Catfish Plan

After school, Yamano wrote a report on Ebisu's situation and handed it to Team Leader Huìdài.

"Team Leader, Ebisu has grown quickly under the Catfish Plan. I believe this is a good teaching model with a certain degree of innovation."

Huìdài looked over the report scroll and was very satisfied. "You did well, Yamano."

That evening, Huìdài brought the Catfish Plan report scroll to the Sarutobi Clan compound.

He wanted to speak with the Sarutobi Clan's upper ranks. The wager between Young Master Asuma and Uchiha Ling was not a bad thing. If they made good use of Uchiha Ling, Young Master Asuma could also benefit from the Catfish Plan.

Unfortunately, he did not see any of the Sarutobi Clan's upper ranks that entire night. They were all busy supervising Young Master Asuma's training.

Young Master Asuma was diligent, training every night until his shirt was soaked through.

As Huìdài was about to leave, he saw Eldest Young Master Black Chimp appear in a Body Flicker.

"Eldest Young Master, I hope you can look over this Catfish Plan report scroll. If things go smoothly, Young Master Asuma's improvement will be tremendous. Uchiha Ling is the catfish in the class, making everyone tense and more proactive."

"Oh? Let me see."

After reading it, Black Chimp said, "Not bad. Very good, in fact. I'll go see my father and discuss Asuma's training plan with him."

Huìdài was overjoyed. He had once again entered the Hokage's field of vision.

"I'll persuade Father to watch the final match between Asuma and Uchiha Ling. Father ought to pay more attention to Asuma too.

"Come to think of it, Uchiha Ling used to be so unremarkable. Was he overshadowed by Kakashi Hatake's brilliance? Why has his strength suddenly improved so much?"

Huìdài replied, "He is an Uchiha, after all. Uchiha Ling's parents were both jonin, so he inherited good genes."

Black Chimp nodded. Give the Uchiha Clan a little opportunity, and they would awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan under intense emotional stimulation. No wonder Uncle Danzo, Uncle Homura, and the others were all wary of the Uchiha Clan.

He left the clan compound and headed for the Hokage Building.

It was midnight now. His father had to still be working in the Hokage Building.

When he entered the Hokage's office, it was thick with smoke. The bag of tobacco the Third Hokage had taken away in the morning could not possibly have been enough. Who knew how many times the assistants had gone to fetch more tobacco today.

His mother had said Father needed to cut back on smoking, but with a new shinobi war underway, there was no way to control him.

To the left of the desk was a one-meter-tall, pyramid-like stack of report scrolls. To the right were five thick piles of documents.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat between the piles of documents with a frown, smoking as he stared at a report scroll in thought.

During work hours, one addressed others by their titles. Black Chimp said, "Lord Hokage, I have something to report."

"Speak."

"Five days from now is the Ninja Academy's final examination. After Asuma lost to his classmate Uchiha Ling, he made a wager with him for the finals.

"Lord Hokage, why not visit the Ninja Academy tomorrow to observe the final sparring examinations?

"I think Asuma, he..."

"Black Chimp." Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted him.

"Hidden Rock Village and Hidden Mist Village have already declared war on Konoha. Hidden Cloud Village is hesitating over whether to strike Hidden Rock Village first or attack Konoha Village first.

"At a time like this, should I go to the Ninja Academy to watch two children fight?

"I recall you saying that Uchiha Ling is an orphan. If Asuma loses, what can I do? Use my position as Hokage to pressure an orphan?"

Black Chimp hurriedly said, "Of course not. I am not suggesting that you go to the Ninja Academy because of Asuma.

"I mean that with the shinobi war beginning, the Ninja Academy has submitted a list of upper-year students seeking early graduation.

"Why not observe the strength of those genin graduating early?

"And while you are there, if possible, you could also take a look at the results of Asuma's efforts this semester."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression relaxed somewhat. Black Chimp's reminder was timely. Once this semester ended, a group of students would graduate early.

This was an important matter, yet he had nearly forgotten it.

He took the report scroll Black Chimp handed him and saw that it was a teacher's summary of class management experience. Its theme was using the catfish effect to raise the average strength of the students in a class.

Hiruzen Sarutobi read it with great interest. It truly was a good method.

"Fine. I'll visit the Ninja Academy's final examinations five days from now, with particular focus on the performance of the students graduating early. The early graduation assessments must be stricter. We cannot harm those children.

"Konoha was founded so that children would not have to go to war. Unfortunately, the pressure from enemy villages is too great, and we have no choice but to force their growth."

After closing the report scroll, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

"Sakumo Hatake committed suicide on the eve of the shinobi war, leaving Konoha without a battlefield commander and an elite shinobi at the Kage level. The impact has been enormous.

"Homura Mitokado has even suggested sending the Uchiha Clan to the battlefield..."

At the mention of the White Fang of the Leaf, Black Chimp felt a wave of regret as well.

How could someone be so stubborn?

Too fragile.

The White Fang of the Leaf had Kage-level strength, yet his mentality had been so weak.

When Black Chimp returned to the clan compound, he saw Asuma still training, doing handstand push-ups to strengthen his arms.

Within the Uchiha Clan compound, Uchiha Ling had not slackened either.

After one round of overload recovery, his physique and strength had improved considerably.

This increase had come too suddenly. Having grown much stronger all at once, he was still not quite used to it and was sometimes prone to acting rashly.

Before the final examinations, he had to become accustomed to his new strength as soon as possible.

During the sparring classes over the next several days, no one challenged Uchiha Ling. As a result, everyone else's enthusiasm for sparring dropped considerably.

Teacher Yamano did not force the issue, allowing the students to train freely and prepare for the final sparring examinations in their own ways.

Many people gathered around Asuma Sarutobi.

Obito Uchiha could not hide his excitement. "Asuma, your special training has been effective, right? Last time you sparred with Guy, he had such a hard time.

"This time, you have to crush Uchiha Ling's arrogance! I'm sick of that face of his!"

Ebisu wanted to say something but stopped himself, not daring to say much.

Nara Saku, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief. Uchiha Ling had been very well-behaved these past few days. This semester, he would not have to step forward on his own initiative and draw Uchiha Ling's attention.

Kurenai Yuhi also stared at Uchiha Ling. If only I had more chakra and could learn genjutsu from Father. My taijutsu is too weak. I'm not qualified to spar with Uchiha Ling.

Asuma Sarutobi was full of confidence. He had also experienced the overload recovery Teacher Huìdài had described, the breakthrough past a plateau. He was no longer the person he had once been.

Several days passed quickly.

On the day of the final assessments, the students first saw the Third Hokage enter the school with ANBU. Accompanied by the principal, he went up to the rooftop on the fourth floor.

The playground had been divided into separate examination areas. Looking up, every student could see the Third Hokage's conical hat and ceremonial robe.

The Third Hokage had actually come in person to observe this semester's final sparring classes!

Not only the students, but even the teachers were so nervous they could barely speak.

Yamano stood there with a frown. "Form two or three rows!"

"Teacher, two rows or three?"

"Yes!"

Asuma Sarutobi looked at his father on the rooftop, as well as his older brother beside him wearing a black chimpanzee mask, and felt incredibly excited.

Uchiha Ling! My father is here too. I'll definitely make you pay!