Uchiha's Prodigy

The Ninja Academy's taijutsu class was scheduled for the afternoon of the second day after enrollment. Iruka Umino probably wanted the new students to get to know one another before they started throwing punches, but his good intentions clearly hadn't reached the students—before he had even set down the attendance book, seven or eight of them were already itching for a fight. Kiba Inuzuka placed Akamaru on the windowsill and told him, "Watch your big brother win." Akamaru's tail wagged into a little white whirlwind. Choji Akimichi unusually put away his chips in his desk, braced both hands on the tabletop, and leaned forward, his eyes shining with pure curiosity about combat. Even Shikamaru Nara lifted his head from his folded arms—not because he was excited, but because the noise around him had made it impossible to sleep.

The quietest were two people. Sasuke sat by the window with his hands folded on the desk, his expression calm, as though this taijutsu class had nothing to do with him. Shinichi sat one row away in nearly the same posture—his arms crossed against the back of his chair, eyes half-lidded, looking like he was about to doze off.

Iruka swept his gaze over the class and called out, "First sparring pair—Sasuke Uchiha, Senju Shinichi."

The classroom's buzzing instantly stopped. Everyone's eyes bounced back and forth between Sasuke and Shinichi. Uchiha versus Senju Clan—if that matchup had happened sixty years ago, all of Konoha would have dropped what they were doing to come watch. Times had changed, but those two surnames together still added an indescribable tension to the air. Iruka was probably doing it on purpose—using a match between the two strongest newcomers to set a benchmark for the class, while also seeing where this year's ceiling lay. Or maybe he simply thought the two of them were too quiet in class and needed to get moving. Judging from his expression, Shinichi figured it was both.

The training ground was a packed-earth field behind the Ninja Academy. The ground had been trampled hard, and a ten-meter circle had been drawn in white lime. The watching students formed a ring outside it. Sakura Haruno watched Sasuke with her hands clasped together, the hearts in her eyes practically ready to pop out. Ino stood on the other side of the field, her golden ponytail swaying beneath the sunlight. She said, "Good luck to both of you," but her voice was clearly angled to the right—toward Shinichi. Hinata stood at the very edge of the crowd, pinching the edge of her sleeve between her fingers. Her lips moved, though no one knew who she was cheering for. Naruto Uzumaki was the most straightforward. Standing on a wooden post at the edge of the field, he waved a rag he had picked up from who knew where and shouted encouragement, nearly falling off several times.

Sasuke took off his jacket, draped it over the railing beside the field, flexed his wrists, and stepped into the circle. His fitted black short-sleeved shirt bore the Uchiha Clan's fan crest. After entering the ring, he made no unnecessary jumps or warm-up movements. Once he had planted his feet, he merely raised his chin slightly and glanced at Shinichi. That look was not disdain—Sasuke rarely showed anyone genuine contempt. It was the indifference born from taking things too seriously. He did not overlook others because he thought they were weak; he first needed to determine whether they were worthy of his seriousness.

Shinichi entered the circle and stood opposite Sasuke. His dark blue school uniform and Sasuke's black short-sleeved shirt cast one blue and one black shadow over the packed earth, stretched into diagonal lines by the slanting afternoon sunlight. They stopped three meters apart. He estimated the current gap in their physical abilities—with the Senju Clan bloodline, Hashirama Cells, and Slug Sage Art chakra stacked together, if he went all out, this spar would probably turn into an exhibition match. No spectator would want to see the Uchiha Clan's little prodigy lose at the age of six, and Shinichi did not need that empty reputation either. Keeping his strength slightly above his peers without standing out too much would draw Sasuke's attention without attracting attention from too high up.

Iruka raised his hand to signal the start.

Sasuke moved first. No probing, no feints—his small frame took a quick step over the hard earth and cut straight down the centerline with a frontal punch. Shinichi tilted his head aside, then lightly slapped the outside of Sasuke's forearm with his right palm, redirecting the force sideways. Sasuke did not pull back his fist. Riding the momentum of the deflection, he spun and kicked out with his left foot, the tip of his shoe sweeping toward the side of Shinichi's knee. His turning speed was so fast that several students let out low exclamations. Shinichi raised his knee to block, and their shinbones collided with a dull thud. The impact hurt Sasuke, but his face showed nothing. Instead, he used the recoil to spring backward and open up distance.

Shinichi followed with a lead straight punch. Sasuke ducked beneath it and swept his right hand upward at the same time—a knife-hand strike slashing toward the inside of Shinichi's forearm, aimed at the point where the meridians branched. This kid was targeting pressure points. At six years old, he could already precisely identify weaknesses in an opponent's meridian pathways during actual combat. Sasuke had not shown much close-combat ability during his Ninja Academy days in the original story, but seeing it with his own eyes now, Shinichi realized that the Uchiha Clan's taijutsu foundation was far more solid than he had expected.

He withdrew his fist, switched hands, and used his left palm to deflect the knife-hand strike. After briefly separating, they closed in again almost simultaneously. Their fists and kicks crossed densely through the narrow space between them at incredible speed, producing a continuous series of dull impacts. Sasuke's taijutsu style favored precise efficiency—every punch and kick went straight for a vital point, with no flashy extras. But Shinichi noticed that every time Sasuke landed after a kick, his right foot would unconsciously make one extra adjustment to shift his center of gravity, as though the arch of his foot were correcting its supporting surface. He began drawing a map of Sasuke's movement patterns in his mind. During their next exchange, he deliberately altered the angle of his punch, feinting with his left. Sasuke indeed dodged right and took half an extra step. That half-step was not an opening; it merely consumed slightly more stamina than necessary. In real combat, only the Sharingan or extremely extensive battle experience could catch that rhythm.

Shinichi decided to end the spar. Amid Sasuke's rapid barrage of punches, he deliberately slowed by one beat, allowing a straight punch to graze his left cheek—the distance was controlled with precision, leaving a faint red mark across his cheekbone. They retreated at the same time and each steadied themselves within the circle.

Iruka raised his hand to signal a stop. The edge of the field fell silent for a beat before several layers of voices erupted at once. Sakura was the first to shout, "Sasuke is amazing!" Ino bumped her from the side. "Shinichi didn't lose either, okay?" Hinata softly said, "They're both amazing," so quietly that only she could hear it. Naruto jumped straight down from the wooden post and rushed between them, grabbing both their hands as he asked if they could teach him because they were both so amazing. Sasuke awkwardly pulled his hand away and said, "Not interested." He took two steps, then stopped, turned back to glance at Shinichi, tugged at the sweat-soaked wrist guard on his arm, and tightened it again. This time, he took four steps before stopping. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Let's fight again tomorrow."

It was not a question. Looking into Shinichi's eyes, he said it in the same tone as if he were saying, "Nice weather today."

"Sure." Shinichi wiped the red mark from his cheekbone with his thumb and nodded.

Sasuke turned and left. It was only a few dozen steps from the field to the school building's corridor, and he did not look back again. But after sitting beside the corridor and picking up his water bottle, he drank half a beat slower than usual, twisting the cap several times before lining it up properly. He was thinking about their exchange—especially the moment Shinichi tilted his head. He had clearly been able to avoid the punch completely, yet he chose to let it graze him. Ordinary children would not notice such a detail, but Sasuke was not an ordinary child.

Shinichi also bent down to pick up his jacket. As Shikamaru passed beside him, his footsteps slowed for half a beat. He quietly said, "You didn't sweat," then continued walking back with the same lazy gait.

Watching his unhurried back, Shinichi silently added a note in his mind—the person most afraid of trouble in the class might have the sharpest powers of observation. He slung his jacket over his shoulder and headed toward the classroom. Naruto chased after him from behind, chattering and complaining about why he had not been allowed to fight. Shinichi casually replied, "I'll train with you tomorrow," and Naruto immediately stopped talking before switching to clenched-fist celebration. When Hinata saw Naruto and Shinichi walking past one after the other, she timidly stepped aside. As Shinichi passed, he gave her a nod. A faint blush rose on Hinata's fair face, her fingers paused in their fidgeting with her sleeve, and she lightly nodded back. Ino had already gathered with several other girls to discuss the details of the spar. Her golden ponytail swayed as she spoke, and her eyes repeatedly glanced this way over her shoulder.

Back in the classroom, Shinichi picked up the notebook on his desk and turned to Sasuke's page. After "Breaking the ice requires equal strength, not sympathy," he added, "Sparring has drawn his attention. Second match arranged. Rhythm-dependent type; stamina distribution can be further optimized." After finishing, he wrote another line in the blank space on the page: "Following the spar, the frequency of Uchiha's gaze lingering has increased. Preliminary judgment: competitive awareness has been activated."

He closed the notebook and put it into his bag. Outside the window, the white-lime circle on the training field had been trampled into a blur by the following sparring groups. Several children ran across the field, kicking up fine dust. On the second day after enrollment, his first spar with Sasuke Uchiha had ended in a draw, but the net had already begun to weave.