"Seriously, we've only been playing for a little over ten minutes and we're already being told to assemble. They clearly said we'd get half an hour."
The black-haired little girl, Yūhi Kurenai, puffed out her cheeks in protest, lips pursed in dissatisfaction. She then grabbed Uchiha Mai's arm and shook it twice, acting cute as she said sweetly,
"Mai-gege, will you dance again after school, pretty please~?"
"Next time for sure. Definitely next time."
Uchiha Mai replied in the most perfunctory tone imaginable, smoothly pulling his arm free without drawing attention.
Sorry.
I'm not interested in lolis.
Please come back in ten years.
Seeing that Uchiha Mai had stopped dancing, the surrounding little brats immediately lost interest, sighing one after another as they obediently lined up in front of Murakami Keinin.
Being older than most, Uchiha Mai stood at the very back of the formation, lost in thought.
It had been more than four years since he transmigrated into the Naruto world.
Over these years, he could clearly feel the atmosphere in Konoha growing increasingly tense.
Take the Ninja Academy as an example.
When he had first enrolled a few years ago, the curriculum from first to sixth year hadn't been particularly demanding. Aside from theory and combat drills, students even received a decent chunk of free time each week.
But as time passed, that leisure time was steadily compressed.
Today, it had been reduced to barely ten minutes.
War was coming.
Once the lineup was complete, Murakami Keinin held the roster, called roll, then said,
"Everyone seems to have had a good time.
Due to special circumstances, today's class will be adjusted slightly. We'll be adding a temporary sparring session to assess your current strength.
You may freely choose your opponent.
If the challenger is from a higher grade, the challenged party may not refuse—but surrender is permitted."
The moment Murakami Keinin finished speaking, someone who had long found Uchiha Mai unbearable immediately raised his hand.
"Teacher! I want to challenge Uchiha Mai!"
The one who spoke was Sarutobi Asuma.
Asuma's dislike for Uchiha Mai wasn't something that had developed overnight.
As the Third Hokage's son, Asuma received considerable care from teachers at the Academy. Around him gathered a group of little brats, forming something akin to a campus "dragon gang" or "wolf squad"—extremely chūnibyō.
Ninja Academy sixth-grade boss.jpg
In the shinobi world, people generally matured early—early relationships, early marriages.
Even before entering the Academy, Asuma had already taken a liking to the little girl from the Yūhi clan, Yūhi Kurenai.
Candy one day, a hairpin the next—things had been going quite smoothly.
But everything changed on the day he entered the Ninja Academy.
Within this tiny school, there were actually two hidden monsters—
Uchiha Mai and Hatake Kakashi.
A pair of 卧龙凤雏—purely in terms of looks.
The vast majority of the girls in the Academy instantly became their fangirls.
Girls liking good looks—perfectly normal.
A year later, the "phoenix chick" Kakashi graduated.
But the most handsome "crouching dragon," Uchiha Mai, remained.
At first, it wasn't too bad.
Uchiha Mai followed the same route as that cool, edgy Uchiha kid from the future—aloof, distant, brooding. He ignored everyone equally.
He attracted countless girls, but his "lethality" wasn't too aggressive.
Asuma comforted himself daily in his heart:
It's fine. A-Hong is still young and doesn't understand things. It's normal for her to like pretty boys like Uchiha Mai.
When she grows up, she'll understand who truly loves her, and who's really right for her.
Believing himself to be the Academy's top dog, Asuma decided to be magnanimous and never deliberately caused trouble for Uchiha Mai.
But a few months ago—
The style suddenly changed.
Uchiha Mai was still cold and cool.
But his offensiveness had skyrocketed.
One day he'd sit on a tree branch, chin propped on one hand, looking melancholic.
The next, he'd sit by the river, backlit by the sunset, playing a harmonica.
The day after that, he'd be on the school field singing, dancing, rapping, and playing basketball—
…except there was no basketball.
Combined with that face that appealed to both young and old alike—
Who the hell could withstand that?
Damn it.
Why isn't someone this handsome me?!
Watching Yūhi Kurenai sink deeper and deeper, Asuma felt his heart being carved apart.
My little Hong… how could you fall for such a pretty-boy pretty face?!
Rage surged from his chest.
Asuma raised his hand and pointed at Uchiha Mai, shouting provocatively,
"You sissy! If you've got the guts, don't refuse my challenge!
Today I'll expose your true face and let everyone see that you're nothing but a useless pretty face!"
"Yeah!"
"Asuma-bro, banzai!"
The male brats across the training field erupted in cheers, itching to take Asuma's place and smash that infuriatingly perfect face.
A true public enemy among men.
In the entire Academy, the only ones who still got along decently with Uchiha Mai were the muscle-for-brains Might Guy and his clansman, Uchiha Obito.
Obito's crush, Nohara Rin, liked Kakashi—so he didn't particularly hate Uchiha Mai.
"Sigh."
Uchiha Mai let out a quiet breath.
Kids in the shinobi world really did mature early. Fighting over girls—this kind of drama was already happening in elementary school.
Truly impressive.
"I don't think I'm sissy at all," Uchiha Mai said calmly.
His handsomeness was the Gu Tianle-in-his-prime, John Lone, Takeshi Kaneshiro kind—sharp brows, bright eyes, strong features.
Sure, his skin was fair—but it had nothing to do with being effeminate.
"Your name sounds sissy," Asuma continued provoking.
Uchiha Mai: "..."
That… he couldn't really refute.
The character Mai was indeed more commonly used for girls.
"You just don't understand the Uchiha," Uchiha Mai replied vaguely.
Do you have any idea how much weight this name carries?
With this name alone, I've already surpassed most of the Uchiha clan.
"Enough nonsense. Do you dare accept my challenge or not?"
Asuma pressed forward aggressively.
"One-on-one. If I win, you're not allowed to speak to Kurenai ever again.
If you win—
I'll kneel down and call you 'grandfather' in front of everyone."
Beauty belongs only to the strong.jpg
Inside the office, Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand trembled.
He nearly rushed out on the spot to give Asuma two resounding slaps.
You little bastard—are you trying to kill your own father?!
If you call him grandfather, then what the hell am I supposed to call him?!
Yūhi Kurenai's cheeks flushed crimson as she covered her face with both hands, completely flustered.
A school boss and the Academy heartthrob…
Fighting over her?!
Wasn't this straight out of some third-rate romance novel cliché?!
Please stop fighting… please don't fight over me… .jpg
The corner of Uchiha Mai's mouth twitched.
Could he possibly accept that condition?
If it reached the Third Hokage's ears, wouldn't he be executed on the spot?
Not to mention—
He was an Uchiha.
"Change the condition," Uchiha Mai said.
"If I win, you'll be my sparring partner for one month."
"Deal."
Asuma agreed without hesitation.
Sparring partner—wasn't that basically a lackey? No problem.
Seeing that the two had finally settled the terms, Murakami Keinin nodded slightly.
As expected—someone was bound to challenge Uchiha Mai. Being a male public enemy wasn't a joke.
Asuma, the Hokage's son, already possessed strength comparable to a genin. He wasn't weak at all.
Perfect for testing Uchiha Mai's level.
Now it depended on how much substance this Uchiha actually had.
On that point, Murakami Keinin was still confident.
No matter how weak, an Uchiha was still an Uchiha.
Uchiha Mai's grades had always been above average. He should at least be able to stalemate Asuma for quite some time.
With that face-filter buff—
Plus a bit of awkward praising—
Wouldn't that create the perfect image of a "late-blooming prodigy whose genius isn't obvious yet"?
The children backed away, forming a wide circle.
Almost perfectly divided by gender—
The boys supported Asuma.
The girls supported Uchiha Mai.
After hesitating for a moment, Obito dragged Guy over to the girls' side and stood beside Nohara Rin.
Uchiha Mai narrowed his eyes.
At last, it was time to test whether the golden finger he had obtained a few months ago was actually useful.
When he first transmigrated into an Uchiha body, his emotions had been complicated—excited, yet uneasy.
Uchiha were great.
The number one bloodline clan of the shinobi world.
High reward. High risk.
But after spending several years in Konoha, Uchiha Mai discovered a cruel truth—
This body's overall aptitude was painfully average.
At best, his future ceiling would be jōnin.
Jōnin?
That was basically elite cannon fodder.
Bah. Even dogs wouldn't want that.
And that was assuming ideal conditions.
He had transmigrated just a few years before the Third Shinobi World War.
Whether he could even survive to adulthood was a huge question mark.
This was a war that would engulf the entire shinobi world—so brutal that even children who had just graduated from the Academy would be sent straight to the front lines.
And the Uchiha would definitely participate.
After all, it was during the late stages of the Third Great Ninja War that Shisui earned the title "Shisui of the Body Flicker."
With death approaching, how could Uchiha Mai not be gloomy?
How could he not act like a cold, edgy pretty boy?
Fortunately, heaven never seals every path.
A few months ago, his long-overdue golden finger finally came online.
Though… this golden finger was kind of trash.
Or rather—full of potential.
In short:
Every time the host struck a pose or shouted cringe-inducing lines, he would gain a certain amount of Fashion Points.
By spending Fashion Points, he could draw random characters and obtain one of their items, abilities, or talents.
Thus, under the dog system's relentless coercion, Uchiha Mai embarked upon a path of no return—
The path of the pretentious king.
After months of saving, he had accumulated two draws.
The results:
— Floyd Mayweather's shoulder-roll defensive technique.
— The flying armbar from Unbeatable's Lin Siqi.
Mayweather: boxing champion of his previous world. Career record 49–0. Master of defense and counterattacks, proficient in shoulder roll, probing hooks, and refined boxing fundamentals.
Lin Siqi: a character portrayed by a Chinese actor in the film Unbeatable. His signature move was the flying armbar. Strictly speaking, what Uchiha Mai obtained was Lin Siqi's skill set.
After those two draws, Uchiha Mai had wanted nothing more than to manifest the dog system into a Gree air conditioner, smash it to pieces, stuff it into a cement barrel, and dump it into the sea.
Was this a joke?!
This was the Naruto world!
What use were boxing and grappling techniques?!
Even genin in Konoha could run up walls and shoot chakra palms like dragons descending from the sky!
Let Mayweather come here—
See if he could beat a Konoha genin.
The dog system's explanation was that these were only half-star characters with half-star skills.
As the host grew stronger, higher-level characters would gradually unlock.
Besides—
"There are no useless skills, only useless hosts.
Is Konoha's Strong Fist truly superior to boxing?
Is Leo Ultraman's cosmic martial art inherently stronger than Mayweather's techniques?
If you were as strong as Leo Ultraman, even half-star boxing would become cosmic martial arts.
Isn't it simply because you're too weak?"
Uchiha Mai had been left speechless.
This damn system really talked in circles like an old sow wearing condoms—layer after layer.
…But irritatingly, it wasn't completely wrong.
There are no useless skills.
Only useless users.
Fine.
One day, the Saint Seiya Golden Speed of Light Fist will be mine.
As long as I persist, I'll eventually punch apart a planet with a single blow.
After numbing himself with pure A-Q spirit, Uchiha Mai trained relentlessly for months.
Using those two techniques as a foundation, he expanded into broader boxing and grappling knowledge.
After all that training, his strength had indeed improved significantly.
The dog system's rewards weren't entirely worthless.
And today—
Against Sarutobi Asuma—
Was the moment to shock everyone.
Three months of brutal practice.
Finally, it was time to put it to use.
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