Naruto: Evolution.

He stopped his training, not only because his body was already at its limit and needed rest, but because his shadow clone had been dispelled from the Academy with all the memories and information of the day.

Using a clone to attend classes was not a matter of laziness but of efficiency.

It allowed him to make use of every second for training without neglecting the appearance of a normal student. The truth was that he had already mastered everything taught at the Academy, but he had no intention of graduating early.

Staying in the system had its advantages.

Graduate early? For what?

To gain fame? To start taking missions and earning money as soon as possible?

The first was irrelevant. The second… well, he wasn't just any child. He didn't come from a civilian family that depended on every ryo earned through missions. Even without his parents' inheritance and the compensation for their deaths, the Uchiha clan took good care of its own.

Especially the talented ones.

He had confirmed it as soon as he secured the top spot in the class. His monthly allowance increased immediately, ensuring he never had to worry about money. His surname alone already guaranteed him privileges within the clan.

As for fame… his surname was enough. Uchiha.

But outside the clan, things were different. Hiruzen, Danzō, and the other followers of Tobirama's ideology had not yet reached the point of wanting to exterminate the Uchiha, but their disdain for the clan was evident.

If he only showed the level of an average genius, no one would bat an eye. After all, the Uchiha had always produced outstanding talents.

But if he stood out too much… if he reached the level of someone like Kakashi in his time, it wouldn't take long for him to attract the attention of Tobirama's faction.

And that kind of attention only brought problems. Dangers he wasn't willing to attract… yet.

And surely, you're wondering: Why not simply choose to be mediocre, like Obito?

Because that would be ridiculous. An entirely unnecessary extreme.

To begin with, being the top student in the class was already the most discreet he could allow himself to be. If he tried to lower himself any further, it would be unbearable—like trying to hide golden armor in the middle of the night.

No one with a normal mindset would do something like that.

Besides, there was the matter of resources.

Even within the clans, ninjas who didn't demonstrate enough talent received limited resources. Only by standing out could one access better supplies and opportunities.

He was a war orphan. His parents had died years ago, and his father, who held the highest rank between the two, had barely reached the level of a Tokubetsu Jōnin.

Of course, the village and the clan granted them compensation after their deaths, but the resources they left behind were nothing extraordinary. In terms of high-level ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, the only thing he had was a B-rank fire jutsu.

In fact, the Shadow Clone technique he used now had been a reward from the clan, given only after he obtained the top spot in his class.

If he didn't have that reputation, they would never have given a B-rank jutsu to a mere Academy student.

The same applied to money.

In daily life and training, money was everything. Taijutsu, for example, required a strict protein-rich diet. Without an adequate intake of meat, the body weakened quickly.

And then there were injuries. Treating wounds, keeping the body in good condition… everything cost money.

In this world, being strong didn't just require talent. It also required resources.

As he rested, he submerged his consciousness deep within his mind, and after a few seconds…

Before him appeared a screen of light, though in reality, it was something more complex: a representation of his talents.

[Sharingan ★☆—5000]

[Constitution ★☆—5000]

[Ninjutsu ★☆—5000]

[Taijutsu ★☆—5000]

[Genjutsu ★☆—5000]

[Evolution Points—753]

The information was simple and clear.

Except for the evolution points, all the others represented his individual talents, the number of times they had evolved, and the points required for the next upgrade.

The system used stars to indicate evolutions: a hollow star signified one evolution, while a filled star represented two.

In his case, all his talents had evolved three times.

The impact of each evolution was undeniable. The more a talent evolved, the greater the transformation it underwent.

For example, in the case of [Sharingan], the higher his talent, the easier it was to awaken it and make it progress.

The same applied to his [Constitution].

The evolution of [Constitution] was directly linked to life energy.

And in this world, life energy was everything. The Senju and Uzumaki clans were living proof of that.

Their vitality not only enhanced their physical training but also granted them far superior endurance and recovery abilities compared to other ninjas.

Additionally, this had a direct impact on chakra.

Chakra was composed of life energy and spiritual energy, but the amount someone could generate depended mainly on their life energy.

The stronger their vitality, the greater their chakra.

That was exactly the case for Gen.

Although his body had yet to reach maturity, the fact that his [Constitution] had evolved three times had caused a drastic change in his life energy.

He now possessed an amount of chakra comparable to that of a Jōnin.

And the most terrifying thing wasn't just his current level, but his potential.

His constitution had evolved progressively, but if he had reached this level from the start, in just one year, the amount of chakra he could generate would have increased several times over.

Therefore, not only had he reached the chakra level of a Jōnin, but his growth continued to accelerate.

His other three talents also played a fundamental role.

Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu were the primary tools of any ninja. The greater his talent in these areas, the more efficient his training would be.

For an average ninja, mastering a technique could take months or even years. But someone with exceptional talent could learn it in days… or, in some cases, just by seeing it once.

Gen understood this perfectly. Before evolving, his talents in these disciplines were, at best, average. Nothing remarkable.

But after his first evolution, everything changed. His level reached that of an average genius.

To put it into perspective, the top ten students of his generation—the "prodigies" of the Academy—had, at most, the same level of talent he had after his first evolution.

The second evolution was on another level.

Talent growth wasn't linear. It was exponential. With each evolution, the gap between him and the others widened drastically.

After his second evolution, his talent had already completely surpassed normal limits.

To explain it better: at that point, his potential was already on the level of figures like Kakashi, Itachi, and Shisui.

And now, with his third evolution…

It wasn't that he wanted to brag, but he knew for certain that any one of his talents far exceeded the greatest talent of Itachi, Shisui, or Kakashi.