As expected, history was like wet clay—something anyone in power could knead, reshape, and present however they pleased.
Konoha had existed for less than fifty years, and it was already like this. Once a clan was wiped out, it would likely vanish entirely from the memories of future generations.
Fortunately, Shin hadn't transmigrated into the Uchiha Clan. Otherwise, he would probably be scratching his head bald by now.
He wondered what Shisui thought while watching all this, especially when it was combined with his clan's teachings.
Shin cast a quick glance to the side.
No thoughts at all.
Shisui was already hopelessly absorbed in the textbook, completely immersed in the will of fire.
He was even enthusiastically combining the teacher's explanation with the text, diligently writing reading-comprehension notes in his notebook.
The morning's general knowledge curriculum had been compressed into just two classes. The remaining two were devoted to explanations of chakra and basic ninjutsu.
In the afternoon, everyone was herded straight onto the training grounds to begin practical combat instruction.
Shin looked around.
All of this year's newly enrolled students had been brought out, with each class occupying a separate training field.
His eyesight was excellent. He quickly noticed that every class contained a few scattered children from notable clans.
Their strength was decent, but they hadn't all been grouped together. Instead, they were deliberately spread out.
Was this the result of negotiations between the clans and the Village? Allowing children to form bonds with their future comrades from a young age?
After all, ordinary civilian ninjas made up the bulk of the ninja army. They could compensate for the clans' shortcomings—clans were more likely to produce top-tier experts, but they lacked sheer numbers.
It wasn't just the higher-ups using civilian ninjas to balance clan power. The clans themselves also proactively built influence among civilian ninjas early on.
In truth, it wasn't a bad thing. It was a process of fusion.
That said, the number of children from major clans like the Uchiha and Hyūga wasn't very high.
Clearly, not all school-age clan children were sent to the Academy to be officially registered upon graduation.
The practical combat curriculum was mainly divided into two parts: ninja tool usage and sparring.
On the training ground, rows of students stood before fixed targets, throwing shuriken and kunai. The dense thud-thud sounds echoed as metal struck wood.
The students in the top two elite classes had solid fundamentals. Most had begun training early, and their throwing power and accuracy were respectable, making things much easier for the instructors.
Even if a few students lagged behind, teachers could simply arrange for outstanding classmates to provide one-on-one guidance. It saved effort and strengthened class bonds at the same time—killing two birds with one stone.
The lower-ranked classes, however, had far more novices.
Their instructors usually explained from scratch, demonstrated personally, and taught patiently. Naturally, their progress lagged behind the elite classes by a noticeable margin.
Among ninjas, those with vast chakra reserves were always a minority.
The overwhelming majority couldn't rely on ninjutsu as their primary method of combat. Ninja tools—shuriken, kunai, explosive tags—were what they used most often.
After the ninja tool class ended and the students were given a short break, sparring training began.
The students immediately grew excited—especially the boys, whose eyes lit up with eagerness.
After all, they were only first-year students, with a shallow understanding of what being a ninja truly meant.
To them, what was the point of cultural lessons? Being a ninja meant fighting, and winning meant being strong.
Opponents were assigned by Teacher Inoue based on entrance exam scores.
There were no fixed pairings; future matches would be adjusted according to performance, ensuring students faced different opponents and gained broader combat experience.
There were, however, a few exceptions.
Once the pairings were quickly finalized, the sparring began.
Although the elite-class students had good foundations, they were still young. Few had learned ninjutsu, and even those who had were forbidden from using it. These matches were purely taijutsu.
Ninja battles were fast—there was no such thing as exchanging dozens of rounds.
Hashirama and Madara were exceptions; those two could barely be considered ninjas anymore.
On the training ground, the sparring students moved like bounding rabbits and diving falcons. Pairs stepped forward, clashed briefly, and the winners were quickly decided.
If this had been before Shin refined his chakra, he might have thought their fights looked impressive.
But after two years of cultivation, his standards were already far higher. To him now, these bouts looked like children playing house.
Perhaps this was how Kakashi had felt back when he attended the Academy. No wonder he graduated after staying only half a year—it truly must have felt meaningless.
Soon, it was Shin's turn to take the field.
His opponent was an acquaintance: Hyūga Tokuma, a child of the Hyūga Clan.
His head was wrapped in a bandana, making it impossible to tell whether he was from the Main House or the Branch House—though the latter was far more likely.
The internal affairs of the Hyūga Main House were secrets known only to a handful of high-ranking villagers. Outsiders had no understanding of them.
Compared to the Uchiha, who interacted frequently with the village, the Hyūga were far more traditional, conservative, and mysterious.
After forming the Seal of Confrontation, Hyūga Tokuma immediately assumed a stance resembling the opening posture of the Gentle Fist.
However, the meridians around his eyes weren't bulging—it seemed his Byakugan hadn't awakened yet.
The Gentle Fist was extremely powerful in the early stages, especially at the student level. Unfortunately, it lacked late-game potential, making it difficult for true top-tier powerhouses to emerge.
That said, this did nothing to diminish the Hyūga Clan's status in Konoha—or even the wider ninja world.
The strategic value of the Byakugan was simply too great.
On the battlefield, it was equivalent to having permanent X-ray vision. Ordinary traps and ambushes were essentially meaningless in its presence.
Seeing that Shin made no move, Hyūga Tokuma tested him, saying, "Judging by your results yesterday, you're not just fast at running, are you, Shin-kun? If that's all you've got, you won't be able to beat me."
"I'm more than just fast at running."
"Oh? Then do you have any other special moves?"
"Um… I can run even faster."
"…" Hyūga Tokuma felt like he was being toyed with.
He immediately stopped probing and stepped in decisively, advancing with long strides as both palms struck out in rapid succession.
His Gentle Fist was quite solid—far more refined than that of the classmates who had fought before him.
The hallmark of the Gentle Fist lay in its ability to precisely strike an opponent's acupoints with condensed, specialized chakra, achieving control or lethality with pinpoint accuracy.
However, this style relied heavily on coordination with the Byakugan. After all, a living person wasn't a stationary tree stump—they moved.
Without the observational support of the Byakugan, landing precise hits was extremely difficult.
Hyūga Tokuma's Byakugan had yet to awaken, and this was only a sparring match between classmates, so he hadn't condensed chakra into his palms.
Shin calmly raised both arms to block, neutralizing each incoming strike with clean, efficient movements. His body remained steady, never retreating even half a step.
"Can you only defend? Where's your offense?"
After failing to land a hit for so long, Hyūga Tokuma—still a child—grew hot-headed.
He clenched his right hand into a fist, abandoning the Gentle Fist altogether, gathered his strength, and swung fiercely toward Shin's face.
In the next instant, Shin vanished. He reappeared behind Hyūga Tokuma in a blur.
Aside from Teacher Inoue, Shisui, and a handful of others, none of the classmates could clearly follow his movement at all.
"Wow, that's incredible!"
"Shin-kun is so cool!"
"Damn it! We all just started school—why is this guy already so strong? Did he grow up eating chakra?!"
Hearing the exclamations and following their gazes, Hyūga Tokuma immediately realized his opponent was behind him.
He spun around at once, ready to attack again. As a member of the prestigious Hyūga Clan of Konoha, he couldn't accept defeat so easily.
But what he saw instead was Shin calmly extending his right hand, already prepared to form the Seal of Reconciliation.
"Is this the fastest speed you were talking about? But I haven't lost yet."
Shin raised his left hand and lightly tapped his own neck as a gesture. "Oh? Is that so? Then why don't you check?"
Hyūga Tokuma didn't understand, but instinctively reached up and touched his neck.
Ink stained his fingertips.
At some point during that brief exchange, Shin had taken out a pen and drawn a mark across his neck. If it had been a kunai, he would already be dead.
The outcome was decided.
Tokuma looked a little dejected, not expecting the gap between them to be so wide. But he quickly recovered, straightened up, and formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Shin.
"Shin-kun, I didn't expect you to be this strong. But I'll keep working hard. Next time, I definitely won't lose to you."
"Alright," Shin replied calmly. "I'll be looking forward to it."
Inoue Kuroiwa took a long, serious look at this outstanding student and quietly recorded notes in his notebook.
It wasn't just Shin and Hyūga Tokuma—he meticulously recorded the strength and performance of every student. That was the duty of a teacher.
Next, Shisui and Yūgao also claimed their victories with ease.
The three top performers from the entrance exam were clearly on an entirely different level compared to the rest of the class.
When Yūgao left the field, she skipped straight over to Shin, shoving aside the girls who had crowded around him. Her face was full of unmistakable pride.
"Brother Shin, I was amazing, right?!"
"Not bad," Shin said honestly. "It looks like you've made quite a bit of progress."
Shisui looked at Shin with a serious expression. "Shin, I didn't expect you to already be this strong. I really want to spar with you."
"We will, Shisui," Shin replied. "There'll be a chance. I think Teacher Inoue is thinking the same—he'll probably arrange for us to face each other soon."
After some time, once all the sparring matches had concluded, the day's classes officially came to an end.
This was daily life at the Ninja Academy.
Shin had already mastered everything the Academy taught before he even turned four, and his strength had opened up a massive gap between himself and his classmates.
That was just how it went for players who were cheating.
Finally, after behaving himself for half a month, Shin began putting his evil plan to skip classes into action.
This was precisely why the Shadow Clone Technique was such a wonderful ninjutsu.
Did he skip class? Of course not.
His clone was sitting right there in the classroom. Without evidence, there was no skipping at all.