Knock knock...

Early in the morning, Shinji was awakened by the sound of knocking at the door.

Yawning, he went to the door and opened it, asking, "What’s going on?"

Standing at the door, Bai smiled and said, "Shinji, you’re going to be late!"

"Ah?"

Turning to glance at the clock on the wall, he realized it was almost eight o'clock.

So he hurriedly washed up and rushed out the door.

When he arrived at the Ninja School, he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to prepare his lunch.

Seeing this, Bai took a lunch box out of her bag and handed it to Shinji, saying, "Don’t worry, I’ve prepared this for you. I just hope it suits your taste."

Shinji accepted the lunch box and opened it to take a look.

Inside were delicious sushi and meatballs, as well as fresh fish slices and vegetables. It was clear that Bai had put a lot of effort into it.

"Thank you."

Bai waved her hand, replying, "We’re classmates, no need to be polite."

Shinji nodded, accepting Bai's kindness.

Although he knew Bai was naturally kind, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being a bit too friendly, as if she was trying to get closer to him.

The theory class in the morning soon ended.

After eating lunch, Shinji, like the other students, headed to the playground.

Since it was free activity time, the playground was lively, filled with students from all grades.

For example, Naruto, who was a year younger than him, was sitting on a swing in the corner, looking gloomy because he couldn’t fit in with the others.

In another corner, Neji was diligently practicing Gentle Fist in front of a wooden post, sweating profusely.

And there was... Lee, running around the playground like a fool.

"I should find a place to practice too!"

Determined, Shinji walked to a secluded little forest on the school grounds.

Sorting through the fragmented memories left by the original owner, he decided to start with the "Fireball Technique," which the original owner had practiced countless times before.

Si-Wei-Shen-Hai-Wu-Yin

He first refined his chakra, then meticulously completed the hand seals, and finally aimed at a large tree not far away.

Boom...

In an instant, a huge fireball erupted from his mouth, surging forward and crashing into the distant tree, igniting not only the tree but also the surrounding grass.

Staring at the towering flames in front of him, Shinji froze in place.

In his memory, the original owner had practiced this technique countless times but had never succeeded even once.

So this time, he didn’t expect much; he was just casually trying it out to practice the hand seals.

Unexpectedly, he not only succeeded on the first try, but the power was immense. In just a short while, the fire had spread to the surrounding trees, burning a vast area.

Swish swish swish...

Soon, several figures rushed into the little forest.

These were the teachers from the Ninja School, who had hurried over after noticing the fire and smoke.

Looking at the raging flames, the teachers' expressions changed dramatically.

"Earth Style, Earth Wall!"

"Water Style, Water Wave Technique!"

Two of the teachers exchanged glances, then expertly used their ninjutsu; one used Earth Style to contain the fire, while the other attempted to extinguish the flames with Water Style.

After quite a bit of effort, the fire was finally extinguished.

Amidst the mist and smoke, the teachers were all covered in dirt and ash.

Iruka approached Shinji and asked, "Shinji, was it you who did this?"

At this point, there was clearly no way to deny it, so Shinji could only nod.

Iruka said sternly, "That was too dangerous! How could you use such advanced Fire Release ninjutsu in the woods?!"

"I didn’t expect it to succeed!"

Shinji silently lamented in his heart.

If he had known it would cause such a commotion, he would never have tried it at the Ninja School.

Besides, wasn’t it supposed to be a C-rank ninjutsu, at the level of a Chunin? How could he succeed on the first try? What was the difficulty really about?

Mizuki walked over, smiling, "Iruka, don’t blame him. After all, there wasn’t too much damage."

The other teachers had complex expressions.

At just eight years old, being able to perform such powerful Fire Release ninjutsu made them marvel at the terrifying talent of the Uchiha clan.

At this moment, the students on the playground were also drawn to the commotion and gathered around.

"Hey, what happened?"

"Is it a fire?"

"The big tree is all charred!"

Seeing the little forest ravaged by the fire, the students began to chatter.

When they learned that Shinji was the cause of all this, many looked at him in surprise.

Shikamaru quietly remarked, "As expected of the Uchiha clan!"

Sakura and Ino had stars in their eyes, saying, "Wow, this upperclassman is so cool!"

Lee looked dazed, saying, "So... so impressive!"

Neji wore a serious expression, filled with apprehension.

At the age of seven or eight, most students at the Ninja School had not yet begun to learn ninjutsu; those who could master it were extremely rare.

So when they saw Shinji easily perform a C-rank Fire Release ninjutsu that required a Chunin level to master, they felt an inexplicable sense of threat.

"What’s going on? What are you all looking at?"

In the back of the crowd, Naruto was trying to squeeze in but kept getting pushed out.

All this commotion made Shinji sigh helplessly.

Back in the classroom, Bai turned to Shinji and said, "Shinji, I didn’t expect you to have already mastered such powerful Fire Release ninjutsu."

Shinji shook his head, "It’s just a C-rank ninjutsu."

This wasn’t entirely to maintain the Uchiha clan’s image; he genuinely didn’t feel too proud this time.

After all, Itachi had learned the "Fireball Technique" immediately after just watching his father perform the hand seals once without opening his Sharingan.

Sasuke was slightly behind.

But he learned it in just a day.

Now, not only had he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but he had also just doubled his chakra last night, surpassing most of his peers.

In this context, mastering a C-rank Fire Release ninjutsu was indeed reasonable.

After all, ninjutsu is an application of chakra; with enough chakra, one could perform ninjutsu, whether using the standard hand seals, one-handed seals, or even no seals at all.

Thinking of this, Shinji shot a glance at Bai.

In his impression, Bai was the kind of genius who had mastered one-handed seals at a young age, even surprising Kakashi.

Soon, Shinji realized he had underestimated the impact of this event.

By the time school ended in the evening, the news had completely spread.

Many students at the Ninja School looked at him with admiration instead of the sympathy they had before, especially some female students, whose eyes sparkled.

Not only the students, but even some teachers at the Ninja School became much more serious when they encountered him.

There were precedents for this; farther back was Uchiha Shisui, and more recently was Uchiha Itachi, who had both made names for themselves at a young age in the Ninja School and quickly rose in status after graduation, far surpassing their former teachers in just a few years.

Shinji helplessly said, "What a headache..."