School Life

Once inside the house, Hyuga Matsuba finished bathing and recalled his shadow clones. A wave of exhaustion hit him, nearly sending him to the ground.

"This jutsu is seriously twisted—no wonder it's one of the forbidden techniques." After resting in bed for a while, Hyuga Matsuba sat up straight.

Reviewing the past few days, he had already completed the jutsu recorded in Tsunade's book.

Hyuga Matsuba was clever. Once he learned the Fuinjutsu, a diamond-shaped mark would appear on his forehead. He subtly altered it, making the symbol grow on his back instead.

The shape of the mark also changed slightly, looking somewhat like a Three Tomoe Sharingan.

But he didn't do this out of fear of being caught learning the jutsu—he just thought the original mark was ugly.

A good night's sleep later, he woke up at dawn. Hyuga Matsuba summoned several shadow clones as usual to continue training, also having them compress the techniques of the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.

A long stretch of time passed, and Hyuga Matsuba grew somewhat familiar with this technique. Its mechanics were similar to the Empty Palm, but he hadn't acquired that one.

If knowing about Naruto beforehand meant he could grasp every move, then these things would be far too simple.

In short, compressing the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack was still difficult, requiring a massive amount of time—and this was even with the help of his clones.

After filling his stomach, packing up, and warming up, another school day began.

When he arrived at the destination, Hyuga Matsuba was actually the latest to show up. Even Uchiha Ken, who had been beaten up and sent to the hospital yesterday, came earlier than him.

"What's going on? There's still a long time before class starts." Hyuga Matsuba found it unbelievable.

"Damn! I didn't come willingly. I was sleeping soundly, and those two dragged me out of bed. Studying is exhausting." Wuchang was still half-asleep.

"Today's the real start of class! I want to become a ninja—how can I not take it seriously? You're so late, it's obvious you're not putting in the effort!" Nawaki started lecturing Hyuga Matsuba.

"I dream of becoming a ninja too! We need to study hard!" The Two-Tails grinned at Nawaki.

Hyuga Matsuba shuddered. Damn, what's wrong with these two?

Not dwelling on it, he sat down at his seat, chatted with Mikoto for a bit, then pretended to sleep again while refining his chakra.

The top priority now was to improve the quality of his chakra, so his strength could rise in a short time.

"Is Hyuga Matsuba feeling unwell?" Mikoto looked at her deskmate, who was lying down, lost in thought.

The teacher arrived quickly. Mikoto glanced at Ueno Juri and nudged Hyuga Matsuba with her elbow.

"Matsuba, wake up. Class is starting!" Mikoto whispered.

Hyuga Matsuba sat up and looked at the teacher on the podium. His Observation Haki had been active the whole time, so he had already sensed the teacher's every move, but he still thanked Mikoto: "I really owe you one!"

"It's nothing!" Mikoto showed a gentle smile, incredibly cute.

Hyuga Matsuba's heart raced. He muttered to himself, She's way too pretty. How can there be such a cute girl? Do I have a thing for little girls?

Bang! Bang!

The teacher knocked twice on the podium and spoke calmly: "Today we officially begin learning. This is your first step toward success. You'll spend five years at this school, and I look forward to you all achieving your dreams."

"Becoming a ninja isn't that easy. This isn't a game. I need to remind you of that now."

"Once you become a ninja, you'll definitely face many setbacks and difficulties. You can't imagine how hard the future will be."

"Your current task is to study hard. Listen carefully now, and it might save you from taking detours later."

Ueno Juri's gaze swept across every child's face.

But the students below were all busy with their own things, completely ignoring her.

"Sigh." Ueno Juri had expected this outcome. These were just kids, only thinking about becoming ninjas or Hokage someday, never considering the immense effort required behind it. It wasn't something you could just talk about.

"Do whatever makes you happy."

"Now, for our first lesson, the main content is the method of refining chakra. Chakra is extremely important to us. No matter what kind of ninja you choose to become, you need to learn this skill."

Once they heard the first lesson's content, the little brats instantly lost interest.

Only the studious Mikoto cooperated with the teacher below. The kids from other clans started looking for entertainment.

Some children without clans were learning this for the first time and listened attentively.

Ueno Juri was covered in exasperation, completely out of ideas. The kids from clans had already been exposed to this content, but the civilian children knew nothing, so the teacher still had to teach.

"Those who already know should still listen carefully. Even if you've learned it, don't disturb others. If it gets chaotic again, I'll have to make you stand in the hallway."

Hearing the teacher's words, everyone slightly restrained themselves, choosing to lie down and rest—the most common way to slack off at school.

The entire morning's lessons were all about chakra. By the time lunch break came, everyone felt liberated.

After that morning, the children's initial excitement and interest had vanished, their minds only on getting out early.

At lunch, most students chose to prepare their own meals. Since time was limited, bento boxes were the best option.

After Hyuga Matsuba took out his prepared food, even though everyone had already seen his enormous appetite, they were still startled by the sheer quantity of dishes.

After lunch, there was a short break. Afternoon classes included outdoor activities, arranged at the Training Ground.

"I reminded you all earlier to prepare your Kunai Swords. Now we'll learn how to use them."

With that, Ueno Juri pulled out a Kunai Sword. With a slight flick of her wrist, the sword flew out, precisely hitting a distant practice target, sparking the students' interest.

"Tch, when it comes to sword techniques, our clan is the best. What's there to show off!" Uchiha Ken, who had been beaten down yesterday, started trying to regain some presence.

He also took out his two swords and, just like the teacher had done, flicked his wrists. The two swords pierced through the center of the target one after another, completely shattering it.

No one had expected Uchiha Ken to pull off that move. It seemed the little punk who got ganged up on yesterday had some skill after all.

"What's there to brag about? Anyone can do that!" Nawaki refused to back down and threw his sword.

But the result was disappointing. Although Nawaki's sword hit the target, it barely grazed it, nowhere near the bullseye. Nawaki's face turned bright red.