Small Note

Kashima Isamu's final decision regarding Gekko Hayate's failure to complete his homework was to have him submit a make-up essay today. As for the matter of Gekko Hayate getting beaten up...

Kashima Isamu wasn't stupid; how could he not tell that the ones who beat up Gekko Hayate were the very students who had just pleaded for leniency on his behalf?

Although Gekko Hayate's grades aren't great, his emotional intelligence is actually quite high.

Kashima Isamu thought to himself, then spoke up, "Alright, let's begin the lesson! Today, we will discuss the Trap Manufacturing Principles!"

"Iruka, is Ito Ni's dream really to be a chef?" Gekko Hayate, having escaped disaster, asked Iruka in a low voice while pretending to listen intently to the lecture.

Iruka replied, "Ito Ni... ahem, Ito-kun's family runs a sushi shop. He grew up in that shop and is determined to become the best sushi chef in the village."

Gekko Hayate was puzzled. "Then why does the teacher seem to value him so much? Is he really fond of eating sushi?"

"No, it's because Ito Ni... Ito-kun has the best theoretical knowledge in our class." Iruka covered his forehead, pained. "Gekko Hayate, please stop giving Ito... Ito-kun such messy nicknames."

Gekko Hayate glanced at him sideways. "You say it just as naturally as I do."

"I do not!" Iruka was embarrassed and angry; he was a man of principles!

Just then, the person sitting in front of Iruka suddenly tossed a small note backward.

Iruka was startled. He picked up the note, opened it, and his face immediately displayed a colorful expression. Then, following suit, he looked at Gekko Hayate with a sideways glance.

"What are you doing?" Gekko Hayate instantly felt a thick sense of malice radiating from Iruka.

"It's for you." Iruka handed the note over.

Gekko Hayate was stunned: What is the meaning of this? Am I being confessed to?

Gekko Hayate silently opened the note and saw it written as follows: Gekko Hayate, don't you dare run away during afternoon training!!!

"Hmm?"

Gekko Hayate raised an eyebrow. These three exclamation marks didn't look like a confession.

Then, the person sitting in front of him also tossed a small note down.

Gekko Hayate subconsciously caught it and opened it: Gekko Hayate, one-on-one this afternoon!!

Three black lines appeared on Gekko Hayate's forehead: Which bastard is stirring up trouble?

But before he could lock onto a "suspect," one note after another began to be passed from all directions. Adding the first two, there were a total of fourteen!

One had to realize that their entire class only had 30 students!

Gekko Hayate read through them one by one; they were all out to get him.

Gekko Hayate covered his head. His heart felt so tired.

"Hanfu, are you alright?"

Iruka asked, feigning concern while suppressing a laugh, though the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide.

"I just want to be a low-key handsome guy. Why is it so hard?"

Hanfu rested his chin in his hands, secretly relieved that he had fully mastered Ninja Tool Throwing last night; otherwise, he would have been in for another beating this afternoon.

However...

These bronze-tier kids are truly stubborn. Fine, Brother Hanfu will teach you a lesson in how to behave today. Once you enter society, you'll thank me.

But there was still one problem.

Would Kashima Isamu be suspicious of his sudden, massive improvement in Ninja Tool Throwing?

Hanfu thought about it. No, he had to finish the essay and hand it in quickly. It would be best if he could make Kashima Isamu "see" his talent for Ninja Tool Throwing!

With that thought, Hanfu immediately dug a notebook out of his drawer. Realizing he didn't have a pen, he hurriedly borrowed one from Iruka.

Up at the front, Kashima Isamu was rambling on about the technical points of trap-making, while down at his desk, Hanfu was writing his insights on Ninja Tool Throwing with great flourish.

For Hanfu, who had already fully mastered Ninja Tool Throwing, writing a five-hundred-word essay was a piece of cake.

In less than forty minutes, Hanfu had finished his essay.

When the break arrived, Hanfu immediately took the essay to find Kashima Isamu.

Kashima Isamu read through it once, a look of amazement appearing on his face. He praised him without reservation: "Hanfu, I never expected you to have such deep insights into Ninja Tool Throwing!"

Hanfu said modestly, "It's all thanks to your teaching, Teacher."

"No matter how well a teacher teaches, it's useless if you don't listen."

Kashima Isamu spoke with a hidden meaning. The fact that Hanfu could write such insights so quickly could only mean one thing... he hadn't been listening to the lecture at all, but had been burying his head in writing his essay instead!

Hanfu gave an awkward smile.

"Alright, go back."

Kashima Isamu didn't say anything more and waved for Hanfu to return to the classroom.

Back in the classroom, Hanfu found everything normal, but remembering the fourteen small notes in his desk, he smiled silently to himself, thinking that he should eat a bit more at lunch to have the energy to beat people up.

During the following theory classes, not only was Hanfu uninterested in listening, but half the class was also distracted, silently waiting for time to pass.

Finally!

"Alright, that's it for the morning classes. Class dismissed."

Kashima Isamu looked at the restless students below and couldn't help but remind them, "Students, the Combat Training Class this afternoon will be instructed by Class 1's homeroom teacher, Hiramatsu Daishi. Everyone, be serious and don't cause trouble for Teacher Daishi, understand?"

"Yes!"

The group of bronze-level students shouted excitedly.

Kashima Isamu shook his head and turned to leave the classroom.

As soon as he left, the classroom immediately became lively.

Anko was the first to grab her bento and run to the back row.

"Hayate, you're done for. According to the latest intel, you're going to face over a dozen opponents in this afternoon's training class. The situation is dire!" Anko tried her best to put on a grave expression.

"Don't worry."

Hayate took out his sushi bento and hummed, "I am the strongest!"

"Eh? Sushi!"

Seeing the contents of Hayate's bento, Anko exclaimed in surprise, "Hayate, you're not eating rice balls anymore?"

Mentioning this, Hayate's face darkened. He pointed at the seaweed and sesame sushi in his bento and asked, "Anko, is there any difference between this sushi and a rice ball?"

"Of course there's a difference!"

Suddenly, an excited voice came over. It was none other than Ito Nipan, a student at the Ninja Academy who was working hard and struggling toward his dream of becoming a chef.

"How could a rice ball possibly be compared to sushi?"

Ito Nipan spoke with a look of displeasure, "Sushi alone can be categorized into Box Sushi, Roll Sushi, Futomaki, Hosomaki, Temaki, Uramaki..."

While speaking, Ito Nipan had already arrived at Hayate's desk and saw the seaweed and sesame sushi in his bento.

"This... this isn't sushi!"

Ito Nipan was furious, "Sushi isn't like this! You're being lazy, you've tarnished sushi! Sushi made like this is simply, it's just..."

"Soulless?" Hayate reminded him.

"Right, such sushi has absolutely no soul!" Nipan was very agitated.

Hayate was a bit confused and looked at Iruka, "What's wrong with him?"

"Hayate, I told you before, Nipan's family... cough cough, Student Ito's family makes sushi." Iruka said softly.

"I see."

Hayate looked down at the seaweed and sesame sushi in his bento and vaguely understood.

In Student Nipan's heart, sushi was likely sacred and inviolable; it was a faith, a dream to be chased for a lifetime. And these sushi pieces made by Keiko... well, there was nothing more to say. Hayate himself felt aggrieved too.

"In any case!"

Nipan glared at Hayate and said, "Gekko Hayate, prepare yourself for this afternoon's combat training!"

Nipan glared at the readers who didn't vote: Where are the recommendation tickets?!