Killing the Heart

"I've gained a lot, thank you."

As he spoke, he strode toward his seat. Where Obito Uchiha could not see, he curled the corners of his lips ever so slightly.

Perhaps you have learned how to retreat in order to advance.

But what I am familiar with is how to kill the heart and destroy the spirit.

"Grind, grind~" The sound of teeth gnashing was somewhat jarring within the classroom.

Obito Uchiha froze in place, watching Nebula Kotetsu fall asleep on his desk in three seconds flat, his eyes showing signs of bloodshot congestion once again.

Calm down! Calm down! Obito, you must stay calm! Don't let Rin down! Obito told himself over and over in his heart.

But he absolutely could not calm the f*ck down!

Looking at the sleeping Nebula Kotetsu, the latter's words echoed in his mind again and again.

"You worked hard last night."

Worked hard at what!?

You better explain yourself clearly!! What exactly did you work hard at!!?

Forcing himself to refrain from pulling out a kunai and giving the guy a taste of it, Obito Uchiha turned to look at his last hope.

"Rin, did this guy pester you again yesterday?" he asked cautiously, terrified of hearing the answer he least wanted from Rin Nohara.

"I've already told you, Nebula didn't pester me," Rin Nohara replied with displeasure. "He just asked me about some medical ninjutsu yesterday, that's all."

Obito Uchiha: "Really?"

Rin Nohara rolled her eyes at him.

Obito Uchiha felt his heart ease slightly.

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Rin wouldn't lie to me.

It must be that detestable guy Nebula Kotetsu intentionally trying to mess with my head.

Consequently, the resentment and fury in his heart toward Nebula Kotetsu grew even more intense.

At this moment, whatever "retreating to advance" or "classmate relations" meant, he threw them all to the back of his mind.

Even the words the old grandmother told him could not be fully trusted.

After all, times have changed.

Facing a detestable guy like Nebula Kotetsu—a shameless person born with a face that confuses women—there was only one way to respond.

Combat!

He would use his strength to let the other party know that a beautiful girl like Rin could only be possessed by a good boy with excellent character and grades like himself.

Nebula Kotetsu, let's declare war!

You and I are destined to be at odds; I absolutely cannot let you hurt Rin!

I bet it all on the name of my Uchiha clan!

Nebula Kotetsu, slumped over his desk: zzzZZZ~

He did not sense even a shred of Obito Uchiha's resentment.

In his dream, he and Might Guy hit it off at first sight, fell in love at second sight, and became inseparable best friends that very same day.

The system gave him a mountain of rewards, chakra by the ton, ninjutsu techniques dispensed like they were free, and his system panel was so packed with skills he couldn't even count them.

There were no worries about graduation, no pressure from the impending Third Shinobi World War.

Girlfriends broke up with him one after another, until finally, only seven or eight beautiful and kind-hearted ones remained to comfort him.

In the end, he lay upon the God Tree he had snapped in half, sipping fine wine served by Kaguya Otsutsuki, sighing in his tipsy state about the dull life of the ninja world.

As the jarring end-of-class bell rang out.

The wine wore off, and the dream faded away.

Squinting his eyes and savoring the ease and comfort of the dream for a few seconds, Nebula Kotetsu let out a massive stretch.

Being young is great.

No matter how late he stayed up, as long as he got enough sleep, he would be fully recharged.

A class period had passed, and Nebula Kotetsu felt the energy from his early morning finally returning.

He patted his cheeks to wake himself up a bit more.

Time to go!

Complete missions, keep getting stronger! Strive to realize the beautiful life from his dreams as soon as possible.

He stood up, and under Obito Uchiha's suddenly vigilant gaze... he walked past Rin Nohara and exited the classroom.

Obito Uchiha let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, he wasn't here to harass his Rin.

After all, this was a school; if the other party truly pestered Rin without any sense of shame, he really didn't know if he could just throw a punch.

On the other side.

Nebula Kotetsu went to find Might Guy.

He needed to ask clearly why he had suddenly vanished that morning.

Along the way, men and women cast gazes of admiration at him. Some girls, after passing him, would even turn around abruptly, pretending they had gone the wrong way, and follow him as if they were heading in the same direction—all just to get a longer look at the "fairy with the Hand of God."

Some followed for a few steps and left, while others kept trailing him. Even when he arrived at the entrance of Might Guy's classroom, he still had quite a few "tails" behind him.

Nebula Kotetsu didn't mind.

After arriving at Might Guy's classroom, just as his eyes were searching for that flash of green, a familiar voice suddenly rang out before him.

"Kotetsu?"

"Why are you here?"

A bright and beautiful face appeared before him; it was Muto Ayaka.

She was in the same class as Might Guy. At this moment, she was holding a stack of books, standing in front of Nebula Kotetsu with a complex look in her eyes.

There was confusion, excitement, and a tiny hint of pleasant surprise.

She put on a troubled expression.

"Kotetsu, didn't we agree?"

"Why are you still coming here?"

"This is school. Even if you have something to say, can't you wait until after class..."

"Excuse me, please move." Nebula Kotetsu interrupted Muto Ayaka.

Muto Ayaka: "?"

"You... what did you say?"

Muto Ayaka's beautiful eyes widened.

She suspected she had misheard.

Move?

Could it be that Nebula Kotetsu wasn't here to see her?

Over the past two days, she had imagined countless times in her mind that Nebula Kotetsu might be unable to let her go after their breakup and would come back to find her.

Although she had firmly decided to break up with him, if Nebula Kotetsu begged her intensely, considering their past history, that face of his, and those Hands of God, she wouldn't mind compromising and staying with him for a few more days.

Of course, the breakup would still happen, but it could wait until after graduation.

Yet, she hadn't expected that their next meeting would be met not with passion, but with cold indifference.

"I said excuse me, please move. I'm looking for someone," Nebula Kotetsu said politely.

However, his politeness deeply stung Muto Ayaka's heart.

How can you be so cold! she thought to herself.

As one of the top-ranked beauties in the school and the undisputed class flower, she was the object of everyone's envy wherever she went. Never had a boy shown her such a cold attitude when she took the initiative to speak.

This was disrespectful to her!

Even if Nebula Kotetsu was inhumanly handsome, he had never been this disrespectful when they were together... No! He had never been this disrespectful to her when others were present.

She was very angry.

Especially when she saw the mocking gazes of the surrounding girls, she became even angrier.

"Nebula Kotetsu!"

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

It must be!

He must be angry that she dumped him.

However, faced with Muto Ayaka's questioning, Nebula Kotetsu grew impatient.

He was a man who lived by his principles!

Although his dozens of girlfriends left him somewhat exhausted and provided no further system rewards—making them a waste of his energy—as long as the other party didn't bring up a breakup, he would rather stretch himself thin and sacrifice his rest time than initiate a breakup himself.

He never missed their dates, which occurred once every three days.

Every time, he ensured they arrived with high spirits and left fully satisfied.

But for someone who had already broken up?

Sorry, he was quite busy and truly had no energy to deal with outsiders.

So what if you're beautiful? No matter how high your beauty is, it isn't higher than mine.