"I really didn't expect Sensuke to actually become Pakura's disciple and become the strongest among us."
Walking out of his small house the next morning, Kyosuke had a bright smile on his face as he thought about Sensuke's incredibly arrogant behavior in the Dream Space last night.
In any case, thanks to Sensuke's new master, Kyosuke's own baseline knowledge had skyrocketed overnight. He had not only gained the muscle memory for several high-level Ninjutsu but also absorbed Pakura's advanced theoretical knowledge, developing a much deeper understanding of Chakra flow, elemental nature transformation, and lethal combat tactics.
With his hidden strength vastly improved, Kyosuke felt incredibly secure in his ability to maintain his persona as a "civilian genius" at the Academy. He was in a fantastic mood.
Starting today, we learn how to throw ninja tools, he thought, adjusting his backpack. Time to keep impressing the right people.
After nearly a month of theory and meditation, this batch of Academy students had all successfully learned how to refine Chakra. The curriculum was finally entering its next phase: practical Ninjutsu and Taijutsu training.
Walking into the classroom, Kyosuke greeted his classmates with a warm smile. He was quite popular. After all, he was handsome, skilled, and humble. A few genuine compliments and a willingness to share snacks or training tips were more than enough to earn the friendship of most children. This kind of networking was effortless for a transmigrator with an adult's mind.
"Hey! We're learning shurikenjutsu today!" a loud voice bragged as Kyosuke took his seat. "You guys better watch my brilliant performance closely. This is a secret throwing technique of the great Uchiha!"
It was Obito, of course, standing on a desk and shouting, though hardly anyone was paying attention to him.
Over the past few weeks, Obito's actual performance in class had been consistently abysmal, earning him more than a little disdain from his peers.
Seeing Kyosuke walk in, Obito's eyes lit up, and he immediately hopped down and leaned over Kyosuke's desk. "Kyosuke! Let's have a throwing competition today!"
Sitting nearby, Guy immediately crossed his arms in dissatisfaction. "Kyosuke is learning how to throw for the very first time today, while you've already received clan training! That's not fair at all!"
"Shut up, Thick-Brows!" Obito snapped, his face flushing. He looked back at Kyosuke with intense anticipation. "As a man, Kyosuke will definitely agree to a challenge!"
Obito was clearly hoping to use his clan's specialty to finally secure a win over Kyosuke and redeem his bruised ego. He was practically vibrating with confidence.
Kyosuke wasn't going to be provoked so easily. He smiled gently and pointed toward the back row, where a silver-haired boy was quietly reading a book.
"Hey, Kakashi is the undisputed number one genius in our class. If you're going to challenge someone to prove your strength, challenge him. If you beat him, you're officially the best. But even if you beat me, you're still only second place."
During these past few weeks, Kakashi's flawless performance had earned unanimous, overwhelming praise from all the instructors. Takahara Naoyasu had even stated on record that Kakashi already possessed the combat strength of an active Genin and was practically guaranteed to graduate early.
Hearing the name, Obito glanced at Kakashi, his expression instantly souring. He had already secretly challenged Kakashi after school a few days ago and had been humiliated in less than ten seconds.
"Hmph!" Obito stubbornly crossed his arms. "Once I beat you, I'll naturally go on to defeat that masked jerk."
"Alright, I accept," Kyosuke chuckled. "But let's make it interesting. If I win this time, you have to treat me and Guy to all-you-can-eat barbecue tonight."
Kyosuke felt it would be nice to improve his and Guy's protein intake on the Uchiha's dime, so he readily agreed.
"No problem!" Obito agreed instantly.
After all, he knew for a fact that Kyosuke had never practiced shurikenjutsu. The civilian boy had only just bought his first set of practice tools a few days ago! Kyosuke had even dragged Obito along to the weapon shop, shamelessly relying on Obito's Uchiha crest to score a twenty percent clan discount.
Because of this, Obito didn't think there was a snowball's chance in hell he would lose.
Later that morning, after Instructor Takahara finished his lecture on aerodynamics and grip, the practical training began on the outdoor range.
Kyosuke stood at the firing line, holding a cold iron shuriken. He felt a profound sense of déjà vu. Because Sensuke had been drilling weapon throws under Pakura's brutal supervision, Kyosuke's body already perfectly remembered how to aim, how to apply the correct rotational torque, and how to subconsciously calculate wind resistance.
But he couldn't be too good. No matter how talented a civilian was, there had to be a visible learning curve.
Kyosuke intentionally stiffened his wrist and used a slightly flawed release technique. He threw the shuriken, and it thunked into the wooden post a few inches wide of the target ring.
At the exact same time, a chorus of gasps and cheers erupted from the adjacent lanes. It turned out Kakashi had just thrown six shuriken simultaneously, burying all of them dead-center in the bullseyes of six different moving targets.
Seeing Kyosuke miss, Takahara Naoyasu walked over to his lane to offer guidance.
"Kyosuke, do not obsess over hitting the bullseye on your first day," Takahara instructed kindly. "Instead, focus on practicing the correct mechanical throwing motion. Make micro-adjustments based on your own height and arm length. Once you master the kinetic chain that suits your body, the accuracy will naturally follow."
Because Takahara thought incredibly highly of Kyosuke's potential, he patiently pointed out the boy's deliberate mistakes one by one, guiding him to make continuous adjustments.
Kyosuke played the part perfectly, "correcting" his stance and revealing his true accuracy bit by bit. His groupings got tighter and tighter with every throw.
Seeing Kyosuke progress at such a terrifyingly rapid pace, Takahara was leaping with joy on the inside. However, to prevent the boy from becoming conceited, he kept a stern face on the outside, offering nods of approval while warning Kyosuke not to grow arrogant.
After the instructor moved on, Guy ran over and gave Kyosuke a massive thumbs-up. "You're really amazing, Kyosuke! You've completely surpassed my throwing scores already!"
Kyosuke wiped a drop of sweat from his brow, glanced at Obito—whose face currently looked like he had swallowed a lemon—and smiled brightly. "Guy, make sure you eat a light lunch. We need to save as much room for meat tonight as possible."
Hearing that free meat was secured, Guy's eyes sparkled with tears of joy. "Haha! Barbecue is the true essence of youth!"
Unsurprisingly, by the end of the afternoon, Kyosuke had calmly and methodically defeated Obito in their score-based throwing match. After all, without the predictive tracking of an awakened Sharingan, Obito's current mechanical skills were painfully mediocre.
However, the very next day after school, Kyosuke found his path blocked by a new challenger: Asuma Sarutobi.
Kyosuke looked at the Hokage's son and let out a tired sigh. "Kakashi is the undisputed number one. If you want to challenge someone to prove your strength, challenge him. Why are you all coming after me?"
Hearing Kyosuke's deadpan complaint, Asuma rolled his eyes. Nonsense. If I could actually beat Kakashi, I would have challenged him weeks ago!
During the past month, whenever Asuma went home for dinner, he was forced to listen to his old man—the Third Hokage—endlessly praise Kakashi's flawless technique and Kyosuke's incredible work ethic. The old man constantly lectured Asuma to learn from the two of them.
Asuma had a fiercely strong sense of self-esteem and a rebellious streak a mile wide. He was thoroughly unconvinced. He wanted to defeat Kyosuke publicly to prove that his old man's eyes were finally failing him in his old age.
"Stop the nonsense, Kyosuke," Asuma demanded, dropping into a combat stance. "Today, I'm definitely going to defeat you."
"You know my rules, right?" Kyosuke asked dryly. "The loser treats the winner to barbecue."
"No problem. I have plenty of allowance."
With a free, high-quality dinner on the line, Kyosuke had absolutely no reason to refuse. Besides, beating Asuma in a fair fight was guaranteed to increase his impression points with the Hokage.
The two boys moved to an open sparring ring on the playground. As a crowd gathered, Kyosuke properly extended his first two fingers, forming the traditional Seal of Confrontation.
"Hmph. A guy as rigidly by-the-book as my old man," Asuma muttered under his breath. Despite his complaining, he followed protocol and mirrored the Seal of Confrontation.
"Here I come!"
Asuma attacked first, launching himself forward with impressive Taijutsu. Whether it was raw strength, speed, or bodily coordination, Asuma was significantly stronger than Obito. After raising his forearms to block a heavy one-two punch combo, Kyosuke actually felt his bones ache and his arms go slightly numb.
It isn't hard to defeat Asuma, Kyosuke thought rapidly, parrying a sweeping kick. The hard part is defeating him while strictly using the level of strength a civilian Academy student should possess.
Kyosuke's mind raced, and the corners of his mouth suddenly curled into a sly smirk.
After stepping inside Asuma's guard to block a heavy right hook, Kyosuke rapidly brought his hands together, forming a meaningless blur of hand seals, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"What?!" Asuma shrieked. "How do you know an C-rank Fire jutsu?!"
Absolute panic seized the Hokage's son. Instinctively terrified of being incinerated at point-blank range, Asuma threw his hands over his face and desperately completely abandoned his stance to dive sideways out of the blast zone.
But there was no fire. There was no jutsu at all.
Taking full advantage of the moment Asuma threw himself off-balance and blinded his own vision, Kyosuke simply stepped forward, swept Asuma's planted leg, and shoved him hard in the chest, sending the boy crashing flat onto his back in the dirt.
Kyosuke immediately stepped over him, pressing a wooden kunai to Asuma's throat.
"Asuma. I win."
Kyosuke calmly withdrew the wooden blade and performed the Seal of Reconciliation, officially ending the match.
Asuma scrambled up from the ground, furiously wiping the dirt off his face. He looked completely indignant, his face red with humiliation.
"You lied! You cheated! You didn't even use a jutsu! That match doesn't count!"
Kyosuke wasn't about to indulge the spoiled brat's temper tantrum. He crossed his arms and adopted the strict, lecturing tone of an Academy instructor.
"Asuma, you clearly didn't listen well in class yesterday. Instructor Takahara explicitly stated that a shinobi must use any means necessary to achieve victory. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, ninja tools, traps, and verbal deception are all equally valid components of combat tactics."
Kyosuke stepped closer, his voice dropping to a serious register. "We are classmates. You train in the same room as me every single day. You know exactly what my background is and what my capabilities are. You know perfectly well that a civilian orphan who just unlocked his Chakra three weeks ago cannot possibly cast the Uchiha's signature Great Fireball Technique. Yet... the second I shouted the name, you completely abandoned your defense and threw yourself at my mercy."
Asuma opened his mouth to argue, but the words died in his throat.
"You are far too arrogant, and far too easily spooked," Kyosuke continued mercilessly. "You need to remember that the enemies you face in the real world won't be your classmates. You must fix this flaw in your combat awareness, Asuma. Because today, falling for a simple bluff only cost you the price of a barbecue dinner. But out there? Losing your composure to an enemy will cost you your life."
Asuma was incredibly proud, and being lectured by a civilian peer stung his ego terribly. Naturally, he refused to outwardly admit defeat. He huffed angrily, turned on his heel, and stormed off the playground without another word.
Miles away, deep within the Hokage's office, this entire scene was perfectly reflected in the swirling mists of a crystal ball.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, removed his pipe from his mouth and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Sigh... when will Asuma's stubborn personality ever change? He relies entirely on his pedigree and brute force." Hiruzen glanced over his shoulder. "Jiraiya, what do you think of young Kyosuke?"
Leaning against the wall, the Toad Sage Jiraiya chuckled, clearly very impressed by Kyosuke's performance.
As a shinobi who had risen from a completely civilian background himself, Jiraiya intimately knew the brutal hardships and lack of resources that commoner ninjas faced. That was exactly why he had taken the commoner-born Minato Namikaze as his sole disciple, and later spent three years teaching the orphans of the Rain.
"He's very good," Jiraiya nodded approvingly. "He has a calm head on his shoulders, excellent tactical awareness, and he's not afraid to play dirty to overcome a physical disadvantage. As long as he receives proper instruction, he'll surely become a great shinobi."
Jiraiya paused, his eyes narrowing as he caught the Hokage's underlying tone. "But Old Man... I am not taking on any more disciples right now. If you want him groomed, you can ask Tsunade or Orochimaru."
Jiraiya knew exactly what his sensei was hinting at, and he refused bluntly. He had spent years raising Minato, and then three more years raising Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan in the Rain. He was exhausted and entirely burnt out on teaching children.
Hiruzen scowled, visibly dissatisfied with his student's carefree, irresponsible attitude. "Hmph! You poured so much of your heart and time into teaching three foreign orphans in the Rain, yet you're completely unwilling to teach the promising children of your own village? You have absolutely no sense of responsibility, Jiraiya."
Among the Legendary Sannin, the one Hiruzen truly valued the most for his moral compass was Jiraiya. He wholeheartedly wanted to groom Jiraiya to take over the mantle of the Fourth Hokage, but the Toad Sage constantly dodged responsibility and refused the position, which caused the old man no end of distress.
Seeing the Hokage take a deep breath to start another long, guilt-tripping lecture, Jiraiya immediately threw open the office window and hopped onto the sill.
"Sorry, Old Man! I'm off to conduct highly classified 'research' for my next artistic masterpiece! Don't come looking for me, even if the village catches fire!"
With a hearty laugh, Jiraiya dove out the window, disappearing into the bustling streets of Konoha.
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