Combat assessment

"If only I could break through once every day."

Thinking of the monstrous physiques in One Piece, Chihane couldn't help growing excited.

Of course, he knew that was impossible. He could only see such obvious progress because he was still weak. Once he grew stronger, it would be much harder to feel that way.

Remembering that there was a combat assessment today, Chihane decided not to train before heading to school.

Almost every day, Chihane trained at home for a while before going to school. After all, most of what they learned at school was theory.

So after eating a meal, Chihane picked up his wooden sword and headed straight to school.

The Ninja Academy had been founded by the Second Hokage to train ninja. It was also the source of powerful shinobi that allowed Konoha to keep the other ninja villages in check. The renowned Sannin and White Fang had all graduated from the Ninja Academy.

At this point, Konoha's two great clans, the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan, were both flourishing.

The Uchiha Clan in particular was unquestionably the foremost clan in the Shinobi World.

With their unique kekkei genkai, almost anyone who awakened their eyes stood at the peak of their level, and those who reached three tomoe were all jonin.

This had led the Uchiha Clan to look down on practically every other ninja clan, let alone common-born ninja.

Common-born ninja might remain genin their entire lives. Even if a genius or two occasionally emerged, they could do little to change the bigger picture.

Although the Hatake Clan had produced a powerhouse like White Fang, its numbers were sparse. Now, with only Chihane and Kakashi left, it could only stand aside before the two great clans.

As soon as he entered the classroom, Chihane saw Kurenai Yuhi greeting him.

"Chihane, you're here."

She was probably the only person who would greet him.

Overshadowed by his younger brother's genius, he had some advantage in looks, but strength was what mattered to ninja. Usually, the others either gave him a contemptuous glance before turning away or ignored him outright.

This morning, however, everyone was staring at him-or more precisely, at the green bandana on his head and the wooden sword in his hand.

"Yeah."

Chihane smiled at Kurenai Yuhi, then went to his seat and sat down.

Kurenai Yuhi looked at him in surprise. "Chihane, where did you buy that bandana? It's so distinctive! And why did you bring a wooden sword today? Is it for the combat assessment later?"

Noticing everyone staring at his bandana, Chihane said, "I sweat a lot during my daily training, and my hair gets in my eyes, so I bought a bandana to keep it wrapped up."

"As for the wooden sword, swordsmanship is the Hatake Clan's tradition. I don't have much talent for ninjutsu, so all I can do is inherit my clan's swordsmanship."

Chihane could disregard anyone else, but Kurenai Yuhi was the only person who had stayed by his side even after everyone else began looking down on him.

When she saw their Chunin Instructor enter, Kurenai Yuhi stopped asking questions.

The Chunin Instructor walked into the classroom and immediately noticed Chihane's bandana. A strange look flickered in his eyes as he looked at Chihane.

"Today is our class's combat assessment. Everyone, follow me to the Training Ground." The Chunin Instructor headed out of the classroom as he spoke, and everyone hurried after him.

Once they reached the Training Ground, the Chunin Instructor began reading from a list of pairings prepared in advance.

The students stepped forward in pairs and began their matches.

The shuriken and kunai they used were blunted practice weapons. Although these made fatal injuries unlikely, bloodshed was still unavoidable.

This was the Ninja Academy, after all, a place for training ninja. Even if they never went to war, they would have to undertake all kinds of dangerous missions, and the world of ninja was cruel.

Even though Konoha placed considerable importance on its students' safety, it could hardly

raise a bunch of sheltered flowers. There were quite a few familiar faces in Chihane's class.

Kurenai Yuhi was one of them, along with Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, Ibiki Morino, Asuma, and Might Guy. There was also Shisui Uchiha in another year.

Chihane had heard that Shisui Uchiha was not only unbeatable in his own year but had even defeated genin. He was unquestionably one of the Uchiha Clan's defining geniuses, and currently the only person whose reputation had any hope of catching up to Kakashi's.

Of course, they were all still just seven- or eight-year-old children.

The strongest student in their class was Makoto Uchiha. Not only was he the undisputed best in Chihane's class, but he also had few rivals in their entire year. Among the Uchiha Clan's geniuses, he was second only to Shisui.

As for why he had never appeared in the original story, perhaps he had died somewhere along the way!

When Makoto Uchiha took the field, a group of girls immediately cheered. Clearly, his popularity was also absurdly high.

With the Uchiha Clan's hereditary poker face, combined with his formidable strength and talent, Makoto Uchiha received much the same treatment as Sasuke Uchiha in the original story.

In terms of popularity alone, Chihane and Makoto Uchiha had been evenly matched when they first enrolled. But after Chihane proved to have abysmal talent for ninjutsu and others kept overtaking him in strength, his popularity gradually declined.

When Makoto Uchiha finished off his opponent in just two or three moves, a chorus of cheers and applause immediately erupted.

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Chihane beside her and felt indignant on his behalf.

She saw how hard Chihane worked every day.

Yet his lack of talent for ninjutsu had opened such a vast gap between the two of them.

Just then, the Chunin Instructor called out from his list, "Next up, Chihane Hatake and Hyuga Namikaze. Please step forward."

Hearing this, Kurenai Yuhi froze for a moment, then couldn't help exclaiming, "Why is he facing someone from the Hyuga Clan-and Hyuga Namikaze, of all people?"

If Makoto Uchiha was the greatest genius in their class, there naturally had to be someone in second place.

And second place in their class belonged to Hyuga Namikaze.

The gifted ninja of the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan had always been recognized as powerful. Their talent, combined with their clans' training from an early age, set them apart from common-born ninja.

After all, without a kekkei genkai, it wasn't as though just anyone could use the Eight Gates of Death.

Even against Makoto Uchiha, Hyuga Namikaze could hold out for a long time. His strength was second only to Makoto Uchiha's.

The Chunin Instructor must have paired Chihane with Hyuga Namikaze deliberately!

"Chihane, there's definitely something wrong with this! Don't go up there. Just forfeit. That Hyuga Namikaze is bound to hurt you!" Kurenai Yuhi looked at Chihane indignantly, hoping he wouldn't walk into a beating. After all, everything except taijutsu was a weakness for Chihane, while the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist specifically countered taijutsu.