I'll Get Embarrassed

After losing the duel and wetting his pants in front of everyone, Masamune Hyuga had his wound hastily bandaged. Feeling he had no face left, he returned home with red-rimmed eyes to tattle to his parents.

Shin Kiyono sighed. Masamune Hyuga and Uchiha Houka were both from Konoha's powerful clans. All he could do now was hope those two clans wouldn't come to blows over this.

"Perhaps I should report this to the Third Hokage." Shin Kiyono pondered as he returned to the training ground.

"Hello, Teacher Shin Kiyono!" Asuma Sarutobi came over with his classmates.

"Good. Now, let's begin training!" Shin Kiyono said at once, hoping to keep the children from gossiping and asking whether Masamune Hyuga had really wet his pants.

"A kunai has five basic uses: horizontal slashes, vertical chops, diagonal cuts, thrusts, and throws. Last semester, we learned how to throw them. Today, we'll practice the other techniques. Since this is close-combat training, everyone must be cautious!" Shin Kiyono said sternly. "Don't use all your strength, don't aim for your opponent's vital points, and don't..."

He gave them one instruction after another. Quite a few students were already getting dizzy-eyed and could barely keep track.

"Now, pair up and start practicing!"

Shin Kiyono waved his hand, and the students immediately grabbed their kunai and paired off to "fight."

"Behold, my Fuma Shuriken!"

"Hehe, behold my Super Fuma Shuriken!"

Quite a few classmates were already caught up in the fun, playing make-believe with great enthusiasm.

Uchiha Obito also pulled Houka aside to practice.

"Hey, Houka, if I'd known you'd get this good, I should've practiced seriously with you before." Uchiha Obito gripped his kunai and thrust it straight at Houka, but his speed was very slow.

That was no challenge at all for Houka. He casually shifted aside, blocked Obito's kunai with his own, and snorted. "You won't settle down and practice unless something gives you a shock."

"A shock? What kind of shock?" Uchiha Obito looked bewildered.

Houka's eyes drifted lightly toward Rin.

"What? Hey, Houka, don't you dare go after Rin, or I'll fight you to the death!!!" Uchiha Obito instantly gritted his teeth and glared viciously at Houka, looking ready to pounce and bite him.

"Hey, hey, we're only six. Is it really okay to say stuff like that?" Houka was nearly at a loss for words.

"I don't care. Just don't go after Rin!" Uchiha Obito shamelessly insisted.

Houka was about to answer when a scream suddenly came from nearby.

"Ahhh!"

"Huh? What happened?"

"What's going on? Who's screaming?"

"Look, someone's bleeding!"

"Oh no, someone got hurt by accident!"

A faint smell of blood drifted through the air. In the middle of the training ground, a child clutched his chest and writhed on the ground. Blood soaked his clothes, seeped through his hand, and soon ran onto the dirt.

Across from him stood a pale, white-haired child, still gripping a bloodied kunai in his right hand. He looked utterly panicked and shouted in his defense, "I-I didn't do it on purpose! I didn't mean to!"

"Mizuki, you!" Shin Kiyono appeared at the scene at once and glared at him before crouching to examine the child's injury.

The wound wasn't serious, but the child couldn't be moved carelessly, or it might tear open.

Shin Kiyono made his decision immediately, then stood and said to Asuma Sarutobi, "Asuma, don't let anyone touch him. I'm going to get a Medical Ninja right now!"

Then he immediately left using the Body Flicker Technique.

"Mizuki, what happened?"

"You bastard! If anything happens to Jingxia, I'll never forgive you!"

"Mizuki's so scary!"

"He did it on purpose!"

"Murderer!"

As soon as Shin Kiyono left, the onlooking students turned on Mizuki, shouting at him one after another, each sounding righteous and indignant!

Mizuki trembled all over, and the hand holding his kunai shook harder and harder. "That's not how it happened! I didn't do it on purpose! I didn't mean to! I didn't hurt him on purpose! I didn't, I didn't!!! Right, I remember now! Jingxia was spacing out and ran into me. It has nothing to do with me! It wasn't my fault!"

"Liar! You're making that up. You definitely did it on purpose!"

"Murderer!"

Houka watched coldly from behind. He suddenly remembered what Naruto had gone through as a child in the original story. When Naruto attended the Ninja Academy, the students around him had been just as cold. They'd seized on every mistake and relentlessly attacked him, kicking him when he was down, bullying him for fun, day after day, year after year!

But Naruto had the protagonist's aura. Even after being treated that way for so many years, he still stayed true to himself.

And Mizuki... Uh, Houka suddenly realized that Mizuki didn't seem any worse than Naruto. After all, Mizuki had also stayed true to himself all these years!

Jealousy!

Yes, jealousy was Mizuki's true nature. It was no small feat to keep feeling jealous for all those years, right up until the original story began.

What a stubborn little rascal.

"Ah! Look, Jingxia's bleeding even more!" Rin suddenly shouted.

"What?"

Asuma Sarutobi was startled and turned to look. Jingxia was pressing down on the wound in his chest over and over, making it tear open. No wonder he was bleeding so much!

"Idiot!" Asuma was so upset that tears nearly sprang to his eyes. "Jingxia, don't press down so hard! Idiot, can you hear me?"

That only made Jingxia panic more. He used his other hand to press down on his chest too, and the blood immediately gushed out like water from a dam with its gates thrown open.

"Go get Teacher Shin Kiyono!"

"Teacher Shin Kiyono went to get a Medical Ninja. They won't be back for at least five minutes." Ibiki, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke. "Given the situation, the best way to help is to knock Jingxia unconscious. Otherwise, he'll die very quickly."

"Knock him out?" Asuma was taken aback. With Jingxia in this condition, what if he knocked him out and he never woke up? That would be disastrous. As the Fire Second Generation, Asuma took his public image very seriously.

Nearby, Ibiki's comment caught Houka's attention.

Among the students in this class, besides Kurenai Yuhi, Rin, Obito, and the other familiar faces like the red-haired second-generation Asuma Sarutobi, Ibiki was also an important figure.

At the start of the original story, Ibiki appeared as an examiner for the Chunin Ninja Exams. He seemed unremarkable, but in truth, he was the leader of Konoha's Anbu interrogation team, a man with real authority and, without a doubt, Jonin-level strength!

Houka stroked his chin, deep in thought. He failed to notice that the other students had suddenly gone quiet and turned to look at him.

"Hey, hey, Houka, what's wrong? Houka, Houka!!!" Uchiha Obito tugged at Houka's clothes, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? What is it?" Houka looked bewildered. Couldn't they let him daydream in peace for a little while?

Then Houka noticed that all the kids around him—including Asuma, Ibiki, and Mizuki—were staring at him.

"Why are you all looking at me? I'll get embarrassed." Houka lowered his head and covered his face with one hand.

"..."

Uchiha Obito.

"..."

Asuma, Kurenai, and Rin.

Everyone stared at Houka, speechless.