"This... even after watching it so many times, it still feels unbelievable."
Nara Shikaku stared at the aftermath of the clash between Uchiha Kaien and Namikaze Minato, wishing he could demote himself and go back to being a first-year student alongside the academy rookies.
These two were absolute monsters. How could they have this much chakra at their age?
And the sheer power of their jutsu... using B-rank techniques so effortlessly in battle—
There's no way this is the standard for second-year academy students, right?
Usually, a freshly graduated genin would treat a single C-rank jutsu as their trump card, relying mainly on taijutsu and ninja tools.
After all, most genin don't have enough chakra to unleash powerful jutsu repeatedly.
Only chūnin treat C-rank jutsu as regular tools of the trade. By the time a shinobi earns that rank, they've accumulated enough chakra to sustain their jutsu use while also leading a genin squad on missions. They form the backbone of the village's forces.
Water Dragon Bullet, for example—at that level of Water Release, it's a trump card even for a chūnin in crisis.
The chakra required for it is top-tier among B-rank techniques. Just mastering the shape transformation of the Water Dragon Bullet is enough to stump a huge number of aspiring shinobi.
But both Kaien and Minato had used Water Dragon Bullet and Flame Bullet during their fight—solid B-rank techniques that are mainstays in a jōnin's arsenal.
Sure, they were still far from actually becoming jōnin, but their current strength already put them firmly at chūnin level.
If graduation was on the table, they'd be more than qualified.
However, there was no early graduation system in place right now.
Konoha had an abundance of capable shinobi. There was no need to rush children onto the battlefield.
So even if they met the criteria for graduation, Kaien and Minato still had to stay in the academy to complete their theoretical education.
Mastery of chakra and jutsu alone wasn't enough to satisfy the graduation standards in this era of peace.
Shinobi needed to learn reconnaissance and counterintelligence, proper shuriken handling, infiltration and assassination—all essential theory.
And honestly? Kaien had never passed a single one of those written classes.
So even after beating Minato in practicals, he still ranked second.
That second-place rank was only because Yamakawa Taiga acknowledged that Kaien's combat ability far outclassed everyone else in the year.
Otherwise, even with a perfect score in combat, his abysmal theory grades would've landed him somewhere in the upper-middle tier at best.
This also explained why the Hyūga twins were still enjoying life at the academy instead of being locked at home doing brutal training every other day.
As long as they kept quiet—Minato aces the practicals, Kaien aces the practicals, and they ace the practicals and have better theory scores—then none of the old fossils back at the clan would realize just how ridiculously strong that Uchiha had become.
They'd never suspect he'd already grown far beyond what the current Hyūga generation could match.
The twins silently gave themselves a mental thumbs-up for their cunning.
"Big Brother… should we go home and practice some ninjutsu too?" Hyūga Hizashi whispered, leaning in toward Hyūga Hiashi. "You think you could block that huge Water Dragon just now with your Gentle Fist?"
"Silly brother, of course I can't block that. That's why we are going to go home and train in secret—just don't let Father find out."
Hiashi wanted to say that his Gentle Fist couldn't even handle Kaien's first wave of Fire Release and ninja tool bombardment, but he had to save face in front of his little brother.
Maybe once he mastered Rotation, he'd have a shot at defending...
...
Uzumaki Kushina's eyes sparkled as she watched the explosive battle.
It was her first time seeing her two friends fight, and they were way stronger than she expected. Tsunade hadn't lied one bit.
The girls around Kushina screamed excitedly.
"How are we supposed to choose between these two?!"
Minato had that sunny, charming, gentlemanly vibe. Kaien was delicate and cute to the point you just wanted to squish and smother him—and both were incredibly strong.
How was anyone supposed to pick?
Of course, it was all just daydreaming from a distance.
In the world of shinobi, strength was what truly mattered.
If Kaien had been all looks and no skill, there's no way he would've earned this level of affection.
Appearance was only one part of it. What made Kaien truly stand out was the strength and talent to match.
Whether it was Orochimaru or Uchiha Madara—
If Kaien had only been a pitiful child with a tragic backstory and no talent, he might have drawn a few sympathetic sighs, but that'd be it.
He wouldn't have the resources and support he now had to grow freely and reach his full potential.
He'd linked up with Orochimaru, and Uchiha Kagami was still alive. Kaien was now firmly rooted in the Hokage's camp.
The future "Shadow" hadn't gone blind yet. He hadn't lost his arm. The darkness in his heart hadn't fully bloomed.
Right now, he was still the same man who wanted to build Konoha hand in hand with Hiruzen, a man full of the Will of Fire.
And now the forces behind the scenes had also set their eyes on Kaien.
With both sides backing him, all he needed to do was train hard and prove his worth.
His path forward was wide open.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo