Chapter 413: First Grade
At the Konoha Ninja Academy.
"Teacher, this question is entirely too simple. Do you have any harder problems?"
Tobitake Keigo asked listlessly.
Good grief, he thought. Is the curriculum at the Ninja Academy truly this elementary?
Staring at the mathematics sheet on his desk, alongside fundamental questions regarding basic chakra refinement, Keigo could only sigh. He had already mastered these concepts years ago.
Ah, just another day of desperately missing the laboratory.
Keigo was thoroughly speechless. Back in the lab, he could freely consult with his mentors, Lord Orochimaru and Kabuto, or brainstorm complex theories with his father. There was an endless array of fascinating phenomena to research there, sparking his absolute interest. Here at the Academy, however, he felt a stifling aura of foolishness washing over him from every direction—and that included the instructor standing at the podium.
It wasn't that Keigo considered them utterly useless. Rather, whether it was the dialogue of his classmates or the basic trivia shared by the teacher, he felt the entire intellectual pool of the Shinobi World was being profoundly bottlenecked. How could human knowledge stagnate at such a shallow depth?
His father had rigorously taught him to remain humble, to be open-minded, to be... To heck with all that! This Academy lifestyle was simply agonizing.
There was no complex intake of new concepts, nor was there any practical output for his intelligence. It felt exactly like submerging his brain into a stagnant, bacteria-ridden pool, completely rotting away his intellect. He glanced around at his classmates, who were currently staring at him with expressions of unbridled adoration. While it admittedly tickled his ego a tiny bit, he vastly preferred his old routine of conducting experiments in the research facility.
Besides, what was a bit of civilian adoration worth? Could it secure the funding for a single research project?
Hearing Keigo's question, the Academy instructor was momentarily rendered completely speechless. "Fine then... just focus on your independent studies. I'll make sure to minimize my interference from now on, seriously."
The teacher's internal monologue groaned at how prideful the boy sounded compared to the average child prodigies. Captain Tonbo's son is truly a handful to deal with.
However, considering he was merely a rookie instructor at the school, he figured it was best to maintain a highly professional demeanor.
Keigo nodded politely. "Thank you. I appreciate the undisturbed study time."
With that, he reached into his desk compartment and pulled out a massive, heavy textbook. The title emblazoned on the cover read: The Multi-Faceted Research and Practical Applications of Photons.
"Wow, he's so incredibly cool!" His seatmate, a cute young girl, immediately swooned into a total fangirl upon witnessing Keigo's casual demeanor.
In fact, a significant portion of the girls in the classroom had already become his devoted followers. Keigo's smooth, unbothered attitude carried an undeniable, brilliant charm. To dare to speak to an Academy instructor in such a manner was unheard of for a first-grader.
Naturally, seeing almost all the girls directing their star-struck gazes toward Keigo made a few of the boys highly disgruntled. They silently resolved to give him a thoroughly stern lesson once the recess bell rang.
Before long, the shrill bell signaling the end of the period echoed through the halls. A crowd of children instantly bolted out of the classroom to play.
"Um, Keigo-kun? I have a question... could I ask you for some help?"
While Keigo was deeply immersed in his advanced studies, a young girl approached his desk, holding out her textbook sheepishly.
Keigo closed his massive book and let out a soft sigh. "Go ahead. Frankly, it must be quite a struggle for you all to stumble over such elementary data."
"Yes... it's about this concept. Regarding the shape transformation of chakra, how exactly do you—" The little girl didn't care about his slightly arrogant tone at all, focused entirely on her query.
Her thirst for actual knowledge seemed remarkably genuine, indicating she hadn't merely been drawn to his desk by his good looks or charm.
"Hey, I want to ask first! Let me go first!"
Suddenly, several other girls swarmed the desk, waving their notebooks and shouting their own questions. However, the problems they were presenting were concepts the teacher had already covered thoroughly and clearly during the lecture.
Keigo was thoroughly exasperated. The first girl had at least presented a concept the instructor hadn't explained perfectly, but these other girls had clearly skipped paying attention in class just to use questions as an excuse to talk to him.
In an instant, he realized the first girl actually possessed some commendable qualities, unlike this horde of unmotivated, foolish children.
The first girl found herself aggressively shoved to the rear of the crowd, clutching her notebook with a bewildered expression. Her question hadn't even been fully answered yet.
"Tsubaki! Why are you even bothering to ask him? You could easily just ask the teacher!" a group of boys shouted angrily as they marched over, noticing Tsubaki standing isolated at the fringe of the crowd.
Tsubaki replied matter-of-factly, "Because the teacher is busy right now. Keigo-kun possesses an incredibly vast knowledge base and is highly proficient across multiple disciplines. I want to learn from his example."
"What's the point of studying that boring stuff? The Shinobi Tool Intelligence Course is where the real action is! We live in a peaceful era now; we need to keep up with the times," one of the boys countered proudly.
Tsubaki argued back, "The Shinobi Tool Intelligence Course still requires a foundational understanding of various academic core subjects! The great Director of the Scientific Technology Development Bureau once stated that 'The pursuit of absolute truth is the ladder of human progress.' No knowledge is useless; there are only useless people. If you want to excel in developing shinobi tools, you need to study properly first!"
The Shinobi Tool Intelligence Course was reportedly a newly introduced discipline at the Academy. It primarily focused on teaching the basic mechanics required to develop Scientific Shinobi Tools. In the current era, a massive portion of modern technology was constructed using Scientific Shinobi Tools, while only standard, everyday appliances fell under regular engineering.
"We don't care about any of that right now! Let's just thrash Keigo first. He's way too arrogant!"
The leading boy stated, intentionally rolling up his sleeves to show off his sturdy shoulders. His companions nodded in fierce agreement. Their fathers were all active shinobi, and they themselves had already mastered basic chakra refinement and utilization by the age of five. They were absolutely confident they could flatten Keigo.
"Move it, get out of the way!" They aggressively shoved the girls aside, forming a tight perimeter around Keigo's desk.
"What do you think you're doing?! We're going to tell the teacher!" the girls shrieked in protest. They had finally managed to get close to the handsomest boy in class, and seeing this group attempting to initiate a physical fight made them furious.
The boys smirked. "By the time the teacher gets here, we'll have already beaten Keigo to a pulp. Don't you worry, hehe."
The leader had planned this out carefully. Ever since school started, Keigo had constantly hogged the spotlight, which irritated him immensely. No matter how hard he worked, nobody ever noticed him, yet Keigo managed to command the entire room with just a few condescending remarks.
Staring at the hostile group, a series of mental question marks flashed across Keigo's mind. "You intend to physically assault me? Based on the sheer data disparity between our respective combat intellect, bloodlines, and theoretical knowledge, the probability of you securing a victory is mathematically indistinguishable from zero."
While he was primarily trained as a scientific researcher, that by no means implied his combat ninjutsu was lacking. Based on his calculated metrics and their baseline data, there was no logical scenario where a few standard five-year-olds could best him.
"Cut the chatter! Eat my Iron Fist!"
The leading boy lunged forward, throwing a heavy punch straight toward Keigo's face.
Shu!
With a casual flick of his wrist, Keigo projected a highly localized strand of chakra that resembled a piece of elastic bubblegum. It adhered instantly to the absolute weakest leverage point beneath the boy's advancing foot.
Then, Keigo gave it a sharp yank.
The boy's center of gravity was violently disrupted. Losing his balance entirely, he crashed directly into one of his companions standing nearby, sending both of them tumbling hard onto the floor. Keigo had intentionally calculated the trajectory to ensure they completely avoided the sharp corners of the desks and kept their heads from striking the ground directly.
Bam!
"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!"
The two boys groaned in pain, their bodies aching from the sudden impact with the wooden floorboards.
Keigo looked calmly at the remaining boys. "That was a basic application of Chakra Shape Transformation, which is supposed to be a core subject here at the Academy. Have you managed to master that yet? Do you still wish to continue this engagement?"
The remaining boys stood completely frozen, staring in absolute shock. Since when could chakra be utilized in such a fluid, versatile manner? They were only in the first grade! Most of them had barely managed to grasp the rudiments of tree-climbing.
"Wow! Keigo-kun is incredibly amazing!"
"That's the technique mentioned in the advanced second-grade textbooks! Bungee Gum—it's rumored to be an extreme variation of shape transformation on par with the Rasengan! How on earth did Keigo-kun execute it so casually?!"
The young girls' eyes shone with immense adoration. He was simply too cool.
Even the girl named Tsubaki stared at him with profound awe. It turned out Keigo-kun had already advanced his studies to such a terrifyingly high tier.
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