"That idiot Naruto."
Wide Forehead Sakura Haruno first muttered an insult, then her inner self raised a fist in protest.
Sasuke is still a little more handsome. I still like Sasuke!
Ino Yamanaka, who had already blossomed into a little beauty, wore a lovestruck expression. When her father had told her last night that the new classmate was handsome, she had been skeptical.
Now that she had seen him, he far surpassed her imagination and was much more handsome than she had expected.
Should I give up on Sasuke and pursue him instead?
Aloof and prickly, Sasuke did not even glance at Zhou Cheng or Haku. He propped his chin on his hand and quietly gazed out the window.
Shikamaru, who hated trouble and was lazy to the extreme, had already fallen asleep on his desk. Even the commotion Zhou Cheng and Haku caused failed to make him open his eyes for a look.
The chubby Choji Akimichi sat beside Shikamaru, constantly eating from a bag of snacks. He had not stopped even while Zhou Cheng and Haku introduced themselves.
On the other side, Rock Lee, dressed entirely in green with a bowl cut and thick eyebrows, flashed his gleaming white teeth at the two of them and gave them a thumbs-up.
Meanwhile, Neji Hyuga stared at Zhou Cheng with fighting spirit written all over his face.
In his mind, he was the true genius.
Only a true genius could change his destiny.
These two had been called geniuses, so only a showdown could let everyone know who the real genius was.
Seeing the fighting spirit in Neji's eyes, Zhou Cheng understood that Neji must have resented their being called geniuses.
Still, he certainly would not accept Neji's challenge, at least not now.
He might be called a genius, but he actually knew nothing yet. There was no way he could be a match for Neji.
With his cheat, however, he was confident that he would become the strongest in the class before long.
Finally, Zhou Cheng turned his gaze toward Hinata.
Hinata, my wife, really is beautiful. She probably only has Naruto in her heart right now!
Should I find a way to steal her away from Naruto?
At that moment, Iruka pointed toward some empty seats.
"There are still seats over there. Why don't you two sit there?"
"I hope both of you will study hard!"
After thanking Iruka, Zhou Cheng and Haku walked over to the empty seats and sat down.
To their surprise, the person sitting in front of them was Hinata.
Zhou Cheng could not help smiling wryly. Was heaven playing a joke on him?
After that, Iruka began the lesson.
"We'll have a test tomorrow. The subject will be the Clone Technique."
"The Clone Technique is an E-rank ninjutsu and one of the foundations of becoming a Shinobi."
"Since we have new classmates, I'll go over the principles of the Clone Technique and how to use chakra once more."
With that, Iruka stepped down from the podium and moved to a more spacious area in the classroom.
Then he explained the principles of the Clone Technique and the use of chakra before personally demonstrating it.
He formed hand seals and circulated his chakra.
Another Iruka appeared beside him.
Zhou Cheng watched with intense concentration. What he lacked most right now was ninjutsu.
Especially the hand seals for each Ninjutsu.
With his talent for chakra control...
As long as he knew the hand seals for a Ninjutsu...
He could cast the Ninjutsu immediately.
The Clone Technique was one of the most basic ninjutsu a Shinobi could learn.
The clone it created was merely an illusion, useful only for confusing an enemy. It had no offensive power at all.
Yet it was a required lesson before becoming a genin.
That was because it was not only the simplest ninjutsu, but also involved the simplest hand seals and the simplest chakra control.
"All right, who would like to volunteer to try?"
Iruka scanned the classroom.
No one raised a hand. Most of those present were children of Konoha's major clans, so they would certainly have learned E-rank ninjutsu within their clans already.
Their sights were generally set higher than those of civilian Shinobi, too.
They dismissed E-rank ninjutsu as beneath them.
"Iruka-sensei, I want to try!"
Iruka looked toward the voice and saw the class's dead last, Naruto Uzumaki, eagerly raising his hand and speaking with complete confidence.
"Very good, Naruto."
"Come over here and give it a try!"
Zhou Cheng watched Naruto with a hint of amusement.
He knew Naruto only wanted to show off in front of Sakura and attract her attention.
Although the Clone Technique was the most basic ninjutsu, there were still three people who could not learn it no matter how hard they tried.
Obito Uchiha, Might Guy, and Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto walked over to Iruka.
Brimming with confidence, he looked around at his classmates before finally resting his gaze on Sakura.
He noticed that she was looking at Sasuke without sparing him so much as a glance.
Naruto grew a little angry and immediately positioned his hands to form seals.
"Clone Technique!"
Another Naruto appeared beside him, but its body was like a heap of mud. It could not even stand up.
"Hahaha!"
The class immediately burst into laughter.
"Dead last is dead last. He can't even learn the Clone Technique!"
"Once he becomes a genin, is he planning to make his enemies laugh themselves to death with a clone like that?"
Naruto's face flushed crimson as he snapped:
"I'm the man who's going to become Hokage! There's no way I'll give up just like this."
He formed hand seals again.
"Clone Technique!"
Poof!
Another clone appeared, not even properly human-shaped, and immediately collapsed on the floor.
"Hahaha!"
Another burst of laughter rang out!
Some people even clutched their stomachs as they laughed.
"I can't take it. My stomach hurts from laughing."
Only then did Sakura glance at the embarrassed Naruto. She called him an idiot, then turned back to look at Sasuke.
"Damn it!"
Naruto wanted to keep trying the Clone Technique, but Iruka stopped him.
"That's enough, Naruto. Go back to your seat."
Zhou Cheng could tell, however, that Iruka was not angry with Naruto. He simply did not want him to suffer any more ridicule from his classmates.
"Make sure you practice more when you get home after school."
He offered that reminder as Naruto walked away.
Zhou Cheng shook his head and stood up.
"Sensei, I'd like to try!"
He wanted to test whether his top-tier talent for chakra control really allowed him to learn any ninjutsu extremely quickly.
The moment he spoke, everyone in the class turned their attention to him and began whispering among themselves.
"Isn't he a war orphan? Today should be his first ninjutsu lesson!"
"Has this guy gone crazy trying to show off?"
"He thinks he can cast ninjutsu on his first day of class, after learning it just once?"
"I bet he hasn't even extracted any chakra yet!"
"Even the most basic E-rank ninjutsu takes repeated practice."
These were all civilian Shinobi, so naturally they had not heard of Zhou Cheng's reputation as a genius.
The children of the major clans also turned their gazes toward him.
Their eyes held anticipation, disdain, and doubt.
News that Zhou Cheng had extracted chakra in a single night had already spread among the major clans.
Naturally, they would not assume that Zhou Cheng had no chakra at all.
What they scorned was Zhou Cheng's arrogance in thinking he could successfully cast a Ninjutsu on his first attempt after seeing it taught only once.
Was he really a genius?
Unconcerned by everyone else's looks, Zhou Cheng walked toward the podium under their watchful eyes.
A trace of condescension appeared on Iruka's face as well.
He was only attending his first class in his teens, while the others had entered the Ninja Academy and begun studying at four or five.
His foundations were bound to lag far behind everyone else's.
Especially when it came to chakra, which took a great deal of time to accumulate.
Naturally, Iruka did not believe Zhou Cheng could successfully cast the Clone Technique on his first attempt.
Zhou Cheng rapidly formed hand seals, circulating the chakra within his body.
"Clone Technique!"
Poof!
The white smoke dispersed, revealing another Zhou Cheng beside the original.
The two looked exactly alike, without a single flaw.
An uproar erupted!
The classroom first fell silent, then exploded into a tremendous clamor.
"Impossible! It has to be fake!"
"He succeeded on his first attempt at the Clone Technique!"
"I don't believe it! He must have learned ninjutsu before he became a war orphan!"
As for the children of the major clans, although they had been somewhat prepared...
They were still shocked by Zhou Cheng's Clone Technique.
No matter how basic E-rank ninjutsu was, it was not something a beginner could cast easily.
Yet Zhou Cheng had succeeded on his first attempt right before their eyes.
It really was hard not to suspect that he had learned it before.