Confession

On the field, the fifteen students in Class A chased Hanfu around, throwing kunai, shuriken, and senbon as they went, then picking up the ninja tools they'd thrown and scattered across the ground. They were having a grand time.

Hanfu kept running toward Anko, Iruka, and the others, but unfortunately, those guys had no conscience to speak of. Whenever Hanfu got close, they scampered away, wanting nothing to do with him.

At first, Hiramatsu Daishi thought the students in Class A had planned to attack one person first. But now he understood.

"These kids are something else... Sigh."

Still, everything was within the rules, so Hiramatsu Daishi didn't step in.

Though Hanfu was busy running, he kept an eye on the people chasing him.

Their stamina varied, so the students chasing him had formed a long line. And since they had a limited number of ninja tools, they had to pick up whatever they threw, leaving the line broken and uneven.

A smile tugged at Hanfu's lips. You bronze-ranked nobodies, get an early taste of a king's firepower!

Hanfu stopped short and spun around a hundred and eighty degrees on the spot. As he dodged two kunai aimed at his shoulders, he used the momentum of his turn to hurl the two shuriken in his hands.

Pia-pia!

Two crisp impacts rang out, and two bronze-ranked students from Class A fell with a yelp, clutching their feet.

"Hm?"

Hiramatsu Daishi's eyes flew wide. "Was that luck, or...?"

"Charge!"

"Get Hanfu!"

When the students in Class A saw two of their classmates go down, they flew into a rage. They didn't even bother to pick up the ninja tools on the ground; they all swarmed toward Hanfu.

There was no way Hanfu would let them scare him. As he ran, he pulled kunai, shuriken, and senbon from his Ninja Tool Pouch and threw them at their lower bodies.

Piapiapiapia!

One bronze-ranked student after another got hit by Hanfu's ninja tools and fell. In barely half a minute, the long line behind Hanfu grew shorter and shorter, until at last only Ito Nipan remained, bringing up the rear because of his weight.

Ito Nipan gripped a shuriken, facing Hanfu with a slightly awkward expression.

At that moment, Nipan felt rather reluctant. They were all Dead Lasts in practical combat, more or less on equal footing—so why had Hanfu suddenly become so good?!

Hanfu smiled faintly and sent a senbon flying into Nipan's knee. Nipan's left leg went numb, and he dropped to one knee against his will.

"How is that possible?"

"You've got to be kidding!"

"Woof!"

"Nipan, are you guys putting on a show with Hanfu?"

Anko, Iruka, and the others from Class B were also stunned. Hanfu's series of moves had left them reeling, their heads spinning and their hormones all over the place!

Hanfu turned around helplessly. "Hey, hey, which side are you guys on?"

"Hanfu, watch out!!"

Iruka suddenly cried out.

Hanfu froze. An image flashed through his mind: a woman hidden beneath a high-collared coat.

Aburame Yui?!

Damn!

She's in Class A too. How could I forget about her?!

Hanfu's expression shifted. At the same time, something shot toward him from behind with a sharp whistling sound.

He didn't have time to turn around, so he flung a shuriken backward.

Clang!

The Ninja Tool Throwing skill he'd acquired from the Chunin Kashima Isamu didn't let him down. The shuriken he threw backward struck the senbon Aburame Yui had sent flying with pinpoint accuracy!

"What?"

Hiramatsu Daishi, watching from the sidelines, twitched.

Hanfu's ninja tool throwing had already surpassed the average level of Ninja Academy students by a wide margin—in fact, even their best.

He'd only ever seen one student this talented: Uchiha Shisui!

Could this student named Gekko Hayate really be Shisui's equal?

But that didn't make sense.

Hiramatsu Daishi was the Homeroom Teacher of Class 1, but he was friends with Kashima Isamu. Kashima had told him about Aburame Yui, whose talent in Class 8 stood out, and Ito Ni, whose talent was poor. He'd never mentioned Hanfu, whose grades were average.

But if Hanfu had poor talent, how could he be so good at throwing ninja tools?

Had Gekko Hayate been hiding his abilities all along?

Back on the field,

Hanfu broke into a cold sweat. He slowly turned around and found Aburame Yui standing beside Nipan. At some point, she'd caught up with him.

Yui had been running behind Nipan the whole time. With her naturally low presence and Nipan's build, Hanfu had unconsciously overlooked her. He'd nearly been caught off guard by her counterattack.

"Your presence is so low, it's making me—#4&%￥*@~@#%￥..."

Hanfu grumbled furiously.

"?" Aburame Yui looked confused, her lips moving slightly. "What?"

"I said..." Hanfu had just started when Anko's shriek cut him off.

"Charge! Yui's the only one left in Class A! Victory belongs to Class B!"

"Do your best!"

"Woof, woof, woof!"

As Hanfu watched in stunned disbelief, the bronze-ranked students from Class B, who had been keeping well away from him, charged resolutely toward the strongest student in Class 8, Aburame Yui, led by Anko. They surged forward with unstoppable momentum, risking everything!

Aburame Yui didn't have any pride to uphold. When everyone in Class B rushed toward her, she immediately raised both hands and crouched down to show that she was surrendering.

"Yeah! We won!"

"Class B is the best!"

"Woof!"

Anko and the others cheered and jumped around, bursting with excitement.

"Hey, you guys didn't do anything!"

Hanfu felt exhausted. What a bunch of actors!

"No way!"

"When did Hanfu get so strong?"

"His aim with those ninja tools was incredible. I just saw him wave his hand, and then my foot got hit."

"Can't believe the Dead Last beat me up today. Sigh."

The defeated students from Class A gathered together, their faces full of resentment.

"Same here. My knee still hurts." Nipan rubbed his knee and looked at Hanfu in the distance, who seemed completely fine. To be honest, he was a little envious. But before long, he felt ashamed of himself for being jealous. I'm going to inherit Konoha Sushi one day. I'm going to become the strongest sushi chef in Konoha and the entire Shinobi World. I don't want to be a ninja at all... Boohoo... I want to cry.

"Hanfu, what on earth happened to you over Summer Holiday?"

Iruka walked over to Hanfu, looking curious. "You've changed so much!"

"Yeah, yeah! What you just did was unbelievable!" Inuzuka Sa came over carrying a little puppy, Shiromaru.

"You're not even in the same league as us anymore." Izumo Kamizuki came over with his hands spread.

"Sorry, everyone." Hanfu knew he couldn't keep it hidden, so he decided to come clean. "For the past year, I've been pretending to be an ordinary person around you. But all I got in return was being called the Dead Last and laughed at. Fine, I'm done pretending. I'm a genius. I'm coming clean."

"..." Anko, Iruka, Inuzuka Sa, Izumo Kamizuki, and Kotetsu Hagane stared at him expressionlessly.

"Woof..." Shiromaru.

But before they could tease him, Hiramatsu Daishi walked over.

"Everyone did well, but you still need to keep working hard. So take a ten-minute break here, then we'll split into groups again for practical combat training! Gekko Hayate, come over here. I have something to ask you."

I've come clean. Aren't you going to vote for me?