Chapter 9

Now it had left his stance between the clan and the village so ambiguous it gave people a headache.

Sasuke absolutely could not go down that old road.

Time flew by.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the Ninja Academy welcomed its first test. "Sasuke, there's an exam today!"

"I tossed and turned all night. Didn't sleep a wink."

"Are you confident?"

On the way to school, Naruto's mouth never stopped. "It's just a test. No need to be this nervous."

"At your current level, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Sasuke smiled at him, telling him to relax. "Sasuke!"

"Let's compete today and see who gets to school first!"

"If I lose, I'll double my training today!"

Rock Lee rushed over in a tight, shiny green training suit, his voice as loud as thunder. "No. There's a test today, so I need to conserve my strength."

"Oh, right, Lee. This is Naruto Uzumaki, my friend."

"From now on, he counts as your friend too."

"How about you two have a match?"

Sasuke shoved Naruto forward.

It would definitely be interesting to watch two blockheads fight. "Huh?"

"Me?"

"Fine, bring it on. You think I'm scared?"

Naruto did not care about rules or anything like that. Anyone who could be Sasuke's friend definitely would not be weak.

"Come on! Today's youthful rival, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Rock Lee was one of the few people in the village who did not look down on Naruto.

It was not because he was especially kind. It was because he simply had no time to look down on anyone.

All his time was poured into training. "Good!"

"Fight!"

The two of them shot out almost at the same time and vanished in the blink of an eye. "The rest of these are still coming after me?"

"Root? Or Anbu?"

The moment Naruto left, several of the tailing presences disappeared.

But in the dark, there were still people watching him. "Sasuke, let's go to school together!"

"Sasuke, I brought you breakfast!"

"Sasuke..."

The moment Naruto slipped away, a crowd of girls surrounded him.

Sasuke finally understood completely why the original owner had later turned into that cold, dead-faced version of himself.

Being surrounded every day by a flock of chattering girls like this—who could stand it...

After finally enduring until the school gates, with Naruto as a shield, things around him at last became much quieter. "Naruto, from now on, let's go to school together."

After saying this, Sasuke gave Naruto a meaningful look, then returned to his seat.

The morning exam was on academic subjects.

History, tactics, geography, Konoha's customs and practices...

With Sasuke's powerful mental strength, he could handle these things with just a casual flip through the material.

But the last question of the final subject made the corner of his mouth twitch nonstop.

[Write your thoughts on the Third Hokage]

[No fewer than 500 characters]

Sasuke was already more than immune to the Third Hokage's old face, but even he could not help breaking into a sweat when he saw this question.

Still, dealing with this kind of thing was something he knew inside out.

<The Incarnation of the Will of Fire in My Eyes—Lord Third Hokage>

Without another word, Sasuke began frantically flattering Hiruzen Sarutobi...

In one breath, he piled up over two thousand words, throwing in everything from towering admiration to the firelight that illuminated the younger generation.

The main issue was that the exam paper only had so much space. Otherwise, he could have written another two thousand...

When the bell rang, the academic test ended.

Next came the afternoon combat test.

The combat test was divided into three parts:

The first stage: obstacle course.

The second stage: one-on-one combat.

The third stage: team battle.

Most of the students in Class One were children with good grades or from ninja clans.

For a basic task like an obstacle run, everyone passed easily.

Soon, it was time for the one-on-one combat segment. "First match, Inuzuka Kiba versus Fei Shui."

The two stood in the center of the training field and formed the seal of confrontation with each other.

The fight was about to break out.

Although Inuzuka Kiba had not yet mastered his clan's secret techniques, he still took care of his opponent in a few moves.

After watching this match, Sasuke understood perfectly—if a civilian wanted to beat someone born into a clan, it was too hard.

Their resources had been different since childhood, their foundations were different, and the gap had already begun widening at this point. "Sixth match, Uchiha Sasuke versus Ryuma Shimura."

After the first five matches ended, it was finally Sasuke's turn to go up. "Sasuke, go!"

"Sasuke, you can do it!"

"Our Sasuke is the coolest! You're definitely going to win!"

The moment Sasuke appeared, the entire arena instantly erupted.

To put it bluntly, in most people's eyes, being good-looking was the ultimate truth.

Just look at Ryuma Shimura's expression on the other side, and everything was clear.

This kid was the son of the nephew of Danzo Shimura, the boss of the Root Organization!

This arrogant guy in front of him, he had to deal with him personally.

Then he would let that bunch of fangirls see that here in Konoha, hard fists were the real skill.

Besides, his father had told him that the Uchiha would be wiped out by Root sooner or later.

What right did this guy have to act handsome and cool here?

Still showing off?

Fine. Today, he would beat him into **!

"Prepare—seal of confrontation!"

As soon as Iruka's voice fell, the two of them each raised their fingers. "Bang!"

Without another word, Ryuma Shimura charged straight at Sasuke.

The practice kunai in his hand stabbed directly toward Sasuke's throat.

One had to know, even a practice kunai would be no joke if it stabbed into someone.

If it really landed, even if it did not kill him, his throat would be hoarse for several days.

Where did this guy get such deep hatred for him?

"Fire Release: Little Fire Snake Technique!"

Sasuke's fingers flew, forming seals in an instant.

A streak of flame sprang out beside him and shot straight toward Ryuma Shimura.

The heat wave rushed at his face, and Ryuma Shimura had no choice but to dodge.

Getting burned by Fire Release was no joke. "Lightning Release: Lightning Walk!"

"Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt..."

Ryuma Shimura was still pondering how to knock Sasuke down when a piercing sound of electric current suddenly rang beside his ear.

His hair stood up strand by strand.

"Too slow."

"Pfft!"

Sasuke struck with a hand chop, landing precisely on Ryuma Shimura's neck. "Bang!"

Ryuma Shimura's body went limp, and he collapsed straight to the ground, completely unconscious. "Sixth individual battle, winner—Sasuke!"

Iruka announced the result.

The medical ninja beside them immediately stepped forward and carried Ryuma Shimura away for treatment.

After all, there were still team battles waiting later.

Naruto's opponent was also a child from an ordinary ninja family—Ai Sanada. "How unlucky. Why did I have to draw this demon fox?"

"He won't kill me, will he?"

"This demon fox should get out of the village. Why does he get to attend class and take exams with me?"

Ai Sanada's face was filled with reluctance.

Ever since he could remember, his family had told him never to play with this demon fox.

In his mind, Naruto was a monster who could destroy the village at any moment.

Fighting a monster like that made him tremble inside.

But to suppress that fear, Ai Sanada opened his mouth and chose the nastiest words to throw out.

Naruto had originally been full of excitement, but the moment he heard this, his head immediately drooped.

It had already been so long. Why did the people at school still look at him like this?

He had not done anything, so why did he have to be cursed like this?

"Demon fox?"

"Monster?"

"If Naruto really were a monster, would it even be your turn to run your mouth here?"

"You'd have been killed long ago, right?"

"You can't even figure that out. How stupid can you be?"

Sasuke curled his lip, his face full of disdain. "Form the seal of confrontation!"

"Both sides, focus!"

Only now did Iruka come back to his senses.

Strictly speaking, he should have stopped it from the start.

But during the Nine-Tails incident, his parents had also died in that disaster.

Deep down, there was still something of a knot in Iruka's heart.

"I... can I really?"

Hinata stood in the corner, her hands unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum.

Sasuke gave her a brilliant smile. "Of course. The three of us are a team."

The little girl's cheeks flushed red at once. She lowered her head and gave a soft "Mm," then walked over to the two of them in tiny steps.

To be honest, among all the little girls in class, Hinata was the quietest.

The other girls chattered together in noisy clusters, while she was always alone, like a shy little blade of grass.

When the other girls saw that Sasuke had chosen Hinata, they sighed in disappointment and quickly went to find teammates too—this test score would be entered into their records and affected whether they could become ninja in the future.

The drawing of lots quickly began.

Sasuke glanced at the number tag in his hand. "Number four."

That meant they were the last group to go up.

He leaned back against his chair and crossed his legs. "Perfect. We can watch how the others fight first."

The group results were posted on the blackboard:

Team One: Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto Uzumaki, Hyuga Hinata

Team Two: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Sakura Haruno

Team Three: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino

Team Four: Yutada Ueyama, Chuichi Furuya, Shonin Aimoto

Team Five: Moriki Morishita, Watazawa, Shimura Yasuda

Twenty-four people, divided into eight groups.

Iruka stood at the podium and cleared his throat. "Listen carefully. Lots will decide your opponents. For first place in the team battle, the Hokage personally prepared a reward..."

After the rules were explained, each group began drawing lots.

Iruka looked at Sasuke's unruffled expression, and his brows knitted together.

Going up last indeed let them figure out most of their opponents' methods in advance.

But the cost was obvious too—their rest time would be compressed to the shortest, and even if they won, they would immediately run into a stronger opponent.

But Uchiha Sasuke's reaction was too calm.

Then he looked at the other two.

Naruto, that one-track-minded guy, looked like he wished the five words "I want to fight" were written directly on his face.

As for Hinata, she had her head lowered, her fingers twisting around and around, who knew what she was thinking about.

A team battle was not a one-on-one duel.

Was this the arrogance buried in the bones of the Uchiha clan?

Iruka shook his head and cleared away the stray thoughts. "First match."

"Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino."

"Versus—"

"Yutada Ueyama, Chuichi Furuya, Shonin Aimoto."

As soon as the words fell, the two teams stepped into the combat area. "Don't show all your trump cards. The medicinal herbs for winning this time aren't cheap."

"Sigh, what a pain. Just thinking about going up against that Uchiha guy gives me a headache."

Nara Shikamaru yawned, his face wearing a lazy kind of annoyance. "I'm worried too."

"I guess this is the fate of a beautiful girl?"

"To end up standing against the person I like..."

Yamanaka Ino cupped her face in both hands, her eyes sparkling. "Ababa..."

Akimichi Choji kept stuffing things into his mouth without stopping. "Crunch, crunch, crunch—"

Shonin Aimoto raised his hand and flung out a row of practice kunai.

Immediately after, Yutada Ueyama and Chuichi Furuya charged out at the same time, each picking Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji as their opponents.

Shonin Aimoto, meanwhile, stared Shikamaru down, his eyes full of wariness.

The clans behind these three had no small reputation in the village.

Everyone knew that tactical arrangements were always decided by the Nara Clan. As long as they pinned this guy down, the other side's teamwork would be hard to bring out.

He had trained like his life depended on it every day, waiting for this very day—to trample these clan ninja underfoot. "Ah..."

Shikamaru yawned out of sheer boredom.

Then he plopped down on the ground.

If Shonin Aimoto did not make a move, he was more than happy to take it easy.

On the other side, Choji's entire aura had changed.

The potato chips had long since been put away, and the usual simple-minded look was gone from his face as he stared at his opponent, Yutada Ueyama.

The other boy was a little fatty too, the kind who clearly relied on brute strength to get by. "Bang!"

The two of them slammed together like sumo wrestlers.

Dust exploded outward, and even the ground shook.

But Yutada Ueyama quickly realized that he could not push Choji at all.

Weight?

No.

It was strength!

Choji forcibly lifted his entire body and sent him flying.

Then he followed up, crashing down on him like Mount Tai.

It had to be said that this simple, brutal style of fighting really was effective when used by children their age.

In just three minutes, Yutada Ueyama had been pressed flat to the ground.

Ino's side did not waste any time either.

Her Mind Body Switch Technique was not fully mastered yet, but controlling a child was more than enough.

Under her control, Chuichi Furuya lunged straight at Shonin Aimoto.

At the same time, Shikamaru moved too.

Caught in a pincer attack, Shonin Aimoto did not even have room to resist and was quickly defeated. "First match, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino win!"

"Second match—"