Seeing Akira's smile, Asuma Sarutobi became furious and snarled, "You hateful guy! If it weren't for you, why would we be grinding those stupid questions?!"
"During today's practical combat class, I'll definitely beat you up hard!"
It was too infuriating.
Sure, grinding questions really did improve grades—but one or two people improving was fine.
Now everyone had a copy. Everyone was back on the same starting line. Where was the advantage?
The advantage was gone, and they still had to suffer from those broken questions. How could they not resent him?
Quite a few people were holding in their anger, just waiting to beat Akira up during practical combat class to vent their frustration!
Akira spread his hands. "Can you blame me? I didn't expect my question booklet would be appreciated by Lord Hokage and turned into textbooks for everyone. I'm helpless too."
The situation had indeed been somewhat beyond Akira's expectations—but it was very good.
The Third Hokage hadn't been stingy. After purchasing the "copyright," he paid Akira a considerable sum of money.
Akira could now be considered a small wealthy person—even richer than Yuhi Shinku…
It was enough for Akira to open a shop in Konoha.
He was one step closer to his dream of opening a barbecue restaurant next to Ichiraku Ramen—truly worth celebrating!
"..." Asuma took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to beat Akira up on the spot.
Grinding his teeth, he said, "Just you wait. I've been training in practical combat for a long time already. This time, I won't lose to you again!"
That wasn't an empty boast.
As the Hokage's son, his education had always been a top priority. Even before entering the Ninja Academy, he had already begun practical combat training.
He had confidence in competing for first place!
At that moment, the system notification sounded in Akira's mind—
[Ding. As the future Soul King who will rule the Three Realms, the host should face challenges with absolute dominance. Even when confronting members of the Five Great Noble Clans, the host should remain calm and fearless. A mere member of the Sarutobi clan, a middle noble family, is not worth concern. Please fully display your strength in practical combat training!
Mission issued: Defeat the challenger Asuma Sarutobi!
Mission reward: Shunpo!]
'As expected…' Akira's eyes lit up slightly.
Sure enough, conflict triggered missions. And it required either him to know about it—or the system to detect it.
Very good. He had grasped another rule of the system.
In the future, he could deliberately stir up a few things to try triggering more missions.
Of course, he needed to control the degree. He couldn't be too high-profile.
There were still a few troublesome fellows in this village…
Akira sighed. "I already said, I'm not the practical type. Real combat is too difficult for me—I've never experienced it before. Later, please go easy on me, Asuma. Don't make it too embarrassing…"
That was the truth. Akira really hadn't fought many real battles.
However, aside from Kakashi Hatake, the genius, the others shouldn't be too outrageous, right?
He felt quite confident—even without using the Monster Strength Punch…
"..." The nearby students were speechless.
Here it comes again—not the practical type!
Did this guy have even a single truthful word in his mouth?
Though this time, the credibility was slightly higher. After all, practical combat really wasn't something first-year kids should be proficient at…
On the side, Kakashi Hatake glanced at Akira and pondered inwardly: 'Father said I already have the level of a Genin. I wonder how strong Akira really is…'
In written exams and ninja tool throwing, he had been suppressed by Akira.
Recently, Akira had become famous because of the "question booklet." Even some Chunin and Jonin now knew there was a genius in the Ninja Academy.
That made him somewhat unconvinced.
Especially since even some of the questions in the booklet—his father couldn't solve them. That made him even more curious about Akira.
He wanted to measure himself against Akira.
For some reason, he felt he could now understand Might Guy's mood a little…
Meanwhile, the hot-blooded Might Guy, already stirred up emotionally, gave Kakashi a big thumbs-up. "Kakashi! Later, let's have a passionate spar too! I haven't slacked off lately—I've grown stronger than before!"
Kakashi fell silent. "..."
He decided to retract his earlier thought about understanding Might Guy.
They were still different!
Rolling his eyes, Kakashi said helplessly, "Practical combat class isn't about fighting whoever you want. It's decided by lottery!"
"Huh? There's such a rule?" Might Guy was stunned for a moment, then flashed his big white teeth and laughed loudly. "Hahaha! I believe we'll meet—youth will never betray us!!"
"Yeah, yeah…" Kakashi responded perfunctorily.
Because Obito Uchiha was late again, class was delayed for a few minutes.
Under Teacher Oda's guidance, the group arrived at the training ground…
Clearing his throat, Teacher Oda addressed the students. "Students, today is the time to showcase your results from learning basic taijutsu. Practical combat is something every ninja must go through. I hope you treat it seriously."
"I won't waste words. Let's begin the lottery. Students whose seat numbers are drawn, step forward!"
The rules were simple: first, one round of lottery matches. Then the winners would draw again, continuing until first place was decided…
Written exams, practical classes, practical combat classes…
Every course in the Ninja Academy had rankings.
The Academy existed to cultivate ninja. The profession itself was cruel. Without strong psychological resilience, one might as well give up becoming a ninja and go home to farm!
"Twelve, twenty."
As Teacher Oda called out the seat numbers, two students stepped forward to the center.
Akira glanced over—he didn't know them well and didn't pay much attention.
At Teacher Oda's signal, the two students formed the Seal of Opposition and began their clumsy sparring…
They were first-year brats who had barely learned ninjutsu.
They had only trained in basic taijutsu for just over two weeks—how strong could they be?
However, since they had already refined chakra, their physical condition far surpassed Akira's peers from his previous life. They fought with some semblance of form—back and forth…
Within a minute, the winner was decided. Number Twelve won.
After forming the Seal of Reconciliation, it was the next pair…
Continuing the lottery, Teacher Oda looked at the next two seat numbers and smiled in interest. "Thirty-six, forty-one. Please step forward!"
Kurenai poked Akira in the waist excitedly. "Oh, Akira, it's your turn!"
"Don't poke. I know." Akira patted her hand, shot her a glance, and stepped out of the crowd. "Forty-one, huh? Who's that?"
Looking toward the boy walking out from the other side—wearing clothes embroidered with the red-and-white fan emblem of the Uchiha clan—Akira's lips curled slightly.
"Oh? What a coincidence."
His opponent was none other than the mission target—
Ryota Uchiha.
Too much of a coincidence. Akira even had reason to suspect the system had done something behind the scenes—though he had no evidence…
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