Learning How to Cheat?

"Is this what they call a love-struck fool, Aoba?"

Yuhi Kurenai nudged the absentminded Aoba with her elbow.

Interrupted, Aoba said helplessly, "No, what he's doing barely counts as being a simp."

"Then what does 'simp' mean?"

Kurenai's eyes lit up as she pressed for an answer. Even Namiashi Raidō beside her perked up his ears to listen.

Aoba: ...

Aoba regretted it a little. He had no interest in raising anyone, and after several years together, he had long regarded Kurenai as a little sister.

To keep Kurenai from becoming a widow like she had in the original story, he had started vaccinating her against it early.

He made sure she stayed away from blond—cough, stayed away from Sarutobi Asuma.

Fortunately, Asuma was still just a rebellious brat at this point, and Kurenai did not like him either.

On top of that, Aoba occasionally taught Kurenai some tricks for avoiding blond-haired guys...

Naturally, he had made them all up himself.

He had never dated in his previous life either. The only references he had were television dramas and novels.

Just as he was wondering how to explain it, Teacher Araki knocked on the blackboard and drew everyone's attention.

"Alright, class is starting. Before that, let's briefly discuss last month's exam results."

"The results are out. Everyone did quite well, which shows that you have correctly understood the Will of Fire. Three students received perfect scores."

The classroom immediately erupted upon hearing that someone had gotten full marks.

"Hatake Kakashi, Yamashiro Aoba, and Yuhi Kurenai received perfect scores."

Teacher Araki did not keep them in suspense and announced it immediately, encouraging everyone to learn from the three of them.

Learn how to cheat...

Aoba silently complained, feeling speechless at the Third Hokage's odd sense of humor.

Faced with the envious, astonished, and jealous looks around them, one remained expressionless while the other stared with dead fish eyes.

Only Kurenai looked thrilled. She even held her head high, looking like she was incredibly impressive.

As the two people present who knew the truth—

Teacher Araki: ...

Yamashiro Aoba: ...

"Next, our curriculum will change. We'll gradually add courses related to ninja training."

As Teacher Araki announced the new courses, the students' attention shifted again, followed by another burst of excitement.

It could not be helped. After studying the Will of Fire nonstop for a month, even Aoba was sick of it. He could idle away the time, but everyone else could only sit through class obediently.

"Now, turn to the first page of your new textbooks..."

"Chakra attributes..."

Teacher Araki then began explaining chakra, and even the afternoon activity classes were no longer limited to basic physical conditioning.

"This star-shaped thing is called a shuriken. This is a kunai..."

After the taijutsu instructor's explanation came ninja tool throwing practice. How to exert force through the wrists and fingers—all of it was basic throwing instruction.

But when practice began, everyone was dumbfounded, because the ninja tools handed out to them were all wooden.

Aoba was not surprised. If a bunch of little kids used real weapons right after learning, something was bound to happen.

The following practice went exactly as Aoba had expected. It was a complete disaster.

Besides throwing at targets, they also had to constantly dodge wooden kunai and shuriken flying in from every other direction.

Some children from ninja clans had already refined chakra. They would not be injured if they were hit, but it still hurt quite a bit.

The taijutsu instructor had long since slipped off to the side.

Of course, there were exceptions, such as Kakashi.

Wooden shuriken and kunai flew from Kakashi's hands one after another.

Tap, tap~

The wooden shuriken struck the kunai, adding force and driving the wooden kunai straight into the red bullseye.

"Wow!"

Several little girls nearby clapped in amazement.

While the other students could not even hit the target, Kakashi could not only strike the bullseye, but even embed a wooden kunai into it.

They were simply not on the same level.

It was a total crushing advantage.

Tap tap tap...

All three shuriken hit the bullseye, then fell to the ground.

Aoba had thrown those. Though they were impressive as well, they were not as stunning as Kakashi's.

That made quite a few people secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Kakashi alone had already put immense pressure on them.

"Whoosh~"

Kurenai faced a target and threw wooden shuriken with all her might.

The full-marks top-student buff had not faded yet. Not only had she listened more seriously in class that morning, but she was also working exceptionally hard that afternoon.

Aoba estimated that the buff would last another four or five days.

"System, get to work."

Aoba gave the Chip an order in his mind.

[Ding! Beginning recording.]

[Creating new folder: Ninja Tool Throwing Technique.]

As the Chip began operating, Aoba started slacking off.

He practiced throwing halfheartedly, occasionally giving Kurenai pointers on how to exert force with her hands.

[Ding! Simulating chakra circulation route!]

[Simulation successful. Optimizing...]

After a week, Aoba had gathered enough ninja tool throwing data. That was the advantage of the Elite Class.

The students either came from ninja clans or had active ninja in their families. No matter how poorly they learned at the Ninja Academy, elders would guide them at home.

By the next day, they could practice throwing with some semblance of skill. Their accuracy was still dreadful, but at least their weapons no longer flew everywhere.

[Optimization complete. Begin memory transfer?]

"Transfer!"

As soon as Aoba gave the command, a faint stab of pain ran through his brain, and memories of practicing throwing techniques for years appeared in his mind.

Aoba got out of bed and entered the courtyard. Targets and small training equipment were arranged beside the courtyard wall, making the place look like a miniature training ground.

They had been left behind by his former self's parents, after all, so Aoba had not touched them. Keeping them was a way to remember them.

With a flick of his hand, a wooden kunai appeared in Aoba's palm. Another flick, and it vanished. Then, with one more flick, three kunai were clamped between his fingers.

It had the feel of Sleeve Shuriken. In truth, it was just a sleight of hand, but it was extremely useful in actual combat. Used cleverly, it could even conceal hand seals and make them difficult for enemies to notice.

His wrist moved, and the sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

Whoosh~

Bang!

The wooden kunai exploded the instant it touched the wooden post.

[Movement deformation: 52.234%.]

[Excessive chakra output: 41.234%.]

The Chip immediately issued its warning.

Aoba frowned and walked over to inspect the wooden post. Nearly a third of the wooden kunai had sunk into it, while the rest had exploded into splinters.

Simulated memories are ultimately fake. There are still too many variables in reality—the wood's material, muscle movements, and chakra bursts are all different.

Turning those memories into reality still requires plenty of practice. Only by forming muscle memory can I avoid becoming someone whose skills cannot match his ambitions.

Still, Hatake Kakashi truly deserves to be called a genius. At such a young age, he can already master this force technique so easily.

And his technique differs from everyone else's, yet it is more concise. It can be used not only with the hands and feet; it seems to work with weapons as well.

Hatake Style Kenjutsu?!

Better not. Aoba chuckled and shook his head.

He knew better than to bite off more than he could chew. He had not even figured out ninja tool throwing yet, and he was already thinking about swordsmanship.

It seemed he had been getting a little too carried away lately.