The next day, on the way to school.
Hayate walked ahead alone, carrying his lunchbox. His cheeks were puffed out, and he looked furious.
The five-hundred-word essay about the Transformation Technique had taken him a full three hours the night before. By the time he finally finished, it was almost half past eight!
A wave of guilt washed over Hayate, and he hurried to the backyard to practice his swordsmanship.
Meanwhile, Hanfu happily copied his little brother's essay—no, transcribed it—and then destroyed all the evidence!
Around nine, Hanfu called his little brother inside to go to bed, not giving him much time to practice swordsmanship.
And so, Hayate was sulking.
On the way to school, Hayate walked ahead the whole time without saying a word to Hanfu.
Hanfu didn't mind. They were kids, after all. Who hadn't gotten sulky before?
A little coaxing would set things right.
Once they got home after school, he'd teach him the Clone Technique, and then... make him write a five-hundred-word essay?
Yeah, this was some serious screen-time prevention!
When they got to school, Hayate was still sulking. He said goodbye to Hanfu with a fierce expression, then went to his own classroom.
Hanfu realized that little Hayate was actually kind of cute.
Especially when he was picking on him.
Hanfu went to his classroom and handed his homework to Ito Ni first thing.
Ito Ni took the homework, then suddenly called out to Hanfu. "Gekko Hayate, we have a Theory Exam tomorrow morning. I..."
"Want to spar tomorrow afternoon?"
Hanfu knew exactly what he was getting at, so he rudely cut him off.
Ito Ni glared at him. "Tomorrow morning's Theory Exam, I'm definitely going to..."
"Duel in the afternoon?"
"The Theory Exam. I absolutely have to..."
"Duel?"
"I..."
Ito Ni was so frustrated. I'm talking about theory, and you keep bringing up sparring?
The two stared each other down. Ito Ni was upset, angry, and hurt. Finally, he huffed and turned away, deciding he'd never talk to Gekko Hayate again.
When Hanfu got back to his seat, Iruka was already there, sitting and smiling. "Hanfu, is it really okay to tease Ito Ni like that?"
"Hey! You're getting way too used to calling him Ito Ni, huh?" Hanfu teased.
"That's because you call him that all the time."
Iruka huffed, then couldn't help laughing. "But the nickname Ito Ni really does suit Ito Ni."
Remembering Ito Ni's earlier provocation, Hanfu asked, "Is there really a Theory Exam tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah. The Theory Exam comes after the practical test, but they don't have it at a fixed time," Iruka explained. "Hanfu, how well do you know the theory?"
Hanfu's head started to hurt. "What kind of theory will they test us on? The stuff we learned in the last couple of days, or last year's material?"
"Of course it'll be last year's material," Iruka said.
Hanfu thought for a moment, then lowered his voice. "Iruka, about tomorrow morning's exam, um... um...?"
"Hm?" Iruka raised his brows.
"Yeah!" Hanfu nodded solemnly.
"Mm-mm!" Iruka shook his head.
Sigh.
Hanfu sighed. Even his deskmate wouldn't help him. Their friendship really was flimsy.
Luckily, Hanfu was pretty laid-back. Even if he failed the Theory Exam, he'd take it in stride. That kind of composure came from countless exams in his previous life. Ordinary people simply didn't have it.
That morning's theory class was taught by Kashima Isamu himself. When the bell rang, he walked into the classroom with a grave expression, carrying a stack of homework books.
There was no way the Transformation Technique essays they'd just turned in had already been graded. So these had to be the essays about Ninja Tool Throwing from last time!
"Class!"
Kashima Isamu glanced around, his voice heavy. "I know none of you like doing homework, but homework is the best way to show whether a student has been paying attention in class! Judging by your last essays on Ninja Tool Throwing, I found that a few of you weren't listening at all! I'm very disappointed!"
As he spoke, Kashima Isamu opened the top homework book and read, "The most important thing about Ninja Tool Throwing is to do whatever you want. Throw however you feel like... Whoever wrote this, stand up!"
A student stood up, looking wronged. "Teacher, during the practical sparring, I saw Gekko Hayate throw them just like that!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
Hanfu was furious. He was just sitting at home, and somehow trouble had fallen out of the sky and landed on his head. How could he get blamed for this, too?
Didn't that kid have a conscience?
Kashima Isamu pointed at the student, his hand trembling with anger. "You—you—you... The Ninja Tool Throwing essay was assigned on the first day of school. The practical sparring was the second day. When you wrote that essay, did you already know what would happen the next day? Rewrite your essay on Ninja Tool Throwing tonight. It must be at least eight hundred words!"
"Eight hundred? No, please, Teacher! I was wrong!" The student panicked. The five-hundred-word essay had already taken countless brain cells and hours of playtime. With eight hundred words, he'd be stuck at his desk writing all night.
"If you were wrong, then you need to write even more!"
Kashima Isamu pulled out another homework book and read, "Ninja Tool Throwing depends mostly on luck... Is that what I taught you?! Stand up!"
A student hesitantly stood up, but before Kashima Isamu could say anything, he admitted his "mistake" himself. "Teacher, my mom was sick when I was doing the homework. I had to take care of her, so I didn't have time to think and just wrote something down."
"Taking care of your sick mother?"
Kashima Isamu's lips twitched. "Were you taking care of her during class, too? Don't think I haven't seen through you! You also have to rewrite your essay on Ninja Tool Throwing. At least eight hundred words!"
"Yes..." The student sat back down, dejected.
Kashima Isamu went on to call out a few more unreliable students, making them rewrite their essays. Then came the praise.
"You should all learn from Yui, Ito Ni, and Inuzuka Sa. Look at how they wrote their essays. And Hanfu made the most progress this time, so he deserves praise. Let's give him a round of applause!"
Clap, clap, clap...
Clap, clap, clap...
The applause was sparse and tinged with resentment. Hanfu used to be the Dead Last, and now, all of a sudden, he was the kid everyone else's parents pointed to. Anyone would feel bad about that.
"I hope Hanfu keeps up the good work!" Kashima Isamu said, looking at Hanfu. "Hanfu, don't disappoint me in tomorrow's Theory Exam!"
"Uh..."
Hanfu felt awkward. He'd just decided to give up trying to pass.
Now Kashima Isamu had pulled this stunt. If Hanfu bombed the exam, wouldn't that make him look bad?
Hanfu's desperate will to survive began to kick in, and he turned to his deskmate. "Iruka..."
Iruka's talent was only average, but the fact that he'd become a teacher in the future showed he had a thorough and solid grasp of theory.
Iruka looked conflicted. "But Hanfu, that wouldn't be right."
His parents were both Jonin in the village, and they'd always taught him to be upright, honest, and aboveboard. Cheating was something he really couldn't accept.
"Iruka, that's not the right way to think about it!"
Hanfu said earnestly, "We'll become ninjas one day and go out of the village on missions. If we go to an enemy country to gather intelligence, we can't just obtain it. We also have to pass it along, so our comrades can get it back to the village safely and accurately, right?"
Iruka nodded without thinking. That made sense.
"So just think of tomorrow's exam as a mission. You gather the intelligence, then quietly pass it to me, and we'll complete this mission!" Hanfu said solemnly.
He wasn't just twisting the facts. The first part of Naruto's Chunin Ninja Exams had been about cheating, which was really just passing along intelligence!
Iruka hesitated for a while, but in the end, Hanfu convinced him.
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