Hearing

"Wow, I feel like I've been completely purified, you know."

Cleansing his eyes, finally washing away the disgust.

By the time he returned to the classroom, class was already over. He wanted to sit back down in his throne, only to find another butt already occupying it. How could this be? How could one seat allow two people to sit?

"Tsk tsk! Someone looks pretty pathetic."

The person sitting there even tilted their head up, mocking him.

"Hah..."

Taking a deep breath, Kaede sat down beside her, looking seriously at Tong next to him, and said, "Tong, as members of the Uchiha clan and close deskmates, let the grudges of the past be in the past. I sincerely apologize to you. I'll give you this seat. Let it be a testament to our friendship. From now on, we'll be friends bound by deep ties, okay?"

Kaede extended his hand, his small face full of sincerity. Take a step back, and the sky opens wide. Making peace with this girl who had some unknown issues would let him get through ninja school life comfortably.

He really had no interest in getting tangled up with a little girl here. He liked big, well-endowed older sisters.

With a handsome, sunny face and a charming smile, he was confident that at this moment, he had maxed out his charm. He didn't believe this young lady in her adolescence wouldn't be swayed. Wasn't he already seeing stars in the eyes of the female classmates beside him?

But...

"Ha! I don't agree!"

She glanced at him indifferently, her watery eyes unruffled, her crisp voice carrying an unquestionable refusal. At this moment, Tong was somewhat aloof.

"If I can't afford to provoke you, can't I at least avoid you?"

Turning around, he looked at a certain classmate in the last seat of the middle row, who was staring at him with little stars in her eyes.

"This beautiful, gentle young lady, could I switch seats with you?"

"Sure, sure!"

Faced with the handsome and charming Kaede looking at her with tender eyes, she felt her heart racing, about to leap out of her chest.

"Could this be the feeling of love?"

In a daze, she had already been coaxed by Kaede into a seat on the other side.

Kaede looked up and glanced at Tong, pursing his lips as if to say, "See, little master has his ways."

What greeted him was Tong's confident, pretty face.

"Teacher, someone secretly switched seats."

Raising her fair little hand, with Kimura Oishi's permission, she loudly and blatantly tattled. When she finished, she glanced at Kaede and gave him a victory sign.

Switching seats was such a trivial matter; he didn't want to bother with it. But from his observations over the past couple of days, he seemed to have noticed that Uchiha Tong and Uchiha Kaede didn't get along at all.

Their squabbling livened up the class atmosphere—that was a good sign.

So...

"Uchiha Kaede, how can you change seats without the teacher's permission? Though you're still students, you must hold yourselves to the ninja code. If, as a genin on a mission, you were to defy your squad leader's orders, what then?

Switch back!"

Putting on a dark face, pretending to be very angry, he scolded Kaede.

"Yes, teacher, I'll switch back right away."

Forcing a faint smile onto his lips, he obediently shuffled back.

Kaede helplessly greeted Tong, "Hey~ Tong, I'm back. Happy? Surprised?"

Sitting up straight, Tong had already started listening attentively to the lesson. Unlike Kaede, who had zero interest in theoretical knowledge and spent every class slacking off, Tong was the teacher's perfect little angel—polite, diligent, and proactive in her studies, an undisputed top student in the class.

Kaede, on the other hand, was just coasting by on his old foundations.

"Afternoon class will be a practical combat session at the school's No. 3 training ground. Everyone, prepare during lunch."

As class ended, Kimura Oishi announced the afternoon's location to everyone.

"Practical combat? On the third day of school?"

That meant he could sweep the whole field.

From what he'd observed, only a few people in Class B had refined chakra; the rest were still ordinary people. Even if he didn't want to stand out too much, he at least had to appear normal.

As a member of the Uchiha clan with a jonin father, if he couldn't defeat everyone in the class under these circumstances, it would either mean he had no talent as a ninja or something was wrong with him.

He couldn't afford to make a mistake on such a trivial issue or commit a basic error in judgment.

So...

He glanced at Tong beside him.

Wasn't this the perfect chance to get his revenge fair and square? This time, he'd spank her little butt.

Showing a bit of strength was fine, as long as it stayed within normal bounds—then he wouldn't catch the Third Hokage's attention.

But in reality, things didn't go as he imagined.

"In today's practical combat class, I'm going to teach you the Chakra Refining Technique. This technique is very dangerous, so you need to listen carefully and learn seriously. Do you all understand?"

Kimura Oishi scowled as he intimidated the restless children.

"Understood."

Such intimidation worked remarkably well. The students, who had been eager and raring to go just moments ago, now tensed up one by one.

Seeing that the effect exceeded his expectations, Kimura Oishi secretly smirked.

The [Chakra Refining Technique] wasn't anything profound. For six-year-old students at the Ninja Academy, it wasn't particularly difficult to learn—even the dullest could master it within a week.

There were even those like Kaede, who came from a clan and had already learned this technique long ago. While Kimura Oishi taught the lesson, Kaede, with nothing else to do, could only sit quietly under a tree, silently refining chakra, striving to become the God of the Ninja World.

The Ninja Academy arranged for teachers to instruct basic techniques like the [Chakra Refining Technique] primarily for the commoner children. Many of them had never encountered real ninjutsu before, and the academy was the starting point of their path as ninjas.

The sun slanted westward, on the verge of setting. The students of Class B at the Ninja Academy were still persevering, sweat pouring down their faces, their earnestness unmistakable.

Kimura Oishi frowned. So far, no one in Class B had managed to refine chakra. How could he be in a good mood?

"I did it! I did it!"

The chubby kid sitting in the front row opened his eyes and jumped up in joy. Kaede felt the ground tremble slightly as he leaped, a testament to his astonishing weight.

"Shut up! Don't disturb the others."

The chubby kid quickly covered his mouth, his round little eyes sneaking a glance at Kimura Oishi. He was still afraid of the teacher.

"Alright, everyone, get up. That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow afternoon. You can go home now."

"I still haven't refined chakra! I failed. So frustrating."

"Miko, don't lose heart. No one else has managed it either."

"Get lost, I don't need you to care." She slapped away the hand of the boy trying to curry favor, her gaze drifting to the quiet boy under the distant tree. The more she looked, the more she wanted to keep looking.

"Tch, annoying Uchiha."

Having been rejected by the girl he liked, he naturally transferred his resentment onto the one who had caused it all.

"Eita, you've got time to worry about others? I heard that if you can't refine chakra this time, you'll be expelled."

Just as Eita was about to go pick a fight with Kaede, someone called out to him. It turned out the neighboring class had also finished for the day.

"Yoshii, what do you mean, expelled? Haven't we already passed the Ninja Academy enrollment?"

"Ha! If you refine too little chakra to the point where you can't release ninjutsu, how can you become a ninja? Eita, you're too naive."

"Is that really true?"

Yoshii's words instantly drew the attention of all the classmates.

Seeing everyone crowd around him, Yoshii felt satisfied. The vanity of being the center of attention gave him a sense of being respected, and he began to explain to the group.