The Sage Body gave Bai the confidence to reach Kage level before the Fourth Shinobi World War began.
Now with the Sharingan, Bai was confident in becoming a Beyond-Kage level powerhouse before the war started!
And a remarkably strong Beyond-Kage at that!
One must understand that the gap between different Beyond-Kage levels was even wider than the gap between a Genin and a Kage!
Put it this way: during the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki, who possessed Particle Style, had Beyond-Kage strength.
In his Reanimation state, Madara Uchiha without Rinnegan was also in the Beyond-Kage tier.
Yet when real battle commenced, Madara effortlessly schooled Ohnoki plus the Kage of the four other hidden villages—that battle was nothing more than a warm-up for Madara!
The “Beyond-Kage” Bai aimed for was someone who could hold a 40-60 chance against an un-revived Madara Uchiha, rather than being utterly crushed like Ohnoki!
Even so, Bai didn’t feel a shred of arrogance.
First, this was merely potential; until potential translated into actual strength, he needed to keep a low profile.
Second, Bai knew clearly that the true enemies were the Otsutsuki clan—alien beings whose weakest members were Beyond-Kage, with Six Paths powerhouses beyond count.
At Beyond-Kage level, one merely gained the right to breathe!
As a transmigrator, Bai had no intention of letting pale alien invaders boss him around!
Thinking through these matters, Bai stepped into the classroom.
As a well-renowned young prodigy who successfully extracted chakra at four years old, Bai had openly mastered the Three Academy Jutsu, several D-rank jutsu, and the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique before turning six.
With Kurenai’s care and his background as a child of an Ino-Shika-Cho subordinate, he naturally entered the “Crown Prince Class” alongside Naruto without a hitch.
A single glance revealed that half the class consisted of noble clan children!
“Shiro-chan!”
Simultaneously, Ino’s crisp voice echoed in his ears.
Bai followed the sound, his eyelids twitching slightly!
At the back of the classroom, four entire desks had been claimed—though meant for three students each, only five people sat there.
A glum Shikamaru and snack-munching Choji sat in the first row.
Behind them, across three separate rows, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura sat distinctly apart, taking an entire desk each.
Seeing Bai walk in, three pairs of bright eyes turned toward him in unison, awaiting his choice—Hinata was fine, her shy and introverted nature keeping her from staring directly at Bai, though taking a whole row by herself was her limit; Sakura and Ino were far more direct, as if afraid Bai wouldn’t feel their anticipation!
In the Naruto world, six-year-old girls were already mature about feelings.
Their childhood affection for Bai had long since evolved, and they knew how to be jealous…
This multiple-choice question was a trap.
Everyone knew that to have it all, one had to stay patient; laying one’s cards on the table too early might bring sweet results initially, but it was easy to lose the whole forest!
Besides, what real “sweetness” could one get from six-year-old little girls anyway?
At the end of the day, Bai didn’t love these three six-year-old girls right now, but who they would become ten years later!
At times like this, one had to pull out the classic skill of Japanese anime harem protagonists—pure innocence and cluelessness!
Of course, Bai was just pretending.
Under the expectant gazes of the three girls, Bai naturally walked up to Shikamaru and sat down calmly.
Seeing Bai approach, Choji handed over his bag of chips, saying warmly, “Here, take some!
But leave the last piece for me!”
Bai didn’t hesitate, taking a chip and munching away.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Bai, secretly thinking he’d probably get nagged endlessly by Ino on the way home.
Ino had asked Shikamaru to play wingman more than once, but as a friend, Shikamaru couldn’t push Bai into the fire pit!
Sometimes, Shikamaru really envied Choji, who understood nothing, so Ino wouldn’t bother asking him for help.
Yet even with Shikamaru’s high IQ, he couldn’t tell if Bai was genuinely oblivious or just acting dumb.
If he was truly oblivious, Shikamaru didn’t mind.
Although all three girls liked Bai, they exercised restraint and wouldn’t fight over him—after all, they grew up together as good friends and didn’t want to hurt each other, or they would have actively smeared their rivals in front of Bai.
In the future, perhaps one of the three would touch Bai’s heart and drag him into the graveyard of marriage, losing his freedom forever…
In Shikamaru’s eyes, marriage was such a troublesome thing.
But if Bai was acting clueless, Shikamaru felt he should find an opportunity to convince Bai to abandon those unrealistic fantasies.
It wasn’t out of jealousy; it was simply a matter of reality.
Given Bai’s background, setting Sakura aside, Inoichi Yamanaka and Hiashi Hyuga would never allow their daughters to share a man with others!
Standing as a friend, Shikamaru didn’t want Bai to offend both the Yamanaka clan and the Hyuga clan at the same time.
On the other side, Bai realized how tough little girls at this age could be.
Though he slipped through for now, the resentful glares from Sakura and Ino still sent chills down his spine.
Hinata was the most considerate.
Devoid of resentment, she worried whether she had put Bai in an awkward position, her cute face twisting into anxiety.
In the end, Bai couldn’t withstand the pressure from the two girls’ gazes.
Hesitantly turning around to meet Sakura and Ino’s fierce eyes, Bai shrank his head back, cautiously leaning close to Hinata and whispering in her ear, “Hinata, did you girls have a fight?”
“Eek!” The warm breath hitting her ear made Hinata tremble violently.
Her cheeks flushed bright red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and after a tiny squeak, she lost her ability to speak.
Wisps of steam rose from her head as her body temperature surged!
“Uh…” Seeing this, Bai was caught off guard.
Logically speaking, Bai and Hinata had known each other for two years.
Over those two years, even holding hands hadn’t triggered such a dramatic reaction from her.
Now that she was emotionally aware, touching her was off-limits.
“Um…
Hinata, are you okay?”
Maintaining his innocent persona, Bai reached out anxiously to touch Hinata’s forehead, asking, “Do you have a fever?”
At this moment, Shikamaru felt relieved: this guy Bai was just like Choji—he truly didn’t understand!
Ino forgot to be jealous.
She popped out of her seat, sat next to Hinata, grabbed Bai’s hands, and squeezed his cheeks as if venting, complaining: “Honestly!
Shiro-chan, when are you ever going to grow up!”
Sakura also came over, shooting Bai an annoyed glare before gently comforting Hinata, whose brain had overheated: “Alright Hinata, you know Bai is just an idiot!”
Bai chuckled dryly to himself.
Honestly, hearing a six-year-old girl call an adult soul “not grown up” felt quite amusing…
But Bai didn’t refute it—a skilled hunter often presents himself as the prey.
Ino and the other two currently viewed themselves as hunters competing with each other.
By the time they realized they were the prey, they would already be trapped in Bai’s palm!