School Entrance Test

"You mean he cast more than a dozen Great Fireball Jutsu in a row, and still hadn't exhausted his chakra?"

Looking at the subordinate who had come to report, Danzo knew they would not dare lie to him, yet he still could not help doubting it.

It was not as though he had never seen geniuses before. The Legendary Sannin of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi Hatake, and others were all geniuses—but had he ever seen anyone with that much chakra at the age of five?

Even Madara Uchiha, the Asura of the Shinobi World, had not possessed such enormous chakra at five years old!

Perhaps only the First Hokage had been capable of such a thing!

The Root member making the report did not even raise his head as he replied emotionlessly, "Yes!"

"Hahaha! Not bad, not bad!" Danzo could not help laughing heartily within the gloomy underground base. Then he muttered to himself, "Such a promising seedling must be cultivated by Root!"

In truth, jinchuriki possessed far more chakra than Chentian, but they could not use it as freely as they wished.

Moreover, the tailed beasts' chakra interfered with their own chakra, making it extremely difficult for them to learn and use ninjutsu.

But Chentian did not have such a flaw. As long as he learned enough ninjutsu, he could possess formidable combat strength at any time.

Just as Danzo resolved to obtain Chentian, the Third Hokage was also considering the matter.

Especially since Chentian was Minato's younger brother, and Minato was about to assume office as the Fourth Hokage. Who knew whether he would still be able to keep Minato in check then?

After thinking it over, however, the Third Hokage still suppressed the issue. He was already riding a tiger and could not get off; he had no other choice.

After Kushina and Minato escorted him home, Chentian was forcibly kept in bed. Only when the Ninja Academy opened two days later was he finally allowed to leave the house.

Even busy Minato had specifically made time to accompany Kushina in taking Chentian to register.

"Good morning, Jonin Minato!"

"Jonin Minato, are you bringing your younger brother to school?"

"Jonin Minato..."

Along the way, Chentian truly saw just how prestigious Minato had become. People all over the streets greeted him one after another.

Before long, Chentian and the others arrived at the Ninja Academy. He looked all around but did not spot any figures from the original story.

A few minutes later, Minato found a Chunin teacher with him. After pushing Chentian forward, he said, "Teacher Yuanshan, I'll leave Chentian in your care."

After exchanging greetings, Minato and Kushina left first.

The enthusiastic crowd was simply too difficult to deal with. Chentian could see that Minato's smile had practically frozen on his face.

"Chentian, the entrance test is about to begin. You need to come along as well," Teacher Yuanshan said to Chentian in the gentlest tone he could manage, but the vicious scar on his face made his smile even more terrifying.

That expression could make little girls cry, Chentian grumbled inwardly, but he obediently answered, "Okay, Teacher Yuanshan."

Within minutes, Yuanshan brought Chentian to the academy's training grounds.

"Quiet!" The roar, like that of a savage bear, instantly stunned the noisy children into silence. Everyone turned their eyes toward Yuanshan.

Seeing this, Yuanshan nodded in satisfaction and said, "The entrance test begins now. Everyone will run five hundred laps around the field! You have five minutes to prepare."

At those words, Chentian immediately jumped down from the platform and began warming up on the field.

"Is he the child Lord Minato adopted?"

"That's him. I really don't know why Lord Minato adopted him. He's just a civilian orphan!"

"Lord Minato will soon become Hokage. That makes him the Hokage's younger brother!"

"The test is about to start. We have to give him a lesson!"

The children looked at Chentian with intense envy, all of them itching to prove that they were far superior to him.

News that Minato would become the Fourth Hokage had already spread throughout Konoha. Once Minato became Hokage, Chentian's status would immediately become completely different.

Most of the children came from ordinary families, but even the children of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans felt somewhat jealous.

Chentian heard every word they said, but he was not angry.

An orphan had suddenly become one of Konoha's most honored people. Even Chentian himself would have felt a little bitter in their place.

Understanding them was one thing, but Chentian still decided to go all out in the upcoming test and show them exactly why.

"Alright, everyone take your positions. The test officially begins!"

The children scattered loosely into their places. Minato, Kushina, and the others watched from the platform, along with the Third Hokage and other Konoha higher-ups.

Suddenly, a one-eyed man dressed in black, looking like a gangster, stepped onto the platform.

"Danzo, why are you here?" Seeing the newcomer, the Third Hokage asked curiously.

Danzo had almost never attended entrance ceremonies. Today truly was a case of the sun rising in the west.

"The war depleted Root's strength too greatly. I came to see whether there are any promising seedlings who can replenish Root's forces."

With that single sentence, Danzo directly defined the matter. Without caring what anyone else thought, he fixed his gaze on Chentian.

Chentian, prepared on the field, suddenly felt the hairs on his body stand on end, as though some monstrous beast had fixed its eyes on him.

When he turned his head, he immediately saw Danzo's greedy gaze, as if the man wanted to swallow him whole.

"Gulp!" Chentian swallowed hard and hurriedly turned back around, constantly reassuring himself, It's fine, it's fine. If Danzo dares lay a hand on me, Kushina will dare unleash the Nine-Tails and smash Root to pieces!

"On your marks—run!"

At that moment, Teacher Yuanshan gave the command, and more than a hundred children surged forward at once.

Chentian also exploded with his full strength. Within seconds, he had taken the lead, and the distance between him and everyone else continued to widen.

Everyone present was only five or six years old. Even if they had trained, they were merely at an adult's level.

But every one of Chentian's four basic attributes was above twenty points, placing him far ahead of them in every aspect.

Even if these children could use chakra, their chakra could not compare to Chentian's even if they rode horses to chase him.

As he ran, Chentian's eyes suddenly lit up. System, collect the card!

That was right. As he ran, a white card shining with an enticing glow suddenly appeared before him.

He had no idea which of the hundred-plus children had dropped it.

[White card: Constitution +1]

Having discovered this unexpected gain, Chentian abandoned his previous idea of finishing as quickly as possible. He adjusted his pace to remain one lap ahead and continuously collected cards.

The chance of cards dropping during exercise was low, but with more than a hundred people exercising together, the odds were no longer so low!

[White card: Speed +1!]

[White card: Constitution +1!]

[White card: Strength +1!]

"Hahaha, it seems going to school really was the wisest decision!" Watching his attributes rise continuously, Chentian shamelessly took all the credit for himself!