Ninja Sparring

Seeing the boys from the entire grade swarm madly toward the doorway, shoving aside the girls who had originally lined up to welcome Uchiha Hirohiko, Chiba stared blankly, forgetting even to bite into his bun.

What was going on? What kind of spectacle was this? Had all the boys gone insane?

The girls were shoved about unsteadily, and some even fell. One girl's best friend immediately lost her temper, planting her hands on her hips as she cursed, "What are you boys doing? Are you in such a hurry to reincarnate? Can't you see you've run into someone?"

Then came waves of complaints from the other girls.

But the boys seemed fanatical, completely ignoring the girls' grievances as they crowded around the entrance.

"Excuse me, please make way." Then, a polite yet distant voice rang out from within the crowd.

"The Young Miss spoke to me! She spoke to me!" One boy cheered ecstatically, setting off a chain reaction.

"Young Miss, let me carry your bag!" someone fawned.

"Young Miss, please, you must accept this." Someone bent over and offered her a letter.

"Young Miss..."

The boys fawned over her in every possible way. Someone had even handed her a Love Letter.

Chiba slowly took a bite of his bun, astonishment in his eyes.

Who was this person? She had such a huge presence, and she was even a Young Miss. Was this really the Naruto World? Why did this feel like the beginning of some romantic comedy?

"Excuse me, please move aside." Clearly, the Young Miss was a little unhappy now, and her voice had turned colder. "I will not accept affection in any form. Please take back your Love Letter. And if you have so much energy to flatter girls, you would be better off spending more effort practicing ninjutsu. I hate men who refuse to improve themselves."

As soon as those words were spoken, that icy voice shattered the little boys' defenses, piercing their fragile hearts like a sharp sword.

Holy crap! Could people really turn to stone here?

In Chiba's eyes, the little boys had clearly stiffened one by one into white plaster statues, all with black lines hanging behind their heads.

Then, a young girl stepped out from the crowd. Her silky, flowing hair cascaded all the way to her waist, swaying gently as she walked.

Her pretty face was as cold as frost, her features as exquisite as those of a porcelain doll. Her Byakugan was especially eye-catching.

Chiba's eyes widened slightly. Wasn't that Yukina? She was in the same grade as me?

Then Chiba suddenly remembered.

Of course she was in our grade. This girl was the second-ranked genius ninja in the entire grade, second only to Uchiha Hirohiko. She was also a genius prospect the academy had high hopes for.

One of the people most likely to graduate early!

No wonder she looked so familiar! Chiba blinked, suddenly feeling that he had truly gone mad developing Eight Gates Mode.

He did not even recognize the first- and second-ranked students in his grade. No, he barely had any impression of any of his classmates. Even Chiba himself wondered whether he had really come here to attend school.

Still, judging by her appearance, her injuries should have healed without issue.

Chiba also breathed a sigh of relief and took another bite of his bun. As he looked at Hyuga Yukina, she noticed him as well. Her steps halted as she had been about to find a seat, and she looked toward Chiba.

Chiba was blankly taking a bite of his bun when Hyuga Yukina suddenly revealed a faint, almost imperceptible smile. Then she turned away and found a seat near the middle.

To everyone else, it merely looked as though she had casually glanced in this direction.

Hyuga Yukina took her seat, leaving a crowd of little boys to continue petrifying.

But Chiba froze.

Hyuga Yukina's smile seemed to say, That's great. You're all right.

Turning his head away, Chiba curled his lips upward, forcing himself not to grin foolishly. Then he cursed himself for being so useless, for being healed by a seven-year-old girl. How disgraceful! Yet in his previous life, he had suffered endless bullying and loneliness, finding comfort only in anime. After crossing over, he had still been alone, receiving only cold looks and indifference from others. Even if Chiba was a transmigrator, he was still human—a social creature who always needed someone to care about him. A warm current rose in his heart nonetheless.

However, Chiba quickly composed himself, because Teacher had entered. Seeing the little boys petrified at the classroom entrance, he found it slightly strange, but class was about to begin, so he did not think much of it. He merely said, "Hurry back to your seats. Class is starting!"

At Teacher's words, the little boys snapped out of their daze. They dejectedly found seats, all tactfully avoiding the middle area where Hyuga Yukina sat. Yukina still wore a frosty expression, with a hint of seriousness about her. She did not care in the slightest that no one sat beside her.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Teacher placed the textbook on the podium and announced loudly, "Today, we will be holding Ninja Sparring."

Ninja Sparring? Chiba, who had been habitually preparing to lower his head and sleep, suddenly looked up.

We were doing Ninja Sparring today? Didn't that mean I couldn't sleep? What about my training tonight? I hadn't slept all night.

Chiba's first thought was that this would not do.

But then he reconsidered. Wait, that wasn't right! If I wanted to become someone the village would focus on cultivating, then... wasn't Ninja Sparring the perfect opportunity? Chiba had already opened three gates. In terms of taijutsu, who at the Ninja Academy could be his opponent? Wasn't Ninja Sparring the time to show himself off?

At that moment, Teacher announced again, "All right, everyone, come with me to the Training Ground."

With that, all the students rose and filed out in an orderly manner.

"Ninja Sparring... Sigh, Dad and Mom are going to ask about it again when I get home!" one boy said with a miserable expression.

"Yeah, this Ninja Sparring will probably be Hirohiko and the Young Miss's domain again."

"There is not much to fight over. Hirohiko will definitely take first place again."

The girls, on the other hand, were rather excited, chattering away about how they would get to see handsome Hirohiko's cool victorious figure again!

As he walked at the very back of the group, Chiba frowned.

I remember this was the first time we were holding Ninja Sparring, right? Why were they saying "again this time"? Had there been previous matches? Chiba tried hard to recall, only to find that he seemed to have no memories of Ninja Sparring. At the same time, he realized that aside from the class where he had forced his eyes open to learn the Three Body Techniques... he seemed to have slept through all the other classes!

Chiba twitched the corner of his mouth and suddenly thought of a possibility: perhaps Ninja Sparring had been held during one of the classes when he was asleep. He had slept through it and never gone, and as such an insignificant nobody, even Teacher had failed to notice that he was still asleep instead of attending...

All Chiba could do was smile bitterly.

At this moment, Hyuga Yukina secretly glanced at Chiba. The veins from the corners of her eyes to her temples slowly faded as she deactivated her Byakugan.

His chakra reserves were very ordinary, but... that enormous pit...

Hyuga Yukina withdrew her gaze, her delicate brows furrowing slightly.