This Time I Will Win

After finishing breakfast, Denji habitually brought a bag of breakfast for Hinata.

"Take care on your way," Shizune said in farewell.

Akimichi Denji nodded, turned, and left.

The old Senju residence was very close to the Ninja Academy. He didn't run into Yamanaka Ino, but he did encounter Hyuga Hinata again.

Hyuga Hinata was walking with a guard by her side, her head bowed.

Seemingly noticing Denji, she uncharacteristically took the initiative to approach him and greet him: "Good morning."

Denji was surprised, feeling that Hinata seemed to have changed; she had never been this proactive before.

He handed over the bag of breakfast, "For you. I felt like you didn't get enough to eat again."

A blush appeared on Hyuga Hinata's face. Being known for having a large appetite should have been shameful.

But when Akimichi Denji said it like that, she felt no shame in her heart, only a strange, different sensation.

She accepted the breakfast and said, "Thank you, Denji."

No Wish Point triggered, and Akimichi Denji turned his head away with regret. He wasn't in a rush, though; he was taking it slow, treating this like a daily check-in.

"Is there anything you want to eat? I'll bring that kind next time," Akimichi Denji asked.

"Anything Denji brings is fine," Hyuga Hinata replied, stuttering as she was caught off guard by the question.

Akimichi Denji looked at Hyuga Hinata with a resentful gaze.

That's clearly not true. If it were, where is my Wish Point?

Yamanaka Ino watched Akimichi Denji and Hyuga Hinata walk into the classroom together, and alarm bells rang in her heart.

She had specifically changed her clothes this morning and laid an ambush on the path from the Akimichi Clan to the school.

As it turned out, she only waited for Akimichi Choji to walk to school alone, only then realizing she had staked out the wrong route.

But it didn't matter; Akimichi Denji's seatmate was her!

The one closest to the water gets the first taste of the moonlight.

She would win.

Haruno Sakura watched Yamanaka Ino's expression and chuckled inwardly, a blonde loser.

Shortly after, two people stepped into the classroom: Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto was chattering away beside Sasuke, and while Sasuke wore a cold, indifferent expression, he didn't push him away.

Haruno Sakura was shocked, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. How could this be?

How did Naruto and Sasuke end up together?

She hadn't even earned the right to walk to school with Sasuke.

Yamanaka Ino snickered. While falling behind Hinata was heartbreaking, seeing her best friend lose to Naruto made her feel much better.

Uchiha Sasuke saw Akimichi Denji walking toward him.

"Are you free this afternoon?" Uchiha Sasuke asked.

"I'm free. What's up?" Akimichi Denji looked puzzled.

"My brother wants to pay you a visit."

Akimichi Denji was a bit surprised. Uchiha Itachi wanted to see him?

Uchiha Itachi, the most famous genius of the Uchiha Clan. He was also the most famous "white-eyed wolf" in the Hokage world.

He had personally slaughtered the entire ninja clan that raised him. He was the Hokage version of the Great Love Immortal Venerable.

However, last time, when Shimura Danzō made a move against him, Uchiha Itachi had helped out.

The visit was likely due to Sasuke awakening his Sharingan.

Akimichi Denji agreed, and Uchiha Sasuke left looking relieved, as if he had completed a mission.

This morning's theory class was no longer the Will of Fire education course, but a lesson on academic knowledge.

The dense content in the textbooks gave Akimichi Denji a headache.

Although the students at the Ninja Academy were still elementary school age, the material they learned was more complex and profound than the middle school curriculum of his past life.

He could handle the Will of Fire stuff, but these academic problems were too much for him. It was easy for his left brain to attack his right brain.

Perhaps the students in the ninja world had 130 trillion cells in their bodies and developed so quickly that they could handle this density of knowledge.

But that did not include him.

Oh, and Naruto.

He looked at Naruto, who was scratching his hair and staring at the textbook as if it were a heavenly script, and finally understood why Naruto was so exhausted from dealing with government affairs every day after becoming Hokage.

A pop quiz was held after class.

Akimichi Denji looked at his barely passing score.

Yamanaka Ino leaned over, saw Denji's score, and knew her opportunity had arrived.

She would not let any opportunity to spend time alone with Denji slip by now.

"Denji-kun, if there's anything you don't understand, I can teach you."

Akimichi Denji nodded, picked up his general studies textbook, and asked about the content he hadn't fully grasped.

Seeing her scheme succeed, Yamanaka Ino suppressed the excitement in her heart and leaned in nonchalantly, her fingers tracing the key points on the book as she explained.

It was just that her hand would brush against Akimichi Denji's from time to time.

"Ding, congratulations on completing Yamanaka Ino's wish: [This Time I Will Win]. Wish Point +1."

Hyuga Hinata couldn't stop her white eyes from glancing back; how she wished she had already activated her Byakugan, as then peeking wouldn't be so obvious.

In the back row, Akimichi Choji had already torn open a bag of potato chips.

Inuzuka Kiba poked Choji: "Is your brother really okay like this?"

"What didn't eat? Do you want some too?" Akimichi Choji instinctively pulled the opening of the chip bag shut, acting as if he were guarding his food.

There was no way to communicate with this guy, so Inuzuka Kiba helplessly turned to ask Nara Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru, what do you think about this?"

Nara Shikamaru was slumped over his desk, looking listless.

"It's fine. For the Ino-Shika-Cho families, being a little close doesn't matter."

"I don't get it either. Sakura, can you teach me!" Seeing Akimichi Denji and Yamanaka Ino interacting, Uzumaki Naruto hatched a plan.

"Get lost." Haruno Sakura's temper flared, and she didn't indulge Naruto.

Naruto silently walked to the other side: "Sasuke, can you teach me?"

Uchiha Sasuke remained expressionless and initially wanted to refuse.

But remembering his brother's words about making friends, he hesitated for a moment and said: "Ask away."

Uzumaki Naruto was overjoyed.

Haruno Sakura: "How could this happen?"

Every time he had asked Sasuke, he had been rejected.

Where exactly was she inferior to Naruto?

Sakura clenched her fists, her face flushed red, but she could only mutter to herself: Sasuke, you're so mean.

The afternoon was for practical training, focusing on Ninja Tool Throwing and Konoha Style Taijutsu.

Akimichi Denji was quite adept at practical training.

Konoha Style Taijutsu was a relatively basic form of taijutsu, standard and conventional.

Senju Style Taijutsu focused more on overpowering opponents with strength, while Konoha Style Taijutsu had no glaring weaknesses, though it also lacked distinct advantages.

The two could actually complement each other, allowing him to learn from their respective strengths.

Akimichi Denji hungrily absorbed the essentials, attempting to integrate them with his Senju Style Taijutsu.

He discovered that basic taijutsu was not entirely useless; much of it held reference value and could better solidify his foundation.

In times of peace, the Ninja Academy's curriculum progressed slowly; over six years, they only taught the basic Three Body Technique, Konoha Style Taijutsu, and Ninja Tool Throwing, with nothing else.

Anyone who could master these was already a qualified Genin.

Of course, in the context of a battlefield, such people were merely there to fill the lines.

After all, not all Genin were on the level of the Konoha Twelve.

The gap between people is sometimes even greater than the gap between a person and a dog.

Some Genin were cannon fodder crushed by falling rocks on the battlefield, mere background characters in some Ninja World War.

Other Genin fought with such intensity that the shockwaves could shatter the Valley of the End, or could kick the Hokage into the series finale with a single blow.