A Day at the Academy

In the noisy classroom, all the girls were staring at Sasuke. He looked especially handsome wearing sunglasses. With a bang, the door was pushed open and Iruka walked in.

"Quiet, everyone. Get to your seats and prepare for class." There was only one teacher per class—the homeroom teacher. As a Chunin, teaching these children was easy enough. The trouble was that children were naturally mischievous, and children who knew ninjutsu were even more of a headache. Still, Iruka's voice had little effect. The boys had all taken their seats, but the girls were still looking at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, why are you wearing sunglasses too?" Iruka asked, remembering Shino's example.

Sasuke rested his chin on one hand, turned to look out the window, and said, "I use them to hide my sorrow."

"Wow..." The girls began screaming. Iruka choked, coughed, and shouted, "Turn your heads around and pay attention in class!" Just as he finished shouting, something slammed hard into his back, nearly knocking him face-first onto the floor. When he turned around, he saw Naruto, who was still groaning there.

"Naruto, you're late again." The noisy morning passed just like that, and Iruka began class. Sasuke grew sleepy after listening for a while. This was too easy. Forget his adult soul—even the original Sasuke would not have been interested in listening. Better read. Thanks to his photographic memory, Sasuke rapidly read through his textbooks while keeping his Sharingan activated. However, he could not maintain it for long, so he had to rest for a while before activating it again. He repeated this cycle until the day he could keep his eyes activated without any discomfort.

The material in the books was very simple, all basic ninja knowledge. It was not yet time for practical training; that would probably begin in the third year next year. But he could not follow their pace. First, he would learn the theory, then go home and practice applying it.

At that moment, he thought of a problem. His Chakra reserves were not as great as Naruto's, so he needed to learn Chakra control in the future. Like Sakura, he had to precisely control how much Chakra he used, wasting not even a trace. He should also start wearing weights. Never mind how people said it would affect his physical development—this was the ninja world of Naruto. The children here were formidable, all right? It would not only train his body, but also strengthen his willpower.

Sasuke used class time to finish reading the year's textbooks. He also found the old textbooks in his desk and read through them again, then made up problems for himself to calculate. Do not forget, he had studied accounting, so he was quite good at mathematics. Calculating things like Shuriken trajectories was easy for him. Most of the other content concerned wilderness survival and ninja rules. To put it bluntly, there was not much use in learning it now. They would teach it again during future missions. Only when the body remembered these things could one be considered qualified.

The bell for noon dismissal rang, and it was time for lunch. The Academy did not provide meals. Sasuke walked out of the school gates wearing his sunglasses, headed for the Barbecue Restaurant. Naturally, he would eat at his own restaurant. He had used up quite a bit of Chakra that morning, all from activating the Sharingan. After lunch, he could train for a while.

"Shino, let me treat you to barbecue as thanks for giving me these sunglasses." Sasuke saw Shino as he left the school gates.

"Although your invitation makes me very happy, I must go home for lunch. But..." Shino looked at Sasuke. He always waited until halfway through speaking before looking at someone.

But Sasuke had already left when he heard that Shino could not go. He waved and called, "Then next time." Shino lowered his head again, apparently cursing Sasuke once more.

When he arrived at the Barbecue Restaurant, the food was ready: rice, grilled fish, barbecue, soup, and finally vegetable salad. Sasuke had taught them to make that. There was no mayonnaise, so they used other sauces instead. The important thing was the refreshing taste. It was very popular at the Barbecue Restaurant. Greasy barbecue needed to be paired with salad, and it even let customers eat a little more.

After eating, Sasuke began training and refining Chakra. From then on, whenever he had time, he would refine Chakra morning, noon, and night, because that was how many martial arts novels described it. Internal energy needed to be cultivated during those three periods of the day. Sasuke also had a plan: every time he trained, he would spread Chakra throughout his entire body, even into meridians that did not need to be used. Internal energy cultivation emphasized opening the twelve primary meridians, then the eight extraordinary meridians, and finally the Governor and Conception Vessels. But he did not know what any of those were, so he might as well open everything. Even if they were useless, he could still nourish them. It would be even better if they could store more Chakra. His cultivation was rather haphazard, but there was no harm in it. Nourishing his meridians, bones, and muscles could not be wrong. Besides, Chakra was not internal energy. Their properties and methods of production were fundamentally different, so there was no danger. As for the results, he could only wait and see.

Because he had not consumed much that morning, he refined Chakra quickly at noon. It did not take long before he felt his Chakra was full. However, his physical energy and mental strength had been greatly depleted. His body began demanding energy, and the food in his stomach was rapidly consumed. That counted as aiding digestion, right?

The afternoon classes made him feel bored. He had already finished all the books, and his reading speed was too fast. It seemed he needed to borrow some books from Konoha's library. Otherwise, how would he get through his days? Hopefully, there would be enough there for him to read.

During the break, the boys swarmed out of the classroom. They needed to play. Sasuke decided to take a nap. He had no interest in playing games with children, and if he just sat there, he would be stared at again. A nap was better. Sure enough, his nap helped him fend off the girls' assault. It also slightly replenished the mental energy he had expended, allowing him to stay up later that night and train a little more.

School life was truly leisurely, especially now that there was no war. There was no sense of tension at all. He really did not know how the youths in the other villages had endured it. Compared with Konoha, they were practically living in hell. The leisurely day passed, and Sasuke hurried to the library. Fortunately, school ended early enough that the library had not closed yet.

The librarian's help was necessary. Sasuke quickly found some books on basic ninja knowledge. Right now, he needed the fundamentals. The development of any ninjutsu required a foundation. Naruto did not count, of course. He was completely winging it, without any basis whatsoever. If not for his strong body and that fox, he would have died ten times over already.

Carrying a pile of books, he returned home. The servants had prepared dinner, and afterward they could go home. They did not need to stay there at night. After eating, Sasuke began refining Chakra, then returned to his room and practiced the Three-Body Stance. To avoid being discovered, he had to train in his room every night. This was the Uchiha Family Estate, and it had a barrier. The Third Hokage could forget about spying on him.