A King Hidden Within the Bronze

After lunch, Anko and Inuzuka Sa began gossiping, while Hanfu, Iruka, and the others were forced to endure these "rumors" while slumped over their desks.

Things like someone in the next class over was dating.

Or how a senior student in the upper grades hadn't controlled their strength during the morning's opening assessment and drawn blood.

Or how the top ten "school heartthrobs" among the freshmen had already been voted on.

Hanfu felt his scalp tingle.

"Hey, where do you guys even hear this stuff?"

Hanfu interrupted them in disbelief. They had been together all morning, so how did they suddenly know so much?

Anko rolled her eyes at him and said haughtily, "I heard it when I went to the bathroom just now!"

Hanfu's mouth twitched. Was the girls' bathroom... that magical?

You could gather that much intelligence just by squatting in there?

What was the point of the news headlines then?

Inuzuka Sa hugged her puppy, Shiromaru, and laughed. "Hanfu, even though we aren't official ninjas yet, we still need to pay attention to gathering the intelligence that is everywhere around us!"

Am I being lectured?

Hanfu felt a headache coming on.

"Sa, I heard that Uchiha from Class 1 really shone during the test!" Anko started gossiping again.

"Mm-hmm." Inuzuka Sa became instantly excited at the mention of Uchiha, her hands kneading Shiromaru so hard that she squashed the puppy's face into a bun.

"Wuu wuu..." The puppy Shiromaru was suffering.

Inuzuka Sa exclaimed excitedly, "And he's super handsome too!!"

"Exactly. He's strong, good-looking, and from the prestigious Uchiha clan. Lots of girls like him." Anko deliberately winked at Inuzuka Sa, teasing her, "I heard some people even started a fan club for him!"

"Ahhh, I want to join too!!" Inuzuka Sa jumped up and down.

"Wuu wuu..." The puppy Shiromaru whined and struggled, his head nearly being crushed by his little master!

Hanfu sat to the side with his chin in his hands. Hearing them, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. If Iruka weren't sitting right next to him, he would have thought he'd transmigrated into a high-stakes game.

Hanfu yawned, poked his desk-mate Iruka, and asked, "Who are they talking about?"

"Eh, you don't know?" Iruka looked surprised. "That guy is the most outstanding student in our entire grade!"

Hanfu asked lazily, "More outstanding than Yui?"

"Of course, there's absolutely no comparison!"

Hearing their conversation, Inuzuka Sa immediately jumped over and glared at Hanfu. "Yui is definitely no match for him!!"

"So, what is this Uchiha's name anyway?"

Hanfu sighed. He just wanted to know a name; was it really necessary for them to fawn over him like this?

"His name is... Uchiha Shisui!" Iruka said.

Hanfu's expression froze, and then he made a decision: I'm going to fawn over him too!!

Body Flicker Shisui, huh.

This was a big shot of the Uchiha clan, a wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Furthermore, his Body Flicker Technique and Kunai Throwing Technique were both top-tier in the ninja world!

If he could harvest just one of those, it would be enough for Hanfu to run rampant through the Ninja Academy!

No, he had to orchestrate a romantic encounter, accompanied by falling cherry blossoms and bright sunshine, and then take down Uchiha Shisui in one fell swoop and ruthlessly ravage—ahem, harvest him!

"With Uchiha Shisui's talent, I'm afraid he'll be able to apply for graduation from the academy by next year," Iruka said with a look of admiration.

"That goes without saying, he's the best!" Inuzuka Sa greatly appreciated Iruka's adoration for Uchiha Shisui.

Meanwhile, Hanfu, standing to the side, fell into deep thought.

Uchiha Shisui seemed to have risen to fame during the Third Shinobi World War while battling ninjas from Kirigakure, making the name Body Flicker Shisui resound throughout the ninja world. Moreover, his Mangekyo was awakened during that very war after witnessing the sacrifice of a comrade.

As of now, Konoha was already engaged in battle with Sunagakure along the borders of the Land of Fire. The Third Shinobi World War had already begun!

Although he didn't know the exact timing of the Kirigakure invasion, Uchiha Shisui likely wouldn't stay at the Ninja Academy for much longer.

It was possible that Uchiha Shisui would really choose to graduate in his second year!

In other words, there wasn't much time left for him to fawn over him!

He had originally thought this batch of students were bronze-tier, but who would have thought, who would have thought—there was a big fish hidden among the bronze!

This guy was definitely a challenger-tier player!

Hanfu took a deep breath. He knew he didn't have much time and needed to start preparing now.

During the afternoon classes, Hanfu couldn't take in a single word. His mind was filled with scenes of male-male protagonists meeting in the idol dramas of his past life.

I originally intended to get along with you all as an ordinary person, but all I got in return was alienation.

I'm done pretending. I'm a billionaire, I'm laying my cards on the table.

Is it my fault that I'm rich and handsome?

Huh?

It felt like something didn't belong here.

"Students, that is all for today's class. Class dismissed!"

The voice of the homeroom teacher, Kashima Isamu, suddenly rang out. "Be careful on your way home, you hear?"

"Yes!"

The students replied with excitement.

Class is over already?

Gekko Hayate, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality. He looked up at Kashima Isamu, who was about to walk out of the classroom, and on a whim, he blurted out, "Teacher, you haven't assigned any homework yet."

Swish!

In the next instant, every student in Class 8 turned their heads to look at Gekko Hayate. Their gazes were as sharp as knives, stinging so much that Gekko Hayate could barely keep his eyes open.

Kashima Isamu paused in his tracks, then turned around with a smile. "Ah, that's right, I almost forgot. So, today's homework is: everyone write a reflection on Ninja Tool Throwing, no less than five hundred words. Class dismissed!"

"Arghhh!"

"Gekko Hayate, I'm going to kill you!!!"

"Beat him up!"

Gekko Hayate's face twitched. Have I really incited the wrath of the masses?

It was Kashima Isamu who assigned the homework, what does that have to do with me? If you have the guts, go find him!

But the furious students were beyond reason and swarmed him.

Gekko Hayate hurriedly sought help from the other five members of his small group, but to his regret, aside from Iruka, Anko, Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Inuzuka Sa had already joined the crusade, charging toward him with fierce, menacing expressions.

"Stop right there!!"

Gekko Hayate grew angry. "Everyone here is an elite student of the Ninja Academy; we are people of quality! Is there nothing we can't... can't... can't we wait until I'm on my knees to talk about this?"

"Beat the crap out of him!"

At the entrance of the Ninja Academy.

Gekko Hayate had been standing there for quite a while, but he still hadn't seen his older brother.

Could his brother have been kept after class by the teacher?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Gekko Hayate saw a person in tattered clothes, bruised and swollen, walking toward him. Upon closer inspection, wasn't that his older brother?

"Brother, what happened to you?"

Gekko Hayate ran over nervously. "Did you get into a fight with someone?"

Hanfu was speechless, choked by his own words. He couldn't tell the truth; after all, he was a man who cared about his reputation.

"It's nothing. I just saw a student fall while I was heading downstairs, so I dove over to save him. I ended up tumbling down the stairs myself, but it's nothing serious. Don't make such a big fuss."

"Really?"

Gekko Hayate's eyes lit up. "Brother, that's amazing!"

"Keep it low-key. If Mom asks when we get home, just tell her exactly what I said." Hanfu waved his hand. "Let's go, time to head home, little brother."

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