Year

"Shuji! We're brothers with different fathers and mothers, but the same surname!"

While dodging Nawaki's attacks and stopping Hizashi from coming over to help, Hiashi shouted himself hoarse at Shuji.

"Mm, keep it up. I believe in you."

Shuji nodded casually at Wenyan's words, then turned and walked toward Hinagiku.

"Go buy some gifts that girls like."

As he spoke, Shuji pulled a thick stack of banknotes from his pocket.

"What's this?"

Mikoto looked at it and asked Shuji in confusion.

"He just got beaten up yesterday. If he gets beaten up again today, he might not be able to come to the Ninja Academy tomorrow."

Shuji watched Hinagiku leave with some helplessness and explained it to Mikoto beside him.

"With Shuji-kun around, it really makes one feel at ease."

Mikoto nodded gently and said to Shuji.

Shuji chuckled at that and said nothing more, merely finding a patch of shade to continue training his Chakra control.

Between friends, a joke once or twice was no big deal.

But if someone started taking it for granted, friends would become enemies.

As someone with the soul of an adult, Shuji could be carefree and laugh and fool around with Nawaki and Hiashi.

But he still needed to maintain the most basic sense of boundaries.

For example...

"Come over here."

Near noon, Shuji tucked the wooden block in his hand into his pocket and called out to Hiashi and Nawaki.

Bang!

The moment Shuji's words fell, Hiashi took Nawaki's punch head-on.

"Hiss... That really hurts..."

That punch made Hiashi's face flush. Clutching his lower abdomen and bending over, he sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Nawaki blinked blankly at the sight before him. Honestly, he himself had not expected that punch to hit Hiashi.

Did this idiot not know how to dodge?

"You're not angry anymore, right?"

Only after quite a while did Hiashi recover. He straightened up as much as he could and asked Nawaki.

"Hmph! Angry? Why wouldn't I be?"

Nawaki snorted disdainfully and looked down at Hiashi.

"Oh, then keep being angry."

Hiashi raised a brow and slowly walked toward Shuji.

"Hmph."

Nawaki silently cursed at Hiashi's back a couple of times, but he did not attack again. Instead, he walked toward Shuji as well.

"The Ninja Academy is probably almost out by now. Here, take these."

When the two approached, Shuji handed Nawaki and Hiashi some gifts he had just prepared on the ground.

"What are these?"

Nawaki accepted the gifts Shuji handed him with a blank expression and asked in surprise.

"Is there something you need my help with?"

Before Shuji could speak, Nawaki continued asking him.

"If I needed your help, would I have to give you gifts? These are for Minami Saho. Take them to the office and properly ask the teacher for forgiveness. Maybe then your sister won't beat you tonight."

"Really?"

Nawaki froze for a moment, then a smile of relief after surviving a disaster appeared on his face.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Nawaki ran straight toward the Ninja Academy.

The apology went very smoothly. In the end, it was only a desk; it had never been a big deal.

As for skipping class, honestly, that was not even much of an issue at the Ninja Academy.

Of course, that did not mean ninjas considered theoretical knowledge unimportant.

On the contrary, theoretical knowledge was very important.

Before reaching the level of the Mangekyō Sharingan, ninjas needed to know how to disguise themselves, how to use their surroundings to hide, and how to set an excellent trap.

All of that was extremely important knowledge. If used well, it was even possible to kill a target without ever showing one's face.

For example, Nawaki in the original timeline had once become such a target.

However, using the Shadow Clone Technique to skip class was not a problem.

Or rather, students capable of using the Shadow Clone Technique were generally already qualified to graduate early.

So, strictly speaking, Nawaki had not committed any serious mistake.

It was only because Nawaki's shadow clone had exploded right there in class that it had been harder for people to accept.

And Nawaki had directly brought Hyuga Hiashi and Shuji along to apologize to Minami Saho.

Naturally, Minami Saho would not hold onto the matter stubbornly.

"I won't tell Lady Tsunade this time. But if there's a next time..."

"There definitely won't be a next time!"

Before Minami Saho could finish, Nawaki declared to her with a resolute expression.

"Mm, go get some rest."

Minami Saho nodded and indicated that Nawaki could leave.

"Once I become Hokage, I'll pay you back this money."

Inside the Ninja Academy, Nawaki said to Shuji.

"Hokage? Then forget it..."

Shuji froze, glanced at Nawaki in surprise, then shook his head.

"Hey! Are you looking down on me?"

Nawaki immediately asked Shuji in displeasure.

"Ah... You can't even understand that? How are you going to become Hokage?"

Shuji blinked and asked Nawaki in return.

"Hey, if you don't want to pay, then just say so. What do you mean, pay me back after becoming Hokage..."

Hiashi, standing nearby, could not help reaching out to poke Nawaki's shoulder, his expression hard to describe.

"I can't help it. My sister absolutely can't find out about this, and all my money is with her."

Nawaki spread his hands helplessly.

"So the teacher meant she'd give you the money once you became Hokage?"

Shuji blinked and asked Nawaki in confusion.

That should not have been the case. With Tsunade's personality, how could she possibly give Nawaki money?

Or rather, how could Tsunade possibly have any money on hand?

After all, she was Konoha's famous legendary sucker...

"No. Once I become Hokage, she won't be able to beat me."

Nawaki clenched his fist before his chest and declared with a determined expression.

"I see..."

Shuji nodded and said nothing more.

Life at the Ninja Academy was bound to be the most leisurely period of Shuji's life, and the time when he had the most free time.

During this period, the only thing Shuji needed to do was train.

Whether it was the increasingly bloody mission environment caused by the rise of militant factions in the Shinobi World's various villages.

Or the hidden storms of bloodshed beneath Konoha's surface, none of it had anything to do with Shuji.

And amid that calm yet immensely fulfilling life, a year passed in the blink of an eye.