as well?"

"Do we just need to digest what's in the textbooks and then fill in the answers on the paper step by step?"

Oki was stunned. He felt that what Ruohuo said wasn't wrong, so he nodded and said:

"Regarding practical combat, teachers will also cover some knowledge not found in the textbooks, so you still need to listen carefully in class..."

Speaking of listening carefully, Oki was actually quite surprised by Ruohuo's performance this past week.

Because most of what was taught in the first year of the Ninja Academy was basic theory, which wasn't unfamiliar to children from major clans who had already undergone training.

Ruohuo had previously displayed strength far beyond his peers.

Therefore, Oki had always assumed that Ruohuo was a young talent being heavily cultivated by the Uchiha clan.

Yet even so, Ruohuo still listened very attentively in class.

It was quite unexpected.

"But I'm already the strongest in the class. Even those Hyuga from the upper grades have to take a detour when they see me."

Ruohuo spread his hands and said, "So teacher, what exactly can I still learn at the Ninja Academy?"

They take a detour because their clan head gave an order, and that's not something to be proud of, okay!

Oki's head was already starting to ache.

"Don't be too complacent, Ruohuo." Oki said patiently, "You're only in the first year. There's still..."

"I've already finished reading all the textbooks for the sixth year of the Ninja Academy, teacher."

Oki was interrupted by Ruohuo's cold voice before he could finish.

"Pardon my bluntness, but the theoretical knowledge taught at the Ninja Academy is far too basic for me."

"That's why I've always admired you, teacher... To be able to patiently explain such simple things to the students over and over again, even as a Chunin."

"That is truly something I cannot do. Thank you for your hard work, teacher."

After saying this, Ruohuo bowed ninety degrees, making the corner of Oki's eye twitch uncontrollably.

Teacher actually prefers you when you're being unruly; could you go back to that?

Doing it like this makes me feel a bit panicked!

"Ruohuo, what exactly are you..." Teacher Oki probed.

"I want to apply for early graduation, Teacher," Ruohuo stated his true objective.

"Time cannot be wasted; I want to become a ninja as soon as possible to serve my clan and the village."

"So, please give me an application form; I will take it back for my guardian to sign."

Ruohuo looked straight into Teacher Oki's eyes.

"Konoha needs me."