Souji is currently facing Sasuke.
He is sure that there is an 80% chance that he will lose.
However, he is not discouraged. From his future defeat, he will learn and train even harder.
Losing to Sasuke is not a big deal to him.
"You can do it, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke's fans shouted.
"Sasuke! Beat that new student!" The male students who don't like Souji shouted.
They don't like Souji because his handsomeness isn't matched by his skills. If only Souji were as great as Sasuke, maybe they wouldn't dare say that.
"Souji-kun! Cheer up!" Ino shouted.
"Dad, beat him!" Naruto shouted.
"Okay! That's enough, everyone!" Iruka said.
'This is interesting.' Souji thought to himself.
He was curious, How long could he last against Sasuke?
As for Sasuke himself?
He didn't think much about his opponents. Maybe it was because Souji was a new student in his class. He was curious about his abilities, but nothing more.
He wasn't That interested.
"Souji and Sasuke, perform the seal of confrontation." Iruka said.
"..."
Souji won't hold back because his opponent is Sasuke. He wants to know how big the difference between them is.
Why didn't he compare himself to Naruto?
Well, Naruto is an anomaly. There's no point in measuring the difference between them.
'In that case, I will condense the chakra in my feet to become an ejector and gain speed and momentum.'
"Begin."
"..."
Dash
Swish
Bang
crack
Boom
"..."
Everything happened so quickly, Before he could realize what was happening, Sasuke was thrown toward the students watching their sparring match.
As for Souji?
He stared at the smoke and fallen trees in the distance.
"..."
'What actually happened?' Souji was also confused by this incident.
Soon after, Hiruzen arrived with someone who looked like an older Shikamaru.
"Iruka, please check on Sasuke." Hiruzen ordered.
"Ah? Yes, Third Hokage-sama." Iruka replied.
"..."
The other students remained silent, trying to process what had just happened. This included Shikamaru.
"Students, class is dismissed early today. You may go home." said Hiruzen.
Hearing the word "home" brought them back to reality, though they were still wondering what had just happened.
Hiruzen looked at Souji, who was still confused.
"Souji." Hiruzen called.
Souji saw Hiruzen looking at him. 'Since when was Old Man here?' Souji thought.
"Old man." he said, approaching Hiruzen. "What exactly happened?"
"To find that out, we need complete information. Come with me to the Konoha hospital now." Hiruzen said calmly.
"All right." Souji asked again. "What about Naruto? Can he come?"
"Unfortunately, we can't bring him. You can tell him to go home first."
Souji nodded and went to Naruto.
Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared, and two ninjas emerged carrying an Anbu who was quite severely injured.
"Quick! Take him to the hospital." Hiruzen ordered.
"Yes." the two ninjas replied.
Not long after, Souji came to Hiruzen. "I've told Naruto to go home. Can we go now?"
"Yes." Hiruzen replied. "Shikaku, you come too."
"Yes, Third Hokage-sama." Shikaku responded, looking at Souji curiously and admiringly.
"..."
"..."
———————————————————
Hiruzen had an idea about what had happened, but he still wanted to know the truth.
If his assumption was correct, then he had to plan carefully.
"..."
The three of them arrived at the patient's room, where medical ninjas were present.
"Is he conscious?" Hiruzen asked.
"Yes, Third Hokage-sama, the patient is conscious."
"Thank you." said Hiruzen, which was answered with a nod by the medical ninja.
"Souji, could you wait here for a moment?" Hiruzen asked.
"Of course." Souji replied.
Then, Hiruzen and Shikaku entered the room.
"..."
"Itachi, how are you?" Hiruzen asked worriedly.
"Not too bad, Sandaime-sama." Itachi replied.
"Your left arm is broken, and you have crushed bones. How is that not too bad?" Shikaku said.
Itachi nodded his head in acknowledgment of Shikaku's presence.
"Shikaku-san." Itachi greeted.
Hiruzen looked at Itachi and asked, "Can you explain what actually happened?"
"So..."
"..."
After receiving a task from Hiruzen, Itachi carried out his mission.
While watching Naruto, he also watched Souji.
He occasionally looked at his little brother too.
He enjoyed his meal alone. Itachi hoped that Sasuke had at least made friends at the academy, he didn't want Sasuke to be like him.
"..."
Not long after, class started. They were outside the classroom because this time, their class was taijutsu.
Itachi was entertained by the academy students sparring match, especially Shikamaru's quick and efficient attack to Naruto.
'As expected of the Nara clan. They have sharp minds.' Itachi thought.
After the other students finished their sparring, it was time for Souji to face Sasuke.
Itachi was familiar with Souji's abilities because he had reported Souji's creation of the Rasengan to Hiruzen.
However, he didn't know about his taijutsu skills. Itachi thought Sasuke had a chance to win.
When they did the seal of confrontation, Itachi had a bad feeling about Sasuke.
Trusting his instincts, he activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.
At that moment, Itachi saw super-dense chakra on both of Souji's feet. Then, Itachi moving so fast to save Sasuke.
It might have been the fastest body flicker he had ever used.
As Souji charged forward and kicked Sasuke in the face, Itachi arrived just in time. He pulled Sasuke toward him with his right hand and threw him while trying to block Souji's kick with his left hand.
It failed, however.
Itachi didn't expect Souji's kick to be so powerful. Because he didn't want to put too much pressure on his body, which could have been fatal, Itachi let his body be thrown by Souji's momentum.
That's what actually happened.
"..."
"Super dense chakra, huh?" Hiruzen said.
Itachi nodded. "I've never seen chakra so strong and dense. I'd say his chakra control is on a different level."
Shikaku, who was present, remained silent and listened. He could only admire Souji's talent.
Hiruzen stood up and went outside to call Souji. Soon, they arrived with the medical ninja from earlier.
Seeing Itachi lying on the hospital bed, Souji fell silent.
He assumed that he was the one who had made Itachi like that.
Guilt? Heh! He was actually proud of it. When else would he be able to beat the genius and overpowered Uchiha to the point that Kishimoto-sensei had to nerf him with an illness?
If he could return to his original world, he would brag about it.
Who would have thought he underestimated himself so much?
"I'm sorry." Souji said, bowing to Itachi.
"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. If only I were stronger, that wouldn't have happened." Itachi said, sounding a little disappointed in himself. If he had been even one second later, he might have lost Sasuke.
"..."
Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction at what he saw. 'This is how Konoha should be.'
"Souji, can you tell me what you were trying to do at that time?" Hiruzen asked.
"Sure." Souji explained, "At that time, I wanted to try my best, so I condensed chakra in my feet to make myself faster and gain enough strength to fight Sasuke." Souji explained.
That "enough strength" could have ended the life of Indra's reincarnation and Naruto's Soul mate, I mean true friend.
Itachi didn't know whether to be proud or annoyed with Souji, for considering Sasuke so strong that he could have killed him if he had been a second late.
"Hm... I see..." Hiruzen added. "So, you can easily control and manipulate your chakra, right?"
"Well... I guess so." Souji answered.
Hiruzen nodded and said, "Sukui-san, please show us the Mystical Palm jutsu."
"Yes, Sandaime-sama." The female medical ninja named Sukui responded.
She performed hand seals, and a green light appeared on her hand.
"Souji, can you do it?" Hiruzen asked.
"Me?" Souji asked, confirming. Hiruzen nodded in response.
"..."
'Well, just try it. If it works, great. If not, it doesn't matter.' Souji thought.
He could see the color of the chakra coming out of Sukui's mystical palm. He suspected it was some kind of chakra spectrum.
Chakra spectrum?
He followed Sukui's hand seals and tried to control his chakra and follow the spectrum coming out of his mystical palm.
"..."
And he succeeded.
"Amazing..." Sukui said, amazed at what Souji had done.
"Wait a moment." Sukui said, taking a scroll from her jacket and placing it on the table.
Poff
A puff of smoke came out of the scroll, revealing a dead fish or comatose fish.
"Can you try it on this fish?" Sukui asked.
Souji nodded and tried his Mystical Palm on the fish.
"..."
If he remembered correctly, the key to the Mystical Palm's success was balance.
So, Souji sent just the right amount of chakra.
Then, the fish moved.
"..."
Sukui, who had seen this, was amazed.
"Amazing... This is truly amazing..." She said.
Hiruzen, Shikaku, and even Itachi were amazed by what Souji did, too.
"Good job, Souji." Hiruzen praised.
"It's nothing, old man." Souji replied.
"..."
"..."
———————————————————
At the ROOT headquarters.
Bang
If the door could live, it would force Danzo to suck on its doorknob again and again.
"..."
"That damn brat..."
Danzo had previously considered Souji weak and talentless. But now, after everything Souji has done?
According to Danzo, Souji was at the highest level of danger, even personally, Danzo considered Souji to be on par with the Uchiha Clan.
"Hiruzen, you don't know how dangerous that brat is." Danzo thought.
Danzo was not wrong about that.
He planned to ruin Souji's reputation but instead he helped Souji to get profit from it.
Rumors that Souji was a student of the Third Hokage spread quickly, reaching almost the entire village.
News of his achievement, in which he defeated the anbu of the Hokage, also spread quickly.
It was all because of Danzo.
Yes, himself.
How could he allow his enemy to get profit without doing anything?
It was an insult to Danzo.
"Send one squad... no, three squads for that brat. Finish him off." Danzo said to his subordinates.
"Yes."
This time, he wouldn't hold back.
Since Itachi was in the hospital, the Anbu guarding him was probably weak.
Hatake Kakashi?
He was strong, but Danzo was sure that he would be overwhelmed if he was alone against his elite forces.
However, his target was not Kakashi but Souji.
As long as he could finish off Souji, it would be worth the price he paid.
"Hm... Itachi... Souji..."
Danzo thought that if he could pit Souji and Hiruzen against the Uchiha Clan, it would be worth it.
He couldn't persuade Itachi, but what about the other Uchihas?
"..."
'This time, it will definitely work.' Danzo thought.
"Spread the rumor to the Uchiha clan that, Uchiha Itachi was defeated unfairly by Hiruzen's student. Because Souji is Hiruzen's student, Itachi was forced to submit and admit that the Uchiha are nothing." Danzo explained to his subordinates.
"Yes." His subordinate responded, then left to carry out his mission.
'Hiruzen... Hiruzen...'
"..."
"..."
———————————————————
At the training ground.
Souji, Naruto, and Hiruzen stood on the vast grounds.
"Souji, you have extraordinary power, but the control of your body, it's not the same as your control of Chakra." Hiruzen said.
He performed a hand seal and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Poff
Two shadow clones of Hiruzen appeared.
"Try to fight my shadow clones without making them disappear." Hiruzen added, "With this, you officially become my student."
At that moment, Hiruzen's shadow clones began to attack Souji.
Meanwhile, Naruto could only practice his chakra control.
He could join the training because Souji invited him, and Hiruzen didn't mind.
'It was my student who invited Naruto, not me.' Hiruzen thought with satisfaction.
This way, he could also form a bond with Naruto.
'Just as I expected from my student,' he thought.
"..."
The purpose of this training was to control the power in his body, so Souji felt truly challenged.
He parried and dodged punch after punch.
How was Souji able to do it?
Of course, thanks to his cheat system. He could clearly see the movements of Hiruzen's shadow clones, and when they approached, everything slowed down.
Even Hiruzen was surprised that Souji could keep up with his shadow clones.
Hiruzen knew.
He was never wrong about seeing someone's potential.
'Just as I expected of myself.' he thought, stroking his beard.
"..."
"..."