One-on-One

When Hyuga Sho returned to his seat,

he immediately noticed something strange about his desk.

"Someone came by?"

Hyuga Sho took out a kunai and carefully poked around.

Then he found an envelope that fell out from inside.

It was purple.

"..."

Hyuga Sho's mouth twitched.

The first face that surfaced in his mind was Morino Ibiki's imposing visage.

Then came Uchiha Obito.

As he opened the envelope, Hyuga Sho let out a sigh of relief.

It turned out to be from Mitaraishi Anko, the wild-tempered girl in his class.

Originally, Hyuga Sho had considered her a potential challenge target.

But now...

Hyuga Sho shook his head.

He casually tossed the love letter into the trash.

Women would only slow down my punches.

She wasn't some all-purpose maid like Hyuga Natsu, who could make Heart Bento, clean up, take care of him, feed him, and do everything else.

The hallway during recess.

"Hey! Hyuga Sho."

Mitaraishi Anko called out to Hyuga Sho energetically.

He turned around and stared at her.

Fair skin, purple hair.

She was a remarkably pretty loli.

But aside from that, she gave off a dangerous feeling.

"Did you... read the letter?"

"I did," Hyuga Sho replied casually.

"You... don't have anything to say?"

"I threw it in the trash." Hyuga Sho pointed toward the classroom.

Pfft~~~~~~!

Mitaraishi Anko broke into a violent coughing fit.

"Throwing it in the trash doesn't mean anything..."

she muttered to herself.

Then, she raised her head and looked at Hyuga Sho again. "Let's go home together after school! We're headed the same way!"

"There's only one school gate. Of course we're headed the same way."

Hyuga Sho shook his head.

His expression seemed to say, You're really strange.

Mitaraishi Anko: "..."

"I have something to do. I'm leaving."

The ruthless Training Machine, Hyuga Sho, quickly returned to the classroom to make his plans.

And just like that,

Mitaraishi Anko was left standing there in a daze.

Her first love and her first love letter had been mercilessly crushed.

In fact,

Mitaraishi Anko was not the first girl to gather the courage to confess to Hyuga Sho.

It was just that,

like Anko, they had all been rejected by Hyuga Sho.

Until they demonstrated some particular usefulness,

Hyuga Sho would have no interest in them.

"Hey, Mitaraishi Anko."

Shiranui Genma and the others, who had been watching from the side, walked over with wicked grins.

"Did you come to laugh at me?!"

Mitaraishi Anko spun around and glared viciously at the boys.

"Uh... don't misunderstand. We want to invite you to discuss a plan to beat Hyuga Sho up. We've been sick of that brat for ages..."

After school.

Hyuga Sho and Hyuga Mami walked out of the campus.

Strangely, a whole group of people followed behind them today.

More than ten minutes later...

A small river, flowing water, a park.

"Is there something you all need?"

Hyuga Sho stopped. The area was silent, with only the sound of river water flowing past his ears.

Hyuga Mami also stopped and turned around, her gaze sweeping across the scene.

"Mami... ah, no, Young Lady Hyuga."

This time, Ebisu had learned his lesson.

He adjusted his round black sunglasses, a smug expression on his face.

"We're here to spar with Hyuga Sho. This has nothing to do with you..."

He waved a hand, signaling for Hyuga Mami to leave.

"Sure."

Hyuga Sho nodded firmly. There was actually such a good thing?

He looked around.

Ebisu, Yamashiro Aoba, Namiashi Raidō, Mitaraishi Anko, Shiranui Genma, Tada Iwashiro.

Along with two other boys,

there were eight of them in total.

Interestingly... Sarutobi Asuma and Yūhi Kurenai had come too, though they stood apart from the others.

"Kurenai and I are just here to watch."

Sarutobi Asuma shook his head, his face practically screaming, I'm a spoiled young master.

Perhaps ten or twenty years from now, Asuma would become a man capable of standing on his own.

But as a child...

who wasn't a little brat?

"Hyuga Sho... we want to one-on-ooooone you~~!"

Ebisu put particular emphasis on the words "one-on-one."

"Then come on."

Hyuga Sho assumed a stance, ready to fight.

"No, don't misunderstand..."

Ebisu imitated Hyuga Sho, using the same tone Hyuga Sho had used in Ninja Tool Throwing Class that morning.

"I'm not going one-on-one with you... I mean... you're going one-on-one with all of us."

At that moment,

other Ninja Academy students happened to pass by the riverbank.

They curiously looked over at what was happening.

"What are you looking at?!"

"Get lost!"

"Watch it, or we'll beat you up too!"

In no time, the eight elementary students had scared everyone else away. Looking at their arrogant, swaggering manner, it was as though they could poke a hole in the sky today.

"Interesting."

Hyuga Sho smiled.

The scene before him

reminded him of his elementary school days in his previous life.

"Come at me together. I'm in a hurry."

Everyone froze for a moment.

Then they laughed furiously. "Get him!"

Ebisu charged in first.

With a slight exertion of force, Hyuga Sho kicked out, sending Ebisu flying backwards with an "Ughh~!"

Then,

facing the attacks of Shiranui Genma and Tada Iwashiro, Hyuga Sho struck out with both hands and caught their fists.

Then he twisted hard—

"Ahhh~~!!"

"Waaahhh~~!"

The two cried out in pain as their arms were twisted out of shape.

"Yah!!"

Mitaraishi Anko's sharp cry came from behind him.

Hyuga Sho spun and kicked.

Leaf Whirlwind!

That kick landed squarely on Mitaraishi Anko's face.

It kicked her pretty cheeks into a distorted mess.

Mitaraishi Anko spun through the air before finally rolling onto the ground.

Konoha Senpu!!

Namiashi Raidō swept out with a low kick, stirring up gusts of wind.

At that moment,

Hyuga Sho had just landed, so his footing was bound to be unstable.

Nearby, Hyuga Mami's eyes widened as she watched. A hint of change appeared in her ethereal expression.

Perhaps

she believed Hyuga Sho was about to suffer.

"Hmph..."

Namiashi Raidō sneered, a smug look appearing on his face.

Bang!!

D-Rank Taijutsu: Konoha Senpu hit.

As a variation of Leaf Whirlwind,

Konoha Senpu specifically targeted the lower body.

It could knock an enemy off balance with one strike, leaving them at the user's mercy.

Namiashi Raidō had indeed landed the kick.

Yet the scene he had imagined, with Hyuga Sho losing his balance, never happened.

Instead, Namiashi Raidō, whose kick had struck Hyuga Sho's body, felt as though he had kicked an iron plate!

He could not move him in the slightest!

Moreover, an unimaginable rebounding force came from the surface of the other's body.

The shock made Namiashi Raidō lose his own balance!