Hit Him!

Nawaki silently rose to his feet, lowered his head, felt Minami Saho's gaze fall on him, and endured Shuji and Hiashi's betrayal.

"Sigh..."

With a helpless sigh, Nawaki honestly felt rather alone sometimes at the Ninja Academy.

"Teacher, I..."

Nawaki had wanted to beg Minami Saho not to tell Tsunade about this, but when the words reached his lips, he thought of the kind of things that bastard Shuji was capable of doing.

In the end, Nawaki merely sighed helplessly and said nothing more.

Me, Nawaki... I'm going to get beaten up again!

"Sit down first."

Seeing Nawaki like this, Minami Saho smiled helplessly.

"Okay."

Nawaki nodded upon hearing that and prepared to sit down with an uneasy heart, completely failing to notice Hiashi quietly extending a finger toward him.

"Poof!"

As a large cloud of smoke appeared, Nawaki simply... deflated before Shuji's eyes...

"Teacher, I report Nawaki for skipping class."

Hiashi stood up and spoke to Minami Saho with a solemn expression.

Looking at Hiashi's righteous appearance, Shuji blinked in confusion.

Then he looked at Minami Saho, whose smile had completely vanished, a low-pressure aura radiating from her entire body.

It was only a theory class. Skipping it was fine as long as he did not fail the exam.

But once someone openly pointed it out, the nature of things changed.

Shuji silently lowered his head, doing his best to reduce his presence.

As expected of you, Hiashi.

"No wonder Shuji is so strong."

Sitting cross-legged beside Shuji, Mikoto watched him train his Chakra control.

They had come here claiming they wanted to use this time for training, but after arriving, everyone had started resting first.

Only Shuji sat beneath the shade of a tree, training his Chakra control.

"Mikoto is amazing too. You awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan at just five years old. No matter how you look at it, you're a genius, aren't you?"

Upon hearing that, Shuji put away the wooden block in his hand. Doing something else while talking to someone was somewhat impolite.

"Yeah, I thought I was a genius too, until Shuji defeated me."

Mikoto pursed her lips quietly and looked at Hyuga Shuji before her.

"Would a genius like Shuji be highly valued by his clan?"

Before Shuji could say anything, Mikoto continued.

"Hm? Why do you ask that?"

Shuji looked at Mikoto, whose face carried a trace of melancholy.

Her desire to confide in someone was almost obvious at a glance.

"After awakening the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, I truly thought I was a genius. Even after Shuji defeated me, I still believed I was a genius."

Mikoto spoke softly, a hint of disappointment already entering her voice.

"Whether you awaken the Sharingan does not determine whether you are a genius."

Seeing this, Shuji pursed his lips and spoke softly to Mikoto.

If they were speaking purely of improved strength, Mikoto, who had awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, truly was a genius.

As far as Shuji remembered, even Uchiha Sasuke, the reincarnation of Indra's Chakra, had only possessed the Single Tomoe Sharingan when he graduated.

And that had been after his entire clan was massacred.

But in terms of innate talent, whether one could awaken the Sharingan was not actually a basis for judging an Uchiha's talent.

"Awakening the Sharingan only means you are a more emotional person and that you encountered something that made you feel pain."

Seeing Mikoto's somewhat bewildered expression, Shuji spoke softly.

"Yeah, I'm just a more emotional person. The reason I awakened the Sharingan was because I encountered something that made me feel pain."

Mikoto gave a bitter smile, lowered her head, and fiddled with the hem of her clothes.

"Something everyone else knows, yet he doesn't."

"Mm... Perhaps everyone focuses on different things."

Shuji pursed his lips upon hearing that and did not press further.

Judging from Mikoto's appearance and considering her age, Shuji could more or less confirm that this was probably a family conflict.

And since it was a family conflict, it was best for an outsider like him not to say too much.

"Aah!"

Just then, Nawaki's scream suddenly rang out. Shuji turned his head almost instinctively.

"Hiashi! I'm going to kill you!"

Shuji froze, watching Nawaki pounce like a madman at Hiashi, who was right beside him.

Turning his head instinctively, Shuji looked at Mikoto and saw the exact same confusion in her eyes.

What happened?

"Have you gone crazy?!"

Hiashi looked in astonishment at Nawaki, who had suddenly decided to fight him to the death.

"Once school's out, you'll know what happened!"

Nawaki snorted coldly and threw a fierce punch at Hiashi.

Maybe I, Nawaki, am definitely getting beaten up tonight, but before that, you definitely won't get away!

"What's going on?"

Activating Shunpo, Shuji instantly appeared beside Nawaki and grabbed his wrist.

"He poked my Shadow Clone to death!"

Nawaki immediately explained to Shuji.

Although Shuji had also betrayed Nawaki in the classroom, compared to Hiashi, Shuji was clearly much more lovable.

"Uh..."

Shuji paused, his expression strange as he looked at Hyuga Hiashi.

Hiashi's expression immediately stiffened. Facing Nawaki's gaze, which seemed ready to devour someone, he awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"What does what a Shadow Clone does have to do with me?"

Although he knew he was in the wrong, Hiashi still confidently shoved the responsibility aside.

"Hey!"

Nawaki's anger surged, but Shuji still held his wrist tightly.

Nawaki looked at Shuji in confusion.

"If I were you, I'd quickly make another Shadow Clone, go back to the classroom, and tell the teacher that you ate something bad last night and went to the bathroom today. Since you were afraid of delaying class, you used a Shadow Clone to attend in place of your real body.

"And most importantly, don't destroy Hiashi's Shadow Clone again."

Looking at Nawaki, Shuji gave him a solution.

"Huh? Will the teacher believe me?"

Nawaki froze and asked Shuji with little confidence.

"Are you going to do it or not?"

Shuji released Nawaki's wrist and asked in return.

"I'll do it!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Nawaki formed hand seals. Soon, his Shadow Clone sprinted toward the Ninja Academy.

"What next?"

After doing all that, Nawaki asked Shuji.

"What next?"

Shuji raised an eyebrow and looked at Hyuga Hiashi beside them.

Hiashi swallowed instinctively and took half a step back.

"Hit him."

"Yosh!"

Having received the answer he wanted, Nawaki's face immediately broke into a satisfied smile.