While Kiyoshi looked ahead, resting and pondering his future path, Mei Terumi in the stands felt considerably worse.
"That guy…" Mei Terumi clenched her small hands. Kiyoshi actually dared to keep staring at her. Since she was old enough to remember, she had never felt that a single person could disturb her composure so much.
It made her want to rush down right now.
Mei Terumi truly couldn't understand why Kiyoshi, who looked physically strong, reasonably handsome, would do something humiliating to her.
New hatred combined with old grudges, along with Kiyoshi's current provocative actions, made Mei Terumi increasingly furious.
"Mei Terumi, if I draw a match against Kiyoshi, I will avenge you." Kaguya Katsuya said, suppressing his excitement.
He was becoming more and more satisfied with Kiyoshi.
Through his Sharingan, Kiyoshi in the arena clearly saw Mei Terumi's expression and Katsuya Kaguya's eagerness.
He retracted his gaze and continued with the matches.
The third round of the exams began at nine in the morning and would finish in the afternoon.
Only over thirty candidates reached this third round, and only a handful would achieve promotion.
Kiyoshi only needed to defeat three more opponents consecutively to advance.
Time passed minute by minute. Kiyoshi easily defeated every enemy he encountered afterward.
Unfortunately, Kiyoshi did not encounter any strong opponents, not even Katsuya Kaguya, until the very end.
"Kiyoshi Uchiha, promoted!" the chief proctor announced loudly.
To ensure his voice carried to all parts of the arena, he even gathered chakra in his throat to amplify the sound's spread.
"Kiyoshi Uchiha's strength is probably unmatched among Genin, right?"
"Forget Genin, I feel that even some veteran Chūnin would lose to him."
As the chief proctor announced his promotion, Kiyoshi walked out of the lower arena, and the people in the upper stands began whispering among themselves.
Kiyoshi's first match had stunned them with his unparalleled speed and formidable mastery of Fire Release!
The fact that he had mastered the technique of Chakra Flow at such a young age made many ninjas who had spent their entire lives specializing in ninja blades feel ashamed.
His starting point was their finishing line—how could they even compete?
"Mikoto, I asked you to guide Kiyoshi to learn the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, didn't I?" Fugaku suddenly asked.
Both he and Mikoto were sitting in the spectator seats.
Several Uchiha clan members had qualified for the third round this time, so Fugaku, as the clan head, naturally came to observe.
Chūnin represented the majority of the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force's strength. Advancing meant securing an official rank, a stable monthly salary, and essentially an iron rice bowl job.
"Yes." Mikoto's dark, clear eyes were fixed on Kiyoshi, who was walking toward Kurenai and Asuma.
She had indeed guided Kiyoshi to learn the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. So why did Kiyoshi's version look different, with the fireball being so much larger?
"Perhaps the child just has a great talent in that area." Mikoto could only come to this conclusion, a self-consistent logical answer.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain Kiyoshi's genius.
"There's also something else: there were rumors that Kiyoshi had opened the Sharingan in both eyes." Fugaku spoke after Mikoto finished.
"Oh, then it must be the ability of the Sharingan," Mikoto slowly said, her flexible lips opening and closing, subtly revealing her white teeth.
The Sharingan possessed superhuman abilities such as observation, copying, and hypnosis. This insight could also observe the flow of chakra, allowing one to cast and break Genjutsu.
However, the Sharingan was essentially a weapon; its power depended purely on the user's application ability.
Therefore, each person's development and focus for the Sharingan would be different.
"It seems this child, Kiyoshi, is proficient in copying Ninjutsu and has even developed his own understanding of it." Mikoto smiled faintly.
Her gentle demeanor had a relaxing quality, like a Yamato Nadeshiko.
"That must be the case." Fugaku nodded.
If so, Kiyoshi was truly one of their clan members.
His Kekkei Genkai had not been diminished by being half-blood and was even stronger than that of an average Uchiha.
Although the Uchiha clan was not against intermarriage with outsiders these past few years, as not every member possessed the talent to awaken the Sharingan.
However, the children born to two highly talented clan members were several times more likely to be geniuses than those born to other members.
"Find some time to introduce Kiyoshi to some of the girls in the clan." Fugaku suggested.
What bond could be stronger than having a child together?
This way, he would feel more at ease promoting a talented individual like Kiyoshi in the future.
"Good." Mikoto nodded, mentally calculating which girls in the clan would be a suitable match for Kiyoshi.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Kurenai's crimson eyes were intently focused on Kiyoshi, and she smiled softly:
"Kiyoshi is really impressive."
Kurenai felt increasingly that Kiyoshi, who came from a distant country, was incredibly remarkable.
He was in a completely different league from the ninjas of her generation in the village.
In conversation, Kiyoshi always came up with imaginative ideas.
And… and his physique was so strong.
Kurenai looked at Kiyoshi's strong physique, which stretched his Uchiha robes, causing the fabric to sink inward slightly, possibly due to sweat.
She could vaguely see the lines of Kiyoshi's abdominal muscles, each one flat and aesthetically pleasing.
She thought this was a type of talent.
Someone like Asuma, she felt, would never be able to achieve it.
Kurenai turned her head and glanced at Asuma Sarutobi.
The Sarutobi clan actually had relatively greater physical strength among the ninja clans. Their clan had a contract with the Enma monkey clan and could summon monkeys to assist them.
But the shape of Asuma's muscles was not as aesthetically pleasing as Kiyoshi's.
It gave a feeling of being rough and wild.
"Kurenai, what's wrong?" Sensing Kurenai's gaze, Asuma immediately lowered his voice, acting composed and unfazed.
Mature men were always this steady.
"Nothing, I just feel like Kiyoshi seems to have gotten a little stronger." Kurenai shook her head.
A strange thought crossed her mind: she felt that Asuma might turn into a crude, greasy old man later on.
"Kurenai, didn't you notice I did too?" Asuma hurriedly lifted his sleeve for Kurenai to see.
Kurenai just glanced at it and nodded slightly.
Kiyoshi watched the two of them, shaking his head.
This kind of thing relied on natural talent.
Kiyoshi, who possessed the talent of the Yotsuki clan, was far inferior to the Senju or Uzumaki in terms of life force.
However, in terms of physical talent, the Yotsuki clan was one of the strongest Taijutsu talents in the ninja world.
Only the Kinkaku and Ginkaku clan in the Land of Lightning, who could literally eat the Nine-Tails' flesh, could compare.
After all, they were also descendants of the Sage of Six Paths and clearly inherited the physical aspect of his lineage, with horns growing on their heads.
***
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