Enrolling

The three of them quickly arrived at the Ninja Academy, as the Uchiha clan had not yet relocated from the center of Konoha.

By the time they reached the school, many parents had already brought their children to register.

When Fugaku and the two boys appeared, the gazes of the crowd were varied—some held awe, others disgust—but most were indifferent. After all, compared to civilians, the majority of those coming to register at the Ninja Academy were from ninja families.

Civilians could harbor boundless resentment toward the Uchiha, but ninjas, to some extent, maintained a level of awe for this, the greatest clan in Konoha.

Yu ignored the stares, following Fugaku through the crowd directly to the registration desk. Under the nervous gaze of the ninja instructor, Yu and Itachi quickly filled out their personal information.

Afterward, under the instructor's cautious demeanor, they received their class assignments. Yu then noticed Itachi looking at him with a sullen expression.

Yu glanced helplessly at the assignment slip and instantly understood why Itachi was unhappy: they had not been placed in the same class.

Seeing this, Fugaku said nothing more, merely warning them to study hard and never bring shame upon the Uchiha clan at school, before hurrying off toward the Military Police Force, as there were many matters in the clan requiring his attention.

After bidding Fugaku farewell, Yu softly comforted Itachi, promising that he would wait for him after school so they could walk home together, which improved Itachi's mood slightly.

Clutching his slip and parting ways with Itachi, Yu headed toward his own classroom.

After wandering around for a bit, he realized it was already quite late, and many students had already arrived in their classrooms.

Yu found his classroom and pushed the door open to find it already packed with people.

As he entered, every eye in the room turned toward him.

"Wow! Another handsome guy!" a girl whispered, suppressing her voice.

"It's someone from the Uchiha clan. That cold expression is so cool, I love it."

Hearing the girls' hushed voices, Yu's calm expression shifted into a gentle smile. As expected, children are still simple-minded! They don't have the ulterior motives of adults.

"Wow! He looks so good when he smiles, so gentle!" A few girls shrieked instantly.

The Uchiha genes are truly overpowered, Yu mused to himself. He followed the sound of the voices and saw a pair of ordinary-looking civilian ninja girls staring at him with stars in their eyes. Yu felt no prejudice toward them, regardless of whether they were from a clan or were pretty girls.

Instead, he gave the two girls a gentle nod, causing them to blush with shyness.

Scanning the students in the class, Yu noticed that there were very few clan ninjas, and even the few who stood out didn't look familiar to him.

Just as Yu was about to look away, his gaze suddenly locked. He had assumed there wouldn't be anyone he knew in this class, but he hadn't expected to run into an acquaintance.

By the window, a delicate-looking girl from the main family was watching him with excitement.

She had long black hair, a purple high-collared short shirt, and a black tear mole beneath her large eyes.

"Izumi!" Yu was slightly surprised. Because of his presence, Itachi's childhood had changed somewhat; he hadn't begun contemplating the meaning of life at such a young age as he did in the manga, and consequently, he hadn't met Izumi.

He had first met Izumi on the night of the Nine-Tails Rebellion. He had been at home with Itachi, looking after the infant Sasuke. It was the first crisis Yu had faced since arriving in this world—the roar that shook the sky over Konoha, the houses trembling—as he and Itachi rushed out with baby Sasuke in their arms.

They had seen a giant orange fox wreaking havoc on Konoha. That terrifying power made Yu, an ordinary person from the Blue Star, realize for the first time how dangerous this world was. It was then that they encountered Izumi, who had just been separated from her family.

After a brief exchange, Yu led the three of them to join the evacuating crowd.

During that time, Yu displayed the maturity and calmness of an adult, and by relying on his own "cheat," he saved many children and women in distress along the way.

So, despite being only six years old, Yu held quite a bit of prestige among the civilian members of the Uchiha clan.

Yu had a very good impression of this gentle and empathetic girl. Thinking of this, he waved at Izumi with a sunny smile. The little girl nodded back at him, looking slightly shy, before bashfully averting her gaze.

Yu didn't linger; he walked gently toward Izumi. It wasn't that he had any ulterior motives, but her seat was the only one left in the entire classroom. Although children were simple-minded, they were heavily influenced by their parents, and when left with no other choice, they would often choose friends based on their family backgrounds.

Sitting down beside Izumi, Yu turned to look at her. Aside from a hint of shyness, she looked back at him quite openly.

"Izumi, what a coincidence!"

"Yu-kun, I'm so happy we're in the same class. Please take care of me from now on."

"Izumi, you're as cute as ever," Yu said with a light smile.

"Yu-kun..." Izumi didn't know how to respond, her face flushing red as she looked away, looking truly adorable.

"Yu-kun, are Itachi and Sasuke doing well?" To hide her shyness, she quickly changed the subject.

"Them? One is already a chubby little boy, and the other has started overthinking everything every single day," Yu replied with a hint of helplessness.

"Pfft! Yu-kun, you're still so funny," Izumi covered her mouth and laughed. "Yu-kun, shall we take Itachi to eat dango after school?"

"Oh? Is Izumi treating us today?" Yu feigned exaggeration.

Seeing his dramatic expression, Izumi couldn't help but laugh again. "Yes, I haven't properly thanked you and Itachi for what happened last time."

"Alright, alright. Let's go find Itachi after school. He's been looking so gloomy lately, we should add some extra sugar for him."

Yu didn't refuse the girl's kindness. He knew Izumi was a grateful little girl, and if he refused outright, she would only end up overthinking it.

I'll just eat a little less then, Yu thought. He knew Izumi came from an ordinary Uchiha family that wasn't very wealthy; she must have saved her pocket money for a long time for this treat.

And the girl's sincere gratitude from last time had actually been very beneficial to him.

This brought him to his "transmigrator cheat." Like most transmigrators, Yu had a golden finger.

His cheat was a cultivation game he had played in his previous life. Perhaps due to the transmigration, the cheat was now very simple.

Aside from the basic Qi-refining techniques from the game, it allowed him to record and convert ninjutsu into Daoist arts.

For instance, the Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth techniques he had studied in the clan's library had all been converted into the Five Elements Escape Technique of Daoism. Unlike the Five Elements ninjutsu that required hand seals, the Daoist Five Elements Escape Technique was the ultimate mastery of the five natural attributes.

Take the Water Release Technique, for instance. Currently, it is one of his weakest elemental arts. The entry-level Water Release Technique only allows him to control existing water sources, meaning he cannot conjure water out of thin air, and its range is quite limited—only within a radius of about ten meters.

However, this is merely the entry-level version of the Daoist Water Release Technique. Once you reach the proficiency stage, not only does your range of water control increase a hundredfold, but through your understanding of the Great Dao of Water, conjuring water from thin air using your own Spirit Energy becomes an effortless feat.

Beyond this, there are five additional levels: Ordinary, Proficient, Perfect, Micro-level, and Transcendent.

Each level represents a qualitative transformation. As one progresses through these levels and deepens their understanding of the Great Dao of Water, the various manifestations of water will also be refined. For example, one could compress water pressure to fire high-pressure water jets, condense water into ice, or turn water into mist; in short, one would gain complete mastery over all forms of water.

As long as your imagination is vivid enough and aligns with the Great Dao of Water, anything is possible. Most importantly, as you advance in these Daoist arts, elemental damage of the same type will be reduced to a minimum, and even transforming one's own body into the element itself is not impossible.

Currently, the Five Elements Escape Technique mastered by Yu consists of Fire Element Proficiency, Lightning Element Proficiency, Wind Element Ordinary, Water Element Entry-level, and Earth Element Entry-level.

To raise the levels of these arts, besides diligent practice and personal enlightenment, Yu has two other methods. The first is to continuously collect various types of ninjutsu belonging to the same elemental categories.

The second is to obtain "Gratitude Points" from others (including being moved, thanked, or acknowledged).

Alternatively, he can harvest "Malice" from others (including hatred, disgust, or dislike).

This is somewhat similar to the legendary collection of "Willpower"; whether it is gratitude or malice, both are forms of mental energy.

However, these two types of mental energy serve different purposes.

Gratitude Points can improve both the grade of one's cultivation technique and the level of one's skills, whereas malice can only improve the level of one's skills.

Yu suspects this is likely related to his initial cultivation technique. After all, when he played that game back then, he chose the path of a righteous sect.

Since it was not a demonic path, he is forced to continuously invest Gratitude Points—a more positive form of mental energy—if he wants to upgrade his current cultivation technique.

As for skills, they are ultimately just a way of utilizing power and do not distinguish between good and evil.

His primary introductory technique, the Qingming Art, emphasizes a calm and peaceful state of mind, seeking tranquility to reach far-reaching goals.

Once his mind becomes restless, his cultivation slows down. Furthermore, as the technique progresses, his temperament becomes increasingly peaceful and upright, a fact that worries Yu immensely.

Because at this point in time, he is still unable to awaken his eyes, even though Yu knows his younger brother had already awakened his eyes during the Nine-Tails Rebellion.

It is said that awakening the eyes is related to spiritual power, but Daoist cultivation techniques emphasize the balanced development of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. As his cultivation has reached the stage of Refining Essence into Qi, his spiritual power has been rising rapidly, yet his eyes have felt absolutely nothing.