Ding ling ling.
While Sora was thinking, the class dismissal bell rang. Students gathered in small groups to chat.
Kurenai tugged at Sora's sleeve and asked curiously, "Sora, who did you mean by important people just now?"
Sora glanced at her and smiled. "For example, Sister Nonō, for example, you, for example, the other children at the orphanage."
Kurenai's ears instantly turned red. She lowered her head, fiddling with the corner of her clothes, and asked softly, "Am I, am I also an important person?"
"Of course." Sora rubbed her hair. "You're the first friend I made here."
Kurenai looked up, her wine-red eyes sparkling. "Then it's settled. We have to stay together forever."
"..."
"Hey, hey, hey, do I not exist?"
"That's right. Having chakra like an ant, yet still getting praised by the Hokage. I think you just got lucky."
Two voices suddenly came from the desk behind. Sora turned to look. One was Asuma, his expression as if he had swallowed ten pounds of lemons.
Sora thought about it. No wonder. In the original story, Asuma and Kurenai were a couple. He must have liked Kurenai's type. Seeing a girl he found pleasing to the eye chatting with another boy right in front of him, and about such an intimate topic, Asuma was naturally displeased.
And the seat Sora was currently sitting in might very well have been Asuma's seat in the original story. After all, without Sora, Kurenai definitely wouldn't have specifically saved a seat. Then Asuma, sitting in the back row, would most likely have sat next to Kurenai...
Sora thought about it, smiled at Asuma, and nodded as a greeting.
In Sora's mind, this was a friendly response. As for what it looked like in Asuma's eyes, only heaven knew.
The other one, if Sora remembered correctly, should be called Uchiha Ryota. He had the standard Uchiha spiky hair, wore the Uchiha clan's iconic fan crest clothing, and had a very punchable expression.
He was clearly unhappy that Sora, an orphan with terrible chakra talent, had been publicly praised by the Third Hokage.
Sora raised an eyebrow. This Uchiha sense of superiority was really cultivated from a young age.
Deliberately moving closer to Kurenai, Sora said with a smile, "Luck is also part of strength. Some people probably don't even have luck."
"What did you say?!"
"We Uchiha geniuses need to rely on luck? You'll see what's coming during practical combat class!" Ryota exploded instantly.
"Forget it. I'm afraid I might make you cry, and then we'd have to call your parents." Sora tilted his head to look at him.
"You're looking for death!"
Ryota's eyes were wide open, so much so that Sora wondered if he might suddenly awaken his Sharingan...
Kurenai quickly tugged Sora's sleeve again. "Stop arguing. The teacher is coming soon."
Sora then shrugged and waved at Uchiha Ryota. "I won't tease you anymore. Better to do a couple more push-ups with that energy."
"Hmph, don't get cocky. I hope you don't get paired with me in the upcoming practical exam. Otherwise, I'll show you what the Uchiha are." Uchiha Ryota said through gritted teeth.
Uchiha Ryota was, after all, only a six-year-old child. Sora had just been publicly praised by the Third Hokage on stage yesterday. He definitely wouldn't dare to actually start a fight today. At most, he was just trying to assert himself verbally.
Although the Uchiha could currently be said to be the most powerful ninja clan in Konoha, a conflict between a few children wasn't serious enough to escalate to the clan level. Therefore, Sora didn't care, as long as he didn't seriously injure or cripple anyone and didn't expose the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
...
"Another exam..."
In the blink of an eye, Sora had been enrolled for three months. Today was the monthly practical combat exam.
Sora leaned against a large tree at the edge of the sports ground, looking at the students gathered not far away and thinking to himself, "Better to hold back. Stay in school a bit longer. At the very least, I can't graduate earlier than Kakashi."
Kakashi enrolled at four and graduated at five. He was still in school now, one grade above Sora, Yūhi Kurenai, and others who enrolled at six. Sora estimated he would graduate in the next few months.
In the original story, Yūhi Kurenai and others didn't graduate from the ninja academy until they were nine. Although Sora wanted to graduate as soon as possible to increase his strength, as an orphan with no ninjutsu talent, it was better not to stand out too much!
It's worth mentioning that Uchiha Obito was in the same grade as Sora. However, Obito was in Class C of the first year, grouped together with Yamanaka Rin and Uesugi Rin from the orphanage.
Just as he was thinking this, a chorus of "heng, ha, hei" shouts came from not far away. It was the exam match between Yūhi Kurenai and Asuma.
"Kurenai is really quite strong!"
After casually watching the two in the distance, Sora determined that Kurenai on the field would win this round soon.
Withdrawing his gaze, Sora clenched his fist, silently estimating his current strength.
Over the past three months, Sora's physical strength had greatly increased. He had fully adapted to the human form of the Azure Dragon Fruit and had begun developing the hybrid form.
Unfortunately, he could only partially transform one hand for now. There was still a long way to go before achieving the second form's ability to transform any part of the body at will.
Although his chakra amount was still pitifully low, combined with the Azure Dragon Fruit and deliberately holding back, his taijutsu class results consistently remained in the top three of the grade and first in his class.
"In terms of pure taijutsu alone, it should be at Chunin level. As long as I don't encounter overly powerful ninjutsu, I can withstand it and recover."
Zoan-type fruits provided the most obvious enhancement immediately after consumption. Sora wasn't surprised by this level of strength. He even felt it was low, because in his own conception, after fully adapting to and mastering the human form, the strength should be close to Jōnin level.
"It really is because my body is still too young!"
Sora was now just over six years old. His body hadn't fully developed yet. The power enhancement brought by the Azure Dragon Fruit was also based on his physical foundation. The Third Shinobi World War would arrive when he was about eleven. By then, as long as Sora played it safe and didn't do anything stupid, he should be able to survive the battlefield.
"Yūhi Kurenai wins. Next group, Sora versus Uchiha Ryota."
Just as Sora was idly pondering, the referee teacher's voice reached his ears.
Kurenai, who had just defeated Asuma, came up to him and said, "Be careful, Sora."
Although Kurenai knew about Sora's intense taijutsu training, he had no ninjutsu talent after all. Facing an Uchiha, she was still very afraid he might get hurt.
"Don't worry." The corners of Sora's mouth lifted slightly.
Over these three months, Uchiha Ryota had often picked fights, but for the first two months, he had never been paired with Sora in a group.
Uchiha Ryota looked at Sora, a smile also appearing on his lips.
Today he could finally beat someone up with a legitimate reason! x2
"Sora, why don't you just admit defeat? It would be bad if you got hurt later."
Uchiha Ryota looked at Sora, deliberately using this tone.
Sora didn't speak. Instead, he looked at Uchiha Ryota calmly.
This look made Uchiha Ryota's heart inexplicably skip a beat.
This calmness, this composure... it simply didn't seem like a gaze a child his age could possess!
It was more like the look in his older brother's eyes. But how was that possible? His brother was a Chunin, who knew how many missions he had completed!
Sora ignored the distracted Uchiha Ryota and said lightly, "No need. Let's just start."
Seeing that both were ready, the exam teacher announced directly, "The match begins!"
The moment the exam teacher's voice fell, Uchiha Ryota flipped his hands and directly pulled out two stacks of shuriken, hurling them at Sora.
Whoosh!!!
In an instant, eight shuriken turned into several black shadows shooting forth. Four aimed directly for Sora's vitals, while the other four tightly sealed off all directions he could dodge!
This was the Uchiha clan's shuriken throwing technique!