"Uchiha Seiji actually won?"
"S-So strong…"
"Wait, the bet earlier doesn't count! That was an accident!"
After a brief moment of silence, the discussion among the students suddenly became even louder.
Some of them had even made bets on whether Seiji or Obito would win.
"Hey! Are you trying to back out of the bet?"
"Fine, fine… I'll give you those adult magazines I have."
…
Defeating the dead-last of the class normally wouldn't be shocking.
But when someone who had only just begun refining chakra, someone who had basically trained for only a few days like an ordinary person…
managed to defeat a ninja academy student who had trained for years—
That carried a very different meaning.
Years of accumulated training…
yet someone else surpassed it after just a few days.
The students in the class silently placed a new label on Seiji.
Taijutsu Genius.
Even more terrifying was the rumor that Uchiha Seiji had already awakened his Sharingan at such a young age, meaning he could already use its power.
And combined with the Uchiha clan's famous Fire Release talent, no one knew whether Seiji might also be a genius in other areas.
"Didn't expect this guy to actually be pretty good."
Sarutobi Asuma commented.
"Yeah."
Yuhi Kurenai nodded.
Her crimson eyes remained fixed on Seiji.
Her long, slightly curled black hair swayed gently in the wind, falling softly along her cheeks.
"I wonder what his genjutsu is like…"
Kurenai murmured softly.
"Hm? What did you say?"
Asuma hadn't heard clearly.
"Nothing."
Kurenai shook her head.
"Alright, Obito. Don't get discouraged. Just try harder next time."
Umino Iru stepped forward to check on Obito.
After examining him, he found only minor bruises, so he offered a few words of encouragement.
"Hmph! I just didn't perform well this time!"
Thinking about how he had embarrassed himself in front of Rin, Obito felt furious.
"It's okay, Obito. You've already worked really hard."
Rin tried to comfort him.
The moment he heard Rin's gentle words, Obito's gloomy face instantly turned cheerful again.
"What a pity… Seiji didn't come train taijutsu with me."
Might Guy looked genuinely regretful.
"If he joined my youthful training, he would definitely gain tremendous results!"
"No. Training with you would ruin him."
Just imagining an Uchiha wearing Guy's green jumpsuit and bowl haircut made Kakashi shiver slightly.
"Uchiha Seiji… I should observe him a little longer."
Kakashi muttered thoughtfully.
He had long grown tired of the childish fights at the Ninja Academy.
The idea of graduating early had been growing stronger in his mind.
His father, the White Fang of Konoha, was famous throughout the ninja world.
Yet he himself was still wasting time here.
When he was only four years old, even before entering the Ninja Academy, Kakashi had already mastered Earth Release: Earth Wave.
He had even won a ninjutsu competition, earning a silver kunai as a prize.
"If Uchiha Seiji can also graduate early…"
"Being teammates with him might not be bad."
Kakashi thought quietly.
Back among the crowd, Seiji calmly responded to the students who approached him.
The technique Lightning Release: Iron Body was extremely useful.
He could clearly feel that his body's development speed was increasing.
During the fight with Obito earlier, Seiji had already noticed that he was more agile than he had been the day before.
Lightning Release: Iron Body concentrated Lightning chakra into certain muscle fibers beneath the skin.
By releasing chakra at a specific frequency, the electric current penetrated deep into each muscle.
The stimulation activated fast-twitch muscle fibers, triggering the protein synthesis mechanisms inside them.
As a result, the muscle cells expanded rapidly.
Compared with traditional training, this method greatly accelerated physical growth.
However, it had its drawbacks.
It could not train the internal organs or bones.
At most, it strengthened the skin and outer muscles, increasing toughness and providing a certain level of defense.
For Seiji's current stage…
that was already more than enough.
Right now, he had only experimented with the method described in the scroll.
Once he truly mastered the technique, his body would become much stronger very quickly.
Soon after, Umino Iru began calling the next pair of students for sparring.
Meanwhile, Seiji remained within the crowd, quietly continuing to practice Lightning Release: Iron Body.
He guided the lightning chakra flowing inside his body.
If someone with the Byakugan were to observe his chakra pathway system…
they would see faint electric currents continuously radiating outward through his meridians.
Little by little—
Seiji was growing stronger.
The current Seiji could easily defeat the version of himself who had arrived in Konoha just a month ago.
Evening
There were still many people training at Training Ground Three.
At the edge of the training field flowed a small river.
"Today we're going to learn water walking."
Rin explained the technique to Seiji.
Kakashi and Obito were also there.
Obito stood with his arms crossed, deliberately keeping some distance from Seiji while standing closer to Rin.
Behind his black mask, Kakashi's expression remained calm as he quietly listened.
He already knew these things.
The reason he had come here several days in a row was because he had noticed something interesting—
Seiji was improving every single day.
Sometimes, the ability to improve quickly was itself a form of talent.
Most people trained hard yet remained stagnant.
"How will Seiji deal with something harder like this?"
Kakashi's gaze turned toward him.
When climbing trees, a ninja only needed to gather chakra in specific parts of the body and maintain a certain amount.
Since trees didn't move, it was enough to simply stick to them.
This was the most fundamental skill for a ninja—
learning to produce and control a certain amount of chakra.
But walking on water was different.
To stand on water without sinking, one had to continuously release the right amount of chakra.
And that amount had to be perfectly balanced to support the body.
This required a much higher level of chakra control and endurance.
"When ninjas extract chakra, they're usually moving at the same time."
Rin explained seriously.
"In those situations, controlling and maintaining chakra becomes even harder. That's why building a solid foundation is extremely important."
She clearly paid attention during lessons.
Every piece of knowledge she explained had been carefully remembered.
"Oh… I see."
Obito, who often daydreamed during class, suddenly realized that many of the things Rin had just explained were theories he didn't understand at all.
He glanced at Kakashi.
Kakashi's expression hadn't changed.
Obviously, he already knew all of this too.
Obito then looked at Seiji.
Seiji seemed deep in thought.
Oh no…
Was he the only one who didn't understand anything?
Obito suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
He decided that when he got home, he would seriously study the theory he had missed.
"I'll demonstrate first."
Rin removed her shoes.
Her delicate feet stepped lightly onto the flowing water, creating small ripples.
She took several steps forward, her body steady.
"Taking off your shoes makes it easier."
She shared another small tip.
Without shoes, one only needed to focus chakra directly on the soles of the feet.
But with shoes, one had to consider the thickness of the soles and how well they conducted chakra.
"Alright."
Seiji stepped forward.
He removed his Uchiha robe, leaving only a long-sleeved inner shirt.
Forming a hand seal, he gathered chakra inside his body.
Then—
He attempted to stand on the water's surface.
End of Chapter