Bathed in the bright morning sunlight, Veigar hurried toward the Ninja Academy early.
On his first day of school, he had no intention of being late.
Before he even reached the school gates, Veigar spotted Tomohisa Ishikawa standing there in the distance. He walked over and greeted him, "Good morning, Teacher Tomohisa!"
"Long time no see."
When he saw Veigar, Tomohisa Ishikawa gave him a happy smile and said, "Veigar, come with me. I'll take you to meet your new homeroom teacher."
Veigar replied, "Yes, sir."
Following behind Tomohisa Ishikawa, Veigar asked, "Teacher Tomohisa, aren't you our homeroom teacher this term anymore?"
Tomohisa Ishikawa turned around and answered with a smile, "Because of a work reassignment, I received an appointment from Lord Hokage. I'll also be teaching a first-year class."
"Another teacher from the academy will take over your current class."
"By Lord Hokage's order, your new class is Second-Year Class One. I'm taking you to meet Teacher Kaoru now."
Veigar continued asking, "Which first-year class are you teaching, sir? If I have any questions about my training, can I still come to you?"
Tomohisa Ishikawa said, "Of course."
"I'll be teaching First-Year Class One this time. You're welcome to come find me whenever you like."
A warmer smile appeared on Tomohisa Ishikawa's face as he said, "Veigar, I'm actually very grateful to you!"
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity."
Veigar pretended not to understand and asked, "Why are you grateful to me, sir?"
Tomohisa Ishikawa shook his head without answering.
But Veigar knew perfectly well that Tomohisa Ishikawa's new class was an elite class, not the commoner class he had taught the previous year.
For Tomohisa Ishikawa, this was an opportunity worth seizing.
After following Tomohisa Ishikawa into the teachers' office, Veigar met his new homeroom teacher—Kaoru Iwabe.
"Teacher Kaoru, this is Veigar. I'll be entrusting this child to you from now on."
Standing before Kaoru Iwabe, Tomohisa Ishikawa led Veigar forward and addressed her with a smile.
"Hello, Teacher Kaoru. I'm Vega Koshima. Please take care of me."
Kaoru Iwabe likewise responded with a smile, "Sorry for the trouble, Teacher Tomohisa."
"If you run into any difficulties with your new class, we can discuss them together."
Then Kaoru Iwabe turned to Veigar and said, "I'm Kaoru Iwabe. I look forward to working with you, Veigar!"
Because of work, Tomohisa Ishikawa chatted with Kaoru Iwabe for a few more words before leaving Veigar there and turning to go.
After speaking with Veigar in detail for a while longer, Kaoru Iwabe waited until the class bell rang before leading him toward the classroom.
From far away, Kaoru Iwabe and Veigar could already hear the uproar inside. She had Veigar wait outside while she strode into the classroom.
"You lot, get back to your seats right now!"
Kaoru Iwabe shouted at the students who were still fooling around.
Among them was the class's Dead Last, Obito Uchiha, who came from Konoha's prestigious Uchiha clan.
Startled by Kaoru Iwabe's sudden appearance, Obito Uchiha hurried back to his seat, and the classroom fell silent as well.
Standing on the podium, Kaoru Iwabe called Obito Uchiha out by name. "Obito, are you trying to give your teacher a heart attack?"
"And it's only the first day of school, too. Can't you behave?"
As everyone watched Obito Uchiha get singled out, nearly the entire class snickered. Obito Uchiha's whole face flushed the color of pig liver.
"All right. Today, I'm going to introduce you to a new classmate."
With that, Kaoru Iwabe turned toward Veigar outside the door and said, "Come in!"
Veigar calmly walked up to the podium and composedly surveyed his new classmates.
Kaoru Iwabe said to him, "Veigar, introduce yourself and let everyone get to know you."
Veigar nodded and said, "Hello, everyone. I'm Vega Koshima. I hope that one day I can become a ninja who protects the peace of the village."
"I look forward to working with you all."
"Clap, clap, clap..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kaoru Iwabe led the applause. She then pointed to an empty seat in the classroom and said, "Veigar, you can sit there!"
"Thank you, Teacher!"
After answering, Veigar quickly took his seat.
"Now, let me tell everyone a little more about Veigar."
"I'm sure some of you have already guessed it. Veigar was the top student in the entire academy's exams last term—and he got full marks in every subject."
"I hope all of you will learn from Veigar in the future."
Those who had not yet guessed began turning to look at Veigar sitting calmly in his seat as Kaoru Iwabe introduced him.
However, with Kaoru Iwabe present, they did not dare make too much of a fuss.
Since it was the first class on the first day of school, they did not actually begin lessons. Instead, Kaoru Iwabe called several students to accompany him to collect this year's textbooks.
The moment Kaoru Iwabe left, a girl sitting beside Veigar spoke to him openly and naturally. "Hello, Veigar."
"I'm Shizune Kato. I look forward to working with you."
Veigar hurriedly replied, "I look forward to working with you too. You can just call me Veigar."
Before Shizune Kato could respond, Might Guy walked over and interrupted her.
"Veigar, I'm Might Guy. I look forward to working with you."
Might Guy gave Veigar an exceptionally bright smile as he spoke.
Veigar answered politely, "Hello, Guy! I look forward to working with you."
Annoyed at being interrupted, Shizune Kato said to Might Guy, "Guy, aren't you going back to your seat? The teacher will be back soon."
Might Guy paid no attention to what Shizune Kato said and continued speaking to Veigar. "Veigar, let's have a match!"
"I'll prove to everyone that even though I only know taijutsu, I can still defeat geniuses like you."
Looking at the blazing fighting spirit in Might Guy's eyes, Veigar gave an awkward smile and refused. "We're classmates. There's no need for a match."
If it had been someone with a bad temper—or simply someone else—being challenged by Guy upon their first meeting might have made them furious or caused them to turn and leave, taking Guy's words as a provocation.
But Veigar did not, because he knew that Might Guy could be considered an idiot in certain respects. He simply wanted to have a match with him.
In the future, this very same bowl-cut youth would be rejected by Hiruzen Sarutobi when he tried to join the Anbu, and rejected again when he tried to join Shimura Danzō's Root. Shimura Danzō even believed that he lacked "darkness" in his heart. Yet this youth would nearly kick his way into the grand finale.
He would make the whole world recognize him—a man who trained only in taijutsu—as Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy.
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