Soon, the two arrived at the academy.
The teaching at the Ninja Academy was always rigid and conventional; Ueno Shin spent day after day on the podium explaining the basic knowledge of being a Ninja to the students.
Listening to it made Ye Chen feel drowsy.
It wasn't that Ueno Shin taught poorly; it was just that for Ye Chen, this knowledge was already second nature, and listening further yielded no new gains.
Before Ye Chen obtained the system, in order to become stronger for self-preservation, he had studied very seriously, applying the same vigor he used for the hundred-day sprint for the college entrance exam in his previous life to learning Ninja basics and theory.
Naturally, he consistently held the first place in the theory classes.
And he led the second place by more than fifty points.
Incidentally, the second place was Uchiha Itachi.
Ye Chen, who had already mastered all the theoretical knowledge, only came to school on time because he simply didn't want to be treated as an anomaly.
Helplessly slumped on the desk, Ye Chen's mind went blank as he thought about all sorts of random things.
On the podium, Ueno Shin naturally noticed Ye Chen's distraction, but he chose to turn a blind eye.
Why?
Because except for the first time he called on Ye Chen to answer a question—when Ye Chen failed to answer due to panic and only passed by relying on Uchiha Itachi feeding him the answers...
Later, Ueno Shin would always call on the distracted Ye Chen to answer, but a prepared Ye Chen could provide the answer immediately with just a glance.
Over time, Ueno Shin just let him be.
"I say, Itachi."
Unable to hold it in any longer, Ye Chen suddenly leaned into Uchiha Itachi's ear and whispered.
"Want to go out and spar a bit?"
Ye Chen really didn't want to waste time at school. Thinking about how the original story mentioned that Uchiha Itachi often used Shadow Clones to attend school while his real body trained and practiced without a moment's rest, he wanted to emulate that.
"You mean, Shadow Clones?"
At this time, Uchiha Itachi was still quite honest. Although he had already learned the Shadow Clone Technique, he had never used a clone to attend school in his place.
But after all, he was the one who came up with this idea in the future, so as soon as he heard Ye Chen's suggestion, he was immediately tempted.
"Hehe, let's go!"
Ye Chen gave a chuckle, stood up, and raised his hand to signal Ueno Shin.
"Teacher, I need to use the restroom!"
Ueno Shin frowned, instinctively feeling that Ye Chen was up to some mischief.
But he couldn't stop a student from going to the restroom, so he could only nod in agreement.
Ye Chen skipped out of the classroom, followed quietly by Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi just followed him out like that, and Ueno Shin didn't even ask a single question.
The two of them walked to a corner, used Shadow Clones, and then their real bodies secretly left the school while the clones returned to class.
Konoha has many training grounds specifically provided for free to villagers for training and practicing Ninjutsu.
The two chose a relatively remote training ground with few people around.
"Are you ready, Itachi?"
"Don't get knocked out by one of my punches again."
Ye Chen was referring to their first sparring session, where Uchiha Itachi was caught off guard and knocked unconscious by one of Ye Chen's punches.
Uchiha Itachi remained unmoved, pulled out a Kunai, and gestured for Ye Chen to come at him.
"Then, let's begin!"
Ye Chen lunged toward Uchiha Itachi, smoothly pulling a stack of Shuriken from the tool pouch behind him and throwing them with force.
Swish, swish, swish!
The sound of cutting through the air rang out as Ye Chen's Shuriken formed a metal net, covering Uchiha Itachi.
"Hmm? This technique... it's the Uchiha's Shurikenjutsu!"
Uchiha Itachi keenly noticed that the technique Ye Chen used was very similar to his family's secret Shurikenjutsu and was startled.
"Did he secretly learn it just by watching me practice my throwing techniques?"
Clang, clang, clang!
Though slightly surprised, Uchiha Itachi calmly used his Kunai to parry all the incoming Shuriken, sparks flying everywhere.
"Water Release: Water Collision Wave!"
At that moment, Ye Chen seized the opportunity to form hand seals. He opened his mouth, and a violent stream of water surged out, rushing toward Uchiha Itachi.
Over there, Uchiha Itachi stood frozen on the spot, as if frightened by the sudden wave of water.
A hit, just like that?
Ye Chen didn't believe it. He didn't choose to follow up with an attack but instead focused his mind on his surroundings, guarding against an ambush from Uchiha Itachi.
As expected.
Clang!
Ye Chen felt a figure appear behind him. A cold glint flashed as a Kunai stabbed toward the back of his head; he quickly blocked it with the Kunai in his hand.
This figure was, of course, Uchiha Itachi, while the one hit by the Water Collision Wave had turned into a wooden log.
It was the Substitution Technique.
Seeing the first strike fail, Uchiha Itachi immediately bent down to penetrate Ye Chen's guard, a whip kick coming from an angle outside Ye Chen's line of sight.
Master Itachi, attack his midsection!
How could Ye Chen be hit so easily? He extended his leg to block Uchiha Itachi's whip kick. The hand holding the Kunai used a clever rotation to pin Itachi's hand down, and then, seizing the opportunity, he exerted sudden force to slash a Shuriken toward Uchiha Itachi's neck.
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Itachi gave a cold snort, drawing Ye Chen's attention. But when Ye Chen looked up, he saw that on Uchiha Itachi's serious little face, the Sharingan was already open, with two tadpole-like tomoe spinning within.
Shit! It's Genjutsu!
Ye Chen's heart tightened, knowing that Uchiha Itachi was trying to use Genjutsu on him. He quickly circulated his Chakra, wanting to break the control.
"Too late!"
Because Ye Chen wanted to break the Genjutsu, his movements naturally slowed down. Uchiha Itachi thought to himself that the plan had worked; he ducked to dodge Ye Chen's Kunai and lunged into Ye Chen's chest with a burst of power from his legs.
It turned out that his cold snort was specifically intended to draw Ye Chen's attention, and revealing the Sharingan to pretend he was casting Genjutsu was a feint—he hadn't cast it at all.
He created these illusions just to create this opening.
"Uchiha Style: Blade Leaping Flame!"
Uchiha Itachi held the Kunai in his right hand with a reverse grip and slashed upward.
Intense flames appeared on the Kunai. This was a unique swordsmanship of the Uchiha Clan, augmented with Fire Release damage.
Seeing that the flames on the Kunai had already reached Ye Chen's chin and that Ye Chen's face was full of anxiety, Uchiha Itachi felt he had won and prepared to pull back his strength.
After all, it was just a spar; he couldn't actually slash Ye Chen's face.
Unfortunately.
"Ha, you were too careless!"
The Ye Chen in front of him vanished in a puff of smoke, and Ye Chen's triumphant laughter came from behind Uchiha Itachi.
Bang!
With a powerful whip kick, the caught-off-guard Uchiha Itachi was once again knocked to the ground.
"When?"
Uchiha Itachi lifted his head from the ground, his small face covered in dust, revealing a look of confusion.
He had followed Ye Chen the whole way and hadn't noticed Ye Chen using a Shadow Clone at all.
"Hehe, this is my unique secret. I'll teach you if you acknowledge me as your big brother."
Ye Chen teased.
Faced with Ye Chen's words, Uchiha Itachi climbed up from the ground with an expressionless face, pretending not to hear.
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