Uzuki Yugao: What Do You Think of Me?

At noon, they had lunch at Mikoto Uchiha's home.

Fugaku Uchiha didn't say much during the meal. Every so often, he mentioned a few things to keep in mind during training or shared amusing stories about their parents. Asuma Sarutobi was so interested that he kept talking nonstop.

Halfway through the meal, Fugaku Uchiha made an excuse and left, telling Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi to enjoy their food. As for Nebula Kotetsu... well, he'd been focused on eating from the very beginning.

Mikoto Uchiha had things to do as well, so the special training was only in the morning. The three of them were left to train on their own in the afternoon. Asuma Sarutobi clearly didn't want the three of them to keep hanging out, and Nebula Kotetsu wasn't about to make a nuisance of himself. After lunch, he went home to focus on practicing the Great Fireball Technique he'd just learned.

He'd only grasped the basics so far, and the fireball was only half his height. He wouldn't have truly mastered this C-rank Fire Style until he could cast the jutsu with six hand seals and increase the fireball's size to match his own.

He took out all the Kotetsu Clan's ninjutsu scrolls and training records again. Sorting them by subject, he gathered the training materials that might be useful to him and studied them intently.

The flow of chakra, the key points of hand seals, and knowledge related to the basic skills of a ninja—he committed it all to memory, bit by bit.

It might not be useful, but still, you never knew... What if he needed it someday?

What if the system accounted for 99% of his talent, but when the crucial moment came, he was missing that final 1% of hard work? So if he had the time, he should keep improving himself.

He'd planned to spend the whole afternoon doing just that, but after only an hour of studying, someone came to visit.

Hearing the knock, Nebula Kotetsu wondered which girlfriend couldn't wait and had come to see him early. He opened the door and found two familiar faces.

"Anko, Yugao, what brings you here?"

At the door, Mitaraishi Anko was still dressed in fishnet, radiating a rebellious air that her looks alone managed to turn into something youthful and charming.

As for Uzuki Yugao, her long purple hair fell loose around her shoulders, and even her training clothes couldn't hide her graceful, lovely figure.

"What, you don't want us here?" Mitaraishi Anko shot back.

Nebula Kotetsu chuckled. "Of course I do. But it's a day off today. Didn't you go out with your friends?"

"I'm not some little girl who thinks about shopping all day," Mitaraishi Anko said.

As she spoke, she grabbed Uzuki Yugao beside her.

"We're here to train with you today."

"Yugao wants to practice swordsmanship. And I have a few questions about training I want to ask you."

Nebula Kotetsu raised an eyebrow. "Ask me? Are you sure?"

Everyone knew he was the dead-last student at the Ninja Academy.

"Besides, shouldn't you ask a teacher if you have questions?"

"A teacher wouldn't be as good at teaching as you," Mitaraishi Anko flattered him, while thinking to herself, Besides, none of the teachers at school are as easy on the eyes as you.

Unable to withstand Mitaraishi Anko's repeated pleas, Nebula Kotetsu agreed to train with them.

Kotetsu Hagane might come home at any time. If he saw the two new faces, he'd surely criticize his older brother, so Nebula Kotetsu simply took the girls out with him.

At the Konoha training grounds, the three of them found a quiet spot.

Nebula Kotetsu said, "All right, let's get started. Who wants to go first?"

Mitaraishi Anko glanced at her friend, then said, "Me."

"Yugao, go practice your swordsmanship over there. I'll stay with Nebula for a while."

"Okay." Uzuki Yugao knew exactly what her friend was up to, but didn't object. She took her sword and went off to practice by herself.

Nebula Kotetsu looked at Mitaraishi Anko, unhurried. "So, what questions do you have...?"

On the training field, Uzuki Yugao swung the long sword in her hands again and again.

Every so often, she glanced at Mitaraishi Anko, who was "humbly seeking instruction."

The young woman had come prepared.

She'd carefully planned several questions. They weren't so foolish that she'd embarrass herself, yet they covered things a newly graduated Nebula Kotetsu would know. He, in turn, took them seriously and carefully answered her questions.

Now and then, he demonstrated something with a Kunai in hand, doing his best to avoid physical contact.

Mitaraishi Anko, however, wasn't very satisfied.

"What's that supposed to mean? You use a Kunai to demonstrate a movement?"

"Wouldn't it be much easier to use your hand?"

Nebula Kotetsu said, "I'm used to it."

"What do you mean, you're used to it? I'm not. What's the point of holding a Kunai? Do you think I'm dirty?"

Nebula Kotetsu didn't so much as blink. "Take it or leave it."

Mitaraishi Anko said, "...Fine. Take a look at my chakra control this time."

Uzuki Yugao, who was watching from the side: "..."

Girl, stand your ground!

She grumbled inwardly but said nothing, quietly watching the show.

Half an hour passed.

Mitaraishi Anko had run out of the questions she'd prepared, but still refused to leave.

"Nebula, take another look for me."

"How's my Transformation Technique?"

Suddenly, Uzuki Yugao, practicing alone nearby, seemed to remember something. She stopped swinging her sword and called out urgently, "Anko!"

"Didn't your mother tell you to finish tidying the flower garden before noon?"

At that, Mitaraishi Anko turned pale as she suddenly remembered the chore her mother had given her—one she'd completely forgotten.

"Oh, no! I forgot!"

"Yugao, didn't I ask you to remind me?"

Uzuki Yugao said awkwardly, "I only just remembered myself."

Mitaraishi Anko hurried to her feet. "I have to go!"

"Yugao, come on!"

Uzuki Yugao gestured with the sword in her hand. "You go ahead. I'll finish this set, then go buy soy sauce for my family. It's out of the way."

"Then I'm off!"

"Bye, Nebula!"

Mitaraishi Anko dashed away in a flurry.

Nebula Kotetsu was getting ready to go home and make lunch.

He'd planned to train properly, but he'd ended up wasting the whole afternoon on a young girl.

Just as he was about to head back, a flash of purple appeared before him. The girl stepped in front of him, her eyes shining as she stared.

"Yugao, what is it?"

Uzuki Yugao didn't answer right away.

She boldly looked him up and down, a trace of surprise in her eyes.

As if she were looking at a plate of three-colored dango.

"Yugao, do you... need something?" Nebula Kotetsu asked again.

Her unabashedly probing gaze gave him a familiar feeling. It was just like the way those women looked at him whenever he ran into them alone on the street.

Uzuki Yugao stopped sizing him up and met his eyes.

"Anko likes you, you know that, right?"

Nebula Kotetsu: "..."

Why was she being so direct right off the bat?

Under the girl's pressing gaze, he answered honestly, "I've suspected as much, but I'm not completely sure."

Uzuki Yugao continued, "Do you like her?"

Is she sticking up for her best friend?

Nebula Kotetsu said, "I can't say that I do or don't."

"I only feel friendship toward Anko."

Uzuki Yugao's tone grew heavier. "Friendship?"

"Yes," Nebula Kotetsu said firmly. "You know I don't have many friends. The boys don't want to be friends with me, and the girls..."

"Don't worry. I'll treat Anko the same as always. I won't hurt her."

But Uzuki Yugao's next words were completely beyond his expectations.

"What do you think of me?"