The second sparring exam paired Guy against Obito.
The gap between them was even wider than the one between Ren and Asuma.
Guy let out a battle cry, launched a single kick, and sent Obito spinning through the air before he landed face-first in the dirt.
Obito lifted his head and immediately remembered to wave at Kakashi on the wall.
Kakashi did not move or acknowledge him.
That annoyed Obito so much that he jumped to his feet and began shouting at him, completely forgetting that Guy had just flattened him.
After watching the rest of the class complete their matches, Kakashi disappeared.
Ren found it mildly irritating.
Kakashi really knew how to look effortlessly cool.
When it came to acting like the main character without saying a word, Kakashi’s only real competition was himself.
His circumstances were also too unusual.
Kakashi had graduated early and was already a genin, while no matter how strong Ren became, he was still only the toughest kid in a class full of five-year-olds.
He could wait until Kakashi learned a few new techniques before trying to break him again.
Considering how miserable the first half of Kakashi’s life would be, Ren doubted he would ever run out of emotional weak points.
After the sparring exam came the Clone Technique assessment, one of the Three Basic Techniques.
Since Ren had already mastered the far more advanced Shadow Clone Technique, he was exempted and automatically received full marks.
Once every examination had finished, Yamano stood behind the teacher’s desk during their final class of the semester and announced the rankings.
The instructors here had no interest in protecting anyone’s self-esteem.
In Ren’s previous world, schools had avoided publicly displaying grades and rankings.
The Ninja Academy announced everything in front of the entire class.
“I’ll begin with last place.
When I call your name, come forward and collect your report.” Yamano looked down at the list.
“Thirtieth place—Uchiha Obito!” The classroom instantly fell silent.
Obito’s face turned gray.
He rose slowly, hung his head, and began the long walk toward the front.
Ren raised his hand.
“Instructor, for the sake of your performance review, I formally recommend making Obito repeat the year!” Obito was already miserable.
When he hear Ren’s voice, he whipped around and glared at him.
Ren would never waste a chance to provoke Obito.
If he could fill Obito with enough resentment to corrupt that painfully sincere heart of his, perhaps the boy would lose the emotional purity that later allowed him to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
That would remove one future catastrophe from the Uchiha clan.
Obito wanted to argue, but he could not think of anything to say.
‘Damn it!
Why am I so weak?’ He accepted his report with a scowl and trudged back to his seat.
One student after another went forward.
Ebisu was delighted to discover that he had climbed from twenty-first place last year to twelfth.
At this rate, he might even break into the top ten.
His father’s decision to make him challenge Ren constantly had worked far better than expected.
‘Maybe next semester…’ Ebisu shuddered.
No.
Absolutely not!
He would rather jump off the Academy roof than challenge Ren again!
“Second place—Sarutobi Asuma.” Asuma looked even more miserable than Obito had.
When Kakashi was still in the class, Asuma had ranked second.
Now Kakashi had graduated early, and Asuma was still second!
What had even been the point of Kakashi leaving?
Asuma had just received his report when he turned and saw Ren already walking down the aisle from the back row.
“First place—Uchiha Ren!” The fact that Ren had taken first place by stepping directly over Asuma’s pride only made the result hurt more.
Ren blocked the aisle before Asuma could return to his seat.
“Well, if it isn’t ‘Young lord Asuma’, proud winner of second place.” He gave him a sympathetic smile.
“Go home and study harder.
Maybe learn one useful Sarutobi technique while you’re at it.
Your father is called the Professor of Ninjutsu.
Surely he hasn’t taught you absolutely nothing?” Ren paused and narrowed his eyes.
“You know, I’m starting to think you might not be his biological son.
Even an adopted child wouldn’t be neglected this badly.” His eyes suddenly widened.
“Wait!” He leaned closer as though he had uncovered a shocking conspiracy.
“Have I just discovered the Sarutobi clan’s greatest secret?
Were you actually adopted?” Ren pointed at him.
“Adopted Asuma.
That’s your name from now on.” While his mouth continued firing insults, Ren was thinking about something else entirely.
‘When are you going to learn a forbidden technique or something useful, Asuma?
I’m supposed to steal abilities from you.
How am I meant to improve when you’re this hopeless?’ Asuma’s face turned livid.
He wanted to attack, but the memory of their match reminded him exactly how that would end.
He stood there with his chest heaving and his shoulders trembling.
Ren stepped aside and gestured for him to pass.
“Learning the truth must be painful.
I feel sorry for you now….
You’re the miserable one, so you can go first.” Asuma swallowed his anger and squeezed past without looking at him.
Ren was slightly disappointed.
Asuma had not broken this time.
His mental resilience was clearly improving.
After collecting his report, Ren walked down from the front.
As he passed Kurenai, he stopped and gave her a deeply sincere look.
“Kurenai, you’re the only person I can’t bear to watch remain ordinary.” Her eyes widened.
“You know where I live.
During the break, I’ll be waiting whenever you want to come over.
I’ll spar with you anytime.” Kurenai’s face instantly turned bright red.
‘Since when do I know where you live?!’ Behind her, Asuma’s face instantly turned green.
What did Ren mean by ‘the only person’?
And why was he promising to wait for her anytime?
Ren glanced at him.
‘Are childhood crushes really this shallow?
Even that wasn’t enough to break him?’ “Kurenai, I know your father is an excellent genjutsu user, but a shinobi’s overall strength is limited by their weakest skill.
Being brilliant in one area won’t save you if everything else falls behind.” Ren smiled gently.
“Promise me you’ll come train with me.” He gestured toward Ebisu.
“Just look at how quickly he improved under my personal attention.” Ebisu, who had been shamelessly listening from nearby, immediately raised his head.
‘Personal attention?’ He had fearlessly challenged a stronger opponent again and again!
It had been an inspiring display of courage and determination!
Why did Ren make it sound as though he had personally trained him like some obedient little pet?
Was ‘personal attention’ even a normal way to describe what had happened between them?
When the final class ended, Ren rose in a thoroughly satisfied mood and headed for the door.
Just before leaving, he sensed something unusual.
He looked back.
Some students had risen from their seats, while others remained seated, but none of them moved toward the door.
They were all watching him from a distance, most with open dislike in their eyes.
Nara Saku had just finished quietly organizing them, signaling for everyone to wait until Ren left so nobody would have to walk home with him.
Ren snorted.
A real kid might have been frightened by the entire class excluding him.
But the soul inside Ren belonged to a thirty-year-old man.
Whether they excluded him or not, he had no interest in joining their childish games.
“Later, losers!” He turned around and addressed the entire room.
“Let’s make one thing clear—you didn’t exclude me.
I excluded all of you!” Ren spread his arms.
“And I’m not singling anyone out.
Every single person in this classroom is equally useless!” The students stared at him.
“The Shinobi World War has already begun, and useless people die quickly.
Fortunately for you, I’m a kindhearted man.
When you die, I’ll stand in front of your gravestones and mourn for at least one or two whole seconds.” He waved over his shoulder.
“See you next year!
Spend the break trying to catch up, losers!” The classroom became so quiet that even a dropped needle would have sounded deafening.
Then everyone erupted at once.
Guy’s voice rose above all the others.
“DON’T GET COCKY!
I’M GOING TO TRAIN ALL WINTER, AND ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW SEMESTER, I’LL DEFEAT YOU!” Ren shook his head and left the classroom, successfully excluding every one of his classmates at the same time.
Still, he felt a little disappointed.
He had just attacked the entire class equally—the emotional equivalent of a wide-range jutsu—yet not a single student had broken.
Apparently, these little brats still had dreams.
None of them was ready to admit defeat yet.
Ren would have to train hard during the break.
It would be humiliating to lose to one of them after talking this much!