Soon, the flames in the classroom were put out.
Reiji, along with Jiraiya as the instigators and Ryōta Uchiha as the victim, was taken to the faculty office by a stern-faced Nakaryū Ōzora. Tsunade, who had witnessed the whole incident, followed them in.
Inside the office, Nakaryū Ōzora wore a cold expression, holding a palm-sized scroll in his hand.
"Kanzouichi-sensei, please contact Ryōta Uchiha's parents."
With that, he slammed the scroll down onto the desk and turned his gaze to Reiji.
"As for you, Reiji Sakuhō, who's your guardian?"
His tone was icy.
Unfazed, Reiji shrugged. "My dad's name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. Go ahead and call him!"
"You brat, still spouting nonsense at a time like this! Hiruzen-sama's surname is Sarutobi—yours is Sakuhō!"
Nakaryū Ōzora slammed the desk, shot to his feet, and glared at him.
"Heh, I go by my mom's surname—Mizukuma," Reiji said, continuing to talk nonsense. After all, with Nakaryū Ōzora's rank, he had no clearance to access his personal records.
Tsunade tried to speak up several times, but each time Reiji silenced her with a sharp glare.
He was curious just how incompetent the academy teachers were at intelligence gathering.
Sure, when Ōzora entered the room, he had Reiji by the collar, but drawing conclusions from that alone seemed way too hasty.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya stood beside Reiji with a guilty look, his bruised face full of apology.
Hearing Reiji's words, Ōzora grew even angrier.
"Fine! Fine! Fine! I'll summon Hiruzen-sama and see what you have to say then!"
With a cold snort, he sent another teacher to go call Hiruzen Sarutobi.
At the Hokage building, a ninja with an awkward expression approached Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen-sama, um... Reiji Sakuhō caused a commotion at school. Chūnin Nakaryū Ōzora is asking you to come take a look."
The teacher held his tongue, not daring to say that Reiji had claimed to be Hiruzen's son.
Hearing Reiji's name, Hiruzen's hand trembled, and the brush fell from his grasp. He stood up immediately and grabbed the teacher's shoulder.
"What happened?"
"Uh, your so—Reiji Sakuhō got into a conflict with a kid from the Uchiha clan. Apparently, the Uchiha kid used a Fire Release jutsu on him in the classroom."
Having helped put out the fire, the teacher had easily pieced together the real story from the students. He just hadn't had a chance to tell the furious Nakaryū Ōzora yet.
He didn't think it was that serious—just a teacher being a bit too harsh on a student.
But that "not serious" mistake would end up permanently crushing Nakaryū Ōzora's dream of becoming a jōnin.
After learning the details, Hiruzen immediately brushed past the teacher and rushed out of his office.
He wasn't worried about Reiji Sakuhō. He was worried that Reiji had picked a fight with the Uchiha.
Normally, a low-level spy wouldn't stand a chance against someone from the Uchiha clan. But Reiji was different. That guy was a master of manipulation—digging traps and sowing distrust in people's hearts.
His best friend, Danzō Shimura, was living proof of that.
Hiruzen still remembered how, with just a few words, Reiji had planted a seed of doubt in everyone's mind and even made Tobirama abandon the idea of choosing Danzō as the next Hokage.
He hurried to the Konoha Ninja Academy.
As soon as he entered the gate, he spotted Kagami Uchiha also approaching in a hurry, and his expression turned odd.
"Kagami, what brings you to the academy?"
Kagami gave him a warm smile.
"Ryōta, the kid from next door, got bullied at school. His parents asked me to check on him."
Hearing that, Hiruzen's expression softened into a look of pity.
Looks like you really don't know who your neighbor's kid ran into.
Reiji Sakuhō. Once that guy sinks his teeth in, even if you survive, you won't come out unscathed.
And now, with this kind of incident, your clan sends you to clean it up?
Kagami, being stuck between the village and your clan must be tough.
Still, with someone like Kagami around, things might go a lot smoother.
Kagami himself sighed inwardly.
He didn't know the whole story, but based on what he knew about his clan, if Ryōta's parents had gone so far as to ask him—a direct disciple of the Second Hokage—to get involved, then it was probably Ryōta's fault.
After all, when your side's at a disadvantage, everyone knows the play is to crush the other side with authority.
"By the way, Hiruzen, what are you doing here?" Kagami Uchiha asked, puzzled.
"You'll see soon enough. Brace yourself."
With that, he stepped into the Konoha Ninja Academy building first.
Creak—the door to the teachers' office opened.
Nakaryū Ōzora sat stiffly in his chair, his cold gaze sweeping over Reiji.
Seeing that, Hiruzen's heart tensed.
Nakaryū Ōzora quickly stood up as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kagami Uchiha entered the room.
Reiji turned his head and glanced back.
"Dad, you're finally here. Have a seat."
Hiruzen's face darkened instantly.
Damn it—who's your dad, you little punk? Don't go yelling that out! If Biwako hears, she'll beat me to death!
"Nope, I'm not your father. Don't drag me into this!" Hiruzen shook his head like crazy, scrambling to deny it.
Kagami's heart sank as well. He quietly sighed—things had just gotten more complicated.
Ryōta Uchiha was now awake, standing behind Nakaryū Ōzora with his head lowered. In front of Nakaryū stood three kids: Reiji, Tsunade, and Jiraiya.
As the princess of the Senju clan, Tsunade was someone Kagami didn't want to offend.
But Reiji—he wanted to avoid even more. He knew exactly how difficult that guy was.
To be blunt, he'd rather deal with Princess Tsunade than go toe-to-toe with Reiji.
If the one involved had just been that unfamiliar white-haired kid, it would've been a lot easier.
As the Second Hokage's direct disciple, Kagami never thought of using status or power to pressure others.
Still, if that brat had been the one at fault, this whole thing would be much less of a headache.
Both Hiruzen and Kagami processed these thoughts in a flash.
Nakaryū Ōzora's expression turned grim when he saw Hiruzen refusing to acknowledge any connection to Reiji.
"Deception. Is that what the academy's teaching you? To lie to your teachers? You little bastard!" he yelled, jabbing a finger at Reiji.
Reiji wasn't having it.
He calmly reached out and pushed Ōzora's hand away, his eyes turning sharp.
"Watch your tone. You're a ninja—and a teacher."
"You see that, Hiruzen-sama, Kagami-sama? That's how this kid—this guy—treats his teachers!" Nakaryū shouted again, pointing at Reiji.
Hiruzen's brow furrowed.
It wasn't Reiji's attitude that bothered him—he'd never seen Reiji as a child anyway, so nothing he said sounded inappropriate.
It was this teacher, Nakaryū Ōzora, whose conduct seemed clearly over the line.
"Ōzora-sensei, what exactly happened? Can you explain the situation clearly?"
Prompted, Nakaryū recounted what he had seen when he stormed into the classroom.
As they listened, both Hiruzen and Kagami frowned.
They trusted their own judgment, but what they needed now was more information.
At that moment, Tsunade couldn't hold back any longer. She cast a subtle, disgusted glance at Ryōta Uchiha behind Nakaryū and began to speak.
As she explained, Nakaryū's face kept darkening, while behind him, Ryōta's head drooped even lower.
Off to the side, Kagami's expression grew increasingly sour.
Publicly bullying a classmate and firing off a powerful Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique in the middle of class—at another student, no less?
Even if no one else said anything, Kagami himself wanted to smack this disgrace of a clan member.
What happened to learning the Will of Fire? Is this what the clan elders taught you? You use ninjutsu on your classmates?
Right then, Kagami's face was a picture of embarrassment and anger.
As Tsunade gracefully finished recounting the incident, Ryōta Uchiha suddenly raised his head.
In his eyes was a single spinning magatama.
The kid had awakened his Sharingan.
At that moment, Ryōta Uchiha, his eyes bloodshot and full of rage, pointed at Reiji and roared,
"It was him! He called me an evil brat from the Uchiha Clan! He said the Uchiha are all traitors, that we betrayed Madara Uchiha! But it was him—he's the one who betrayed us!"
His hysterical voice echoed through the office, and the entire room fell silent.
After a long pause, Kagami Uchiha turned his head, his face serious, and looked at Reiji.
"Reiji, did you say that?"
Reiji shrugged indifferently. "It's pretty simple. I enrolled and didn't want to take the combat class. This guy mocked me—I ignored him the whole time. Then he kept harassing me. Later, he even beat up Jiraiya."
Before Reiji could finish, Ryōta shouted, "I didn't do it! It wasn't me!"
"Oh?" Reiji smiled, but there was a chilling killing intent behind it.
"What if it was connected to you?" he said, pausing between each word.
"Click, click, click." The sound of three seals unlocking rang out.
"Boom, boom, boom!" came the thud of heavy objects hitting the ground—his weights dropped.
In a flash, Reiji vanished.
"Stop!"
Kagami Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted at the same time.
But before the words had even faded, Reiji was already behind Nakaryū Ōzora. He grabbed Ryōta Uchiha with one hand and brought the other hand right up to his eye.
Cold sweat instantly broke out down the backs of Hiruzen and Kagami.
Too fast!
His speed hadn't surpassed the Sharingan's detection limit, but their bodies simply couldn't keep up.
And this terrifying little brat had already reached the level of a Chūnin with just raw physical strength.
This wasn't just about being as strong as a Jōnin—Chūnin were measured across ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and other specialized skills.
Reiji had reached that benchmark with physical prowess alone.
Put simply, Reiji's physical stats alone equaled the total score of a Chūnin in all categories.
"Ryōta Uchiha, if you're lying, I'll take your eyes."
Reiji stared at Ryōta expressionlessly, his beast-like killing intent flooding the entire room.
Everyone present felt a chill rise in their hearts.
Hiruzen finally understood what his teacher had meant—why someone like this could never be allowed into Konoha's upper ranks, why trying to reform him was pointless.
How much suffering had Reiji Sakuhō endured? How many people had he killed? How much darkness had filled his heart to produce such overwhelming killing intent?
Ryōta, dangling in the air, was trembling like a leaf. A yellowish liquid streamed down his pant leg.
"I… I… I told someone else to do it…"
Reiji got the answer he wanted. He sneered and let go, dropping Ryōta to the floor.
He turned and looked at Hiruzen, spreading his hands with a look of helplessness.
"See? I wasn't in the wrong at all."
"This guy doesn't have an ounce of the Will of Fire. Not only did he start a fire at school in broad daylight, he even had others bully completely unrelated students in secret."
Hearing that, Hiruzen sighed deeply inside.
Of course he knew.
But what could he do?
Then Reiji's mouth twisted into a sinister grin, his tone changing as he looked toward the pale-faced Kagami.
"Of course, he's still a kid. There's hope for him. As a villager, I'm willing to give him a chance."
"But—"
"But what?" Kagami's eyes lit up, quickly asking.
"One million ryō, and I promise I won't bring it up again."
Damn you, Reiji!
Hiruzen cursed silently. He should have known—this guy always brought it back to money in the end.
So his gut had been right all along. Anyone Reiji sank his teeth into wouldn't walk away unscathed.
One million ryō—that's the reward for a top-tier A-rank mission completed solo.
For the vast Uchiha Clan, it wasn't a huge sum.
After thinking for a moment, Kagami slowly nodded.
If money could make this guy back off, it was a deal worth making.
After all, ever since losing Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha couldn't afford another upheaval.
Honestly, if not for this incident, Kagami had even considered asking Reiji—who was sharp as a tack—for advice on resolving the clan's conflict with the village.
Once he got the answer he wanted, Reiji's face shifted into a money-grubbing grin as he leaned in close to Kagami.
"Big bro, card or cash?"