Hayate Gekko, His Uncle

"Just sparring with Jonin Hayate gave me quite a lot of experience points—far more than I got from sparring with Sasuke."

"Looks like the stronger the opponent, the more experience points I gain."

"Kakashi is a Jonin stronger than Hayate. During the exercise, I should find a chance to fight Kakashi too."

Su Bai calculated silently.

Su Bai bid Hayate farewell and headed toward the ninja academy.

"According to Teacher Iruka, Jonin Kakashi will come meet us this afternoon."

Su Bai pondered as he walked.

He had always been used to thinking one step ahead.

Before long, Su Bai arrived at the classroom.

When he pushed open the door, he found Kakashi already standing before the podium.

And on the floor below the podium, an eraser lay quietly.

"Looks like Kakashi has already been treated to Naruto's prank."

Su Bai chuckled to himself.

Though this silver-haired teacher appeared lazy and laid-back, Su Bai knew just how terrifying his true strength was.

Su Bai glanced around the classroom and realized that he had arrived even later than Kakashi.

Unhurriedly, he walked to his seat and sat down, looking perfectly at ease.

Seeing Su Bai act like that, Sasuke, seated beside him, frowned slightly.

In his eyes, Su Bai was being far too arrogant.

No matter how strong he was, he should not look down on a teacher like this, should he?

"Hmph, who are you trying to impress?"

Sasuke snorted and turned his head away.

He had not forgotten the humiliation of being defeated by Su Bai.

One day, he would prove to this arrogant bastard that the Uchiha Clan was the strongest!

Naruto, on the other hand, did not care at all about Su Bai's arrival. He was busy complaining about Kakashi being late.

"What the heck? He's late on the very first day we meet, and he's supposed to be a Jonin!"

Sakura was somewhat dissatisfied with Kakashi's lateness as well, but when she saw how carefree Su Bai looked, her heart began racing again.

"Su Bai is so handsome! That calm, unruffled air about him is just too charming!"

Su Bai ignored everyone's reactions. His mind was entirely on the upcoming survival exercise.

Afterward, Kakashi brought the four students to the school rooftop to begin their introductions.

The sun shone brightly and a gentle breeze brushed their faces, seeming to foretell a wonderful future.

Naruto spoke first, his gaze resolute and his tone brimming with confidence. "My dream is to become the Hokage of Konoha Village and make everyone acknowledge that I exist!"

Sasuke said coldly, "My goal is to kill someone and avenge the Uchiha Clan."

When he mentioned revenge, his gaze became increasingly dark.

When it was Sakura's turn, she shyly glanced at Sasuke, then secretly looked at Su Bai as well, her cheeks flushing.

"I like..."

She wanted to say whom she liked, but could not bring herself to say it. As for whom she hated, well...

"The person I hate is Naruto!"

Naruto's face fell at once, and he drooped his head dejectedly.

Then everyone's gaze settled on Su Bai.

His feat of defeating Sasuke had caused a sensation throughout the entire ninja academy. Everyone was curious about this genius newcomer.

Su Bai spoke calmly, his tone level yet firm. "I don't have any dreams. My thinking is more realistic. First, I want to gain enough strength to survive. Only then can I protect my family and friends."

At that, Su Bai paused, thinking of his uncle, Hayate Gekko.

"Only after that comes protecting Konoha."

Kakashi was slightly taken aback, as though he had not expected Su Bai to say something so mature.

"I didn't expect someone so young to have such insight."

Sasuke was surprised as well. He had thought Su Bai was merely an arrogant bastard, but his goals turned out to be so grounded.

It seemed this guy was not as simple as he appeared.

Naruto shouted indignantly, "Hey, Su Bai, don't tell me you're trying to steal the Hokage position from me?"

Su Bai gave a light laugh. "If you aren't strong enough to protect my family and friends, I wouldn't mind becoming Hokage in your place!"

"Ah! You bastard! I'll definitely defeat you, just you wait!"

Hearing that Su Bai also had his eye on the position of Hokage, Naruto felt an enormous sense of crisis.

Sakura thought to herself, Su Bai is so cool! His dream might be a little selfish, but compared to Sasuke's revenge, Su Bai's pursuit is obviously far more real!

Kakashi watched the students with great interest.

Team 7 was truly full of stars this time, especially that Su Bai. He did not seem simple at all.

The silver-haired teacher cleared his throat lightly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Alright, that's enough for introductions. Tomorrow, we'll be holding a wilderness survival exercise, so make sure you're prepared."

At the mention of the exercise, Kakashi's expression suddenly became grave.

He swept his gaze over the four students and said seriously, "Tomorrow's survival exercise is no joke. Your opponent will be me, and it'll be very dangerous. If things go badly, you might even lose your lives."

Naruto trembled in fright, and Sakura's face turned pale as well.

Even Sasuke, who was always calm, could not help frowning.

"Also," Kakashi continued, "the elimination rate for this exercise is very high. If you fail the assessment, you won't be able to become real ninjas."

"What?!"

Naruto shouted, "How can that be? We worked so hard just to graduate from the ninja academy!"

Sakura clenched her fists nervously. "Teacher Kakashi, are you serious?"

Sasuke did not say anything, but a hint of tension showed in his eyes.

Becoming a ninja was the first step of his revenge plan. He could not be eliminated here.

Su Bai, however, remained exceptionally calm.

He had long expected Kakashi to pull something like this. It was merely a test of their mental resilience.

"Oh, right. To make sure you're in peak condition, you're not allowed to eat breakfast tomorrow. And gather at the training ground early. Understood?"

Kakashi spoke in a tone that allowed no argument.

"What?! No breakfast?"

Naruto could hardly believe his ears.

For a glutton like him, this was nothing less than a bolt from the blue!

Sakura hesitated as well, but since it was Teacher Kakashi's order, she nodded.

Sasuke merely snorted, as if this level of test was beneath his concern.

Su Bai knew that forbidding breakfast while making them rise early was meant to drain their stamina, making it even harder for them to grab the bells later.

After they were dismissed.

Su Bai considered whether he should secretly tell them to eat their fill and get enough rest before coming.

That would give Naruto and Sasuke more stamina. When they fought Kakashi, perhaps they could drop even more experience points.

After thinking for a long time, Su Bai decided not to tell them.

Even if the story followed its original plot, Naruto would still use a bit of Nine-Tails chakra.

According to the system's experience gain display, as long as Naruto used Nine-Tails chakra, my fusion rate should reach 2%.

Then a new skill would unlock.

If I made him eat breakfast and changed some detail, causing him to fail to use Nine-Tails chakra, that would be counterproductive.

I would lose out on a huge amount of experience.

That was absolutely unacceptable.

Then he would follow the original plot and let Naruto fight Kakashi first.

That way, he could reliably reach a 2% fusion rate.

He would unlock a skill first and worry about the rest later.