After feeling the changes in his eyes, Renjiro came to the river. With the reflection of the moonlight on the water's surface, he clearly saw his eyes—two- tomoe Sharingan!
While Renjiro was happy, he also felt it was normal. After all, the Sharingan was just a manifestation of Yin Release, and Yin Release was the manifestation of spiritual energy.
His current spiritual energy could increase by 30% when the Sharingan was activated. Even without the Sharingan, his spiritual energy rose by 10%.
The darkness could no longer cover his eyes!
The slightest movement hundreds of meters away appeared particularly clear to him.
In less than two minutes, his Sharingan automatically shut down as his chakra was exhausted. Renjiro calmed down and went straight back to camp to rest.
The owner of two magatama at the age of five!
If the Uchiha clan knew of this, it would cause an earthquake!
Not only the Uchiha, but the entire Konoha, even the entire shinobi world, would be shocked.
This was someone surpassing Uchiha Madara at five years old. A child revealing a two-tomoe Sharingan at first awakening—who could dare say such a prodigy would not surpass Madara? Who would underestimate him?
Just think: Madara alone once suppressed the entire shinobi world. If another child appeared with the potential to surpass him, who would not be concerned? Who would dare take him lightly?
Even if Renjiro returned to the clan now and showed his eyes, he knew the outcome. Ten percent would want him dead. Seventy percent would want to turn him into a weapon. Fewer than twenty percent might see him as hope for Uchiha's revival.
But Renjiro was unmoved. He knew well—opening eyes early did not mean great potential, nor did it make one a genius.
Madara himself hadn't awakened his Sharingan until fifteen! And even then, it was only a single tomoe. Yet he was a genius beyond compare.
So Renjiro had nothing to be proud of. His only advantage was his vast spiritual energy.
Without a strong physique to match, even great mental strength was of little use.
And most importantly—he had no blood brothers. Without brothers, there could be no Eternal Mangekyō. His eyes would eventually go blind.
Renjiro's daily life was simple. Train, eat, then train again after eating.
Most of his prey these days were snakes. His trap area seemed filled with them—it was terrifying!
He had dried and stored some snake meat. Though tough and dense, it was rich in energy and filled his stomach easily.
Early that morning, Renjiro had been busy around camp. The night before, he'd caught a wild bird. He decided to stew it and make a "Chicken hot pot."
"Uh, I really don't have any talent for cooking..."
Renjiro grimaced after a sip of soup. "It tastes terrible..."
After forcing it down, he went to the Ninja Academy. A week had passed since registration—today was his first official day of class.
But as soon as he stepped into the room, he was blocked.
"Where have you been lately? I couldn't find you yesterday morning when I went looking. I even came to the Academy—only to hear you'd already registered and left. And today too! Is that remote courtyard really your home?"
A girl with black hair and eyes, her pale face puffed in anger, stood before him. She looked irresistibly cute pouting like that.
"Uchiha... Mikoto?" Renjiro asked, surprised.
"Hmph!" Mikoto turned her head away, cheeks slightly red.
"You came to look for me? Why..."
Renjiro was genuinely confused. His home was far away, and they weren't close. Why bother?
"You fool! Sister Ruri asked me to find you, afraid you'd forget registration! Do you think I wanted to? That broken-down place you live in took me over an hour to reach. Not only was I exhausted, I was late for my own registration! And now you dare ask why I came?"
Mikoto grit her teeth.
"Uh... sorry about that."
"But there's no need to go anymore. I don't live there now."
"You think I want to? I'll never look for you again, hmph!"
"Oh."
Renjiro just replied indifferently, then walked to his seat and sat down quietly.
Mikoto nearly ground her teeth to dust. She felt wronged—and when she sat beside him, even angrier.
"To sit next to this guy, damn it!"
But when she looked closer, she blinked in shock.
"Has he... gotten healthier? A week ago he was a skeleton, filthy and miserable. But now..."
She stared, stunned.
"Huh? Why are you staring? Do you think I'm handsome?"
Bored of waiting, Renjiro teased her.
"O-Oh! Sorry!"
Well-educated, Mikoto knew staring was rude. Though inwardly she cursed him as shameless, she still apologized sincerely.
On the first day of class, Renjiro felt real pressure.
This was the elite class—every student nominated by a Jōnin or from a great clan. The most important class of the first grade.
"The Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi—the Ino–Shika–Chō trio... Hyūga Hiashi and Hizashi... Sarutobi... Aburame... and... Senju Nawaki?"
After self-introductions, Renjiro had memorized everyone. These were Konoha's future pillars.
He was shocked—and excited.
Elsewhere, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen observed through his crystal ball, with advisors and the future Sannin at his side.
"This year's top class is strong. But... two Uchiha children?" Hiruzen muttered.
"Both were nominated by Elder Uchiha Junko," Orochimaru rasped. "One is his granddaughter. The boy... I don't know, but he seems ordinary."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "What's Nawaki doing? Can't he sit still for a moment?"
"Yes, yes, far too restless," Jiraiya agreed absently—while staring at Tsunade's chest.
BOOM!
He was sent flying through a wall, Tsunade lowering her fist calmly. The Anbu patched the damage as if it were routine.
"The Uchiha are getting reckless," Koharu said coldly, eyes narrowing on Renjiro. "What does Junko think of the nomination system? To abuse it so lightly?"
The room grew heavy with silence.
Finally, Hiruzen exhaled.
"Forget it. Two slots won't hurt. And Uchiha Fugaku from the previous year is thriving—top of his class, in fact."
Koharu didn't argue, but her displeasure was obvious.
In the classroom, Renjiro listened intently to the lecture. Suddenly, his head snapped toward a corner of the room—an empty wall.
His eyes narrowed.
End of the chapter.