Sasuke's challenge

The night passed in a flash.

The next morning, at Konoha Ninja Academy.

The atmosphere in the classroom was completely different from usual.

Usually, Sasuke Uchiha was the focus of everyone's admiration, with Naruto Uzumaki occasionally drawing attention.

But today, every furtive, curious, and awed gaze in the class converged on one person-Lin Chen.

Overnight, word had spread throughout the entire year of Lin Chen's undefeated rise to first place in the Preliminary Assessment, his instant defeats of several prodigies, and the Chunin teacher's exceptional recommendation.

The worthless bottom-ranked student with meager chakra whom anyone could bully for the past three years had completely overturned everyone's perceptions.

Whispers rose and fell throughout the classroom without stopping.

"This is ridiculous. I still haven't gotten over it. Lin Chen actually took down Inoue Yū in an instant."

"That's not even all. I heard Mr. Watanabe has already reported to the higher-ups to apply for him to receive individual instruction from a Jōnin. Even Sasuke doesn't get that treatment!"

"We used to laugh at him for being useless. Now it looks like we were the clowns."

The comments reached their ears, filling the students with rueful amazement and regret.

Only Sasuke Uchiha, seated by the window, had a frighteningly oppressive air around him.

His back was rigidly straight, his black hair hanging down to hide the gloom and resentment churning in his eyes. His fingers clenched tightly on the desktop, his knuckles white.

Ever since enrolling, he had stood at the pinnacle of Konoha's younger generation, an acknowledged genius and the center of everyone's attention.

But ever since Lin Chen's sudden emergence, the glory that belonged to him was being eroded and stolen, bit by bit.

What made him even more agitated was that he could clearly sense something wrong with his condition.

His bloodline power, which should have grown stronger by the day, had stagnated. The opportunity to awaken his Sharingan, which should have come soon, showed no sign of arriving.

Even when he had trained all through the previous night, his chakra circulation had been sluggish and obstructed, and his eyes had occasionally felt inexplicably sore and numb.

He had never experienced such a strange regression before.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke kept a fixed watch on Lin Chen, who sat calmly diagonally ahead of him, as suspicion and hostility ran rampant in his heart.

It had to be him.

Lin Chen's sudden rise had to have disrupted my rhythm and stolen the fortune that belonged to me!

Nearby, Naruto was completely oblivious to Sasuke's unusual behavior. He leaned toward Lin Chen excitedly and began chattering.

"Lin Chen, Lin Chen! You were so cool yesterday! You even beat a Chunin!"

As for Lin Chen stopping him last night and his missing out on the Scroll of Seals, all he felt was guilt, without a trace of resentment. In his eyes, Lin Chen had been keeping him from making a mistake and was someone truly strong.

Sensing the Nine-Tails fortune around Naruto, still abundant yet quietly diminished by a fraction, a faint glimmer stirred in Lin Chen's eyes.

After intercepting the Scroll of Seals last night and plundering a vast quantity of origin, his strength had completely surpassed the bounds of an ordinary Genin candidate.

The chakra within him was abundant and pure, far exceeding that of ninja at his level. He had fully mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and all manner of Sealing Techniques. The endurance and recovery properties of his Nine-Tails physiology, coupled with the enhancement from his trace of Uchiha bloodline, had already made his foundation impregnable.

The sense of the Will of the World watching him still lingered around him, cold and wary, yet it had yet to exert any tangible suppression.

Lin Chen understood.

The Heavenly Dao wanted to correct the plot, but his current status as a variable prevented it from acting easily. It could only secretly build up pressure.

And its most direct means of correction was to spur Heaven's Chosen Protagonist into crushing him, the heretic.

It seemed the Heavenly Dao was secretly driving Sasuke's agitation.

Sure enough.

The moment the bell rang to end class, Sasuke sprang to his feet, his chair scraping against the floor with a piercing sound.

Ignoring everyone's gazes, he walked straight to Lin Chen's desk and looked down at him, his eyes cold enough to cut to the bone.

"Lin Chen. After school. The Training Ground."

The simple words carried an overbearing challenge that allowed no refusal.

The entire class instantly fell silent. Every gaze immediately focused on the two of them, and the atmosphere became tense and suffocating.

Everyone could see that Sasuke had reached the end of his patience and wanted to challenge Lin Chen in front of everyone!

Naruto panicked at once and hurriedly stood to intervene. "Sasuke! What are you doing? Lin Chen's a good guy. Don't fight!"

"A good guy?" Sasuke scoffed, the hostility in his eyes intensifying. "Konoha's genius doesn't need to be replaced by an opportunist who steals the limelight with a sudden burst of power."

"I'll prove that your earlier wins were nothing but luck."

He stared fixedly at Lin Chen, the agitation in his heart growing stronger.

His stagnant bloodline, the loss of his opportunity, his stolen glory-all these bizarre changes had left him in a state of extreme urgency. He desperately needed a victory to secure his standing as a genius and break through the inexplicable shackles on him.

Even if he had to force a breakthrough, he would awaken his Sharingan!

Looking at the almost obsessive stubbornness in Sasuke's eyes, Lin Chen sneered inwardly.

With his bloodline potential and eye-opening opportunity plundered, and the Heavenly Dao secretly spurring him on, Sasuke had now completely lost his mental balance.

This battle was unavoidable.

Lin Chen slowly raised his eyes, his expression composed. His voice was calm, yet carried absolute confidence. "Whenever you're ready."