Tobirama soon announced at the academy that in three days, he and his elder brother, Hashirama, would officially select their students from the thirty-eight people at the academy. After that, he and Hashirama would focus their energy on training their students and would have no spare capacity to teach others, so others would take over the Konoha Academy.
Although those present were still unsure about which students Tobirama and Hashirama would take on, they had some guesses in their hearts. After all, the students with excellent grades in the academy were very conspicuous, and they were the most likely candidates to become Tobirama and Hashirama's students. Those heirs of Ninja Clans who felt they would not be chosen were somewhat disappointed. Tobirama was an excellent mentor, and they enjoyed learning under him. While they could accept having someone else take over, it was impossible for the replacement to be better than Tobirama.
That said, since Tobirama had already made his decision, the others had no choice but to accept it. The next three days would be the last time Tobirama would teach them all, so everyone studied exceptionally hard, as if they wanted to learn everything Tobirama had to offer in just three days.
Although Masaki Fūmori had already learned from Hashirama that he would definitely become their student, he did not relax during the three days leading up to the official announcement. He continued to train diligently, with even more enthusiasm than the others.
At the academy, Masaki Fūmori's grades were among the best. Everyone felt that Masaki Fūmori was highly likely to become a student, and many were quite jealous of him. However, seeing his usual hard work, combined with his intense training enthusiasm now, most people gradually changed their minds and acknowledged Masaki Fūmori.
Tobirama also took note of Masaki Fūmori's performance and felt great appreciation. He had always been strict with himself, believing that one should never indulge oneself at any time. Masaki Fūmori's behavior matched his temperament perfectly. Furthermore, Masaki Fūmori had many novel ideas in the academy, making Tobirama appreciate this young man more and more.
Previously, he thought Hiruzen Sarutobi was the most suitable person to inherit the Village—whether it was his aptitude or his loyal and reliable character, he was the top choice for the successor of the Hokage. However, now Tobirama felt that perhaps he should observe more carefully; other people who did not perform as well as Hiruzen Sarutobi might possess qualities that would only be revealed at critical moments.
Time slowly passed. By the day before the final day, the students were still training diligently. Masaki Fūmori received an invitation from Kagami Uchiha, and the two went to the training ground to spar. They did not use any Ninjutsu, relying solely on Taijutsu to decide the winner. This kind of spar had happened several times in the past.
Tobirama had emphasized that Taijutsu was the foundation of a Ninja. Even a Ninja who excelled in Genjutsu should have a basic level of Taijutsu. If they lacked this, no matter how outstanding their Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were, they would still have to rely on Taijutsu in battle—agile movements, great strength, and excellent reflexes were the sharp weapons for dodging and counterattacking opponents, and they must never be neglected.
Even for Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, without using Wood Release or the Mangekyo Sharingan, either of them could dominate the battlefield just by picking up any weapon. Just like the future Masaki Fūmori knew, when Uchiha Madara faced the Allied Shinobi Forces, he could completely suppress them with Taijutsu alone. Only when Ninjas with the strength of a "Kage" intervened could they force Uchiha Madara to use the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Therefore, none of the students, including Masaki Fūmori, forgot to practice Taijutsu. Sparring without using Ninjutsu had long been a common occurrence.
The weapon passed down in the Fūmori Clan was a short blade, and the weapon Masaki Fūmori chose was also a sword of this style—the training ninja tools in the Konoha Academy were unsharpened replicas. This family heirloom was too sharp because it was custom-made, which could easily cause serious injuries. Meanwhile, Kagami Uchiha chose a scythe, which was one of Uchiha Madara's habitual weapons.
Uchiha Madara excelled at using the combination of the mystical weapon, the flame fan, and the scythe. As his successor, Uchiha Madara naturally hoped that Kagami Uchiha's fighting style would resemble his own, so he taught him to use the scythe as a weapon.
The flame fan was a mystical weapon passed down through the generations in the Uchiha Clan. In the future, when Kagami Uchiha inherited the clan, he would also take over the right to use this mystical weapon from Uchiha Madara.
Masaki Fūmori and Kagami Uchiha arrived at the training ground, performed the Seal of Confrontation towards each other, and then raised their respective weapons, pointing them at each other.
A crimson hue appeared in Kagami Uchiha's eyes. Within the blood-red pupils, three tomoe emerged, circling the central black dot. This was the Bloodline Limit of the Uchiha Clan—the Sharingan.
Meanwhile, senmon slowly crept onto Masaki Fūmori's body. However, hidden under his clothes, no one else could see the senmon on Masaki Fūmori's body. Kagami Uchiha, relying on the power of the Sharingan, was able to see the unusual accumulation of Chakra within Masaki Fūmori's body.
Kagami Uchiha had sparred with Masaki Fūmori more than once or twice, so he was accustomed to this situation. He had asked Masaki Fūmori what was going on, and Masaki Fūmori only replied that it was a special method of Chakra accumulation. Due to the confidentiality of the Ninjutsu, Masaki Fūmori did not elaborate, and Kagami Uchiha did not press for more details.
But Kagami Uchiha knew what kind of effect this unusual Chakra had. His breathing slowly became steady. The Sharingan took in every part of Masaki Fūmori's body; as soon as the opponent moved, the Sharingan could judge his movements from the changes in his muscles.
Masaki Fūmori was also slowly adjusting his breathing. The Senjutsu Chakra flowed along his Chakra pathways throughout his entire body. Immediately, his figure disappeared from Kagami Uchiha's sight.
Kagami Uchiha's expression did not change in the slightest. He had already predicted Masaki Fūmori's path, turned around, and swung the scythe, blocking Masaki Fūmori's strike.
Masaki Fūmori moved his blade without hesitation. Almost at the moment of impact, the sword slightly changed its angle, sliding along the scythe toward Kagami Uchiha. At such close range, Kagami Uchiha could not swing the scythe in time, so he could only lean his upper body backward to avoid the strike while raising his leg to kick Masaki Fūmori.
Masaki Fūmori blocked the kick, his body involuntarily retreating. Kagami Uchiha took this opportunity to flip and land on his feet, then pushed off with both feet and charged toward Masaki Fūmori.
Around the training ground, some students rushed over to watch the two spar. The battle between Masaki Fūmori and Kagami Uchiha was very exciting. Even though they knew it wasn't good to stop their training, they couldn't help but come over to watch. One had to know that in front of Kagami Uchiha, who possessed the Sharingan, few people could gain an advantage in Taijutsu. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi would be at a slight disadvantage, yet Masaki Fūmori could hold his own against Kagami Uchiha.
The pace of their battle was very fast; basically, the sound of ninja tools clashing never stopped. Others watched the scene before them, asking themselves when they would be defeated. Later on, only excellent students like Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura could confidently say that although they would be at a slight disadvantage, they would not be defeated.
For Hiruzen Sarutobi, he did not expect Masaki Fūmori to be this strong. During this period, Masaki Fūmori's performance increasingly surprised him. It seemed his initial feeling was not wrong; Masaki Fūmori had indeed changed, becoming even more outstanding than he remembered.
After a while, Masaki Fūmori and Kagami Uchiha still hadn't decided the winner. The short blade and the scythe collided once again, remaining deadlocked. Seeing that Kagami Uchiha had started to pant, Masaki Fūmori said, "Let's stop here. We won't be able to decide a winner even if we keep fighting like this."
"Hmm." Kagami Uchiha felt that his stamina was running low, so he agreed to stop. The two withdrew their weapons and performed the Seal of Reconciliation towards each other, signaling the end of the spar.
"Good work. That was a truly wonderful spar." Seeing the two put away their ninja tools and walk back, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, clapped his hands, and said to Masaki Fūmori, "Masaki-kun, to be honest, I'm itching to spar with you. Can we try it if there's an opportunity in the future?"
"Of course, if you're willing," Masaki Fūmori said, as he also had a desire to spar with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"That's great. Hmm, what day should we pick?"
"No need to rush. Hiruzen-kun will have as many opportunities to spar with Masaki-kun as he wants in the future," Kagami Uchiha smiled and said with a meaningful tone.
"That's true." Hiruzen Sarutobi understood what Kagami Uchiha meant, shrugged, looked at Masaki Fūmori, and said, "Masaki-kun, tomorrow is when Lord Tobirama announces the list of students. I think you will definitely be one of them. By then, we will be fellow students. I look forward to working with you."
"Nothing has been stated clearly yet. But if that's the case, then I truly look forward to working with you," Masaki Fūmori said.
After watching the two fight, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura also intended to go up and spar. Meanwhile, Kagami Uchiha and Masaki Fūmori went to the side to rest. Their relationship had become very familiar during this time; they treated each other as good friends and chatted happily.
At this moment, Kagami Uchiha heard someone calling him from behind. Turning around with Masaki Fūmori to look, they saw an heir of a Ninja Clan from their class and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"
"Kagami-kun, I think I just heard some incredible news outside." The heir of the Ninja Clan looked panicked, as if he couldn't accept what he had heard, "I think you should hurry back to your clan to confirm it."
"What on earth is it?" Kagami Uchiha frowned slightly, while Masaki Fūmori, who was on the side, was stunned, as if he understood something.
The person's throat moved, and he said in a trembling voice, "I don't know if it's true, but I just heard people outside talking about it—Lord Madara has defected from the Village!"
Kagami Uchiha had always been gentle with others; however, at this moment, he stood up with a dark face, his eyes cold, and said, "What are you saying? Lord Madara has defected? This is impossible. Lord Madara loves this Village very much; how could he defect!"
Seeing Kagami Uchiha's agitated state, Masaki Fūmori quickly pulled him and asked the person, "Is it true?"
"I don't know either, but I see everyone on the street talking about it, so I thought it would be best for Kagami-kun to go back to the clan and confirm." The other person replied.
"This is impossible..." Kagami Uchiha could not accept this news. He absolutely did not believe that Lord Madara would leave Konohagakure. The name of this Village was decided by Lord Madara himself; Lord Madara could not abandon this place that was like his own child.
He turned his head to look at Masaki Fūmori. Masaki Fūmori nodded at him. Kagami Uchiha thought for a moment and still felt he had to go back to confirm whether this was true or not.