Asuma Put On His Mask

Asuma Put On a Mask

The small woods behind the house.

"As a ninja, the most commonly used ninja tools are shuriken and kunai..."

Yuhi Kurenai said, imitating the way their class teacher lectured with a pompous sway of her head.

Shuriken, commonly known as throwing stars, were a type of thrown concealed weapon.

Kunai resembled throwing knives or daggers. They could be used as close-combat weapons or thrown concealed weapons.

These two ninja tools were essentials in the pouches worn at a ninja's waist.

There were also many advanced techniques, such as Shuriken Manipulation and the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

"Today, we're learning how to throw kunai."

Yuhi Kurenai took out a kunai as she spoke.

The real reason was that she had only recently enrolled. The Ninja Academy had only taught kunai throwing so far, and she was not completely confident in it either.

Especially in front of Hikawa, she felt a trace of nervousness, afraid that she would fail.

Yuhi Kurenai tightened her little face, then hurled the kunai with all her strength.

With a thud.

The kunai struck the wooden post but missed the target.

Yuhi Kurenai's face immediately reddened slightly.

Meeting Hikawa's gaze, she defended herself, "I... I was aiming outside the target."

Yeah, sure. Say a few more words and I might believe you.

Hikawa held back a laugh and nodded.

He had received professional training. No matter how funny it was, he would not laugh.

"Now comes the real kunai throwing!"

Yuhi Kurenai looked at the wooden post and threw another kunai with a serious expression.

Under the girl's prayers, the kunai struck the bullseye. It was a perfect score.

What was that? I'm actually pretty accurate.

Yuhi Kurenai could not suppress the curl of her lips at all as she asked, "Well? What do you think?"

She was truly adorable.

Hikawa smiled and praised her, "That was impressive."

"Your turn!"

Quite satisfied with how sensible he was, Yuhi Kurenai walked up to him and stuffed a kunai into his hand.

Hikawa held his breath and focused. With a flick of his right hand, he threw the kunai.

If nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected was bound to happen.

He did not hit the wooden post.

Yuhi Kurenai felt somewhat relieved at the sight.

It seemed that his talent points had gone into Chakra refinement.

Hikawa, however, felt that this was perfectly normal.

In his previous life, he could only skip a stone three or four times at most.

But it did not matter. He still had Talent Entries.

As long as he persevered until an Entry appeared, everything would get better.

"For your first time, it's normal to be a little inaccurate. Just keep trying."

Yuhi Kurenai comforted him as she took out another kunai.

Hikawa accepted the kunai and continued throwing.

Time passed bit by bit.

In less than an hour, Hikawa felt like his Body Energy had been completely drained. He plopped down onto the grass.

But he was in a wonderful mood, because the system had given him a new prompt.

E-Rank Talent Entry: Ninja Tool Throwing (Not Acquired).

Trigger Condition: Reach beginner level in shuriken and kunai throwing.

Current Progress: 1%.

A fine progress bar. It made my Emperor Engine start spinning.

Only shuriken and kunai were needed?

No wonder it was only an E-Rank Entry.

Hikawa panted, lost in thought.

"Your body's a little weak."

Yuhi Kurenai landed a critical blow as she said, "I can usually train for an entire morning."

"That's because I hadn't trained before."

Since it concerned his time, Hikawa felt he should explain.

But Yuhi Kurenai was right. This body was far too weak.

Though he had been a frail college student in his previous life as well, running a thousand meters for the fitness test had been no different from taking a punch from Saitama.

For ninjas, aside from Chakra and ninjutsu, physical training was equally important.

Moreover, Hikawa believed that training his body should trigger corresponding traits.

Just then, footsteps sounded.

"Dad!"

Excitement appeared on Yuhi Kurenai's little face.

She trotted over and took the Three-Colored Dango from Yuhi Shinko's hand.

"Here."

Rather than eating it herself, Yuhi Kurenai gave Hikawa a skewer first.

"Thanks."

Hikawa took a bite and found it cloyingly sweet.

He finally understood how Anko Mitarashi could end up in her sweet-potato form.

"You're still young, so you shouldn't train for too long."

Yuhi Shinko glanced at the wooden posts and the Kunai scattered around before saying, "That's enough for today. Get some proper rest. You still have school tomorrow."

School, huh.

Hikawa stared absentmindedly at Yuhi Kurenai as she stuck out her pink little tongue to lick the Three-Colored Dango.

He wondered which classmates he would meet.

As a fan of the original work, he was quite looking forward to seeing the supporting characters alive and in person.

As for the protagonists, they had not been born yet.

The next day arrived quickly.

Yuhi Kurenai was awakened by a familiar sound.

She got up, opened the window, and saw Hikawa practicing his Kunai throws.

He was working that hard?

Yuhi Kurenai's little mouth fell slightly open.

Although children in the Ninja World matured early, they were not usually this self-disciplined.

In her view, paying attention in class was already enough.

After class, though? After spending so long in lessons, one should enjoy oneself and play to one's heart's content.

Yuhi Kurenai bit her lip.

She felt the threat of being surpassed.

If she really lost to Hikawa, her dream of becoming the big boss would be crushed.

No!

It was as if flames were burning in Yuhi Kurenai's eyes.

"Morning, Kurenai."

Hikawa wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked toward her.

She wore white pajamas, her black hair slightly curled and somewhat messy.

Unfortunately, she was still too young and flat-chested.

In the original work, she had been a top-tier mature beauty.

"Kurenai, from now on, call me whenever you train!"

With both hands on her hips, Yuhi Kurenai said, "I can't let you secretly work hard all by yourself!"

"No problem."

Hikawa agreed with a smile.

Training alone was naturally nowhere near as good as training with a cute little girl. It was truly a feast for the eyes.

To clarify once again, he was not a lolicon.

"Kurenai."

After breakfast, Yuhi Shinko handed each of them a Bento Box and reminded them, "Remember to take Hikawa to meet the teacher."

"So annoying. You already said that yesterday."

Yuhi Kurenai pouted. "I know!"

"Goodbye, Uncle Shinko."

Hikawa said goodbye and followed the skipping Yuhi Kurenai.

As he walked, he looked around.

He had seen Konoha in anime in his previous life, but the real Konoha felt entirely different.

"Hm?"

Hikawa let out a soft sound of surprise.

A kid stood atop the wall to their front left.

He wore a white short-sleeved vest, his arms folded across his chest as he stared coolly at the sky.

Only when Yuhi Kurenai walked past without even looking up did he finally cough a few times.

"Asuma? What are you doing up there?"

Hearing the sound, Yuhi Kurenai noticed him.

Sarutobi Asuma was the second son of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

In the original story, he had married Yuhi Kurenai and was eventually killed by Akatsuki's Hidan.

Hikawa could not help raising an eyebrow.

Without that signature beard, he truly had not connected him to Sarutobi Asuma.

Was he already interested in Yuhi Kurenai at such a young age?

Though that was normal.

Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino had also begun pursuing Uchiha Sasuke back at the Ninja Academy.

Sarutobi Asuma leaped down and landed steadily.

He looked at Hikawa, shoved his hands into his pockets, and asked, "Kurenai, who's this? How come I've never seen him before?"

He had already noticed Hikawa while standing on the wall and felt a strong sense of crisis.

He would not allow anyone more handsome than himself to be around Yuhi Kurenai.

"He's Hikawa."

Yuhi Kurenai did not suspect anything and said, "He's a transfer student joining our class today."

"Oh?"

Sarutobi Asuma paused slightly and asked, "Then how do you know him?"

"Because Hikawa lives at my house."

Yuhi Kurenai tilted her head as she answered.

"...?"

Sarutobi Asuma froze on the spot.

Dude, I haven't even held her hand yet, and you're already living with her?

This hurt!

Sarutobi Asuma immediately put on an agonized expression.