The playground at the Ninja Academy.
All the students in Class A, Year 1 formed a large circle.
Yamanaka Naoto stood inside the circle, holding a roster, and was mobilizing the students.
"This test is not only for Lord Orochimaru to recruit apprentices but also a test for the school. So, I hope you all give your best. Got it?"
"Got it!"
Natsume and the others answered in unison.
"Good, very energetic."
Yamanaka Naoto flipped through the roster and said, "Those whose names I call out, step forward and have a match. The winner will advance to the next round."
Natsume sat cross-legged.
To be honest, the situation on the field could only be described as "amateurs fighting each other."
The graduation requirement for the Ninja Academy was to learn the Three Basic Body Techniques.
It's easy to imagine how inexperienced the first-year students were.
Natsume had already learned five Ninjutsu.
Apart from the Three Basic Body Techniques, he had also learned the Shifting Body Technique and Water Release: Wild Water Wave.
He could totally point at them and say: "Let Itachi Uchiha stand up first. You all here are useless."
Natsume observed for a while and noticed a pattern.
Those who won were mostly students from ninja clans.
There was no way around it. Civilian students were at a natural disadvantage and couldn't get access to more advanced ninja knowledge in advance.
Take Sakura Haruno for example.
In the early part of the plot, her performance was just so - so. She'd call out to Sasuke when there was no problem and shout for Naruto when there was trouble. She was really a drag.
But she was already the best among the civilian students, a top student so to speak.
The others were even worse.
"Natsume vs. Kenji Kuzuryu."
Yamanaka Naoto glanced at the roster and shouted.
Hearing his name, Natsume immediately got up and walked into the circle leisurely.
"Come on, Natsume!"
A group of girls cheered him on.
"Damn it! So what if you're good-looking?"
Kenji Kuzuryu said with a face full of unwillingness, "I'm definitely going to beat you!"
"Can you play shogi?" Natsume asked.
"Wh...what?" Kenji Kuzuryu was stunned.
Come on, be serious!
I'm trash-talking to you, and you're asking me if I can play shogi?
Can you show some respect?
"Can you play shogi?"
Natsume repeated again and said, "I have a friend also surnamed Kuzuryu. He's really good at shogi and is known as the Dragon King."
"No!"
Kenji Kuzuryu said in a blunt tone, "Trying to make a connection now won't do you any good."
Fine then.
Natsume didn't waste any more words.
Shifting Body Technique.
A flow of Chakra surrounded his legs. Suddenly, he appeared in front of Kenji Kuzuryu and kicked out. Kenji Kuzuryu didn't have time to react and landed in a clumsy posture.
"Natsume wins."
Seeing that Kenji Kuzuryu couldn't get up for a long time, Yamanaka Naoto immediately announced the result.
In the distance, Itachi Uchiha nodded.
The Shifting Body Technique was okay.
But it was far from Uncle Shisui's level.
"Itachi Uchiha vs. Neko Uchiyama."
Natsume sat down again and looked at Itachi Uchiha.
Well, the three-second guy.
He watched Itachi Uchiha step onto the field and then step off.
There was a comatose Neko Uchiyama left on the playground.
His movements were so fast that most people couldn't even see what happened clearly.
Natsume estimated that Itachi Uchiha at this moment was close to the level of a Chunin.
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Battles came one after another.
In the end, only two students were left in Class A, Grade One.
Natsume and Itachi Uchiha.
Yamanaka Naoto wasn't surprised.
The former was Tsunade's apprentice, and the latter was the son of Fugaku Uchiha.
They were truly blessed with great advantages.
While their peers were still playing with mud, they had already started learning ninjutsu.
"For your battle, the winner will represent our class in the competitions against other classes. The final ten students will have the chance to become Lord Orochimaru's apprentices. So, do your best!"
After Yamanaka Naoto encouraged them, he stepped off the field and left the stage to the two students.
On the high - platform in the playground.
"Lord Orochimaru, the one on the left is Itachi Uchiha," Vice - Principal Nara Yoshiyuki introduced respectfully. "In school, he gets full marks in both theoretical and practical courses. He's undoubtedly the top student."
Orochimaru licked his lips.
He didn't fully believe Natsume's words that Itachi Uchiha could awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
But whether it was true or false, he had to assess Itachi himself, so he must recruit him.
"What about the other one?" Orochimaru asked casually.
"Natsume, an apprentice of Lord Tsunade," Nara Yoshiyuki replied.
Orochimaru showed a bit of interest and asked, "Does he have any Kekkei Genkai?"
"No. He has good talent in Water Release."
Nara Yoshiyuki's words immediately dampened Orochimaru's newly - sparked interest.
Without a Kekkei Genkai, he was of no use to Orochimaru.
Moreover, since he was Tsunade's apprentice, Orochimaru didn't bother to get involved.
As they were talking, the battle on the field had already begun.
Itachi Uchiha stood still and threw six shurikens straight away.
Natsume didn't hesitate to retaliate.
Clatter!
The sound of shurikens colliding.
But the next moment, Itachi slightly raised his hands, and the six shurikens that were supposed to fall after losing their momentum suddenly spun back and rained down like drops.
Natsume's eyes sharpened.
Only then did he notice something like wire strings tied to Itachi's fingers.
This was Manipulated Shuriken Technique.
Ordinary genin wouldn't know it.
Shifting Body Technique!
Natsume suddenly accelerated and avoided the range of the shuriken attack.
However, Itachi had expected this. As Natsume accelerated, the shurikens also accelerated and turned into tracking projectiles.
Oh, no!
Water Release: Wild Water Wave!
Natsume reappeared, formed hand seals with both hands, gathered chakra in his mouth, and almost instantaneously, a jet of water gushed out.
The watching students let out exclamations.
In the Ninja Academy, those who can use the five - element elemental release jutsu are the real stars.
Itachi wasn't panicked at all. He disconnected the shurikens from his control with his hands and then instantly formed hand seals.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A huge fireball rushed towards the water jet.
Normally, Water Release could counter Fire Release.
But Itachi had far more chakra than Natsume, so he evaporated the water jet against the natural elemental restraint.
"I forfeit."
Natsume used the Shifting Body Technique again and appeared at the edge of the circle.
It's quite normal that he can't defeat Itachi Uchiha at this moment.
Additionally, he couldn't use Wood Release.
"Classmate Natsume has performed very well," Yamanaka Naoto said with a smile. "Let's congratulate Classmate Itachi Uchiha. Next, he'll participate in the next round of the match."
As the winner was determined in Class A, Grade One, the same was going on in other classes.
Since it was Orochimaru who was recruiting apprentices, students from Grades One to Six all took part.
Normally, students from lower grades couldn't beat those from higher grades.
But there was this prodigy, Itachi Uchiha, who won all the way through.
As evening drew near, ten students were chosen.
They stood on the high platform, each looking at Orochimaru with eager eyes.
Except for Itachi Uchiha, who remained calm.
Shisui Uchiha didn't tell him about Orochimaru's attack. For the time being, he still had a rather good impression of Orochimaru.
Itachi Uchiha thought it wouldn't be bad to be his apprentice and that he could further study the Will of Fire.
As the apprentice of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Will of Fire should be quite formidable, right?
Orochimaru glanced at the ten students in front of him, casually pointed twice, and said, "You two."
Meanwhile, Natsume received a notification from the Tamaki of Destiny.
[Because of your actions, Itachi Uchiha's destiny has changed. You've gained eighteen destiny points.]
[Because of your actions, Yugao Uzuki's destiny has changed. You've gained forty - nine destiny points.]