Sure enough, history is like a little girl anyone can dress up as they please. Konohagakure had been established for less than fifty years, yet it was already like this. In the future, when this clan is destroyed, it will probably vanish completely from the memories of later generations.
Fortunately, Higashino Makoto had not transmigrated into the Uchiha clan like his predecessors. Otherwise, he would probably have scratched his head bald by now.
He also wondered what Shisui would think upon seeing all this, combined with the teachings of his clan.
Higashino Makoto glanced over quietly—hm, no particular thoughts. He was already deeply immersed in the Will of Fire described in the book, unable to extricate himself. On his own initiative, he combined it with the teacher's explanations and produced reading comprehension notes in his notebook.
In the morning, the general knowledge curriculum was compressed into two class periods, while the remaining two periods were devoted to explanations of chakra and basic ninjutsu.
By the afternoon, everyone was taken to the training grounds, where practical learning began directly.
Higashino Makoto took a look around. All the newly enrolled students of this cohort had been brought out, with each class occupying a section of the training grounds.
His eyesight was very good. He could see that each class had scattered clan descendants among them. Their abilities were not weak, but they were not all crowded into a single class; instead, they were distributed across different ones.
Was this the result of coordination between the clans and the village—letting the children establish connections with their village companions from an early age?
After all, ordinary civilians were the main force of the shinobi army. They could make up for the shortcomings of clan ninja, who were prone to producing elites but lacked numbers.
Not only would the higher-ups use civilian ninja to balance the power of the ninja clans, the clans themselves would also proactively establish influence among civilian ninja early on.
In fact, it was quite good—this was a process of integration.
It was just that the number of children from major clans like the Uchiha and Hyūga was not very large. It seemed that not all children of suitable age were sent to the academy to be registered in the official records after graduation.
The practical courses were mainly divided into the use of ninja tools and sparring against one another.
On the training grounds, rows upon rows of students stood before fixed targets, holding shuriken and kunai in their hands and throwing them toward the targets, producing dense thud, thud sounds.
The two top-ranked advanced classes had students with very solid foundational abilities. Most of them had come into contact with training at an early age, and their strength and accuracy in throwing ninja tools were both quite commendable, which made things much easier for the instructors.
Even if there were a small number whose skills were not yet refined, the teachers could arrange for high-performing students to provide one-on-one instruction. This not only saved the teachers effort, but also helped deepen the bonds between classmates—killing two birds with one stone.
As for the lower-ranked classes, there were many more beginners. The instructors in charge generally had to explain first, then personally demonstrate, teaching patiently step by step. As a result, their progress naturally lagged behind that of the advanced classes.
Among ninja, those with exceptionally large chakra reserves were always a minority. The vast majority of ninja could not use ninjutsu as their primary means of engaging enemies. Ninja tools such as shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags were what they used most often.
After the ninja tool class ended, there was a short rest before combat training began. The students immediately became excited, especially the boys, who all looked eager to give it a try.
After all, they were only first-year students and did not yet have a deep understanding of what being a ninja truly meant. In their eyes, what was the point of those academic classes? A ninja was about fighting, and achieving victory was proof that one was impressive, wasn't it?
The arrangement of opponents was selected by Teacher Inoue based on the entrance exam results. There were no fixed opponents; adjustments would be made later according to changes in performance. The goal was to let students face different opponents as much as possible and gain richer combat experience.
However, there would also be exceptional cases.
Once everyone's opponents were quickly determined, the matches began.
Although the students of the advanced classes all had decent foundations, they were still very young. Few of them had learned ninjutsu, and even those who had were not allowed to use it. It was entirely pure taijutsu combat.
Ninja battles were very fast. There was no situation where two sides would fight for dozens of exchanges. Cases like Hashirama and Madara were exceptions—they could hardly even be considered ninja anymore.
On the training grounds, the students engaged in combat with swift, agile movements. Pair after pair stepped forward to fight, and then a victor was decided.
Back when Higashino Makoto had not yet refined chakra, he might have thought their fights were quite exciting. But after two years of training, his standards had already become extremely high. At this moment, the battles of these classmates looked to him like children playing house.
Perhaps this was how it had felt when Kakashi attended the academy back then. That was why he graduated after only half a year—because there was truly not much meaning in staying.
Soon, it was Higashino Makoto's turn to step onto the field. His opponent was someone he knew—Hyūga Tokuma, a member of the Hyūga clan. However, his head was wrapped in a headscarf, making it impossible to tell whether he belonged to the main family or the branch family; it was more likely he was from the branch family.
The situation of the Hyūga clan's main family was confidential. Only a small number of high-ranking people in the village knew about it, and outsiders did not understand it. Compared to the Uchiha clan, who more frequently interacted with the villagers, the Hyūga clan was more traditional, conservative, and mysterious.
After the two of them formed the Seal of Opposition, Hyūga Tokuma immediately took a stance. It looked like the opening posture of the Gentle Fist.
However, the veins around his eyes had not bulged. It seemed he had not yet activated the Byakugan.
In the early stages of a ninja's growth, Gentle Fist was still very strong, especially at the student stage. Unfortunately, it lacked sustained potential, making it difficult for top-tier powerhouses to emerge.
But that did not affect the Hyūga's status in Konoha or even the ninja world, because the Byakugan's strategic value was simply too great. On the battlefield, it was like having x-ray vision turned on—ordinary traps and ambushes were basically useless.
Seeing that Higashino Makoto was not making any move, Hyūga Tokuma tested him. "Judging from your results yesterday, you're not just fast at running, are you, Makoto? If that's all, you won't be able to beat me."
"I'm not just fast at running."
"Oh? Then do you have some special move?"
"Mm… I can also run even faster."
"…"
Hyūga Tokuma felt like he was being toyed with. He immediately stopped probing, took a quick step in, and repeatedly struck out with both palms. His Gentle Fist looked quite proper—far more formidable than the classmates who had fought earlier.
The hallmark of Gentle Fist was to precisely drive condensed, special chakra into the opponent's acupoints, achieving the goal of killing or controlling the opponent.
But that required coordination with the Byakugan, because a living person was not a tree stump—they moved. Without the Byakugan's observational assistance, it was difficult to land the hits.
Hyūga Tokuma had not activated the Byakugan yet. Moreover, this was a match between classmates, and he was not condensing chakra in his hands. Higashino Makoto raised both hands in front of him and neutralized each of the opponent's attacks one by one, yet his body did not move at all—he did not take even half a step back.
"Only defending? Where's your attack?"
After all, he was still a child. With his attacks failing again and again, Hyūga Tokuma got a bit heated. His right hand directly changed from an open palm into a fist. Abandoning Gentle Fist techniques, he gathered his strength and viciously slammed a punch toward Higashino Makoto's face.
With a single sidestep, Higashino Makoto appeared behind Hyūga Tokuma. Aside from Teacher Inoue and a small number of others like Shisui, the remaining classmates could not see his movements at all.
"Wow, that's amazing."
"Makoto is so cool!"
"Damn it—everyone just enrolled, so why is this guy so strong? Did he grow up eating chakra or something?"
Listening to the astonished cries of the surrounding classmates, Hyūga Tokuma followed their line of sight and realized his opponent was behind him. He immediately turned around, preparing to attack again. After all, he was from the prestigious Hyūga clan of Konoha—there was no way he would admit defeat so easily.
However, he discovered that Higashino Makoto had already extended his right hand, ready to form the Seal of Reconciliation with him.
"So this is the 'faster speed' you were talking about? But I haven't lost yet."
Higashino Makoto raised his left hand and tapped his own neck as a hint. "Oh? Is that so? Then feel it yourself."
Hyūga Tokuma did not understand what he meant, but subconsciously reached up and touched it. His fingers came away stained with a bit of ink.
It was obvious that when Higashino Makoto had moved just now, he had even taken out a pen and drawn a mark on Hyūga Tokuma's neck. If that had been a kunai, he would already be dead.
The outcome was decided.
Hyūga Tokuma felt somewhat dejected, not expecting the gap between them to be so large. But he quickly pulled himself together and formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Higashino Makoto.
"Makoto, I didn't expect you to be this strong. But I'll keep working hard. Next time—next time I definitely won't lose to you."
"Alright. I'm looking forward to it."
Inoue Kuroiwa took a serious look at this outstanding student and recorded it in his notebook.
It was not just Higashino Makoto and Hyūga Tokuma—he carefully recorded the abilities of every student. That was a teacher's responsibility.
After that, Shisui and Uzuki Yugao also won their matches with ease.
The three frontrunners from the entrance exam clearly surpassed the other classmates by a noticeable margin.
When Uzuki Yugao finished her match, she skipped over to Higashino Makoto, squeezing aside the girls who had gathered around him, her face full of a "give me credit" expression. "Makoto-niisan, I was awesome, right?"
"Not bad. Looks like you've improved quite a bit."
"Hmph!"
Shisui looked at Higashino Makoto seriously and said, "Makoto, I didn't expect you to already be this strong. I really want to spar with you."
"We will, Shisui. There'll be a chance. I think Inoue-sensei feels the same—maybe he'll arrange us as opponents very soon."
After a while, once all the matches were over, the day's classes were considered finished.
This was the daily routine of the ninja academy.
As for the knowledge taught at school, Higashino Makoto had already completed it all before the age of four. The gap in strength between him and his classmates had grown enormous.
That's just how it is for players with cheats enabled.
Finally, after behaving himself for half a month, Higashino Makoto began his evil plan to skip classes.
Which just goes to show—Shadow Clone is really a great ninjutsu.
Did I skip class? My clone was sitting in the classroom, after all. No evidence means I didn't skip!
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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
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