Soseki's Scraps of Clear Water

Chapter 17: Clear Water · Scum · Soseki

Seeing many new students "provoking" them with their gazes, the delinquents sitting on the third-floor railing were all displeased.

"Bastards, what's with the look from those brats?"

"Hmph, do they think we won't dare to deal with them just because they're the Hokage's sons?"

Despite saying this, their words lacked conviction, and their eyes kept drifting towards the person in the middle.

"Shūnen, what do you think we should do?"

"You're the rising star of the Uchiha clan, you can't lose to someone from the Sarutobi clan!"

In their eyes, although the Sarutobi clan had the Third Hokage as their backing, it was still no match for the prestigious Uchiha, renowned throughout the ninja world since the Warring States period.

Moreover, they didn't believe that a scuffle between children would cause any substantial conflict between the two great clans.

The young man named Shūnen appeared somewhat hesitant. His father had instructed him not to clash with anyone from the Hokage's faction at school.

The principles and pride he had been instilled with since childhood made it impossible for him to understand why the Uchiha, Konoha's foremost prestigious clan, should yield to others. However, his father's insistence left him no choice but to agree.

It was also based on this point that he ended up associating with these "companions" and used bullying the weak to mask his own lack of confidence.

However, he would absolutely not voice the weak excuse his father had mentioned.

After a moment's thought, Shūnen shook his head and said, "Although I'm not afraid of Asuma, there's no benefit to it. They've already learned to stick together, and we might end up facing a small group of dozens of people."

"No way? A bunch of new students already know how to stick together?"

"They probably just look tough. If they really get into trouble, maybe they'll still back down?"

In fact, they were already starting to hesitate.

For most students who couldn't use Ninjutsu yet, the deterrence of numbers was quite effective.

They only relied on the strength of their small groups to bully and dominate at school; even older students from higher grades rarely dared to provoke them.

Thinking of this, the dissatisfaction in their hearts gradually dissipated, and they said somewhat listlessly, "Lucky for them. Later, we'll go 'borrow' some money from those second-year guys."

"But it seems like those cowards in the second year have also started sticking together."

"It's fine, we'll just find the easiest ones to bully. Besides, there aren't any monstrous geniuses among the second-years like those new students. With Boss Shūnen here, they wouldn't dare to step up for anyone else."

On the training ground.

"Quick, stop Asuma! Don't let him get a chance to use the Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Damn it, we're at a disadvantage because we don't know Ninjutsu!"

"Don't worry, we have our class representative on our side too!"

"Soseki, I definitely won't lose to you this time!" Asuma dribbled the ball, five figures constantly changing positions as he charged towards Soseki.

"Haven't you noticed, you've gained an extra one?" Soseki said with a smile.

"Huh? What?" Asuma was confused and instinctively kicked the ball towards another version of himself.

After receiving the ball, the fifth "Asuma" didn't advance further. Instead, he smiled eerily, "Asuma, thanks."

With a "bang," the fifth "Asuma" transformed into Soseki's appearance and quickly dribbled the ball back.

"Was the one talking to me a clone... Damn it, when did that happen?" Asuma was annoyed. If Soseki hadn't disturbed his mind with his words, he should have been able to notice it at the last moment.

Soseki didn't choose to dribble the ball and go for a solo attack. Instead, he kicked the ball to his teammate. Even though these teammates frequently lost the ball, he still patiently provided support.

To him, individual heroism like Asuma's was not advisable, although it might be the best approach for victory.

Just as the match was heating up, a little girl from their class ran over in a hurry.

"It's bad, it's bad! They're fighting in the classroom!"

However, Soseki didn't see any panic on her face. Instead, he saw an eager excitement, as if she had stumbled upon some juicy gossip.

"Is this level of hint enough?" Soseki had already guessed what happened, but he still pretended to be surprised and asked, "Suzuki-san, what's wrong?"

"It's Yūhi Kurenai, Meigawa Kaoru, Hanako, and Yui, they're fighting!"

"Hmm? Why did they suddenly start fighting?"

"It's because Yui and the other two have launched the 'Class Representative Defense Battle'!"

"Eh!!!" As the words fell, everyone around looked at Soseki with strange gazes.

Although children in this world were precocious, it wasn't to the point where five or six-year-olds would be falling in love. In Soseki's opinion, such nascent emotions were more of a yearning, a yearning for beautiful things.

This beauty could be on various levels: appearance, form, personality, temperament, knowledge. These beautiful qualities would make people feel comfortable, naturally drawing them around those who were more outstanding.

And for children whose minds were not yet mature, they didn't know how to hide their emotions. Therefore, the occurrence of a "love triangle" wasn't something difficult to accept.

In fact, such things were not uncommon in Soseki's previous life. Thanks to his family's excellent genes, his nephew, who was still in kindergarten, had already complained to him multiple times about how difficult his harem was to manage.

Of course, with Soseki's abilities, he could completely prevent such a situation from happening. The fact that it had evolved into the current situation was something he had orchestrated from behind the scenes.

"Sigh, to deceive the feelings of even a five-year-old loli, I'm truly a scumbag." With this thought, Soseki returned to the classroom.

As soon as I entered, I heard the chaotic shouting and crying coming from the classroom.

"My head hurts so much, woo woo woo~"

"Ah! Hanako isn't responding anymore!"

"What? Hanako's not breathing?"

"What? Hanako's dead?"

"Roar, hurry and tell Teacher Yagami!"

Two little girls were sitting on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, while another little girl lay quietly to the side. Kurenai sat at her own desk, looking lost, her large eyes clouded with mist.

As for the surroundings, they were filled with onlookers stirring up trouble.

After a few glances, Soseki had already deduced the general course of events.

It was likely that Hanako and two others, relying on their numbers, had intended to cause trouble for Kurenai. However, Kurenai was, after all, the top genjutsu talent among Konoha's normal prodigies, so she was naturally not someone three ordinary girls could handle. With one genjutsu, she had managed to turn the tables.

However, Kurenai had clearly underestimated the power of genjutsu. For children with immature minds, genjutsu was significantly more dangerous than other ninjutsu. It was fine for Yui and the other girl, who only experienced mental strain, but Hanako, with her slightly weaker resistance, had directly fainted.

Moreover, unlike the elite female ninja she would become in the future, Kurenai at this moment was just a little girl with some talent. Naturally, she was completely panicked when faced with such a situation.

Seeing Soseki enter, Kurenai instinctively ran forward, grabbed Soseki's clothes, and sobbed, "So, Soseki, I, I might have killed someone. Please arrest me!"

Soseki smiled and comforted her, "Things aren't as bad as you think. Hanako has probably just fainted."

"Is, is that true?" Like a small animal afraid of being abandoned by its owner, Kurenai looked at Soseki with wide eyes and asked.

The people in the classroom also noticed Soseki's arrival. As if they had found their backbone, they swarmed forward, explaining what had happened to Soseki in a jumble of words.

Soseki spread his hands, his voice gentle yet powerful, "Everyone, don't worry, I'm here!"

This short sentence seemed to possess infinite magic, instantly quieting the noisy classroom.

Seeing this, the young boys like Asuma felt envious. They wished they had such authority. The other little girls looked at Soseki with admiration, waiting for his "performance."

Thanks for the 2600 reward from Unlimited AFK, 1500 reward from Kaiyang, 1000 reward from Sanyuwumengsheng a, 1000 reward from Budao a, 500 reward from Yishengren, 400 reward from I'm Not a Big Shot Huaji, and 100 reward from Qingyigongzi. Also, wishing all the big shots a happy holiday—sincerely envious from a construction worker who also has to work on the eleventh (;`).