Throwing Kunai

Uchiha Mikoto was truly a warm-hearted little girl; Hyuga Matsuba felt his heart stir, certain that this girl would grow up to be the type to make a virtuous wife and a good mother.

Uchiha Mikoto was not one to show off, yet she was very popular among the boys. Faced with such a steady and reserved girl, Hyuga Matsuba could not help but want to get closer to her.

Hyuga Matsuba had made up his mind: he would definitely win this girl's heart. As for that Uchiha Hikaru, he deserved to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life!

In this way, Uchiha Itachi, the child who would have been born to Mikoto and Hikaru, would certainly never appear, but that was of no concern to Hyuga Matsuba.

Objectively speaking, Hyuga Matsuba was not very interested in that Uchiha Itachi; he always felt they were not the same kind of people and would never walk the same path.

Uchiha Itachi treated the village as the most important thing, but Hyuga Matsuba only cared about himself and those he deemed important.

Uchiha Itachi possessed great fame, yet Hyuga Matsuba did not particularly like him, nor would he pass judgment on the actions of the Itachi-god.

It was simply a difference in values; their standards of evaluation were different, leading to discrepancies in their philosophies.

However, in Hyuga Matsuba's heart, as long as his loved ones were not touched, other matters were irrelevant to him.

You may carry the world in your heart; that is your choice, but I only wish to protect myself and those I care about.

Hyuga Matsuba, who did not care for Uchiha Itachi, had an even worse impression of Uchiha Sasuke.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Uchiha Mikoto felt a little embarrassed.

"Why else? You're so beautiful that I keep looking at you subconsciously. The moment our eyes first met, I felt like my entire being had been captured by you." Hyuga Matsuba began his performance.

Hearing this, Mikoto felt even more self-conscious. She hurriedly lowered her head in shyness to stop Hyuga Matsuba from looking at her, her heart fluttering like a trapped deer.

Hyuga Matsuba continued to stare at Uchiha Mikoto, curious to see just how red her face could get.

Yet Mikoto was not angry; instead, she felt an inexplicable sense of happiness.

"You piece of work, abandoning your friends for a pretty face!" With his eyes full of the intimate interaction between Hyuga Matsuba and Mikoto, Nawaki finally couldn't help but shout.

"Nawaki, what are you saying? It's so boring for two boys to sit together. It's much more interesting to share a desk with Mikoto. Besides, isn't your desk-mate very handsome too? Go play with your little idol! Stop pestering me."

Hyuga Matsuba pointed at Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, who was sitting next to Nawaki.

"What are you talking about?" Nawaki seemed not to have processed it yet.

People in the Naruto World were generally high in emotional intelligence, but Nawaki was, after all, just a little brat who hadn't fully matured; he likely didn't grasp what Hyuga Matsuba was implying.

"Do you really need me to spell it out? I'm not gay! You should go hit on other boys instead." Hyuga Matsuba looked at Nawaki coldly.

"Who said I liked you?!" Nawaki jumped up in agitation.

"Fine, fine, I'll take the blame, alright?" Hyuga Matsuba nodded helplessly, putting on a cooperative facade.

It was the first time Nawaki had encountered such a situation, and he was so angry he couldn't even speak.

Namikaze Minato, who had just been singled out, looked as if he had swallowed a fly; he hurriedly scooted his chair away.

If he hadn't been worried about ticking off Nawaki, Minato would have sat elsewhere long ago. There weren't many people in the classroom, so it wasn't too late to switch seats.

"Hmph, don't you run off. I'm going to report you to Lady Tsunade and tell her about you hitting on little girls at school!" Nawaki shot a glare at Hyuga Matsuba.

Hyuga Matsuba didn't care in the slightest, still gazing at his little desk-mate.

Mikoto wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor. Why was he looking at her like that? She was a girl, after all—she would get shy!

Mikoto's skin is so thin.

"Everyone is coming in to report now, stop looking at me or I won't be polite!" Mikoto replied with a coquettish pout.

Hyuga Matsuba knew his limits; if he went too far, he would provoke Mikoto, and then it would all be over.

When she realized Hyuga Matsuba had actually stopped, Mikoto felt a strange, lingering sense of disappointment.

Time passed second by second, and the students called during the class assignments gradually found their way to the Class A classroom, including the two Hyuga brothers.

The moment Hyuga Hizashi saw Hyuga Matsuba, he didn't give him a pleasant look, though he dared not be too obvious—if he were bullied by Hyuga Matsuba again, how would he survive in school?

Hyuga Hizashi had been bullied by Hyuga Matsuba more than once, and he had developed a genuine fear of him.

Hyuga Hiashi swept his gaze over everyone and quietly sat down at the side with his brother.

Bored to death, Hyuga Matsuba lowered his head and rested on his desk, pretending to take a break while silently working on increasing the purity of the chakra within his body.

"Say that again?" Nawaki shouted in agitation.

"Didn't hear me? I said I'm the boss here. Who dares to disagree?" The speaker was a boy named Uchiha Ken, who also stood up, seemingly having gotten into a dispute with Nawaki.

The classroom fell silent, the air suddenly feeling frozen, but no one had a good impression of this Uchiha Ken, who had been arrogant the moment he arrived.

And those who seemed to dislike Uchiha Ken the most were Hyuga Hiashi and Nawaki.

The dispute between Nawaki and the Uchiha was also related to the grievances between their two clans; these things dated back a long time, and it was a long story—all sins committed by the previous generation.

However, both the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan had once claimed to be the strongest clan in Konoha, so everyone wanted to see for themselves which clan was truly better.

In this light, the relationship between the Hyuga and Uchiha clans was full of estrangement.

Currently, the Uchiha Clan was responsible for the police force in Konoha; this position was neither good nor bad, though it wasn't exactly favorable either.

If they were more flexible and knew how to be accommodating by offering benefits to others, other clans would feel compelled to repay the Uchiha Clan.

But this clan was famous for being rigid and incorruptible. Serving in a position that required such a delicate balance, they handled everything strictly according to the rules and regulations, punishing others severely every day, which alienated many other clans.

Consequently, the clan's reputation in Konoha was quite poor.

Things had reached such a wretched state that no one was even willing to engage with them, and they were met with cold glares wherever they went.

If you have a bad reputation yet still act arrogant and overbearing, you can't expect others to fawn over you just because you don't take them seriously; that is nothing but a pipe dream.

On this first day of school, Uchiha Ken failed to leave a good impression on anyone, and very few people liked him.

Hyuga Matsuba, who had been busy with his own affairs, looked over after hearing the commotion and found the guy somewhat interesting.

Always ready to watch the drama unfold, Hyuga Matsuba knew the whole story and also felt that Uchiha Ken was a total idiot.

"Are you close with him?" Hyuga Matsuba asked Mikoto, who was also from the Uchiha Clan.

Mikoto felt a bit embarrassed and whispered in reply, "He is the smartest child in our clan, but he never considers the consequences of his actions. Given his prominent background, he might even become our clan head in the future."

"I knew it, he's got quite the backing after all," Hyuga Matsuba said, looking at Uchiha Ken with disdain.

"Right, he struts around our village as if he owns the place. None of us like him, and there aren't many in our entire clan willing to speak to him." After saying this, Mikoto frowned, making it clear that she disliked the boy.