"You two are the strongest students in this class. Have a proper match and let the others see just how wide the gap between you really is."
Oh no. This is going to be a huge problem.
Shingetsu frowned in distress and glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood opposite her looking equally lost. The future Third Hokage was still a fresh-faced young boy, but his features already had a sleazy air to them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the girl opposite him, who barely reached his waist, and rubbed his hair uneasily. He did not want to defy Tobirama, but fighting a little girl like her was going too far. He had no desire to be accused of picking on someone younger.
"Teacher Tobirama, isn't this... a little inappropriate? I'm several years older than Uchiha Shingetsu!"
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. In the ninja world, neither gender nor age matters. Strength is the only absolute."
Tobirama Senju's face remained expressionless, betraying neither joy nor sorrow. He seemed determined to make the two fight. When his crimson eyes settled on Shingetsu, they reflected an icy chill and wariness.
"Underestimate her, and you'll only lose faster."
You're absolutely right, and I couldn't agree more, but would you listen to what you're actually saying?!
Shingetsu's bewildered gaze shifted between Tobirama and his student. She truly could not understand what Tobirama Senju was thinking. Why was he targeting her to this extent, even dragging Hiruzen Sarutobi into it?
Was it just because she was Madara Uchiha's student? Because she belonged to the Uchiha Clan?
No. That couldn't possibly be it.
Shingetsu immediately rejected that explanation. Although Tobirama Senju was indeed a treacherous, scheming bastard, he was also a politician so rational and pragmatic that he bordered on heartless. He had no reason to go after someone from his own village.
Besides, the village had been founded six years ago. If he really meant to pursue their clans' old grudges, he would have stirred up trouble six years ago. Why wait until today?
But if it wasn't a clan grudge, what was it? Surely Tobirama wasn't targeting her at every turn just because he disliked her. She wasn't one of those overpowered male webnovel protagonists with built-in stupidity and hatred auras.
Shingetsu racked her brains without finding an answer. She had even added such trivial offenses as arriving late on her first day of school and yawning during Hashirama Senju's speech to her list of "Reasons Tobirama Senju is targeting me."
Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind like a thunderbolt. Shingetsu recalled the, uh, far-too-progressive opinions she had voiced in front of Kagami, and a possibility abruptly dawned on her.
The ultimate reason Tobirama was targeting her might well be that she had violated Konoha's political orthodoxy and questioned the will of fire.
"Teacher Tobirama, I absolutely oppose this! There's no harm in holding a match like this another time. Let's forget it for now."
Uchiha Hōkaku was furious. Suppressing his anger, he forced out his words one by one. He practically ground the title "Teacher Tobirama" through his teeth, sounding as though he wanted to devour the man alive.
Hōkaku had always hated the Senju Clan, especially Tobirama Senju, that calculating, coldhearted schemer who had even killed Lord Izuna. Now he was setting his sights on Hōkaku's precious daughter, Shingetsu. Hōkaku did not know what he was plotting, but whatever Tobirama Senju wanted to do, he would do everything in his power to stop it!
"Since this is a match between the children, why don't we hear what they think?"
Tobirama Senju's gaze remained indifferent. Even Hōkaku's sharp retort failed to disturb his composure in the slightest. He looked at the students caught between their two teachers, unsure what to do, then turned an encouraging gaze toward an unremarkable boy in the crowd.
"Would you like to see this match?"
"I... um, I... yes!"
The student under Tobirama's gaze immediately lowered his head. After a brief struggle, he threw caution to the wind and shouted what he truly thought. He would not have to fight in the match himself, so of course he wanted to watch the excitement. He would not be the one getting hurt or losing, anyway.
Besides, the two opponents were students of the strongest men alive. Who wouldn't want to see them have a proper showdown?
"Me too! I want to see it too!"
"Teacher Tobirama, I... I want to see it too!"
"Come on, fight!"
The children's enthusiasm had been thoroughly stirred up. More and more students joined those supporting the match, their shouts rising like a landslide, like a surging tide. Undisguised excitement filled every young face. Swept up in the uproar, even the children affiliated with the Uchiha and Senju could no longer keep their heads and joined the frenzy.
The fiercely competitive Uchiha Miki immediately raised her little fist, a blazing fire kindling in her eyes as she shouted:
"Lady Shingetsu, you can do it! Beat that stinking monkey until he wets himself!"
"Hiruzen, go get her!"
Not to be outdone, Konoha's future king of taking the blame, still a child himself, pressed his lips together. The two crossed scars on his chin stood out as he flushed red and shouted:
"Send that arrogant woman flying!"
Watching the children descend into complete frenzy, Hōkaku's face turned livid. The match was now like a hemp rope slowly roasting over a fire, an arrow already drawn that had to be loosed. Worse still, the honor of both the Senju and Uchiha Clans was at stake.
Yet the more Tobirama Senju behaved like this, the more uneasy Hōkaku became. He even began to wonder whether Tobirama Senju had already learned the truth about Shingetsu's origins.
"But this isn't right, is it? Maybe we shouldn't fight..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi swallowed as he looked at the students and teachers around him, all seemingly possessed. Amid their howling cries, he decided to make one last attempt to resist. But the moment he looked up and saw Tobirama Senju's eyes, he changed his mind.
"I... I... all right, let's fight. I'll go easy on you!"
Surrounded by a crowd of feverishly obsessed people, Shingetsu let out a quiet sigh. First she looked at the somewhat helpless Uchiha Hōkaku, then silently glanced at Tobirama Senju, whose expression betrayed nothing.
Inciting and exploiting public opinion to force a minority into line-this was exactly the same tactic he'd used against Madara to make Hashirama Hokage. What had a five-year-old brat like her done to deserve this great man's "favor"?
Fine. It looked like this fight was unavoidable.
But she wasn't afraid, either.
"All right, let's fight. But I won't go easy on you."
Everyone quietly stepped back to give the pair room. On the suddenly empty training ground, Shingetsu and Sarutobi stood facing each other. At Hōkaku and Tobirama's instructions, they solemnly formed the Seal of Confrontation toward their opponent.
Before the match officially began, Tobirama Senju signaled to Hiruzen Sarutobi with his eyes and a gesture: Use your full strength. Push her into a corner. Hōkaku also lightly patted Shingetsu's shoulder, then turned his back to Tobirama and mouthed:
Do not use the Sharingan under any circumstances!
Shingetsu understood immediately. Until the very last moment, she absolutely could not reveal her Sharingan.
"Begin!"
The instant the words rang out, Shingetsu hurled six wooden shuriken in quick succession, employing the Uchiha Clan's unique throwing technique.
Under exquisitely precise control that resembled a work of art, the six shuriken flew at Hiruzen Sarutobi's vital points from six different directions and angles. They moved so fast they almost sliced through the air. Amid the crowd's cries of shock, Hiruzen Sarutobi failed to dodge and was pierced like a sieve.
But in the next instant, Sarutobi's body turned into a puddle of mud and collapsed onto the ground.
An Earth Clone?
Shingetsu tightened her grip on her kunai and took a defensive stance, swiftly searching for her opponent.
In the muddy ground behind her, Hiruzen Sarutobi's body lay silently submerged in the earth as he crept closer. Once he was close enough to touch the girl's shadow, he struck, hurling several kunai in succession at her unguarded back.
The situation had completely reversed. At such close range, there was almost no chance to dodge!
The kunai sank hard into Shingetsu's back, drawing shrill cries of anguish from the young Uchiha spectators. But the next instant, white smoke wreathed the training ground, and a wooden log studded with kunai took her place.
Under cover of the white smoke, Shingetsu leaped high into the air. Her gaze tracked the Sarutobi monkey as he moved swiftly through the earth, while her nimble hands rapidly formed hand seals and chakra gathered continuously in her throat. Soon, her chest swelled dramatically before contracting again. Then she locked onto her target and forcefully spat out-
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball descended from the sky, slamming toward the ground where Hiruzen Sarutobi hid with a force that seemed capable of destroying everything. Although Shingetsu had deliberately controlled her chakra so it would not actually burn anyone to death, to the watching children, those blazing flames already looked like the end of the world!
The Uchiha Clan's signature fire release technique immediately captured everyone's attention. Uchiha Shingetsu, who could already use C-rank ninjutsu at her age, truly was an extraordinary prodigy.
With the fireball about to hit the ground, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped hiding in the earth and leaped straight to the surface. He knew that escaping the Great Fireball Technique's range was now almost impossible. It was a practical ninjutsu famed for its destructive power and wide reach. Rather than flee in panic only to get hit anyway, he might as well gamble on blocking it!
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi swiftly formed five hand seals-Tiger, Snake, Rat, Snake, Tiger-and spat out a waterfall-like torrent to withstand the great fireball's assault. Water release naturally countered fire release among the chakra natures, and Sarutobi had poured a great deal of chakra into the technique. Soon, Shingetsu's great fireball was extinguished by the Water Formation Wall.
In the ninja world, only a tiny minority possessed multiple chakra natures, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was that one-in-ten-thousand genius who possessed all seven. Not only that, he was an all-round prodigy with exceptional talent and comprehension, developing his ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike.
Before you continue