Getting Competitive

Early in the morning, Hyuga Satoru dragged himself out of bed after a sleepless night and made his way to the Ninja Academy.

He had been so excited by awakening the Electromagnetic Force last night that he had barely slept. His Byakugan had turned into panda eyes, his white pupils looking like cream filling sandwiched between dark circles.

"Hey! Wu, why do you look so lifeless today?"

Anko looked at him curiously while happily munching on a glutinous rice dumpling.

"I'm fine."

After thinking for a moment, Anko suddenly leaned close to Hyuga Satoru and whispered, "Wu, what did you mean yesterday about living until the end of the story?"

Hyuga Satoru thought about it and said, "It's something impressive."

"Oh!" Seeing that Hyuga Satoru had no intention of answering, Anko pouted and stopped asking.

Looking at the colorful dumplings in Anko's hand, Hyuga Satoru pictured what she would look like decades later after turning into a sweet potato, and immediately felt physically ill. Anko was not especially beautiful now, but she was still quite cute. How would she become an old lady in the future?

"Oh, right. Let me remind you of something: eat fewer dumplings."

"Why?" Anko took a bite of her dumpling and glanced at Hyuga Satoru. "Will I fail to live until the end of the story?"

Hyuga Satoru thought about it and said, "That would be better than living until the end of the story."

Anko: ???

Just as Anko was about to say something, someone in the class shouted, "The homeroom teacher's here!" The chaotic classroom instantly fell silent, and everyone sat up straight.

Fujino Daikichi walked to the podium with his textbooks in his arms and announced with a smile, "Students, this morning's lessons will mainly be theoretical. This afternoon will be practical shuriken-throwing practice. I hope everyone studies diligently."

A shuriken-throwing class? Hyuga Satoru's brows lifted. This was the perfect chance to test how well the Electromagnetic Force could control shuriken. He had trained with kitchen utensils for a long time last night.

"Students, turn your textbooks to Chapter one, Section Three of Inheritance of the Will of Fire. We'll continue yesterday's lesson."

"Okay..."

The moment Hyuga Satoru saw the analysis of the Will of Fire in the textbook, he became sleepy. He simply covered his head with the book and fell asleep on his desk.

Fujino Daikichi's eyelids twitched in anger at the sight, but then he seemed to remember something and gently shook his head.

"As a member of the Hyuga Clan's Branch House, the consequences of not working hard are very severe."

He looked toward another part of the classroom. A boy with bandages wrapped around his forehead and snow-white pupils was studying his textbook with a serious expression.

Fujino Daikichi smiled faintly. "Compared to him, Iroha is much more studious."

After an unknown amount of time, Hyuga Satoru stretched lazily. He was completely refreshed. Not only had the weakness he felt upon waking vanished, but he felt full of strength.

Hyuga Satoru thought about it. The Electromagnetic Force must have adjusted his Biological Magnetic Field while he rested, allowing him to recover much faster.

He still could not actively control his Biological Magnetic Field, but once he cultivated the Electromagnetic Force to a higher level, perhaps he could regulate it at will, making his vitality incredibly vigorous and gaining a physique like the First Hokage's, capable of rapidly healing injuries.

That afternoon, Fujino Daikichi brought the students to the training field and began teaching shuriken throwing, including how to exert force through the wrist and various throwing techniques.

Hyuga Satoru noticed that most children from clans were distracted, while the civilian-born children listened with great interest.

The reason was that clan descendants had generally already received training from their elders before entering the academy, whereas civilian children had difficulty accessing such knowledge. They were not even starting from the same line.

No matter the era, civilians were always just leeks to be harvested! Hyuga Satoru lamented.

Although school had only just begun, some students already possessed a considerable amount of chakra. Their Biological Magnetic Fields were far more vigorous; compared to them, the civilian students were like fireflies.

Among them, the most vigorous one made Hyuga Satoru look toward the white-haired boy at the front, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Kakashi Hatake's Biological Magnetic Field is actually this vigorous. He probably already has nearly as much chakra as a Genin. No wonder he was a genius who became a Jonin at twelve."

"All right, the explanation is over." Fujino Daikichi clapped his hands. "Next is throwing practice. I'll record your scores. Kojun Miko, you're first."

"Yes."

The black-haired girl answered timidly and stepped out from the crowd to Fujino Daikichi's side. A wooden target stood about ten meters in front of her, with a bamboo basket full of shuriken beside it.

Kojun Miko picked up a shuriken, recalled Fujino Daikichi's explanation, and hurled it fiercely toward the wooden target.

Smack!

The shuriken embedded itself in the outer ring.

"Six points. Not bad."

Kojun Miko threw several more.

"Five points, six points, seven points..."

Fujino Daikichi nodded. "All right, next."

Hyuga Satoru observed the shuriken throws. His fingers twitched slightly, and several shuriken at the edge of the bamboo basket trembled.

"Shuriken are very light. According to Newton's second law, acceleration is inversely proportional to mass. They should be much easier for me to control than kitchen knives."

Just then, startled cries suddenly rose from the crowd.

"Oh my god, how did he do that?"

Hyuga Satoru looked over and saw Kakashi holding several shuriken in each hand. He threw them with both hands without the slightest pause, his movements smooth and flowing as every shuriken sank into the bullseye.

"That's amazing!"

"A... a genius?"

Fujino Daikichi nodded with a smile. Mm, his fundamentals were extremely solid. His shuriken-throwing skill alone was no weaker than that of an ordinary Genin. As expected of White Fang's son.

"Kakashi Hatake, perfect score. Next."

"I'll go."

The moment Fujino Daikichi finished speaking, a black-haired girl suddenly darted out from the crowd and landed where Kakashi had just stood. She also threw with both hands, her movements smooth and flowing, every shot striking the bullseye.

"As expected of the Uchiha Clan. Uchiha Rin, perfect score!" Fujino Daikichi said approvingly.

Did they have to be this competitive?

Hyuga Satoru's eyelids twitched.

In his eyes, Uchiha Rin had already become the queen of competition.

He had suffered enough under overachievers in his previous life. He had never expected to run into another one after transmigrating into the world of Naruto.

Uchiha Rin coldly glanced at Kakashi and returned to her spot. Beside her, Obito cried out excitedly.

"Hey, Kakashi, did you see that? This is the strength of our Uchiha Clan! Just wait, I'll definitely defeat you!"

Kakashi completely ignored him.

Hyuga Satoru looked at Obito speechlessly. Everyone else looked at the wildly gesturing boy as if he were an idiot. Who could have imagined that such a guy would become the future big boss?

"Next, Uchiha Obito."

"My turn." Obito eagerly walked forward. "Let me show you my strength. I've secretly trained with shuriken for a long time."

Clearly, Uchiha Rin's performance had given him tremendous confidence.

He picked up a shuriken and threw it hard. Then something happened that left everyone dumbfounded: the shuriken actually grazed past the target and flew away.

"Missed the target. Zero points," Fujino Daikichi said weakly.

"I don't believe it! It was an accident, it had to be an accident!" Uchiha Obito threw another shuriken in frustration, only for it to miss again.

"Zero points." Fujino Daikichi was speechless...

After glancing at Obito, Kakashi immediately looked away.

Uchiha Rin helplessly turned her face aside, so embarrassed she nearly carved out a three-bedroom apartment with her toes.

Her expression seemed to say, Don't look at me, don't look at me. I'm not from the same clan as him.

"Mistake! A mistake! That was definitely a mistake! This isn't my real level!"

Obito threw another shuriken.

"Zero points..."

He threw again.

"Zero points..."

"Hahahaha..."

Thunderous laughter erupted all around him.

Obito's face turned red, and his whole body looked like an overinflated chili pepper. His teeth ground together with a creak.

"I refuse to believe this!"

He fiercely threw the last shuriken in his hand.

Smack!

The shuriken lodged firmly in the bullseye.

The air suddenly went silent.

Obito froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"I told you those were mistakes! This is my true strength! Did you all see that?"

He turned around and saw everyone staring at him as though he were a fool. Uchiha Rin covered her face with one hand in utter despair. At that moment, she was wondering whether she should get rid of this guy early for the sake of the Uchiha Clan's reputation.

"W-what are you doing? I clearly hit the bullseye," Obito stammered.

Fujino Daikichi spoke listlessly. "Obito, take another good look."

Obito turned back, his eyelids jerking as his mouth instantly fell open wide enough to swallow an orange.

"Th-this... how is that possible?"

The target he had hit was not the one being used for the test at all, but another group's target several meters away. The student from that group was holding a shuriken and preparing to throw it, staring at him with a blank expression.

In the corner, Hyuga Satoru's lips curled upward ever so slightly.