To everyone's surprise, he had actually learned a C-rank ninjutsu before graduating from the Ninja Academy. His proficiency wasn't low either, it wasn't just at the beginner level, but had reached a stage where it could be integrated into actual combat.
Two blazing fireballs collided violently in the center of the playground. The proctoring chūnin panicked and stood up to intervene, but was held down by a powerful hand.
"It's alright, Chūnin Suzumi. I'm here, nothing will happen."
A jōnin with a large nose appeared beside the proctor Suzumi at some point, looking down at the battlefield. The latter finally breathed a sigh of relief. True, the Hokage's son was here, so someone must be watching. How could anything go wrong?
"Jōnin Aki, so you were here too. That's a relief."
Chūnin Suzumi sat back down. "As expected of Hokage-sama's son and a genius of the Uchiha clan. For the two of them to have learned such powerful ninjutsu before even graduating... If you weren't here, I wouldn't have known how to stop them."
Looking at the two young men still at a stalemate in the field, Chūnin Suzumi spoke to Kome Aki with a sigh of admiration.
"A genius of the Uchiha clan... Wasn't it said that this class had two geniuses from the Uchiha clan? Where is the other one?"
"There, over there. His name is Uchiha Gen. He takes first place with a near-perfect score on every written exam, and his combat drill abilities are no worse than Enjun and the others. Though looking at it now, he might be slightly behind, since those two have already mastered such impressive ninjutsu."
Suzumi pointed toward Uchiha Gen, who was sitting under a tree. Kome Aki followed her gaze and saw Uchiha Gen chatting with the students beside him. The people around didn't seem to exclude this Uchiha at all.
"Matching the intelligence from the Sandaime, this Uchiha's personality is relatively gentle. He isn't as arrogant as other genius ninjas born of the Uchiha clan, he seems easy to get along with."
Kome Aki looked at Uchiha Gen, then at Sarutobi Enjun. As he pondered, he gave a nearly imperceptible nod. In one more day, these two would become his subordinates. Regarding these two genin that the Sandaime Hokage had assigned to his charge, Kome Aki was both satisfied and troubled.
As a confidant of the Sandaime Hokage, Kome Aki knew very well that the internal composition of this soon-to-graduate genin team held a certain political significance. Sarutobi Enjun was the Sandaime Hokage's son, a direct descendant of the Hokage's lineage. Coupled with his decent talent, there was a high probability he would become one of the core figures of the future Hokage lineage.
The Uchiha clan remained on the fringes of the Konoha high-level administration. Although they possessed great prestige and impressive strength, the friction between them and the village had intensified following the successive deaths of the Nidaime Hokage and Uchiha Kagami. While it was currently just a budding issue, if left to develop, it might lead to disaster in a few years.
Therefore, before that happened, the Sandaime Hokage needed to cultivate a new Uchiha Kagami to serve as a bridge of communication between the Konoha leadership and the Uchiha clan. That Uchiha first needed to have a certain level of talent—at least not too poor. Once grown, they would need enough strength to gain a sufficient voice within the Uchiha clan. Secondly, there were requirements for their personality. At the very least, there had to be a possibility of them being influenced by the Will of Fire, so they could become one of the Hokage's own people.
Because of his education and the personality he developed in his past life, Uchiha Gen was chosen, even though he was merely displaying the social habits of an ordinary person. In the original timeline, Uchiha Obito, as a hot-blooded youth, might have entered Minato's team for similar reasons. The fact that Obito could graduate at nine, promote to chūnin at eleven, and learn the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu was enough to prove his talent wasn't bad. He was at least a minor genius, even if he was a 'dead last', he was the dead last of an elite class, appearing weak only because he wasn't very bright.
"There's also an Uzuki Ruri. Is it that one?"
Kome Aki pointed toward a pretty young girl in the crowd with smooth purple hair. She was the final member of his team. Suzumi explained:
"Yes, that's Uzuki Ruri. Fifth in the written exam, fourth in the practical assessment. She has a promising future."
This class had special political significance. Just as the Ino–Shika–Chō would definitely be placed in one team rather than balancing out grades, the remaining person couldn't be too bad either. Ideally, they would also have the ability to harmonize the team.
During their conversation, the battle between Sarutobi Enjun and Uchiha Inabi had also come to an end. The ultimate victor was Sarutobi Enjun. His Katon: Kadan successfully overwhelmed Uchiha Inabi's Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. Taking advantage of the latter's dodge, he launched a pursuit and finally defeated him.
"Damn it!"
Uchiha Inabi slammed his fist heavily against the ground, glared fiercely at Sarutobi Enjun, and then looked toward Uchiha Gen. He had originally thought he could win this match and then defeat Uchiha Gen fair and square to take the top spot among this year's graduates. He wanted to tell everyone that he was the stronger one among this generation's Uchiha geniuses. He had practiced his ninjutsu diligently for this, yet he still lost.
"Whew, that wasn't easy. Gen, next it's time for our match."
Having defeated Uchiha Inabi, Sarutobi Enjun looked at Uchiha Gen with high spirits.
"You should take a break first. Besides, all the ninjutsu you know were forced out by Inabi. With your intelligence leaked, are you sure you can still beat me?"
Uchiha Gen swallowed his last raisin and spoke to Sarutobi Enjun. Although Uchiha Inabi lost to Sarutobi Enjun, his skills weren't actually bad. The latter's exhaustion was definitely not small.
"It's fine. Didn't you just spar with Ruri too? I only need to rest for ten... uh, five minutes."
As Sarutobi Enjun spoke, he couldn't help but glance toward the purple-haired girl. Hehe, Ruri really is pretty. Seeing Sarutobi Enjun's lovestruck expression, Uchiha Gen immediately understood that this guy wanted to show off in front of his crush. He probably even wanted to give him a beating because in the practical drill just now, it was he who had defeated Uzuki Ruri.
"Alright, whenever you feel you've recovered enough, I'll wait for you."
Uchiha Gen said. Sorry, Enjun-kun. For the sake of my experience points, I'll have to trouble you to lose face in front of your goddess.
Sarutobi Enjun drank some orange-yellow beverage from his water bottle to quench his thirst and swallowed a refined soldier pill sold by the Nara clan to restore his Chakra. Then, like a restless monkey, he couldn't wait to run back to the center of the playground and form the Seal of Confrontation with Uchiha Gen.
Chūnin Suzumi, who had reappeared on the field at some point, swung her raised arm down.
"Match start!"
Clang!
In an instant, the sound of kunai and shuriken clashing rang out. On the distant spectator stand, Kome Aki stood with one hand behind his back, watching the contest. At the same time, inside the Hokage Office, the Sandaime Hokage also picked up his pipe, watching the scene through a crystal ball.