Knock, knock.
Early in the morning, Shinji was woken up by a knock on the door.
Yawning, he walked to the door and opened it: "What's up?"
Standing at the door, Haku smiled and said: "Shinji-kun, you're going to be late."
"Huh?"
Turning his head to look at the clock on the wall, he realized it was almost 8:00.
So, he quickly washed up and rushed out the door.
When he arrived at the Ninja Academy, he realized that he had once again forgotten to prepare a lunch.
Seeing this, Haku took a lunchbox out of his bag and handed it to Shinji: "Don't worry, I prepared one for you. I'm just not sure if it's to your taste."
Shinji took the lunchbox and opened it.
Inside were delicious-looking sushi and dango, along with fresh fish slices and vegetables. Clearly, Haku had put a lot of thought into it.
"Thank you."
Haku waved it off: "We're classmates, there's no need to be so formal."
Shinji nodded and accepted Haku's kindness.
Even though he knew Haku was genuinely kind-hearted, he couldn't shake the feeling that Haku was being overly friendly, as if he was deliberately trying to get close to him.
The morning's theory class quickly ended.
After eating lunch, Shinji, like the other students, went to the playground.
Since it was free activity time, the playground was very lively, with students from all grades present.
For example, Naruto, who was a year below Shinji, was sitting in the corner on a swing, sulking because he couldn't fit in with the others.
In another corner, Neji was, as always, training hard on the wooden post, sweating profusely as he practiced the Gentle Fist.
And then there was Lee, who was running laps around the playground like a madman.
I should find a place to train too!
With that in mind, Shinji headed to a secluded area of the school's small forest.
After reviewing the fragments of memories left by the original owner of his body, he decided to start with Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu, which the original owner had practiced countless times.
Boar-Tiger-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger
He first refined his chakra, then meticulously completed the hand signs, finally aiming at a large tree not far away.
Boom!
In an instant, a massive fireball shot out of his mouth, surging forward and slamming into the distant tree, setting both the tree and the surrounding grass on fire.
Staring at the blazing fire in front of him, Shinji froze on the spot.
In his memory, the original owner had practiced this jutsu countless times but had never successfully performed it.
So this time, he hadn't expected much—just a casual attempt to practice the hand signs.
He never expected it to succeed on the first try, and with such power!
In just a short moment, the fire had already spread to the surrounding trees, engulfing a large area.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Soon, several figures rushed to the small forest.
These were Ninja Academy teachers who had noticed the firelight and smoke in the forest and hurried over.
Seeing the raging fire, the teachers' faces changed dramatically.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Wave Jutsu!"
Two of the teachers exchanged a glance and then, in perfect sync, used their ninjutsu—one used Earth Release to block the fire, and the other tried to extinguish it with Water Release.
After much effort, the fire was finally put out.
Amidst the steam and smoke, the teachers were left with soot-covered faces.
Iruka approached Shinji and asked: "Shinji, did you do this?"
At this point, there was no denying it, so Shinji had no choice but to nod.
Iruka scolded sternly: "That was too dangerous! How could you use such an advanced Fire Release ninjutsu in the forest?"
I didn't expect it to work either!
Shinji inwardly cursed his luck.
If he had known it would cause such a commotion, he would never have tried it at the academy.
And isn't this supposed to be a C-rank jutsu, with Chūnin-level difficulty? How did it succeed on the first try? What's so difficult about it, anyway!
Mizuki walked over with a smile: "Iruka, don't blame him. After all, no serious harm was done."
The other teachers had mixed expressions.
To be able to perform such a powerful Fire Release ninjutsu at just eight years old—it made them marvel at the terrifying talent of the Uchiha Clan.
By this time, the commotion had attracted the attention of the students on the playground, and they began gathering around.
"Huh, what happened?"
"Was there a fire?"
"The trees are all burnt!"
Seeing the charred forest, the students started talking among themselves.
And when they found out that Shinji was responsible, many of them looked at him with surprise.
Shikamaru quietly remarked: "As expected of the Uchiha Clan!"
Sakura and Ino had stars in their eyes: "Wow, that upperclassman is so cool!"
Lee stood there, dumbfounded: "So strong!"
Neji, with a serious expression, was filled with wariness.
At seven or eight years old, most students at the academy hadn't even started learning ninjutsu, and those who had were extremely rare.
So, seeing Shinji easily perform a C-rank Fire Style ninjutsu, which required Chūnin-level skill, made Neji feel an inexplicable sense of threat.
"What's going on? What are you all looking at?"
At the back of the crowd, Naruto was trying to squeeze in but kept getting pushed out by the crowd.
All this commotion made Shinji sigh helplessly.
Back in the classroom, Haku turned to Shinji and said: "Shinji-kun, I didn't expect you to have mastered such a powerful Fire Release ninjutsu."
Shinji shook his head: "It's just a C-rank jutsu."
This wasn't just to maintain the Uchiha Clan's image—he truly wasn't too proud of himself this time.
It's worth remembering that Itachi, even before awakening his Sharingan, had learned the Great Fireball Jutsu immediately after watching his father perform it just once.
Sasuke was a bit slower.
But he still learned it within a day.
Now, Shinji had not only awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan but had also just received the Shinobi World's gift last night, doubling his chakra reserves, surpassing most of his peers.
Given this, mastering a C-rank Fire Release jutsu seemed reasonable upon reflection.
After all, ninjutsu is just a way of utilizing chakra. With enough chakra, and strong enough chakra, it's possible to perform ninjutsu even with one-handed signs or no signs at all.
Thinking of this, Shinji glanced at Haku.
In his memory, Haku was one of those prodigies who had mastered one-handed signs at a young age, a feat that had even surprised Kakashi.
Soon, Shinji realized he had underestimated the impact of this incident.
By the time school was over in the evening, the news had spread completely.
Many students at the academy now looked at him not with sympathy but with admiration, especially some of the female students, who had stars in their eyes.
It wasn't just the students—even some of the academy teachers treated him with much more respect when they encountered him.
There was a precedent for this. In the past, there had been Uchiha Shisui, and more recently, Uchiha Itachi—both had made a name for themselves at the academy at a young age, quickly rising through the ranks after graduation, soon surpassing the teachers who had once taught them.
Shinji sighed in resignation: This is such a headache...