Within the Ninja World, strength was always the top priority.
To gain recognition, Aomi needed to showcase his power at the right moment, and the Will of Fire was the quickest way for Aomi to connect with Konoha's higher-ups.
If Aomi were asked to write a lofty treatise on public affairs, he might need to think seriously for a while.
But focusing solely on the Will of Fire and the Uchiha as key points to pen an article that would impress Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo was quite simple.
After all, he just needed to channel the mindset of Itachi and Shisui from the original timeline, Aomi wasn't unfamiliar with the concept...
"Rather than being a genius who waves the Uchiha flag, infiltrating Konoha's top circle would yield greater benefits for me,"
Aomi squinted his eyes, calculating slowly:
"In that case, it would not only negate the doubts from within the Uchiha clan, but also naturally provide opportunities to engage with the Namikaze Minato couple, the Sannin, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo..."
"Having these Kage-level ninjas from the Hokage faction confront me out of resentment and fear is too dangerous. Once resentment arises, much like Senju Tobirama today, they would become wary of me."
"Using other emotions as a starting point is safer, and it would be easier for me to exploit vulnerabilities in their mind."
"Hence, the crucial node lies in tomorrow's final examination."
"With both practical combat and the Will of Fire assessment, it is bound to attract everyone's attention..."
Aomi poured himself a cup of hot milk, slowly finished it, and then just as he introduced himself to Senju Tobirama, began his pre-sleep stretching routine.
Senju Tobirama quietly observed this scene.
Aomi, using the persona of Yoshikage, the hand-obsessed serial killer, had previously led Senju Tobirama to mistakenly believe that his personality was twisted, being of the most insane type of Uchiha.
But afterward, to criticize Senju Tobirama from a moral high ground, Aomi concocted a reason that he developed a Secret Technique to summon Tobirama specifically to solve Uchiha issues.
Now, all Aomi needed to do was revert his actions to their initial state, constantly pulling back and forth to blur Senju Tobirama's perspective.
This wise Senju had already established thresholds and predictions regarding the emotional fluctuations Aomi brought about.
This was not good.
#
The next day.
Wearing black contact lenses, Aomi walked alongside Shisui toward Ninja School.
The two brothers were eating steaming buns while whispering a recap of yesterday's battle.
"You did very well, Shisui. For a six-year-old, it couldn't be more perfect. In the future, you'll definitely surpass your brother."
"Remember, don't easily reveal your Sharingan. It will make people think you're a freak genius and ostracize you..."
Shisui rolled his eyes, nodded, and softly muttered, "Brother, compared to my Sharingan, it's your combat style that's more shocking and intimidating..."
"Well, a young genius Uchiha might make some people nervous, but what if a Senju Tobirama-type genius is an Uchiha who hasn't awakened his eyes? The scene is something Konoha's higher-ups probably never imagined, right?"
Aomi messed up Shisui's hair and said with a smile, "In any case, remember what you just promised me, just be a regular genius."
"Leave the village and family matters to your grown-up brother."
Shisui hummed, seemingly enjoying the moment, but he didn't know what he was thinking inside.
"Aomi-kun!"
A hearty voice interrupted the harmony between the Uchiha brothers.
Wearing his signature green tights, Might Guy, with his watermelon haircut glistening with sweat, flashed his shiny white teeth and gave Aomi a thumbs-up:
"Youth starts burning from the moment we wake up! Aomi-kun, let's have an enthusiastic handstand run contest to warm up for the upcoming exam!"
Seeing Might Guy with his head toward the ground and butt to the sky in such a peculiar stance, Shisui showed a slightly awkward expression.
As a genius from the Uchiha clan, though he was very adaptable, deep down he remained reserved.
This kind of socially embarrassing training method was something Shisui really couldn't accept...
But Aomi smiled warmly, giving Might Guy a thumbs-up: "Guy, you always work so hard."
"I believe you'll surely become an amazing Taijutsu Ninja."
"Thank you for your unwavering support, Aomi-kun!" Might Guy, tears streaming from his eyes, rushed to Aomi's side, shouting loudly:
"Aomi-kun, give it your all on today's graduation exam, let's become excellent ninjas together!"
"Alright, with Aomi-kun's encouragement, I'll add fifty more laps to tonight's training, and if I can't complete it, I'll challenge Kakashi!"
Might Guy shouted and swiftly started a headstand run as if no one were around.
"This guy..."
Shisui squinted his eyes in dissatisfaction as he watched Might Guy's departing back: "What does he mean by striving together to become excellent ninjas? Is he mocking you for not graduating yet, brother?"
Aomi chuckled softly, flicked Shisui's forehead, and looked at his pained brother, saying gently: "Don't be so sensitive, Might Guy is just concerned for me."
"After all, I'm an eleven-year-old Uchiha who hasn't graduated yet, not a genius like you, Shisui."
In this age where the shadow of war hadn't dissipated, the graduation system at Ninja School was unusually flexible,
Anyone could apply for early graduation once confident of meeting the standards—it wasn't like Naruto's era of mandatory graduation at twelve years old.
Until now, the youngest graduation age was held by Kakashi, who entered school at five, graduated at six, and became a Chunin at seven; he was deemed the strongest genius of this Konoha generation.
That's why six-year-old Shisui aimed to graduate and immediately get promoted to Chunin to surpass Kakashi and draw attention from the village and the clan.
Hatake Kakashi, son of Hatake Sakumo, was undeniably the top star in Konoha and a local celebrity.
"Don't joke around, brother..."
Shisui squirmed, shaking his head: "Compared to you, what kind of genius am I?"
"If only you'd stop hiding your power, it'd be possible to be promoted to Jonin without exception..."
Aomi chuckled, choosing not to speak.
Though he planned to show his strength, the idea of promoting to Jonin wasn't appealing to him; he didn't even want to graduate...
Today, he planned to use the exam opportunity to bind Uchiha Obito and Might Guy to him.
As long as these two valuable assets didn't graduate, Aomi would stay with them, continually extracting value...
By then, Aomi and Shisui arrived at Ninja School, reaching the wide training ground.
At first sight, Aomi curled up his lips slightly: "Lucky indeed..."
For some reason,
The freshly promoted Chunin Hatake Kakashi stood among the teachers, donned in proctor attire, nonchalantly reading a book.