Chapter 4

Shimizu Keisuke strode up to the podium, his sharp eyes scanning over everyone below, like an eagle surveying its territory. He then loudly said,

"You will be facing the same opponents in today's test as you will for the next six years of your testing classes. Of course, there may be some changes under special circumstances. I must specifically mention that Hatake Kakashi has performed exceptionally well, truly living up to being the son of the White Fang. Of course, Sarutobi Asuma has also performed well, not disgracing the Third Hokage."

When that eagle-like gaze fell upon Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma, a sudden warmth appeared, causing Yagumo to be somewhat taken aback.

"Such a lickspittle from the start."

When the gaze landed on Yagumo, the cold winter returned. "Several of you have performed very unsatisfactorily. The results of this impromptu test will affect your first-year final grades!"

"I hope your performance in the next test is not as poor, or you won't be able to advance to the second year."

"Class dismissed!"

Shimizu Keisuke strode out of the classroom, and the inexplicable pressure gradually dissipated. Everyone gathered around Kakashi and slowly left the classroom. His genius and cool boy persona made him very attractive to fangirls and lackeys.

But they will eventually realize that Hatake Kakashi is a man they can never obtain, after all, his life already belongs to the god of 55% success rate.

"Let's go."

Yagumo turned back and said to his little follower and free meal ticket, Moriyako.

Really... who doesn't have a little fangirl?

On the way, Yagumo silently recalled what had happened today. When the homeroom teacher started licking, he first mentioned the White Fang, then the Third Hokage. Combined with the fact that the clan members actively befriended Kakashi, it's easy to imagine the prestige of the Konoha White Fang, who single-handedly secured victory in the Second Shinobi War.

The father fought bravely abroad, becoming a nightmare for other countries, making enemies tremble. The son excelled domestically, with even greater talent than his father, and both happened to be from the Hatake family.

Throughout history, those who shine brightly have only two outcomes: either they continue to advance to a peak that others cannot reach, or they die at the hands of those in power.

Fortunately, none of this has anything to do with Yagumo. As long as he stays away from the storm's vortex, it's enough. After all, he is just a low-powered nobody with no value to be exploited.

"Do you want to practice together today?" Moriyako asked hopefully at the door.

"Definitely next time."

Yagumo directly pushed open the door, walked in, and his expression changed from calm to alert, then instantly returned to calm.

Someone had been in his house... even though the intruder had tried to restore everything, there were still subtle differences. Yagumo took two steps forward and opened the drawer. The over two million compensation funds were all there, instantly revealing that the intruder was not after money.

After meeting Uzumaki Kushina in the morning, his house was thoroughly searched at noon. This is the level of importance the Konoha leadership places on the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

The owner of a fierce beast, of course, worries about the beast being approached and used by others, causing significant damage.

I hope that thing can have some effect, not in vain for the 800-word praise of Sarutobi Hiruzen I mixed in.

Casually throwing his backpack on the table, Yagumo began preparing dinner. Half an hour later, a pot of steaming curry chicken was freshly out of the oven.

After dinner, Yagumo went to the yard and began practicing ninjutsu according to the notes, forming seals, mobilizing chakra, and releasing chakra. Everything went smoothly.

One by one, water balls were condensed, but before they could be shot out, they turned into water droplets splashing in Yagumo's palm. Practicing ninjutsu was more difficult than he had imagined.

Two hours later, his chakra was completely depleted. He mixed the remaining curry chicken with rice and ate it, then turned on the desk lamp and began writing a summary and analysis of chakra extraction.

Two hours later, he submitted the task.

His intelligence increased again, and many inspirations for water ball practice emerged. After practicing chakra extraction, even without deliberate extraction, his body instinctively replenished the consumed chakra.

Under the moonlight, Yagumo came to the yard and continued practicing the C-rank ninjutsu Water Bullet according to the notes. He could now perfectly condense a fist-sized ball, but he hadn't figured out how to generate the force to shoot the water ball.

"Chakra burst to generate thrust..."

Yagumo realized.

With a "pop," the water ball exploded directly in Yagumo's hand, instantly drenching him.

"As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success."

"Again!"

Forming seals, mobilizing chakra, the water ball appeared.

Bursting chakra, "pop," drenched in water.

This process was repeated dozens of times. Yagumo, drenched and lying on the steps of the entrance, looked as if he had been ravaged by dozens of men, or like a dead fish washed up on the beach by a huge wave.

"Sometimes... success disowns family."

Yagumo lay on the steps, as if reminiscing about past dreams. After half an hour, his body re-extracted some chakra.

Forming seals, mobilizing chakra.

Injecting the water ball, chakra burst!

With a "whoosh," the water ball shot out like a sword, splashing a large amount of water when it hit the wooden fence.

Yagumo's eyes lit up, he succeeded!

Ding, 'Personal Skill' recorded successfully.

Active: Water Bullet Beginner Level 1/100 'Accelerate'

Yagumo looked at the suddenly appearing skill panel, startled. Could his golden finger also accelerate the learning of ninjutsu?

Action speaks louder than words!

'Accelerate'!

{Acceleration successful, 100 gold coins deducted.}

In an instant, Yagumo was stunned as a large amount of knowledge flooded his mind—memories of him continuously practicing the Water Bullet. In the memories, he saw himself fail countless times before finally successfully casting the Water Bullet.

The memories after that no longer showed failures, only the extremely slow casting speed. The proficiency on the panel was rapidly increasing.

Active: Water Bullet Beginner Level 10/100

One acceleration provided him with 9 points of proficiency.

Yagumo suppressed his excitement and did not try to use the Water Bullet. After a simple rinse, he used the last 100 gold coins to enhance the chakra extraction technique, causing his chakra to surge again.

In the coming days, he should fail a few more times, after all, for a talentless civilian ninja student, failing many times and still not mastering the technique is... the norm.

...

The light in the Hokage's office was already bright. Sarutobi Hiruzen was diligently working, occasionally moving his wrist and sighing about the passage of time.

Among a pile of documents was a report about Yagumo. His grandparents were among the first residents of Konoha, his parents died in the Second Shinobi War, he had never left Konoha, and the possibility of being a spy was ruled out. His morning running route was fixed, and encountering an S-rank surveillance target was purely accidental.

The final conclusion read: extremely poor combat ability, extremely poor ninjutsu learning ability, extremely poor vigilance.

"This child's understanding of the Will of Fire surpasses all his peers. His words show extreme admiration for me, a good seed, but unfortunately, his talent is too poor, otherwise, he could have been cultivated."

Sarutobi Hiruzen then stuffed the document into a sealed envelope and no longer paid attention to it.