Learning at the Ninja Academy

"Morning, Kimura!"

"Good morning, Hyuga!"

After two months of getting along, even though Hyuga Mirai did not think much of his cannon-fodder classmates, he had still memorized everyone's names, strengths, and grades.

Hyuga Mirai performed very well at the Ninja Academy. Whether in theory classes or tactical classes, his answers earned praise from the teachers. In shuriken throwing, Taijutsu training, and other subjects, he also ranked near the top.

It was not that he wanted to stand out. These bratty classmates simply had not realized the horrors of war and did not take Ninja training seriously. Among the Civilian students, playing around and competing with one another took up much of their attention, which meant it was difficult to see any improvement from them.

Besides, if he performed worse than these unmotivated Civilian students, he would be punished upon returning to the clan.

Unless a Civilian genius emerged among his classmates.

Compared to Hyuga Mirai's undisputed lead in Class B, the competition in Class A was truly fierce.

There were members of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family, the son of the Konoha White Fang, the Hokage's son, and the children of large and small clans throughout Konoha.

Although some came from minor clans, the politically savvy Third Hokage had still placed them in Class A.

Uchiha Obito was the same. His entrance scores had not even been as good as Hyuga Mirai's, but because he was the only Uchiha in this year's class, he had been assigned to Class A.

"Hyuga, have you heard?"

As soon as class ended, a girl with a bob haircut came up beside Hyuga Mirai and asked.

It's Koharu Junko. She sits at the front left. Her performance is average, and in Taijutsu training, she is neither particularly eager nor particularly lazy.

Information about the girl who had approached flashed through Hyuga Mirai's mind. Then he smiled and said, "It's Koharu. Did something happen?"

"It's the practical combat class, Hyuga. We're having practical combat class this afternoon."

Koharu Junko spoke to Hyuga Mirai cautiously, as though she were an underground operative making contact.

"Practical combat class? But we've only been in school for two months." It was a little too early. Some classmates probably could not even throw a shuriken onto the target.

Hyuga Mirai thought to himself. Forget shuriken throwing—what was there to see in a practical combat class for five- or six-year-old children?

Koharu Junko shook her head and said, "Not sure. It seems we'll be together with Class A. Haruko overheard it when she passed by Teacher Ishii's office."

"So it's with Class A."

If that was the case, Hyuga Mirai could roughly guess what the school—or rather, Ishii Ichiro—was thinking.

Among the students in Class B, aside from Hyuga Mirai, no one had yet received praise from Ishii Ichiro. If school had not only started two months ago, Hyuga Mirai suspected that this cold-faced teacher would have thoroughly berated every student in the class.

Use Class A's outstanding students to motivate Class B's Salted Fish.

That was probably Ishii Ichiro's plan.

After Koharu Junko gained the satisfaction of "telling others information they did not know" from Hyuga Mirai, she went to find other classmates and whispered in an extremely secretive manner, "Inoshita, did you know? We're having practical combat class this afternoon."

Hyuga Mirai ignored the commotion rising in the classroom and quietly considered the afternoon's practical combat class at his desk.

The children of major clans had begun refining Chakra long ago. Perhaps they had already mastered the Three-Body Technique.

Hyuga Mirai, however, had arrived in this world just as the original body's father had died, which had delayed him for some time. Later, with no one to guide his training, he had been exercising alone.

He also wanted to take this opportunity to see just how strong the students of Class A were.

Before long, the cold-faced teacher Ishii Ichiro came into the classroom to teach. The moment he entered, everyone fell silent in unspoken agreement. Faced with a Chunin teacher who had retired from the battlefield, these little brats did not yet have the ability to face him without changing expression.

"Looks like quite a few of you already know. That's right, you'll be having a practical combat class with Class A this afternoon. Teacher Kimori and I will supervise it together, and your results will be recorded."

After Ishii Ichiro finished speaking, he saw the excitement on every student's face. His expression immediately turned cold, and with a Bang!, he slammed the lesson plan onto the desk before speaking icily.

"To be honest, in this afternoon's practical combat class, I only have the slightest expectation for Hyuga Mirai. As for the rest of you, I hope you will recognize the gap between yourselves and outstanding students, then study and train hard. When you become Ninja in the future, perhaps you can make me proud instead of failing to even pass the Ninja Academy's graduation assessment!"

To the students in the class, those words were like a basin of ice water poured over their heads, instantly extinguishing the fighting spirit that had just flared to life.

Even their teacher did not acknowledge them. What was there to look forward to? Still, more of them looked toward Hyuga Mirai, some with envy and others with jealousy.

Ishii Ichiro did not care about these little brats' emotional process. If they could not even accept such a small blow, they might as well drop out early.

He was helping Konoha cultivate Ninja, not serving as a psychological counselor for children.

Hardly anyone could focus on the theory class that followed, but Ishii Ichiro did not care. This was his teaching method. Those who could not accept it simply had no talent for being Ninja.

Hyuga Mirai, however, listened very attentively. There was little he could do during class, so he had to ensure excellent theory grades. That was the foundation of becoming a Medical-nin.

Although many theory classes were useless, such as "In-Depth Analysis of the Will of Fire."

Soon, it was time for the afternoon practical combat class.

The two classes had a total of sixty students. Led by their teachers, they arrived at the Ninja Academy's training grounds one after another.

After some time to recover, quite a few of Hyuga Mirai's classmates had regained their composure. Their eyes were filled with defiance and fighting spirit as they repeatedly sized up the students of Class A.

Hyuga Mirai also looked toward Class A, though he was preparing to identify the future famous figures.

Although this class was not as impressive as the one more than a decade later, it had still produced a Six Paths-level powerhouse, someone who could force a fifty-fifty outcome through causality, the Ninja World's currency unit, and Konoha's Strong Fist master. There were quite a few famous people among them.

As for the others, Hyuga Mirai had paid considerable attention to them as well. He had not missed a single one.

However, his gaze caught the attention of the Main Family's Young Miss. She was the daughter of an Elder from the Main Family's main branch, Hyuga Kiyomi.

"Your class's students have quite a lot of fighting spirit."

Class A's teacher, Kimori Inaka, spoke to Ishii Ichiro.

Ishii Ichiro shook his head and said, "What use is fighting spirit? I don't hold much hope for them. It's enough to let these fellows see outstanding peers their own age."