You're More Arrogant Than Me?

Kumonaka Torikaze scratched his head.

"Ah, no, I learned it a long time ago. It's just that everyone may understand Chakra differently, so I wanted to hear more about it."

Of course, Kumonaka Torikaze wasn't trying to put on some melodramatic "top student" act.

He really was just doing what he said—learning from other people's experiences.

After all, Cloud Release wasn't coming along very well, so he figured hearing how other people understood it might help.

Hearing Torikaze's answer, Izori Uchiha realized she'd casually judged him without even thinking.

She felt deeply ashamed. That had been so thoughtless of her!

"I'm sorry, Torikaze. I shouldn't have judged you so casually."

Kumonaka Torikaze waved his hand, letting her know it was fine.

"Did the teacher's lesson help you?"

"A little, but not much."

"Then you really are very talented, Torikaze."

Actually, Torikaze was only saying that because he didn't want the teacher to lose credibility in front of the class.

In truth, the teacher's lesson was far too basic to help him develop Cloud Release at all.

Once he'd confirmed that the lesson wasn't much use, Torikaze stopped paying such close attention.

He began chatting with Izori Uchiha on and off, and the two soon grew familiar with each other.

Torikaze hadn't expected this Uchiha genius to be so modest. She was actually very humble.

She also didn't have that desperate urge to show off that people associated with the Uchiha Clan.

That left Torikaze with a very good impression of her.

As they chatted, the first class came to an end. Judging by everyone's expressions,

most of them had learned how to extract Chakra.

Sarutobi Suiya had already told them what they would be doing for the rest of the day: trying to extract Chakra themselves!

This was something every academy class did. Extracting Chakra was a way to distinguish geniuses from ordinary students.

It usually took about a day to extract Chakra for the first time.

Gifted children, however, could succeed in just a few hours.

As soon as class ended, Maruboshi Kosuke walked over. "Torikaze, you must have extracted Chakra a long time ago, right?"

"Actually, no. I only extracted Chakra last month."

Kosuke asked, puzzled, "Don't children from clans usually learn about Chakra from an early age?"

Kumonaka Torikaze chuckled. "My clan only has one member per generation. I'm the only one left. My parents died in the line of duty two years ago."

Maruboshi Kosuke was about to apologize, but Torikaze cut him off.

He didn't mind, and Kosuke hadn't meant any harm, so there was no need to apologize.

"Enough about me. How about you? Did you understand the lesson?"

Maruboshi Kosuke scratched his head and grinned. "More or less. I understood everything about extracting Chakra. I can catch up on the rest by reading."

Kumonaka Torikaze nodded. Everything was written down in books, and reading more could only help.

Just then, a haughty voice rang out at the wrong moment.

"Typical commoners. You can't even learn something this simple. You might as well give up now. What business do you have trying to become shinobi?"

The whole room fell silent in an instant. Torikaze didn't even need to look up to know—

It had to be that evil Uchiha Clan!

"What did you say?!"

Maruboshi Kosuke slammed his hands on the desk and shouted.

"Kyō Uchiha! Don't think I won't beat you up just because you're from the Uchiha Clan! I'm not afraid of you!"

Fuming, he rolled up his sleeves and strode toward Kyō Uchiha, ready to teach him a lesson.

But Kyō wasn't the least bit afraid. Instead, he looked at Kosuke with a mocking grin.

Just as a fight was about to break out, Umino Ikkaku and Yuhi Shinku hurriedly grabbed Maruboshi Kosuke and held him back.

Seeing this, Kyō Uchiha laughed. "Hahaha! See? Even your poor friends know that nobody should mess with the Uchiha Clan in Konoha!"

Held back by his two friends, Maruboshi Kosuke had nowhere to vent his anger. "Shinku! Ikkaku! Let go of me! I'm going to teach this guy a lesson!"

Looking at Kosuke, who was trembling with rage, Kyō Uchiha gave him a disdainful look.

"How dare a mere commoner talk to me like that? My Uchiha Clan helped found Konoha. Who do you think you are?"

At those words, every commoner in the room looked furious.

They wanted to talk back, to teach that arrogant brat a lesson!

But the Uchiha Clan was simply too powerful.

No one dared to invite that kind of trouble. It could bring disaster down on their ordinary families.

Only the children of a few prestigious clans dared to stand up and speak on the commoners' behalf.

Most clans in Konoha had their own pride, but they had never looked down on commoners as much as the Uchiha Clan did.

Perhaps that was why the Uchiha Clan was so unpopular, and ultimately met its end in a massacre.

"The Uchiha Clan certainly made great contributions to the founding of the village. But what does that have to do with you?"

Kyō Uchiha froze at those words.

He wasn't considered a genius even within his own clan. He'd wanted to establish his authority over the commoners at school, but now it seemed someone had put him in his place instead.

Kyō Uchiha looked at Kumonaka Torikaze. His clothes looked quite elegant, but Kyō didn't recognize the crest on them. He'd never heard of the Kumonaka Clan, either, so he assumed Torikaze was a commoner.

"Oh? And who are you? Think wearing nice clothes makes you part of a prestigious clan?"

Kumonaka Torikaze wasn't angry. He just thought this little brat was way too arrogant!

As someone with a system, how could he allow anyone to be more arrogant than him?

"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that you're really arrogant, kid."

"After all, you weren't even a cell when Konoha was founded. You're using your clan's reputation to insult and discriminate against people. Are you just trying to make yourself feel important?"

"Acting like this won't make anyone respect the Uchiha Clan. You're only bringing shame on your family."

Kyō Uchiha's eyes nearly bulged out of his head!

What bothered him even more was that he had no idea why, but every single thing this kid said hit him right where it hurt!

And being lectured by a "commoner" made Kyō Uchiha even more furious!

"Nonsense! The law of this world is that the weak submit to the strong! You commoners were born to be ruled by us! If it weren't for—"

"Shut up, Kyō! You're disgracing the clan."

Torikaze had been about to keep arguing with the brat for another three hundred rounds.

But unexpectedly, Izori Uchiha cut Kyō off.

"Lady Izori, I—"