I'll Be Shy

After losing the duel and wetting his pants on the spot, Masamune Hyuga had his wounds bandaged, but feeling he had lost all face, he went home with red eyes to tattle to his parents.

Shin Kiyono sighed. Whether it was Masamune Hyuga or Uchiha Houka, both came from prominent Konoha clans, and he only hoped that these two powerful families wouldn't start a blood feud over this incident.

Perhaps I should report this to the Third Hokage. While lost in thought, Shin Kiyono returned to the training ground.

"Hello, teacher Shin Kiyono!" Asuma Sarutobi approached with the other students.

"Good, let's begin our training now!" Shin Kiyono said immediately, hoping to avoid any gossiping questions from the children about whether Masamune Hyuga had truly wet his pants.

"A kunai has five basic methods of use: horizontal slashing, vertical chopping, diagonal cutting, straight thrusting, and throwing. We learned throwing last semester, so today we will learn the others. Since this is close-quarters practice, everyone must be careful!" Shin Kiyono said sternly. "Do not use your full strength, do not aim for vital points, do not..."

As he listed the instructions one by one, many students' eyes glazed over, struggling to keep track of it all.

"Alright, pair up and begin practicing!"

With a wave of his hand, the students grabbed their kunai and began to 'battle' in pairs.

"Watch my Super Fuma Shuriken!"

"Hehe, watch my Super Fuma Shuriken!"

Many students were already having a blast, playing pretend with high spirits.

Uchiha Obito also pulled Houka aside to start their practice.

"I'm telling you, Houka, if I'd known you were this strong, I would have practiced seriously with you before." Uchiha Obito gripped his kunai and thrust it straight at Houka, though his speed was very slow.

This speed posed no challenge to Houka. He lazily sidestepped, blocked the attack with his own kunai, and scoffed, "You're the type who can't settle down to practice unless you're provoked."

"Provoked? What kind of provocation?" Uchiha Obito looked completely clueless.

Houka's gaze drifted lightly toward Rin.

"Nani? Hey, Houka, I'm telling you, don't you dare have any designs on Rin, or I'll fight you to the death!!!" Uchiha Obito instantly gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at Houka as if he wanted to pounce and bite him.

"Hey, hey, we're only six years old. Is it really appropriate to say things like that?" Houka was speechless.

"I don't care, you just can't have designs on Rin!" Uchiha Obito acted like a brat.

Just as Houka was about to retort, a scream suddenly erupted from nearby.

"Ahhh!"

"Eh? What happened?"

"What's wrong? Who's screaming?"

"Look, someone is bleeding!"

"Oh no, it was an accidental injury."

A faint scent of blood drifted on the breeze. In the middle of the field, a young boy was rolling on the ground, clutching his chest. Blood soaked his clothes, saturated his palms, and quickly began to pool on the ground.

Opposite the boy, a white-haired child stood with a pale face, still clutching a blood-stained kunai in his right hand. His expression was full of panic as he loudly defended himself: "I, I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!"

"Mizuki, you!" Shin Kiyono appeared on the scene instantly, glared at him fiercely, and then knelt to check the boy's injuries.

The wound wasn't fatal, but the boy couldn't be moved, or the wound might tear further.

Shin Kiyono made a split-second decision, then stood up and told Asuma Sarutobi: "Asuma, don't let anyone touch him. I'm going to get a Medical Ninja immediately!"

With that, he vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

"Mizuki, what exactly is going on here?"

"You jerk, if anything happens to Jingxia, I won't let you off!"

"Mizuki is so scary!"

"He did it on purpose!"

"Murderer!"

Once Shin Kiyono left, the surrounding students immediately opened fire on Mizuki, one after another, all sounding righteous and indignant!

Mizuki trembled all over, his hand gripping the kunai shaking even more violently: "It's not like that, it wasn't on purpose, I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I didn't, I didn't!!! Right, I remember now, Jingxia was distracted and ran into it himself, it has nothing to do with me, it's not my fault!"

"Nonsense, you're lying, you must have done it on purpose."

"Murderer!"

Houka stood in the back, watching coldly. He suddenly remembered Naruto's childhood experiences from the original story. When Naruto attended the Ninja Academy, he was surrounded by such cold-hearted students who would seize upon any mistake to attack him, kick him while he was down, and take pleasure in bullying him day after day, year after year!

However, Naruto had the protagonist's halo, and even after being treated that way for so long, he remained true to his heart.

And Mizuki... uh, Houka suddenly realized that Mizuki didn't seem any worse than Naruto, because Mizuki had managed to stay true to his own nature for all these years!

Jealousy!

Yes, Mizuki's true nature was jealousy. To be able to remain as jealous as ever for so many years until the start of the original story was quite an achievement for Mizuki.

What a persistent bad kid.

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

"What?"

Asuma Sarutobi was startled. He turned to look and discovered that Jingxia was actually pressing his hands against the chest wound, causing it to tear open further. How could the blood not flow freely?

"Idiot!" Asuma was so angry that tears were almost falling from his eyes. "Jingxia, don't press down so hard! Idiot, can you hear me!"

Asuma shouldn't have said anything; the moment he spoke, Jingxia became even more panicked and used his other hand to press down on the chest wound as well. The blood immediately gushed out like a dam that had been opened, flowing out in a continuous stream.

"Go quickly and call Shin Kiyono sensei!"

"Shin Kiyono sensei went to call for a Medical Ninja; he won't be back for at least five minutes." Ibiki, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "Judging by the current situation, the best rescue measure is to knock Jingxia unconscious, otherwise he will die very quickly."

"Knock him out?" Asuma was stunned. Given Jingxia's current condition, if he were knocked out and failed to wake up, it would be a disaster. As a second-generation child of the Hokage, Asuma still carried a heavy burden of maintaining his image.

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

In this class, besides Kurenai Yuhi, Rin, Uchiha Obito, and the second-generation child Asuma Sarutobi who appeared in the original story, Ibiki was also an important figure.

At the start of the original series, Ibiki appeared as an instructor for the Chunin Exams. He seemed unremarkable, but he was actually the captain of the Konoha Anbu Torture and Interrogation Force, a person of real power with the strength of a true Jonin!

Houka rubbed his chin in thought, but he didn't notice that the classmates around him had suddenly gone quiet, all casting their gazes toward him.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong with you, Houka? Houka, Houka!!!" Uchiha Obito tugged at Houka's clothes, snapping him out of his deep contemplation.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Houka looked bewildered. Can't you guys just let me space out in peace for a while?

Then, Houka realized that his companions all around him, including Asuma, Ibiki, Mizuki, and others, were all staring at him.

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

"..." Uchiha Obito.

"..." Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi, Rin.

Everyone looked at Houka, speechless. (To be continued)