Ignoring the baseless statement from the voice in his head, Yashin narrowed his eyes as he clenched his fists.
…
"If only you'd listened to me when I told you to kill the old man as soon as he set his dogs on you, I wouldn't have to endure the repulsive stench of his breath right now. How did it go? 'I can kill him whenever I want, but instead of rushing, it's better to do it at the right moment'? Why don't you try it now? It seems like a good time to me to send the old man on his way."
…
The Hokage's eyes also lingered for a moment on Yashin; however, his interest in the pink-haired was far less than what he felt for the Uzumaki twins or the Uchiha geniuses.
— Not a bad idea. Iruka-sensei, have your three best students step forward.
— Hokage-sama, um…
His hesitation was evident not only on his face but also in his voice. However, his reserve did not move the Third Hokage in the slightest.
With no other choice, Iruka called out three names.
Two heads of black hair and one of blonde stood out from the group.
A few seconds later, Neji, Tenten, and another second-year student whose name wasn't worth remembering also stepped forward.
The eyes of the girl with the buns and the Uchiha girl with glasses met as the teacher ordered them to step forward to the center of the stage.
Tenten's curious gaze and Sarada's solemn expression were two polar opposites that only heightened the tension in the air.
"Two Uchihas among the top first-year students. It seems the rumors that your clan is full of geniuses aren't entirely exaggerated."
Instead of answering, Sarada adjusted her glasses before assuming a fighting stance.
"Still, someone told me that geniuses are nothing more than stepping stones for those who truly want to reach the top, so I'm sorry for you, but I won't lose."
As soon as she finished speaking, the teacher signaled the start.
Sarada immediately darted to her left, trying to circle around and take Tenten by surprise, but the girl with the buns didn't even flinch at her opponent's sudden dash; much less did she rush to throw her weapons at the Uchiha, just as the latter had initially anticipated. Instead, she smiled calmly before pulling an ordinary kunai from her belt.
She had been wrong.
Believing that Tenten would attack from a distance, just as she had against her previous opponent, had been a mistake.
Even so, she didn't panic and decided to stick to the initiative she had taken by using her clan's shurikenjutsu.
However, a hasty, last-minute idea was hardly likely to defeat an unknown and more experienced opponent.
Antes de que los shurikens pudiesen tan siquiera acercarse, Tenten también arrojó su arma.
Un lanzamiento casual, el cual a mitad de camino desapareció en una explosión de humo.
Sarada apenas si tuvo tiempo para esquivar el kunai que de repente aceleró hacia su rostro. Sin embargo, aunque pudo evitar el arma, nada pudo hacer contra la posterior e inesperada ofensiva de taijutsu de Tenten.
La patada alta de Tenten no tuvo misericordia a la hora de enviar a la Uchiha hacia el suelo.
Sin querer darle ni un solo segundo de respiro volvió a arrojar sus kunais explosivos hacia la morena; sin embargo, esta ya había entendido que el poder ofensivo de aquellas armas era mediocre en el mejor de los casos.
En lugar de rodar por el suelo y esquivarlas, aprovechó la agudeza visual que le otorgaba su linaje para pasar entre ellas y cargar directamente hacia su oponente.
Los ojos de Tenten se abrieron de sorpresa al ver el rostro severo de Sarada acercársele.
Aun así, no entró en pánico y se limitó a soltar un par de bombas de humo a sus pies para facilitar su retirada.
However, the Uchiha wasn't about to let the opportunity slip by, and in an even more reckless move, she lunged forward to knock Tenten down.
…
From a distance, Yashin watched the chaotic fight with unnatural focus.
The smoke and dust didn't seem to hinder him in the slightest as he followed the figures of the girls battling for supremacy on the ground.
Sakura, not far from him, despite being attentive to her friend's ongoing fight, also noticed her little brother's odd behavior. After all, the constant shoves and jabs to the shoulder that Yashin had received when he decided to wander around the training grounds with his sober friend had worried her enough to make her clench her fists.
Fearing that his strange illness was showing a new symptom, the pink-haired subtly approached her troublesome brother.
However, the closer she got to him, the stranger his condition seemed to her.
His pupils were dilated; his torso was slightly bent forward, and his nose was twitching, much like Akamaru's when he's offered a treat for the first time.
It wasn't until he heard his faint murmur and saw the bulge in the crotch of his hakama that he realized what was happening.
Immediately, a vein bulged on her broad forehead.
Instantly, the sole of her sandal tried to crush the monstrosity that had risen to stain her eyes, but fortunately for Kizashi and Mebuki's future grandchildren, her youngest son's sense of danger was sharp enough to anticipate the sudden attack.
Even so, cold sweat was already soaking his entire back.
Not wanting to draw more attention than necessary, Sakura muttered "Damn pervert" through clenched teeth before turning to leave.
Stunned, Yashin couldn't even voice a complaint about the arbitrary attack and could only watch her walk away with his mouth hanging open.
Even Shino, at his side, seemed bewildered by what had just happened.
— What the hell…? Is she crazy? What the hell is her problem?
…
"I mean, if you hadn't been whispering about how unexpectedly attractive your friend's soft, sweaty armpits were—and those of the other brat in the middle of the courtyard—maybe I wouldn't have said anything to you."
…
Yashin's face grew even more sour when he realized he'd said that out loud.
Embarrassment was foreign to him, yet his deliberate inaction to feed the feeling with his hormones caused it to fade quickly.
However, the unfamiliar and involuntary erection beneath his clothes took much longer to subside.
By the end of the fight, once Tenten had finished displaying all her peculiar weapons and decided to use the advantage in strength and experience that her age gave her to defeat Sarada, Yashin's difficult problem had already subsided.
Nevertheless, the question of why his worthless body suddenly seemed to start producing hormones out of nowhere only grew stronger inside him.
Before he could even begin to hypothesize an answer, the protagonists of the next match were called out as Sarada and Tenten were forced off the center of the stage, each in a completely different frame of mind.
Neji Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha.
Yashin wasn't interested in the match between the so-called geniuses.
However, for everyone else who knew the reputation of these two prodigies from Konoha's most prominent clans, it was a sight to behold.
The Uchiha and the Hyuga strode like a pair of roosters to the center of the courtyard.
A pair of frigid and stoic fighting cocks.
In contrast to the commotion spreading through the crowd, silence was the only thing now preceding the start of the fight.
Instead of wasting time watching the brats stand tall, sizing up their tiny penises while making the confrontation seal, Yashin's eyes drifted toward his older sister's lunatic, clearly anxious for the next match, indifferent to the dejected Sarada slumped at her side and the Yamanaka trying to cheer up her recently defeated friend.
A nasty little brat, from start to finish.
It came as no surprise to the youngest of the Harunos, yet he still felt it was a shame she was wasting such a good opportunity to get close to her supposed niece from a prestigious clan.
At least he could use her to learn a mediocre fireball jutsu before the biggest psychopath in the Red-Eyed Clan decided to decapitate her.
As soon as the teacher signaled the start of the match, Sasuke sprang into action.
This time, the Uchiha's shurikenjutsu was displayed in all its glory, or at least as much as a six-year-old genius could show.
However, neither the continuous clash of the razor-sharp metal shards in the air nor their seemingly unpredictable trajectory, which slowly surrounded the Hyuga, even made him take a step to the side to try and dodge the onslaught heading his way.
He simply channeled chakra into his eyes and spun around in place before catching every shuriken that tried to strike him with his bare hands.The silence in the courtyard immediately thickened.
If even most of the spectators were struggling to understand what had just happened, it was beyond words to describe the disbelief the Uchiha was experiencing.
With his mouth and eyelids wide open, the black-eyed boy remained petrified until the dozen weapons in the Hyuga's hands fell to the ground.
There was no joy on the pale-eyed boy's face, yet his impassivity only intensified Sasuke's humiliation.
Driven by that bitter feeling, he lunged forward.
What would his mother think?
What would his father think?
What would his clanmate, whom he had just looked down upon with disdain after losing his fight, think?
But above all, what would his beloved brother think if he saw him so easily defeated after having put so much effort into training with him? Countless thoughts swirled in the boy's mind as he closed the already short distance between himself and his opponent.
His hands moved instinctively.
The jutsu he had practiced the previous afternoon with his brother, the one that had made him forget even the homework for the next day, flowed naturally.
"Fire Style. Fireball Jutsu."
Almost all the spectators were surprised, perhaps by the talent, perhaps by the Uchiha's recklessness in throwing such a jutsu directly at his companion.
However, Neji's eyes had already seen the attack even before the first seal was fully formed.
A jump to the side was enough to prevent the blazing fire from even touching him.
However sudden and close the attack had been, a child's limited chakra would never be enough to power a jutsu capable of sealing off all escape routes.
On the other hand, the Hyuga's taijutsu proved to be an insurmountable barrier.
The Gentle Fist wasn't spectacular to watch.
It lacked the visual flair of the Fire Style, perhaps that's why its lethality was far greater than his opponent's technique.
Precise, continuous strikes that, with the slightest contact, could completely incapacitate almost any opponent.
Unable to comprehend how a couple of sharp finger taps and a couple of powerful palm strikes could affect someone's body, Sasuke collapsed backward in a single exchange.
The excitement that had begun to simmer among the spectators vanished instantly.
For a second, Sasuke lay there, staring at the sky; then he tried to get up, but his body seemed to have transformed into that of a stranger.
The professor's words, declaring the match over, were the final nail in the coffin. However, Neji's whisper, not far from him, was the final nail in the coffin.
"The best of the first-years, that's all; and yet, none of you were even considered worthy to stand before me. Fate truly is..."
He knew those words weren't directed at him.
He knew they weren't gloating over having defeated him so easily.
Even so, his freshly wounded pride couldn't comprehend it.
However, there was nothing he could do except glare at the Hyuga, fury reddening his eyes, as he was forced by the rules to perform the seal of reconciliation.
A low chuckle escaped Yashin as he watched the pair of restrained dogs and the coldness in their owners' eyes.
But as soon as his name was called for the next battle, the crooked smile on his face froze completely.