Mikoto's Hard Work

"Exactly, Minato! You're the recognized genius of our class, but..." Ueno Juri stopped himself. He was afraid that if he said the rest, he would undermine Minato Namikaze's confidence.

Actually, Minato might have had good talent, but in terms of strength, he was definitely ranked outside the top ten in the class.

Since Minato came from a civilian family and neither of his parents was a ninja, he had started out later than the children of the major clans.

Although Minato was talented, he had only been training for a little over half a year. He couldn't really compare with clan students who had started a year earlier and had all kinds of resources at their disposal.

Perhaps Minato could surpass them in a year or two, but right now, there was definitely a gap.

Minato Namikaze and Mikoto Uchiha were the two students Ueno Juri worried about least, and they were both very talented. Ueno Juri didn't want Minato to lose heart after a setback.

"Forget it, Minato. Go find Nawaki! You both want to become Hokage, so wouldn't it be better to spar with each other?"

Hyuga Shin shook his head. There was no denying that Minato would be strong in the future, but that was in the future. Right now, he was pitifully weak—so weak that Hyuga Shin didn't even feel like picking on him.

"Right! How about you and I have a spar?" Nawaki looked at Minato, brimming with energy.

Nawaki's eager gaze made it hard for Minato to refuse. Besides, he had wanted to test his own strength, so he readily agreed.

"Be careful, you two. Don't get hurt, and don't let it affect your friendship," Ueno Juri said. He didn't oppose their spar, but he still reminded them to be careful.

"And you! I really don't understand what you think you'll achieve by training like this. You're practically just killing time and wasting all that talent."

Turning around, Ueno Juri scolded Hyuga Shin. He had told him this several times already, but Hyuga Shin had never listened.

Hyuga Shin was born with immense strength, yet instead of training properly, he was slacking off here. That was how Ueno Juri saw him.

Hyuga Shin smiled without a care and continued his slow, repetitive sword swings.

His swordsmanship was all about speed. Under the powerful gravity, his movements seemed slow, but once he unleashed his speed, the result would be earth-shattering.

When he obtained Ryujin Jakka, he had gained all of its abilities, including Nadeshiko, the slash Old Man Yamamoto could unleash without releasing his Zanpakuto.

Hyuga Shin's swordsmanship might have seemed immature in the One Piece World or the Bleach World, but in the Naruto world, where swordsmanship wasn't particularly strong, he was already at the pinnacle.

When it came to swordsmanship in the Naruto world, even Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, might not have been able to match Hyuga Shin.

Swordsmanship in the Naruto world relied on chakra to deliver powerful bursts of speed. As for other techniques, it was somewhat lacking.

Of course, that was just Hyuga Shin's own understanding. He hadn't actually witnessed the Naruto world's swordsmanship, so it was hard to judge.

After all, there was also the Land of Iron, where people made their living with swords. Who knew whether it had some hidden master swordsmen?

After training for two hours, Hyuga Shin stopped. If he kept going, his body wouldn't be able to take it.

He quickly dispelled the gravity and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The rock-solid ground where he had trained had sunk slightly, so subtly it was almost imperceptible.

He looked toward the training ground nearby. Mikoto was alone in a corner, refining her chakra. A group of people had gathered not far away to watch a spar in progress.

Of course, it wasn't Nawaki and Minato. It was Choza Akimichi and Uchiha Ken.

Although Uchiha Ken didn't get along with his classmates and left by himself after class, he was still here now that lessons were in session.

After seeing Nawaki show off as he defeated Minato, he couldn't hold back his own urge to show off.

So he challenged Nawaki, who had just defeated Minato. Nawaki accepted without backing down, but after using up a lot of energy, he predictably lost.

Uchiha Ken then got extremely cocky and challenged several more classmates in a row, beating them until their faces were bruised and swollen.

Even Hizashi Hyuga was defeated by Uchiha Ken's Great Fireball Technique. Using a ninjutsu made him even more popular, and he became increasingly arrogant.

Naturally, his attitude annoyed everyone. If Hyuga Shin weren't around, the handsome Uchiha Ken might have had a crowd of lovestruck girls following him.

But now? The angry looks on all his classmates' faces said it all.

With that kind of arrogant, conceited personality, who would like him unless his looks were overwhelmingly good?

Chapter 36: Mikoto's Hard Work

"Fatso, you think you can beat me? Go train for another hundred years! Hahaha!" Uchiha Ken laughed wildly.

Anger +10086

Choza Akimichi's eyes blazed. He hated being called fat more than anything. He already couldn't stand Uchiha Ken, and now he wanted to kill him.

"You obnoxious jerk! Take this!" A fist the size of a sandbag swung toward Uchiha Ken's face.

"Hmph! You think a slow punch like that can hit me?" Uchiha Ken dodged with ease. He had already used up a lot of energy, but avoiding Choza Akimichi's sluggish punch was still easy.

When Choza Akimichi saw Uchiha Ken dodge, a glint flashed in his little eyes.

Then his massive body lunged forward at high speed, tackling Uchiha Ken, who had been busy showing off, and pinning him beneath him.

In terms of strength, Uchiha Ken couldn't compare with the massive Choza Akimichi. Now that he was pinned beneath him, there was no room to dodge.

He punched Choza Akimichi several times with all his might, making Choza grimace. Then, ignoring the pain, Choza punched Uchiha Ken right in the face.

Choza Akimichi had thick layers of fat to cushion the blows, but Uchiha Ken wasn't so lucky. He got trapped and beaten around the face.

"All right, that's enough. You two, break it up," Ueno Juri said as he stepped in to pull Choza Akimichi away.

Once he got up, Choza Akimichi scratched his head and said to Shikaku Nara, "Your plan really worked. Let's see if he dares to act so smug now."

"This method won't work against a real ninja. It only worked because the teacher banned weapons. Otherwise, you'd have a few holes in you by now. Don't go charging in like that again," Shikaku Nara warned him.

Choza Akimichi had beaten Uchiha Ken by catching him off guard. Otherwise, Choza, who couldn't keep up with his speed, would have found it very hard to defeat him.

"Teacher, I refuse to accept this!"

Uchiha Ken protested bitterly. He had just been pinned beneath that massive body, with no room to move. He felt he'd lost unfairly.

"In a real fight, nobody's going to listen to you complain about that. If you're not satisfied, why don't you spar with me?" Hyuga Shin said as he strode over.

When he saw Hyuga Shin, a trace of fear flashed in Uchiha Ken's eyes. If he still had chakra, he might have stood his ground, but he had used it all up earlier when he defeated Hizashi Hyuga with the Great Fireball Technique.

Uchiha Ken wouldn't dare challenge Hyuga Shin with taijutsu alone, even if his life depended on it.

Hyuga Shin glanced at Uchiha Ken, then walked toward the corner where Mikoto was training.

"Mikoto, stop training. It's almost time to go home."

Mikoto, who had been refining her chakra with her eyes closed, opened them and looked at Hyuga Shin, her expression a little dazed.

Looking at Mikoto's adorable face, Hyuga Shin couldn't resist reaching out to pinch her cheek.

Her cheeks flushed faintly. Mikoto stood up and glanced at the sun that was about to set, then couldn't help complaining, "How did the time go by so fast?"