Gua walked over to Ye Chuan Dahei.
Itachi was baffled.
Didn't we agree we wouldn't take his reward?
"Itachi, do you think you're so strong now that you don't need your teacher's guidance?"
Ye Chuan Dahei's expression turned rather sour.
Being snubbed by a little brat was embarrassing, to say the least.
"No, sir."
Itachi hurried over.
Among the crowd, Izumi leaned close to Gua and quietly asked him something.
"Gua! I heard Itachi say he was going to practice Shuriken with you that day. Are you really good at it now?"
For some reason, something about Gua seemed to draw Izumi to him.
Was it simply because he had saved her from being bullied that time?
Izumi didn't know.
"Shuriken? I'm okay."
Gua spoke flatly.
Izumi's eyes lit up. "So you're really good!"
"Good? Hahaha! Did I hear that right? You're saying Uchiha AFK is good? He's Uchiha AFK! The Uchiha's famous loser! He probably only got into the Ninja Academy through connections! Ahahaha!"
Some students nearby with sharp ears overheard Izumi and Gua's conversation and burst out laughing.
Their voices dripped with mockery.
Honestly, since birth, Uchiha Gua had done nothing but idle away and had never shown anything special. An Uchiha with such abysmal talent had become something of a local celebrity.
He was a loser renowned throughout the surrounding villages.
Unfortunately, nobody in the ninja world read about Xiao Huohuo. They didn't know how fortunes could reverse in just three days, nor did they know the terror of a three-year challenge!
And Gua had been idling for six years!
That was two three-year challenges!
In those years without a system, I saw plenty of people for who they really were. Now I have a system, and you're still running your filthy mouth?
Smack!
Before anyone could react, Gua had already slapped the student who had spoken across the face.
Everyone fell silent.
Even Ye Chuan Dahei, who had just felt embarrassed and was preparing to teach Uchiha Itachi a lesson, was dumbfounded.
What had just happened?
Gua had hit someone?
With his aloof temperament, Gua was practically an NPC. He could actually get into a fight with someone?
Since Ye Chuan Dahei's attention hadn't been on Gua, he didn't know exactly what had happened.
But if someone with Gua's temperament had gotten into a conflict, Ye Chuan Dahei already had a good idea of who was in the wrong!
"Nohara Fat Tiger!"
Ye Chuan Dahei bellowed, stepped forward, and grabbed the chubby student who was still stunned from the slap.
"Nohara Fat Tiger! You've gone too far! Apologize to Gua right now!"
Nohara Fat Tiger: "?"
"Huh?"
Only now did Nohara Fat Tiger belatedly register what had happened.
"What the fuck!"
"I-I'm the one who got hit, Teacher Yefune!"
Ye Chuan Dahei's expression hardened. "I said apologize!"
Nohara Fat Tiger bit the corner of his lip, glared fiercely at Gua, and snarled,
"I won't! It's his fault!"
Smack!
Another slap landed!
It was so fast that even Ye Chuan Dahei couldn't react before the slap struck Nohara Fat Tiger's face.
By the time Ye Chuan Dahei reacted, another handprint had appeared on Nohara Fat Tiger's face, and the boy was lunging at Gua like a madman.
"Aah! How dare you hit me!"
"I'll kill you!"
Nohara Fat Tiger roared as he charged at Gua.
Nohara Fat Tiger was tall and sturdy, standing a head above his peers and cutting an imposing figure. As he rushed at Gua, everyone nearby sucked in a sharp breath.
"Gua!"
Izumi cried out anxiously and tried to pull Gua back.
But she failed to catch him.
Gua stepped forward, then kicked.
Thump!
Nohara Fat Tiger's clumsy, bull-like charge was cut short by a kick to the stomach. His entire body flew backward and crashed into the crowd of students.
The students scattered, leaving Nohara Fat Tiger alone on the ground, wailing!
"Gua! You went a little too far this time."
Ye Chuan Dahei's face darkened.
This time, he had watched Gua hit Fat Tiger right in front of him. No matter how favorable his impression of Gua was, he couldn't change that undeniable fact.
"Oh."
Gua's voice remained utterly flat.
Everyone around them was too nervous to speak. Ye Chuan Dahei asked in a low voice, "Why did you hit him again?"
"First, losers deserve a beating. Second, I had to let him know he was the loser."
Gua delivered each word at an even pace, like an NPC.
Every student there froze.
They had heard Nohara Fat Tiger mock Gua as a loser earlier. This was clearly retaliation. Gua was showing everyone who the real loser was through his actions.
"Just because of that?"
Ye Chuan Dahei looked displeased. Children fighting and horsing around was normal, but slapping someone and then kicking them dozens of meters away so they couldn't get up for ages hardly counted as ordinary roughhousing!
Hm?
Wait!
That's not right!
Ye Chuan Dahei suddenly realized something.
He turned to stare in shock at Nohara Fat Tiger, who was still rolling wildly on the ground, then looked back at Gua. There were well over ten meters between them!
Gua's rash behavior had clouded Ye Chuan Dahei's mind with anger. Only now, as he calmed down, did he realize how terrifying Gua was.
"Gua! How... how did you do that?"
Ye Chuan Dahei's breathing grew heavy.
"Um... should I pick Fat Tiger up and try again?"
Gua asked tentatively.
"Uh, no, no, there's no need for that. I meant your Taijutsu. How did you get it to this level?"
Ye Chuan Dahei hurriedly stopped the impulsive Gua.
Gua stood there and thought for a moment. "I turned on cheats."
Ye Chuan Dahei frowned.
Perhaps Gua really was a genius who relied on hard work.
After all, ninjutsu might depend on talent, but Taijutsu depended entirely on effort.
To reach this level of Taijutsu at Gua's age, he must have shed untold amounts of sweat where no one else could see.
"Gua! You're truly a hardworking child. Perhaps you were right to teach Fat Tiger a lesson. Your hard work isn't something others should trample on!"
After a long pause, Ye Chuan Dahei walked over to Gua and spoke solemnly.
Gua: "Nice."
In the shade of a grove.
Dressed in the Hokage Robe, the Third Generation held a pipe between his teeth, smoking as he silently observed the scene in the distance. Beside him, Danzo also watched while breathing in secondhand smoke.
"I've always said the Uchiha are evil!"
"Their evil nature shows itself even in childhood. If he dares attack a classmate today, he'll dare attack the Hokage tomorrow!"
Danzo took a deep breath of secondhand smoke, tightening his grip on his cane slightly!
An accusation flew from his mouth and landed squarely on Gua's head.
The Third Generation gazed deeply at Gua and Itachi's backs amid the distant crowd. "The Uchiha of this generation are a little too talented."
"Exactly! Give them more time, and with Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, and this Uchiha Gua, who's hidden himself most deeply of all, the Uchiha's rise will be inevitable. When that happens, Konoha will face a devastating disaster." Following the Third Generation's lead, Danzo piled the accusations even higher.
"And wasn't this Uchiha Gua supposed to have inferior aptitude? Why is he showing such terrifying strength now? That Ye Chuan Dahei might not see it, but surely you do? That boy clearly demonstrated impeccable Dynamic Vision combined with powerful Taijutsu! Without either one, he couldn't have struck so decisively!"
"Perhaps that boy has already awakened his eyes! At only six years old! It's obvious! The Uchiha Clan is deliberately concealing its true geniuses!"
Danzo drew a deep breath and finally leveled his greatest accusation yet at every last Uchiha.
"They're preparing to rebel!"
Before you continue