The next day, after seeing that his parents' condition had improved, Sanada Kazama went straight to the Ninja Academy.
Today was the day of the graduation exam.
If he wanted to be placed in the same squad as Naruto, he first had to pass the graduation test.
Kazama remembered clearly—he had failed every single one of his previous exams.
And now, only the final test remained: combat!
But things were different now. Ever since Kazama had awakened the Burning Art System, he knew victory in the combat exam was already in his grasp.
At present, he only knew a single jutsu—the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. But with the help of the Burning Art System, he now had the ability to absorb any ninjutsu.
It didn't matter whether it was ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu—none of them could harm him anymore.
Even his most ordinary strikes were now infused with the searing might of the Mystic Yellow Flame.
Which meant that even a simple punch from him carried the destructive power of a critical strike.
With that alone, not just the Academy's students—even genin or chūnin were no longer a threat in his eyes.
But Kazama had another goal for today's combat exam: to make everyone look at him in a completely new light.
Just then, Iruka walked to the center of the training field.
"Everyone, the time has come for the final portion of your graduation test: the sparring matches! The first match will be… Sanada Kazama versus Katō Saburō!"
"Katō Saburō? What kind of nonsense is that? If I want to make a name for myself, I need to face the strongest!"
With that thought, Kazama immediately stepped forward."Sensei! I want to fight Sasuke instead!"
The crowd erupted in laughter.
"No way! That loser Kazama wants to challenge the genius Sasuke? He's begging to get humiliated!"
"Hah! This is going to be good—Sanada Kazama's about to get beaten black and blue by Sasuke!"
But instead of getting angry at their jeers, Kazama merely smirked to himself.
His reason for challenging Sasuke was simple.
First, defeating Sasuke would force everyone to recognize his strength. After all, Sasuke was considered the Academy's number one prodigy.
Second, he wanted to use the Burning Art System to absorb Sasuke's taijutsu—and then transform it into something even stronger.
Right now, he only had one ninjutsu under his belt. He needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
"Iruka-sensei," one of the students called out, "is Sasuke even going to accept this ridiculous challenge?"
Iruka turned to him. "Sasuke, what do you say? Will you accept Kazama's request?"
Sasuke, as usual, wore his cold, aloof expression."I don't mind wasting a little time on a dead-last."
With that, he stepped casually onto the platform.
"But I'll warn you now—I don't hold back. If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in a hospital bed, you'd better reconsider."
"Is that so?" Kazama replied calmly as he climbed up onto the stage. "Then please—don't hold back against me."
"What the hell?!" someone shouted from below."The dead-last isn't backing down?"
"Yeah, I thought Kazama was a coward! Is he really dumb enough to fight Uchiha Sasuke?"
Down by the platform, Sasuke's loyal fangirls erupted in laughter.
"How dare a loser like you challenge our Sasuke-sama!"
"Sasuke-sama, you'd better make him pay for his arrogance!"
"Hmph. You asked for this yourself! Kage Buyō!"
The instant Sasuke's words left his mouth, his figure blurred—vanishing from sight before appearing right in front of Kazama.
With a sharp rising kick, he sent Kazama flying upward into the air.
"It's not too late to beg for mercy now," Sasuke sneered. "Anyone struck by my taijutsu technique won't escape without broken bones, if they survive at all."
But Kazama only shouted back, defiant and unyielding:"I, Sanada Kazama, have never begged for mercy—and I never will!"
The truth was, Sasuke's taijutsu had already been completely absorbed by the Burning Art System.
The Shadow of the Dancing Leaf might have been devastating to anyone else—but to Sanada Kazama, it didn't leave so much as a scratch.