As expected, history is like a little girl who can be dressed up however one pleases. Konoha has only been established for less than 50 years and it's already like this. Once this clan is wiped out, I'm afraid it will completely vanish from the memories of future generations.
Fortunately, Higashino Shin didn't undergo Transmigration into the Uchiha Clan like his predecessors; otherwise, he would be scratching his head bald by now.
I wonder what Shisui thinks while watching this, combined with his Family's teachings.
Higashino Shin took a quick peek. Well, there were no thoughts; Shisui was already hopelessly obsessed with the will of fire in the book. He was spontaneously combining the teacher's explanation to write down reading comprehension notes in his notebook.
The morning's general knowledge was compressed into two classes, and the remaining two were explanations of Chakra and basic Ninjutsu.
In the afternoon, everyone was pulled to the training ground to start practical combat learning directly.
Higashino Shin looked around. This year's newly enrolled students had all been brought out, with each class occupying a cultivation field.
His eyesight was very good. He saw that every class had a few scattered children from the noble clans. Their strength wasn't bad, but they weren't all squeezed into one class; instead, they were spread out.
Is this the result of a negotiation between the families and the Village? Letting children establish connections with their Village companions from a young age.
Ordinary civilians are, after all, the main force of the Ninja army. They can compensate for the shortcomings of clan Ninjas, who are prone to producing top experts but lack sufficient numbers.
It's not just the higher-ups who use civilian Ninjas to balance the power of the clans; the clans themselves also spontaneously establish influence among civilian Ninjas early on.
Actually, it's quite good; it's a process of Fusion.
However, the number of children from large clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga isn't very high. It seems that not all school-aged children were sent to the school to be registered in official records upon graduation.
The practical combat curriculum is mainly divided into the use of Ninja tools and mutual sparring.
On the training ground, rows of students stood before fixed targets, throwing shuriken and Kunai at the marks, making dense 'thud-thud' sounds.
The students in the top two elite classes had very good basic strength. Most had started their cultivation early, and the power and accuracy of their tool throwing were commendable, making things much easier for the teachers.
Even if there were a few with poor skills, the teacher could arrange for outstanding students to give them one-on-one instruction. This not only saved trouble but also deepened the bond between classmates, killing two birds with one stone.
The lower-ranked classes had more novices. The responsible teacher would usually explain first, then demonstrate personally and teach patiently, so their progress naturally lagged behind the elite classes by a margin.
Among Ninjas, those with massive amounts of Chakra are always a minority. The vast majority of Ninjas cannot use Ninjutsu as their primary means of fighting. Ninja tools like shuriken, Kunai, and Explosive Tags are the things they use most commonly.
After the Ninja tool class ended and they had a short break, sparring training began. The students immediately became excited, especially the boys, who looked eager to try.
After all, they were just first-grade children with a shallow understanding of the concept of a Ninja. To them, what was the point of those cultural classes? Being a Ninja meant fighting, and wouldn't winning prove they were amazing?
The arrangement of opponents was chosen by Teacher Inoue based on entrance scores. There were no fixed opponents, and they would be changed in the future according to fluctuations in grades to let students contact different opponents and gain richer combat experience.
But there were exceptions.
Once the opponents were quickly determined, the sparring began.
Although the students in the elite classes had a good foundation, they were still young. Not many had learned Ninjutsu, and even if they had, they weren't allowed to use it; it was entirely pure Taijutsu combat.
Ninja battles are very fast; there won't be situations where they fight for dozens of rounds. Hashirama and Madara were exceptions; they can't even be considered Ninjas anymore.
In the training ground, the sparring classmates moved like leaping rabbits and swooping falcons. Pairs of contestants stepped forward to fight, and then the winners were decided.
Before Higashino Shin had refined Chakra, he might have thought they fought brilliantly. But after two years of cultivation, his standards were already extremely high. At this moment, the battles of these classmates looked like playing house in his eyes.
Perhaps this was how Kakashi felt when he attended school, which is why he graduated after staying for only half a year; it was truly meaningless.
Soon, it was Higashino Shin's turn to take the field. His opponent was an acquaintance, Hyuga Tokuma, a child of the Hyuga Clan. However, his head was wrapped in a bandana, so it was impossible to tell if he was from the Main House or the Branch House, though the probability of him being from the Branch House was higher.
The situation of the Hyuga Clan's Main House is a secret that only a few higher-ups in the Village know; outsiders don't understand it. Compared to the Uchiha Clan, who frequently interact with villagers, the Hyuga Clan is more traditional, conservative, and mysterious.
After the two formed the Seal of Confrontation, Hyuga Tokuma immediately assumed a stance, which looked like the starting position of the Gentle Fist.
However, the meridians around his eyes were not distended; it seemed he hadn't awakened the Byakugan yet.
The Gentle Fist is still very strong in the early stages for a Ninja, especially at the student level. Unfortunately, it lacks late-game potential, making it difficult for top-tier powerhouses to emerge.
But this does not affect the Hyuga's status in Konoha or even the Ninja World, because the strategic value of the Byakugan is too great. On the battlefield, it's like having an X-ray vision cheat; general traps and ambushes are basically useless.
Seeing that Higashino Shin made no Move, Hyuga Tokuma tested him, saying, 'Looking at your results yesterday, you aren't just fast at running, are you, Shin-kun? If that's the case, you won't be able to beat me.'
'I'm more than just fast at running.'
'Oh, do you have any other special Moves?'
'Um... I can also run even faster.'
'...'
Hyuga Tokuma felt like he was being played. He immediately stopped testing and approached Higashino Shin with a stride, striking repeatedly with both palms. His Gentle Fist was quite decent, much more powerful than the classmates who had fought before.
The characteristic of the Gentle Fist is to precisely strike the opponent's Acupoints with condensed special Chakra to achieve the goal of killing or controlling the opponent.
But this requires the coordination of the Byakugan, because a living person is not a tree stump—they Move. Without the observational assistance of the Byakugan, it is very difficult to hit.
Hyuga Tokuma's Byakugan had not yet awakened, and furthermore, this was a sparring match between classmates, so he hadn't condensed Chakra in his hands. Higashino Shin blocked with both hands in front of him, neutralizing the opponent's offensive one by one, yet his body remained motionless, not retreating half a step.
'Can you only defend? Where is your offense?'
He was just a child after all. Unable to land an attack for a long time, Hyuga Tokuma got a bit hot-headed. He directly turned his right palm into a fist, abandoned the Gentle Fist Moves, mustered his strength, and swung hard toward Higashino Shin's face.
Higashino Shin appeared behind Hyuga Tokuma in a flash. Except for Teacher Inoue, Shisui, and a few others, the rest of the classmates couldn't see his movements clearly at all.
'Wow, so amazing!'
'Shin-kun is so cool!'
'Dammit! We all just started school; why is this guy so strong? Did he grow up eating Chakra?'
Hearing the exclamations of the surrounding classmates, Hyuga Tokuma knew from the direction of their gazes that his opponent was behind him. He immediately turned around, prepared to attack again. He was from the prestigious Hyuga Clan of Konoha; he couldn't admit defeat easily.
But he found that Higashino Shin had already extended his right hand, prepared to form the Seal of Reconciliation with him.
'Is this the faster speed you were talking about? But I haven't lost yet.'
Higashino Shin raised his left hand and tapped his own neck as a gesture. 'Oh, is that so? Why don't you feel it?'
Hyuga Tokuma didn't understand why, but he instinctively touched his neck. A bit of ink stained his fingertips.
Obviously, while Higashino Shin was moving just now, he had also taken out a pen and drawn a mark on his neck. If it had been a Kunai, he would be dead by now.
The match was decided.
Hyuga Tokuma was a bit dejected, not expecting the gap between them to be so large, but he quickly cheered up and formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Higashino Shin.
'Shin-kun, I didn't expect you to be so powerful. But I will keep working hard. Next time, I definitely won't lose to you next time.'
'Alright, I'm looking forward to it.'
Inoue Kuroiwa took a serious look at this outstanding student and began recording in his notebook.
It wasn't just Higashino Shin and Hyuga Tokuma; he would record every student's strength in detail. This was the duty of a teacher.
Next, Shisui and Yūgao also won their victories easily.
The three leaders of the entrance test were clearly a level above the other classmates in strength.
When Yūgao Uzuki left the field, she skipped over to Higashino Shin's side, pushing away the female classmates who were crowding around, her face full of a 'look at me' expression. 'Brother Shin, I'm amazing, right!'
'Not bad. It seems you've made quite some progress.'
'Hmph hmph!'
Shisui looked at Higashino Shin and said seriously, 'Shin, I didn't expect you to already have such great strength. I really want to spar with you.'
'We will, Shisui. There will be a chance. I think Teacher Inoue thinks so too; perhaps he will arrange for us to be opponents very soon.'
After a while, once all the sparring matches were over, today's classes were considered finished.
This was the daily life of the Ninja Academy.
Higashino Shin had already completed the knowledge taught at the school before the age of 4, and his strength had pulled a huge gap away from his classmates.
This is just how it is for us 'cheating' players.
Finally, after being well-behaved for half a month, Higashino Shin began his evil plan to skip classes.
That's why the Shadow Clone is truly a good Ninjutsu.
Did I skip class? My Clone is sitting right there in the classroom. Without evidence, there's no skipping!