Isamu had lived two lives, yet he had never encountered a boy with this kind of personality.
The kid had actually thanked them after getting beaten up.
As Isamu watched the blond-haired boy leave
Hmm?
Blond-haired boy?
A hazy memory from many years ago suddenly surfaced.
Back when he was in school in his previous life, he had often heard his classmates talking about some Uzumaki Naruto.
Wasn’t that guy a blondie too?
It was just that the two surnames didn’t seem to match.
Isamu wasn’t particularly familiar with the plot of Naruto, so he never realized that the blond-haired boy he had just “educated” was actually the father of the future protagonist.
He merely felt that this guy might accomplish quite a lot in the future.
“All right, then.
Who else wants to experience medical ninjutsu?”
Tsunade looked around.
Before she could even finish speaking, the students around them immediately backed away, creating a complete circle of empty space.
They wanted to experience it, but they didn’t want to get ambushed.
And they definitely didn’t want to experience any more chili powder
Amid the retreating crowd, a striking figure with bright red hair remained standing exactly where she was.
“Uzumaki Kushina.
Please instruct me.”
A hint of determination appeared on her youthful face, and there was even a trace of excitement in her eyes.
“Sensei, can this girl fight?”
Isamu looked at Tsunade, asking with his eyes.
“Go easy.”
Tsunade replied with her lips.
A few minutes later, Kushina left with red-rimmed eyes, covering her face.
Isamu hadn’t used chili powder this time.
It was cumin
Heaven only knew why he had so many seasonings stuffed into his pockets!
The many instructors watching from the sidelines watched the entire duel with dark expressions.
If Tsunade hadn’t been there, they would probably have stepped forward to teach Isamu a thing or two about the Will of Fire.
Yet Tsunade still didn’t tell Isamu to stop.
Instead, she called out names one after another, having Isamu spar with the so-called “top students.”
Watching their students get defeated by an outsider younger than themselves left the instructors with complicated feelings.
Putting aside Isamu’s dirty tricks, even in terms of pure combat ability, these Ninja Academy students were absolutely no match for him.
Even the Chūnin who had retired from the battlefield didn’t dare claim they could take Isamu down with complete confidence in a short period of time.
Nine years old.
To possess this level of strength at such an age required both talent and hard work.
At that moment, they finally understood Tsunade’s intentions.
She was using Isamu as a whetstone to remind them and these students who were about to graduate not to underestimate anyone.
They shouldn’t harbor beautiful fantasies about being a shinobi.
Every time they encountered an enemy, they needed to prepare for the worst possible scenario
Inside the Hokage’s office, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched everything through the crystal ball before him.
“What an interesting boy.”
Perhaps using Isamu to temper Konoha’s next generation wasn’t such a bad idea.
From Hiruzen’s perspective, Isamu’s methods could only be considered child’s play.
They were nowhere near as vicious as the things he had encountered in the past.
But for these students who hadn’t even graduated yet, it was an entirely different matter.
Letting them learn about the dangers of the shinobi world early could only benefit them.
By evening, Isamu had lost count of exactly how many people he had beaten up.
During the later fights, he stopped using kunai.
If his opponents caught every kunai he threw, anyone would notice that something was wrong.
By the end, he had run out of chili powder and all the other seasonings in his pockets.
Eventually, almost everyone was prepared for this trick.
But Isamu simply turned their caution against them.
He would make a fake motion as though he were about to scatter chili powder.
His opponent would immediately shut their eyes in anticipation.
And by the time they opened them again, they would discover that Isamu’s blade was already resting against their neck.
The victims were so furious that they shouted that he was a shameless cheat.
But they also understood that even if they fought him fairly, they still weren’t Isamu’s match.
Still, they deeply despised this way of winning through underhanded tactics.
This went against the Will of Fire!
These were unacceptable techniques!
Looking at the murderous looks in their eyes, Isamu smiled and replied with his lips:
“A cradle for geniuses?
That’s it?”
They snapped.
Their fists clenched.
The collective taunt had pushed everyone to the verge of losing their temper.
Isamu wisely left with Tsunade before he could truly provoke the entire crowd.
“He’ll be back tomorrow.”
Tsunade suddenly stopped and spoke to the numerous students nearby.
Huh?
The students weren’t the only ones surprised.
Even Isamu was caught off guard.
Damn it.
If he’d known this would happen, he wouldn’t have talked trash just now!
Isamu finally understood Tsunade’s intentions.
She wanted him to become a whetstone for these students, tempering their mentality and combat skills.
Among Konoha’s students, almost none of Isamu’s peers had any opportunity to undertake wartime missions, let alone experience actual bloodshed.
But Isamu was different.
Not only had he survived on the chaotic borderlands, he also possessed considerable combat ability.
Konoha might secretly train people like him, but it would never use such people to train its students.
Now that they had a special case like Isamu, naturally, they had to make good use of him.
Tsunade wasn’t worried that Isamu’s actions would make enemies of the students.
The children themselves might not understand.
But the adults behind them would naturally understand what was really going on.
Among those Isamu had beaten up were quite a few members of Konoha’s prominent clans.
When their parents saw their children return with the pungent smell of chili powder clinging to them and their eyes red, their first thought was that their child had been bullied at school.
Some even began wondering whether this was connected to some sort of clan feud
But after hearing that they had been beaten by an outsider, and that Tsunade herself had ordered him to fight them under the pretext of letting them experience medical ninjutsu
They began wondering whether the Third Hokage was using this opportunity to send a warning to their clans.
Then, once they learned that every major clan had someone who had been beaten up, they realized they had simply been overthinking things.
“Lady Tsunade also said that hateful outsider will be coming back tomorrow.”
All the parents immediately understood Tsunade’s intentions.
No more accurately, they understood the Third Hokage’s intentions.
This was meant to let the children recognize the harsh reality of the shinobi world sooner.
With wars breaking out everywhere, perhaps another major conflict would erupt soon.
If the younger generation could abandon some of their naive ideas sooner, perhaps it might save their lives someday.
The Third Hokage had truly thought this through.
Isamu, the catfish stirring up the pond, had given these students who had yet to graduate a taste of reality.
People outside Konoha didn’t fight fair.
At the same time, he had also awakened a competitive spirit within them.
The thought of defeating Isamu through their own strength began to take root in the minds of many students.
After returning home, they even began taking the initiative to ask their parents for guidance with their training.
“I’m going to teach you a jutsu today.”
In the Senju compound, Tsunade spoke to Isamu.
Isamu had performed quite well today, successfully completing his task as a whetstone.
As half a teacher to him, Tsunade naturally had to give her student something in return.
“This is an advanced version of the Clone Technique the Shadow Clone Technique.”
Tsunade taught Isamu the necessary hand seals and the chakra circulation required to perform it.
The last time, Isamu’s use of the Clone Technique had been quite interesting.
Although Tsunade was curious, she hadn’t asked any questions.
Everyone had a few secrets of their own, after all.
The jutsu wasn’t difficult.
Given Isamu’s current level, after listening to Tsunade explain just a few key points, he quickly managed to perform it successfully.
Unlike the ordinary Clone Technique, a Shadow Clone had a physical body and possessed a certain degree of resistance to physical attacks.
Isamu’s eyes lit up.
Previously, in order to give his clones this kind of property, he had racked his brains.
In the end, he had come up with the idea of using his own blood as a connection, incorporating it into the clone so that he could control its chakra circulation and increase its resistance to attacks
He hadn’t expected that this jutsu actually had an advanced version.