The rejection was already very clear, so why does he still keep pestering me? Is his brain just too simple? Should I make it even more obvious next time? But would that be too hurtful... Olivia's girlish heart is troubled.

"Hey, your drool is coming out!" James appeared behind Matthew, starting to mock him relentlessly.

"Ah... you're lying!" Matthew instinctively wiped his mouth, realized he'd been tricked, and flew into a rage.

"Matthew Morgan, I've already told you, if you keep making noise I'll give you a zero. Do you not understand? Get over here, it's your turn!"

Under Mr. Turner's angry shout, Matthew scrambled to the throwing line.

"Matthew, good luck! The lowest record in the Konoha Ninja Academy's throwing test is all yours."

Normally, Matthew would have shot back a couple of retorts, but right now, he was so excited he'd forgotten his own surname. How could he care about little James at a time like this? Lining up right behind Olivia, he was thrilled! This must be a sign from the god of fate—I have to perform well and make Olivia see me in a new light. Throwing technique? That's my specialty.

Matthew grabbed the kunai with both hands and struck a cool pose in front of him. At Mr. Turner's signal, his hands became a blur, and almost simultaneously, all ten kunai shot out. With a flourish, he turned around, never looking back at the explosion like a true master. His impressive display stunned all the students—even Mr. Turner was visibly shaken, not once, but three times.

So cool, Olivia must be mesmerized by me! Matthew thought smugly. Unfortunately, the coolness lasted less than three seconds. Before he could even decide on a pose to exit the stage, Mr. Turner punched him on the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Matthew Morgan, zero targets hit, 0% accuracy, time used: 0.5 seconds, assessment result: poor, E-rank!" Mr. Turner practically roared out Matthew's score. In his entire teaching career, he had never seen a worse result.

"How unlucky!" Matthew, with a huge bump on his head, looked at the empty wooden stakes and let out a defeated whimper. He'd gotten too excited and his hands shook.

Amid the laughter of his classmates, Matthew was sent back to the line by Mr. Turner. His best frenemy, James, immediately came over to comfort him: "Matthew, you really didn't let me down. You successfully broke the record. I believe even a hundred years from now, your record will still be far ahead."

"Damn it, Mr. Turner, please give me another chance. I was just careless just now." The undying Matthew pleaded, but was mercilessly rejected by Mr. Turner.

"Shut up, Matthew Morgan. Even if I gave you another chance, what difference would it make?" Mr. Turner switched to lecture mode, speaking earnestly to everyone: "In school, I can give you chance after chance, but once you leave school, who will give you another chance? Whether it's sabotage, assassination, intelligence gathering, disrupting the rear, or direct combat, you won't get a second chance. Missing an opportunity once means your mission fails, and it also means the end of your ninja career—it means death!"

"The world of ninjas is cruel and allows no failure. When you choose to become a ninja, you must understand that this world is merciless!"

Mr. Turner spoke with heartfelt sincerity: "If you want to survive in this harsh world, you must work harder than others. I know many of you come from great clans, or your parents are powerful ninjas, and some of you have even been called geniuses since childhood. But so what? You must remember, in this world, there are only hardworking geniuses—there are never geniuses who get something for nothing."

Everyone fell silent. Mr. Turner stopped discouraging them and offered some comfort: "Be grateful! As students of Konoha's ninja academy, you're luckier than children from other villages. At least you still have three years. Balance, agility, strength, endurance, and special skills—these are the only things I can teach you. I hope that in your daily training, you can face yourselves honestly. Training may be dull and tedious, but it's your capital for survival."

……

……

"So that's why you want to raise a dog?" William Baker looked at Henry Carter in confusion. Clearly from the Hozuki clan, yet heading in the direction of the Inuzuka clan of Konoha—this just doesn't fit.

"Yes, I think Mr. Turner makes a lot of sense. Even geniuses need to work hard to survive better, let alone an ordinary person like me." Henry Carter said seriously. In the world of Naruto, geniuses are everywhere, but how many actually make it to the very top? Under the title of "the strongest," how many geniuses have died with regrets? Whether it's luck or environment, in the end, it all comes down to insufficient strength. As an ordinary person with no special talent, Henry Carter had to plan for his own future. He needed to arm himself—if he lacked talent, then he'd rely on external help.

Originally, those powerful summoning beasts from the original story would have been a better choice, but unfortunately, with Henry Carter's chakra level—which was mediocre even by ninja academy standards—he had no chance with those powerful beasts. Besides, those summoning beasts have always been passed down among top-tier ninjas, and these people have all had one title since childhood: genius.