Yagyu's words instantly angered Uchiha Sasuke.
"Damn it!"
With an angry shout, Uchiha Sasuke charged straight toward Yagyu.
"I'll make you pay for your arrogance!"
Bang.
With a powerful stomp on the ground, Sasuke leapt high into the air. His body spun once midair, and a heavy sweeping kick flew straight toward Yagyu's head.
This single move alone demonstrated that Sasuke's Taijutsu was stronger than that of most children his age.
"Good move."
Looking at Sasuke's fierce aerial kick, Yagyu's expression remained calm as he silently praised it.
After two full months of training, various basic Taijutsu had already been engraved into his instinctive reactions. His combat experience had also improved through frequent sparring with Ino, so Yagyu was no longer a beginner.
Thump.
With a forceful stomp, Yagyu jumped into the air.
Moving later but arriving first, he launched a powerful kick that collided directly with Sasuke's attack.
Bang.
A dull collision sound echoed.
There was no stalemate, only Yagyu completely overpowering Sasuke.
Sasuke's body, still in midair, was struck by a powerful counterforce and was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
Rustle.
After landing on the ground, Sasuke stumbled back several steps.
Whoosh, thud.
The moment Sasuke stabilized himself and raised his head, a black flash shot past his ear. A sharp kunai sliced through a few strands of his hair and embedded itself deeply into a tree behind him.
"?!!"
Looking at Yagyu, who had one hand in his pocket while the other still held the posture of throwing the kunai, Sasuke's young face filled with disbelief.
A drop of cold sweat slid down his cheek.
"Looks like I won."
Slowly lowering his hand, Yagyu glanced calmly at the stunned Sasuke.
"As expected of a genius of the Uchiha Clan. You actually forced me to use ninja tools. That's already impressive."
After Yagyu finished speaking, Iruka, who had been stunned, finally came back to his senses and loudly announced,
"The match is over. The winner is Yagyu Sosuke."
After hearing Iruka's announcement, Yagyu simply returned to the formation with an indifferent expression, ignoring the awe-filled gazes of his classmates. He looked completely calm.
In contrast, Sasuke, who had just been defeated, was filled with unwillingness. His small fists clenched tightly, and his eyes even glistened slightly with tears as he silently returned to his place.
Among the watching students, Ino smiled as if everything had gone exactly as expected and glanced at Haruno Sakura beside her.
"Well? Sakura, didn't I say Yagyu is definitely stronger than Uchiha Sasuke? Did you see that? He only used two moves to defeat him. Clean and decisive."
Hearing Ino's words, Sakura did not appear dissatisfied. Instead, she still looked somewhat shocked. After glancing briefly at Yagyu, her gaze returned to Sasuke with a hint of concern.
Seeing that Sakura did not argue with her, Ino did not press the issue. Instead, she looked toward Yagyu in the formation. He stood there like a noble young master detached from the world.
"He's a little handsome."
Her face flushed slightly as a small thought formed in Ino's mind.
"But he's still an arrogant and annoying jerk."
However, Yagyu's battle just now had been extremely clean and decisive, and it was quite handsome.
…
In the central district of Konoha, inside the Hokage Building, in the Hokage's office.
Sitting in his chair, the elderly Third Hokage watched the image displayed in the crystal ball before him, where Yagyu could be seen quietly observing the practical combat training.
"Yagyu Sosuke."
Looking at Yagyu's figure, the Third Hokage pulled out his file from a pile of student records beside him.
"His father is Yagyu Kenichiro, who died two years ago, and his mother is Yagyu Yuko. A family that inherited the Will of Fire, and all of his academic results are perfect. It seems that among this year's students, a civilian genius has appeared and deserves careful attention and Training."
His refined and efficient Taijutsu, his precise and flawless ninja tool skills, and his accurate grasp of combat rhythm combined with his academic performance made the Third Hokage feel that Yagyu was a talented child worth observing and nurturing.
After finishing reading Yagyu's file, the Third Hokage put it away, and the image in the crystal ball shifted to the person currently rejected by everyone, the "protagonist" Uzumaki Naruto.
In the Third Hokage's eyes, there was nothing but expectation for Naruto.
At the current stage in all of Konoha, aside from Yagyu who knew the future storyline, the only person who still had expectations for Naruto was the Third Hokage.
The reason this class attracted the Third Hokage's attention was because every single student in it was extraordinary.
…
At the training ground.
After school ended, Yagyu came here as usual to complete his daily training plan.
Today, Ino had followed him here again and sat nearby playing.
"Yagyu, I'll treat you to ramen."
Sitting under a large tree with nothing to do, Ino looked at Yagyu, who was drenched in sweat.
"Today you won and made Sakura lose our bet, so I'm really happy."
While continuing his physical training, Yagyu felt speechless after hearing Ino's words. Perhaps because of the butterfly effect he caused, Ino had not become hopelessly infatuated with Uchiha Sasuke like Sakura had, so there was no sense of rivalry between them.
However, fate seemed to have a strange way of correcting itself. When it came to arguing about whether Yagyu or Sasuke was stronger, the two girls seemed to be drifting from close friends toward becoming rivals again.
"No thanks."
While continuing his physical training, Yagyu immediately refused.
"I have to go home for dinner, otherwise my mother will get angry."
Ever since his mother had reclaimed control of the kitchen, the rules at the Yagyu family dinner table had become increasingly strict, which was truly troublesome. Yagyu now found it difficult even to eat outside occasionally.
"I see."
After hearing Yagyu's reason, Ino did not object.
"That's a pity. You've lost the chance to have dinner with this young lady."
Yagyu glanced at her speechlessly.
"If dinner is just ramen and I have to eat it with you, then it's better to forget it."
After being shut down by Yagyu's words, Ino glared fiercely at him before standing up.
"I'm going home."
After shouting that, she turned around and ran off, leaving behind her short ponytail swaying in the air.
Shaking his head, Yagyu continued completing his training even faster.
To be honest, because he had been reborn into this world from birth, Yagyu's mentality was already mature. He truly had little interest in these children, and at least until they grew up, he could not possibly respond to those feelings.