The Uchiha Who Had a Crush on Nawaki

"Could you all be a little quieter?"

At that moment, a stern voice came from the podium. That wild voice belonged to the dark-faced Teacher Nishimura.

The students below immediately fell silent.

"Um, Kushina, hurry and find an empty seat."

Teacher Nishimura had looked utterly unpleasant just moments ago, but when he faced Kushina, his face quickly broke into a beaming smile.

There was seriously something wrong with this Teacher Nishimura.

Seeing that Kushina had been personally brought here by the Third Hokage, he treated her like this.

Yet when facing us, the flowers of Konoha, he wore a fierce expression.

Standing beside Kushina, Teacher Nishimura quietly said to her.

"Anyway, be careful, Kushina. There are many problem children in this class. They're very troublesome. Stay away from those dangerous elements. You won't go wrong listening to me."

"Yes, I'll stay away from those dangerous people, Teacher," Kushina replied loudly.

"Keep it down, keep it down," Teacher Nishimura quickly waved his hands.

"Ahem. Anyway, hurry and go take a seat."

Standing at the podium, Kushina looked around for a while and found that there was only an empty seat in front of Uchiha Chen.

So she slowly walked toward that seat with her backpack.

"Hey, Chen, isn't that Nawaki's seat?"

Little Sun Minato quietly poked Uchiha Chen's arm and asked in a low voice.

"Yeah. But hasn't Nawaki been sold off by Teacher Tsunade to mine in the Land of Earth? It's fine. Uncle Nishimura didn't say anything, so it doesn't matter," Uchiha Chen answered softly.

"..."

So it seemed no one in the class really cared where Nawaki had gone. No one had even noticed that he had disappeared.

As expected of someone in the top ten of the "Least Noticeable Ranking."

Uchiha Chen looked at Minato.

"Minato, what did Lord Jiraiya teach you this past week?" Uchiha Chen asked.

Minato did not answer. Instead, he asked, "What about Lady Tsunade? What did she teach you?"

"Minato, you've changed. When we ate ramen that day, you said you'd tell me everything. But ever since you learned how to gather material from Lord Jiraiya, you've become like this." Uchiha Chen put on a betrayed expression.

"..."

At that moment, Kushina, who was sitting in front of them, took out her book. She pretended to read it while leaning against Uchiha Chen's desk.

"Morning, Chen," Kushina said softly.

"Mm. Morning, Kushina. Welcome to the Ninja Academy," Uchiha Chen replied.

Then he subtly gestured toward Mikoto and Minato with his eyes.

"Kushina is Nawaki's distant cousin. She only arrived in Konoha yesterday."

Kushina turned around with a smile. Her face was as red as a tomato.

She probably did not know how to greet strangers.

Seeing this, Mikoto, who sat beside Uchiha Chen, immediately understood. As expected of the considerate Mikoto.

While pretending to look at her textbook, she quietly greeted Kushina.

"Uzumaki."

"Y-yes. Is something wrong? Um..."

Kushina nervously turned her face toward Mikoto.

"My name is Uchiha Mikoto. Uzumaki, please take care of me."

"Ah, my name is Uzumaki Kushina. Please take care of me too," Kushina softly repeated her own name.

"Hello, Uzumaki," Minato greeted her as well.

"Mm-hmm, just call me Kushina," Kushina replied quietly.

"By the way, Chen, are you still feeling unwell?" Kushina asked.

"Ah, I'm fine now."

Uchiha Chen remembered Tsunade's fist and could not help curling his lip. The injuries Tsunade had beaten into him were mostly healed.

"Oh, right, Kushina, how is Nawaki? Has he been sent to the Land of Earth yet?" Uchiha Chen asked Kushina about Nawaki's whereabouts.

Teacher Nishimura, who had been lecturing at the front, suddenly fell silent.

When Uchiha Chen looked up, he saw Nawaki walk in with bandages wrapped around his face.

If he had to describe Nawaki's current appearance, he was probably not much different from the Second Tsuchikage. He was covered from head to toe in dense bandages, like a mummy.

"N-Nawaki?"

Uchiha Chen was startled by Nawaki's appearance. After all, they had only gone a few days without seeing each other, yet Nawaki had become like this.

"Hey, hey, Chen, don't suddenly make that face either, okay? Am I really that ugly? No, no, no, that's absolutely imposs—" Nawaki's mouth was wrapped in bandages, so he could only mumble at Uchiha Chen.

"Kushina, sorry. It's your first day at school, and you've already been left with a bad impression. Nawaki's ugly face must have scared you," Uchiha Chen said to Kushina, ignoring Nawaki.

"T-that's not true! Look at my spirited eyes, my resolute face, my well-defined body. No matter how you look at it, I'm not ugly, right? It should be said that I'm..."

"Now that you mention it, Nawaki, your outfit actually looks pretty good! I know someone who said they were very interested in you!"

"What? I never thought Chen would know such a tasteful friend! We have to confirm this properly. Who is it?"

"I think his name is Uchiha—"

"Uchiha? Which girl from your clan is it?"

"Liang!"

Uchiha Liang, the leader of the Uchiha Trio.

"..."

"Hey, you students over there, quiet down."

Just as Uchiha Chen was about to continue talking to Nawaki, a booming voice rang out.

"Yes, I'm talking about you! Quiet down!"

The dark-faced Nishimura at the podium could not endure it any longer.

It was one thing for you to wreck the classroom during breaks, but now you were talking during class too. Did you really think I was just a decoration?

"Nawaki, hurry and find a place to sit."

Teacher Nishimura banged on the lectern several times, warning Uchiha Chen's group.

Uchiha Chen had no choice but to shut his mouth.

Crack! Crash!

Suddenly, the lectern in front of Teacher Nishimura turned into a pile of wood chips. Teacher Nishimura looked embarrassed.

He had not expected it to collapse completely after just a few light taps. This would not get his pay docked, would it? Good grief, this could affect his ninja career.

"Um... I'll go get a new one to replace it. Students, please wait a moment. Nawaki, hurry and find an empty seat."

After saying this awkwardly, Teacher Nishimura quickly walked out of the classroom.

The moment Teacher Nishimura left, the classroom immediately became noisy.

"I told you already, the money for the school renovations was all embezzled by the principal," Uchiha Chen said.

Minato, sitting beside Uchiha Chen, gave a wry smile.

By then, Nawaki had already sat down beside Minato. His seat had been taken by his cousin Kushina, so he had no choice but to sit next to Minato.

Uchiha Chen now understood why Nawaki had become like this.

Tsunade truly was the one person among the Sannin who should never be provoked.