Ninja Academy, back mountain training ground.
The afternoon sun was a little glaring.
A group of half-grown children stood in several loose rows.
Yamada, the throwing class instructor, an utterly ordinary chunin, held a scorecard and listlessly called out names.
"Next, Second Pillar."
The moment he spoke, a chorus of little girls' screams erupted from the crowd.
Second Pillar walked out with a cold expression.
He casually picked up ten shuriken, his posture perfect.
With a flick of his wrist—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
The sounds of slicing through the air blended together.
All ten shuriken struck the bullseye of the target ten meters away without exception.
"Ten points! A perfect score!"
Teacher Yamada's eyes lit up, and he generously wrote down the high score on the scorecard.
"Wow! Sasuke is so cool!"
"That was amazing!"
Sakura Haruno clasped her hands to her chest, her eyes practically filled with hearts.
Sasuke paid no heed to the praise around him.
He turned, his icy gaze falling on the orange-clad figure at the end of the line.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Heh.
The Fifth Hokage's disciple?
This perennial dead last?
What a joke.
Uchiha Yao was clearly the Uchiha Clan's patriarch, yet he had rejected him, an Uchiha genius, and taken such trash as his disciple instead.
What was he thinking?
Was he trying to humiliate the Uchiha Clan?
A nameless fire burned in Sasuke's heart.
"Next, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto took a deep breath.
It felt as if the entire class's eyes were focused on him.
Some were mocking him, some looked down on him, and some were waiting for a show.
He clenched his fists.
I can't embarrass Teacher!
Absolutely not!
He was no longer that unwanted orphan from before.
He was the disciple of Uchiha Yao, the Fifth Hokage!
Naruto walked up to