Chapter 21 — The Gap Is Slowly Widening
"Cheers!"
Inside the barbecue restaurant, everyone raised their cups in celebration. Uchiha Shigeru's little face was pale as he tugged on Senju Nawaki's sleeve and whispered, "Tell Kinoshita Hikaru to eat less. Even pigs don't eat as much as he does. I heard eating too much can make you sick."
"Really? (⊙x⊙;)" Nawaki looked doubtful at first, but when he saw Hikaru's stomach getting bigger and bigger, he started to agree.
"Hikaru, eat a little less. Shigeru's worried you'll get indigestion."
Hikaru's hand froze mid-motion. Uchiha Shigeru hurriedly covered Nawaki's mouth and forced an awkward smile.
"As a ninja, eating until you're seven-tenths full is enough. Otherwise, it's easy to overeat."
Hikaru didn't say a word. Instead, he used actions to tell Uchiha Shigeru one thing—when it came to eating, he was serious.
"Boss, another fifty pounds of meat!"
"Not enough. Make it a hundred pounds," Choza refused to back down.
As the heir of the Akimichi clan, the title of Konoha's biggest eater had to belong to the Akimichi.
"Choza, are you challenging me?"
"Bring it on. Let's wager the honor of the Akimichi clan."
The friendly rivalry between companions began, while Uchiha Shigeru watched with tears welling in his eyes.
"Sugoi!"
Kushina, who had just arrived in Konoha, couldn't even imagine that people in this world could eat so much. In her little head, she began to think that maybe Konoha was so strong because everyone ate their way to power.
Out of the corner of his eye, Hikaru noticed Namikaze Minato constantly taking care of Kushina and couldn't help grumbling inwardly.
Isn't this way too early to be that mature?
Minato, you're only six. You're still a kid.
Hitting puberty at six? Shouldn't you see a doctor for that?
He was truly speechless. Maybe this was a side effect of chakra.
It makes people evolve early—grow wildly and prematurely.
Six years old. Just six!!!
…
The next day.
As soon as Hikaru walked into the classroom, he saw four bold characters written on the blackboard: Practical Combat.
"Oh? Pretty formal, huh."
He walked straight to his seat and zoned out. It was just sparring—no big deal.
When the others saw what was written on the board, they all turned to look at Hikaru.
"Oh no, practical combat again. Please don't let me face him."
"What are you scared of? Just beat him up."
"Then you go…"
"Uh (︶︿︶)"
Everyone fell silent. They all hated fighting Kinoshita Hikaru. His Rubber body could both attack and defend—it was impossible to break through. And on top of that, he never knew how to hold back.
"Is that my fault?" Hikaru's face darkened with black lines. He decided that if he ran into any of them later, he would definitely "have a good talk" with them.
His character setting was a hot-blooded, chuunibyou youth. How could he possibly hold back? Of course he had to go all out.
Up to now, everyone who had fought Hikaru harbored deep resentment toward him.
He treated everyone equally. Even girls were no exception—he made them all cry.
Training field.
"Today we will conduct a ninja combat assessment. I hope everyone shows their true level and achieves a good ranking," Kinoshita Muraichi announced.
There were twenty students in the genius class, divided into ten groups. The matchups would be decided by drawing lots.
Hikaru was in the second group. His opponent was Aburame Shibi. He hadn't run into any of the other nine.
Not only that, all the members of each squad had been separated. Hikaru's mouth twitched.
There's definitely something fishy.
Ten groups, and the ten key students were all separated. It was way too obvious.
He wasn't the only one who noticed. Everyone could feel that this assessment was unusual.
They called it drawing lots, but it felt more like a specially arranged test for certain individuals.
The first match: Uchiha Shigeru vs. Tsukimitsu Akizuki.
The two stepped forward and formed the Seal of Confrontation.
The match officially began.
Both were considered geniuses. Uchiha Shigeru had excellent talent, and after several months of hellish training, he pushed off the ground—swift as the wind, fast as lightning. As he closed in, he twisted his body, spun, and swept his right leg toward Akizuki.
"Bang!"
Akizuki barely had time to block with her arms before the heavy, forceful kick sent her flying out of bounds.
Uchiha Shigeru tilted his head up at a 45-degree angle, looking extremely pleased with himself.
Hikaru's face darkened. He could see Akizuki biting her lip, tears glistening in her eyes.
Hopeless bachelor.
"Shigeru really went too far. How could he hit a girl that hard?"
Everyone turned to look at Hikaru with strange expressions.
You've got some nerve saying that. Who was it that beat Ayaka-chan into a swollen pig face?
Hikaru remembered his own track record and scratched his nose awkwardly.
(｢･ω･)｢ Hey.
Girls are just too fragile. One punch and they cry for ages.
"Winner: Uchiha Shigeru. Both sides, form the Seal of Reconciliation."
Kinoshita Muraichi's voice rang out.
"Next group, step forward."
Kinoshita Hikaru stepped onto the arena, smiling at Aburame Shibi as his mind ran through the information he had on him.
Aburame Shibi, the young clan head of the Aburame, and father of the "Twelve Young Strong" Aburame Shina, belonged to a clan whose members fed chakra to insects, allowing them to inhabit their bodies and be controlled at will. Every ninja technique of the Aburame clan relied on these insects.
Controlling the insects required a calm mind, and clan members unconsciously concealed themselves, making others overlook their presence.
"Begin!"
"Guma Guma, Pistol!"
Hikaru struck first, throwing a punch. Then he advanced, lowering his center of gravity, and whipped his right leg like a whip toward Shibi's chest. Shibi didn't dodge, simply forming hand signs.
"Secret Technique: Insect Clone!"
Hikaru's leg passed through him, but Shibi's body exploded into countless parasitic insects that surged toward Hikaru.
Hikaru leapt backward, mid-air, forming hand signs with both hands for Fireball Jutsu, and in the briefest instant, continued forming signs for Gale Palm.
With the advanced hand signs, he could execute five signs per second. Mid-air, before even landing, the jutsu was complete.
"Wind-Fire Double Kill!"
Fireball Jutsu, being a D-rank technique, wasn't very powerful on its own, but with Gale Palm augmenting it, the wind fueled the flames, causing it to swell dramatically.
Everyone was stunned. At just six years old, he could already use a combined jutsu.
It should be noted: a combined jutsu releases two elemental techniques simultaneously—like fire and wind, or water and lightning. Sounds simple, but in practice it's extremely difficult. One must divide chakra into two streams, keeping them separate so they don't interfere. Otherwise, even a small mistake could trigger a chakra revolt and harm the user.
Shibi never expected to face someone using a combined jutsu during the academy's sparring.
Now the arena was covered in jutsu, and there was nowhere for him to escape. His only thought: "I'm doomed."
At that moment, Kinoshita Muraichi appeared instantly, forming hand signs: Snake – Goat – Horse – Rabbit – Goat – Horse – Rabbit.
"Water release: Water Prison Technique!"
Chakra surged as a torrent of water shot from his mouth, containing the fireball and eventually dissipating it harmlessly.
Muraichi exhaled and roared, "You idiot! Were you trying to kill him?!"
"Of course not." Hikaru denied it firmly. He couldn't admit it—his character setting would collapse.
Muraichi knew that, which was why he asked, forcing his little brother to explain himself; otherwise, it would be troublesome.
"Then explain yourself."
Hikaru said nothing. Forming hand signs again, he unleashed Wind-Fire Double Kill toward Muraichi. The explosive fireball swept across the field, heat waves surging, yet Muraichi seemed unfazed, trusting that his brother wouldn't harm him.
When the fireball reached the center of the arena, it changed direction, shooting upward before exploding.
"(´◑д◐｀)"
"Sugoi!"
Everyone's jaws dropped. Hikaru's jutsu could bend mid-flight.
He grinned proudly. "See? I would never hurt a comrade."
Muraichi was dumbfounded. In all his life, he had never seen a jutsu curve mid-air. And this wasn't a secret technique or a bloodline limit—it was just an ordinary jutsu.
"Alright, form the Seal of Reconciliation." Muraichi felt defeated, as if all his years had been wasted.
He looked at Hikaru with a fervent gaze.
This is your last chance, little brother.
Hikaru sensed the malicious intent in his older brother's eyes and was momentarily alarmed.
Here we go again.
But he didn't care. Displaying this jutsu was deliberate—today he wanted to stand out.
As a civilian ninja, if the Hokage didn't recognize you, you wouldn't even learn a few techniques. Why hide it? A fireball jutsu curving mid-flight was nothing. If it were a sage jutsu, that would be impressive.
When Hikaru stepped down, the others went on to crush their opponents. Even Kushina relied on her extraordinary physique to win her match.
By the end of the trials, some were joyful, some were sorrowful. Muraichi didn't speak, his gaze cold and sharp. Sweeping across the students, he shouted with a chilling voice:
"Look at all of you. The difference at the same age is this vast!"
"Speed, strength, reaction—they've been completely overwhelmed. And yet you still have the nerve to call yourselves geniuses? I'm embarrassed for you."
The students turned red from shame. Some, fragile in spirit, even sobbed quietly.
But Muraichi offered no comfort.
He grew more passionate, his anger mounting. War was at their doorstep, and these kids were being misled by the false glory of a "genius."