A Heated Atmosphere

In Konoha stood an enormous Circular Training Arena, a full five hundred meters in diameter. Its brick walls were reinforced with thick concrete, making them impossible to destroy without exceptionally powerful ninjutsu.

Three towering buildings stood directly outside the circular brick wall, their top floors offering a view of the entire Arena. These served as the Spectator Seats for ninja matches.

The central building was the tallest and reserved for distinguished figures such as the Hokage and the Daimyo, while the slightly shorter stands on either side accommodated clan ninja and the village's civilians.

Eiji entered the Rest Room connected to the Circular Training Arena along with more than a hundred of this year's Ninja Academy graduates.

The room crackled with tension. Eiji glanced around; dozens of probing gazes had landed on him in the short time since he had entered.

That was only natural. After all, he was much shorter than these upper-year students. Eiji himself remained perfectly at ease and felt no discomfort.

More people were looking at the two figures seated in the corner than showing curiosity about Eiji, a second-year student.

Eiji could tell that one belonged to the Hyuga Clan, but he wasn't sure about the other. Judging by everyone's fearful looks, though, it wasn't hard to guess that he was this tournament's dark horse, Uchiha Yo, whose betting odds outside had been high. That would make the Hyuga boy Hyuga Yamashiro.

Everyone deliberately kept their distance from the two, seemingly terrified of drawing either of them when the matchups were randomly assigned.

Both boys fixed their gazes on Eiji at once. Their burning stares looked as though they wanted to devour him, making him distinctly uncomfortable.

Still, Eiji noticed that there were other Uchiha and Hyuga clan members in the room besides those two.

The crests on the Uchiha's backs clearly identified them. As for the Hyuga Clan, there was no need to explain—their pale eyes were far too obvious.

Hmm? That fat boy looks like he's from the Akimichi Clan. Then the pineapple-headed boy and blonde girl standing with him must belong to the Nara and Yamanaka Clans.

In the anime, a graduating class during Naruto Uzumaki's time had fewer than thirty students, but those were peacetime numbers, when the focus was on producing elite ninja.

At a time like this, with war about to break out, the village would actively expand its ranks and send people who normally wouldn't qualify as ninja onto the battlefield.

This year's graduating class numbered over a hundred. Once war actually broke out, that figure might well double, and most of them would end up as cannon fodder. It was truly tragic.

In Eiji's view, in a world that placed such overwhelming importance on individual martial prowess, anyone weak who failed to recognize their own limitations had nothing waiting for them but death.

Without his system, he wouldn't even have chosen to become a ninja. He would have opened a restaurant in the village instead.

Living through the years of conflict until the war ended, just like Teuchi, would have been a decent choice. Of course, Pain would destroy his restaurant with a single Super Shinra Tensei midway through. That was a problem.

The Spectator Seats were packed. Long-established ninja families such as Ino-Shika-Cho, along with ninja noble families such as the Uchiha and Hyuga, had turned out almost in their entirety.

There were also plenty of civilian families who had come to watch their children perform, though even more villagers had simply come for the entertainment.

Today, Tsunade had skipped the central VIP Spectator Seats and instead sat with Jiraiya and Orochimaru in the ordinary Spectator Seats on the left, waiting for the matches to begin.

"You two usually vanish off the face of the earth. What brought you both back today?"

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and Orochimaru, seated on either side of her.

These two were usually nowhere to be seen. Ever since Jiraiya went to Mount Myōboku, he had become increasingly mystical and cryptic. Not only had he left the village to travel the Shinobi World, but he also claimed he was searching for the Child of Prophecy.

If there really was a Child of Prophecy who could change the Shinobi World, she was more inclined to believe that child was Ryuuzaki Eiji.

As for Orochimaru, she hardly wanted to get started. He had been a gloomy fellow from the day she met him, and now he spent all his time hiding away, dissecting various animals for experiments. She had practiced on animals herself to hone her medical ninjutsu, but never in his sinister fashion.

"Well... Tsunade, you know my senjutsu training still has a long way to go, so I have to spend most of my time studying at Mount Myōboku. And I can't neglect my responsibility to find the Child of Prophecy, either."

Jiraiya scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.

"Hmph. I think you're just dodging the village's missions. If an ordinary ninja acted like you, branding them a rogue ninja wouldn't be unreasonable!"

Tsunade's remark left Jiraiya speechless, and he fell silent.

"I simply found the laboratory a little stuffy and wanted to take a walk. Besides, I'd like to meet your new student. Anyone who caught your eye must possess extraordinary talent."

Orochimaru spoke.

At this point, Orochimaru hadn't yet become so obsessed with experiments and immortality that he had lost himself. He was merely gloomier than most people, but still fell within the bounds of normality.

"Hmph. Then you'd better watch closely. Eiji is incredibly strong. He's definitely a hundred times better than that idiot Jiraiya."

As she spoke, she shot Jiraiya a disdainful glance.

"Isn't that going a bit too far? Whatever else you say, I'm Teacher Sarutobi's personal student, and I'm close to mastering senjutsu. How could he possibly be stronger than me?"

Tsunade didn't bother arguing with Jiraiya any further. Saying Eiji was a hundred times stronger was a little exaggerated, but that invincible ninjutsu he had mastered already made him unbeatable. At any rate, Tsunade couldn't think of any way to counter it.

"I heard he also awakened an entirely new dojutsu kekkei genkai. Could you share a little information about those eyes?"

"Not a chance. If you want information, use your own eyes!"

Orochimaru wasn't angered by Tsunade's refusal. If anything, he became even more interested in Ryuuzaki Eiji.

An entirely new dojutsu kekkei genkai, and enough promise for Tsunade to take him as her student—those two facts alone were enough to command Orochimaru's attention.

Orochimaru had also gone to examine the enormous crater in the forest, and what he found had satisfied him. The ninjutsu behind it possessed tremendous destructive power, proving that Ryuuzaki Eiji truly was an exceptional genius.

After that, Tsunade suddenly remembered that Nawaki still had no teacher. Since Nawaki had always admired Orochimaru, she casually brought it up, and Orochimaru readily agreed to become Nawaki's teacher.

"Minato, make sure you cheer extra loud when Eiji comes out!"

"Oh, yeah! Of course!"

In the Grandstand, Kushina wore a white headband bearing the words "Eiji will win," while Minato nodded earnestly in response.

He was looking forward to Eiji's performance too. Eiji always held back during practice, so he hoped he would get to see more of his real abilities this time.

The three long-established ninja families of Ino-Shika-Cho sat almost directly beside one another, while Shikaku Nara, Akimiichi Chōza, and Inoichi Yamanaka had gathered together.

"Inoichi, do you think Eiji can win the championship?" Choza mumbled as he kept stuffing potato chips into his mouth.

"I don't know. Quite a few Uchiha and Hyuga ninja are graduating this year. It might be a tough fight."