Roy felt like he was about to fall asleep in class at the ninja academy.
"Did you all understand, use chakra to stick the leaf to your forehead, walk around the classroom once, and it must not fall off."
The Chunin teacher on the podium explained the rules passionately, as if this were some unparalleled secret technique.
Roy rolled his eyes internally, seriously, this was basically a chakra version of a static electricity leaf sticking game.
"All of you show some spirit, this is a test of the most precise chakra control."
As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the students around him immediately started wailing like they had just been sentenced to death.
"Ah it fell again, damn it," Obito Uchiha, the class's well known hot blooded idiot, was grabbing his spiky hair and struggling with a tiny leaf.
Most people were about the same, the scene was extremely chaotic.
Asuma Sarutobi was even more of a clown, no one knew whether he lost control of his chakra output or something, but with a bang, the leaf exploded into green fragments on his forehead and instantly set off laughter across the whole class.
Alright, now it was Roy's turn.
Amid the whispers of look it is Roy, he calmly walked out from the line.
There was no helping it, the body he had now actually had a pretty decent appearance.
Smooth black hair paired with delicate facial features made him naturally the focus of the girls in class.
Roy casually picked up a leaf and slapped it onto his forehead, done.
Then he started walking, beginning his personal performance.
His steps were steady, his expression calm, and his eyes carried a perfectly measured hint of carefree ease.
OK, finished walking, job done.
The leaf on his forehead stayed firmly in place, obedient like it had grown there.
"Ninety four points, very solid," the Chunin teacher nodded and quickly wrote down the score, then pushed his forehead protector and looked at him with clear appreciation, "However Roy, you are a bit too deliberate, remember chakra is a partner that needs guidance, not soldiers that you command with mental force."
"Yes teacher, I will pay attention next time," Roy showed a flawless honor student smile.
'Man, you are basically my soulmate.'
Roy gave the teacher a thumbs up in his mind.
"Excellent but not a genius," this precise evaluation was exactly the character label he dreamed of.
That was right, inside this body called Roy was a soul from another world.
Three years ago he had just left his overworked corporate slave life, and the next second he became a war orphan in this world.
In this place with no parents, no background, and no rare bloodline, developing quietly was the only survival rule.
So he always felt that Kakashi Hatake graduating early as a white haired genius was simply stupid.
The ninja academy right now was the most perfect beginner protection zone for him.
After all, this was year thirty seven of Konoha, the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder, and the Third Shinobi War was about to begin.
In a period where death rates skyrocketed, a small Genin thrown onto the battlefield was basically a walking experience pack, also known as cannon fodder.
Kakashi looked glorious now as a genius boy, but in Roy's eyes as someone who knew the plot, that guy had basically tied himself to a rocket aimed straight at the enemy assassination units' number one target list.
'Of course, if I had the power of the Six Paths, I would go kick open the Hokage office door and demand graduation today.'
Unfortunately, he did not.
Although his soul hid a secret that could flatten the entire Konoha, this eight year old body was basically fragile like glass.
Whether it was Haki or the power of that Mythical Zoan Thunder Dragon fruit, it was like stuffing a super engine into a child's tricycle, if he stepped on the gas the vehicle and the driver would both be destroyed.
Sense chakra, what kind of joke was that.
What existed inside his body was not that thing at all, but a Thunder Dragon that wanted to destroy the world at any moment.
Every time he supposedly refined chakra, it felt like walking on a tightrope, he had to use all his mental strength to suppress that giant beast, then pry out a tiny bit of energy from between its claws and disguise it as chakra to submit as homework.
The teacher's suggestion sounded to him like hey man do you want to go touch the nuclear reactor switch.
The class bell saved everyone and the classroom instantly became lively again.
At that moment, the classic school scene played out on schedule.
When Rin Nohara was packing her things, she accidentally dropped a scroll that rolled to Roy's feet.
"Rin, I will help you," the male lead Obito Uchiha immediately revived at full health, but because he moved too violently, his knee slammed into the desk corner with a loud bang and his face twisted in pain.
Roy sighed internally, this was really hard to watch.
He bent down, picked up the scroll, handed it to the blushing Rin Nohara, and added a gentle smile he had practiced countless times, "Here, be more careful next time."
"Th Thank you Roy."
Done, Roy accepted the starry eyes from the girls around him and the almost fire spitting jealous stares from the boys without hesitation.
"Tch, acting again."
"That guy."
"Give it a rest, weren't you the one knocked down in one move during taijutsu class."
Roy simply filtered out the losers' complaints.
The current Obito was just a little kid and not worth paying attention to.
The real trouble was the future guy who would cause chaos wearing a mask.
As for the current trouble of being surrounded by girls, it was actually part of his plan.
A nice personality, good relationships, good grades model student was far more reassuring to the village higher ups than a lonely cold genius.
This was called camouflage, a highly efficient survival strategy.
"Roy, do you want to go eat dango later," a few girls shyly sent a party invitation.
"Sorry, I have something urgent today," Roy put on his business smile again and skillfully handed out a good person card.
He sighed in his heart, acting every day was also physically tiring.
He walked out of the school gate alone while greeting classmates on the road.
The street was full of people and looked extremely peaceful.
But Roy knew that beneath this peace, undercurrents were surging.
The blood smell that could not be washed off from ninjas who had just returned from missions, the worry hidden in the grocery store owner's smile about the future, all of this reminded him that war was approaching.
He had to become stronger faster.
After returning to his small single apartment, locking the door, and checking the warning traps at the entrance, only after confirming safety did Roy finally relax completely.
The gentle harmless mask on his face melted away like wax, replaced by cold calmness, a depth completely inconsistent with his age.
He pulled out a heavy iron box from under the bed, inside were several iron ingots of different sizes.
He sat cross legged and placed the smallest one in front of him, then closed his eyes.
Alright, the real training begins now.
He no longer suppressed it, but carefully extended a thread of consciousness to communicate with the violent power inside his body.
'Hey, wake up, time to pay rent.'
A faint but extremely domineering energy began to flow through his body, blue purple electric arcs even jumped on his skin.
Roy gritted his teeth and gathered this power with difficulty into his right index finger.
Sweat instantly soaked his hair, and every muscle in his body trembled and wailed.
Now.
He suddenly opened his eyes and lightly tapped the iron ingot with that faintly glowing finger.
There was no sound.
But on the surface of the iron ingot, a clear fingerprint slowly and irresistibly sank inward.
The next second, Roy collapsed onto the ground like a dead fish, as if all his strength had been drained, his chest rising and falling violently as he gasped for air.
This was his daily life.
The honor student at school was just his disguise.
This power that could melt gold and iron was the only capital he had to survive in this damned ninja world.