Hiruko

"Hiruko, I think you're too skinny. You'd better eat a few extra bowls of ramen later—pork bone broth, preferably. It's not every day that Xian Yu, the rich kid, treats us to ramen. We should eat our fill."

Looking at the shy, self-conscious Hiruko, Jiraiya felt as if he were seeing his younger self.

He, too, had once been someone people always overlooked.

Whether he was smearing strange face paint on himself or pulling all sorts of seemingly stupid, outrageous pranks, he'd mostly been hoping to get the people around him to notice him.

So ever since Hiruko had joined their little group half a year ago, Jiraiya had often looked out for the shy kid. He was clearly thin-skinned, and if he didn't eat his fill today, he'd be missing out badly. The last time Xian Yu had treated them to ramen had been months ago.

You're the rich kid! Your whole family's rich!

When it came to opening treasure chests, I was dirt poor, okay? There was one Golden Treasure Chest and one Silver Treasure Chest in my Space Backpack. And after nearly half a year, all I could do was look at them. I couldn't afford to open them...

Although his Space Backpack now held 14.5 million ryo, that money was for opening chests. He had only a little over 20,000 ryo left in his pocket for spending money.

"I'm only 500,000 ryo short of being able to open the Silver Treasure Chest. I'd have had enough ages ago, if I hadn't spent six or seven hundred thousand every month on supplies to help Jiraiya and Orochimaru train. My monthly surplus used to be over three million, but it's dropped to around 2.4 million. I wonder what good stuff the Silver Treasure Chest will give me. I can't wait! ( ?′艸｀?)" Xian Yu felt a little giddy inside.

"Rich kid?" Hiruko, who Xian Yu had sent off to spend all day burying himself in research, had clearly never heard the term. He turned to Xian Yu with a puzzled look.

"I'm not! I have no money! I'm poor... I'm just a wage slave working for the system..." Being called a rich kid again, Xian Yu's face fell.

"Well, well. If it isn't Hiruko—oh, no, that's not right. It's our junior, Hiruko!"

Just then, a group of seven older students happened to pass by. The tallest one greeted Hiruko.

It sounded less like a greeting and more like mockery. Hiruko trembled all over but said nothing.

"Hey, painted-face, what's that supposed to mean?" Jiraiya had always treated Hiruko like a little brother. He didn't quite understand what the guy meant, but it was obvious his little brother was being picked on. Naturally, he had to step in.

"Painted-face?" The tall student froze for a moment before understanding.

Was he talking about him?

As a member of the Inuzuka Clan, Inuzuka Takuya naturally had two streaks of the clan's signature face paint. But what right did this white-haired brat have to call him that?

The paint on his own face was much more ridiculous, wasn't it?

"Big brother, that ugly white-haired guy is Jiraiya, the dead last in our class. And the one beside him, with a scar on his chin, is Xian Yu. He bullied me and Shikamaru before."

A girl standing beside Inuzuka Takuya, her face marked with the same distinctive paint, spoke up.

After hearing his sister's explanation, Inuzuka Takuya's face darkened. "Two dead lasts, and a bastard who dared bully my sister. You really are a bunch of irritating people. I bet you don't know this, but even though Hiruko's so small, he's older than all of you. After all, Hiruko used to be my classmate."

Xian Yu had been puzzled about why Hiruko had transferred into their class alongside Tsunade.

Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First and the granddaughter of the Land of Fire's daimyo. She'd had elite tutors teaching her one-on-one since she was little, and she'd surely had access to the best training resources. Her foundations were solid, and she was exceptionally talented.

Considering her talent, ability, and connections, it was understandable that Tsunade had been allowed to transfer into their class.

But Hiruko?

Xian Yu knew Hiruko was talented, but in everyone else's eyes, he was clearly a complete dead last.

His talent was mediocre, and more importantly, he was timid, poor, and had no connections. How had he ended up transferring into their class? Xian Yu had been puzzled for quite a while. After all, you couldn't just transfer into any class at the Ninja Academy.

Now he finally understood. Tsunade had transferred in, but Hiruko had been held back...

Here was what had happened.

Hiruko's classroom studies were decent, while his Taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu were all average. But the problem was that his temperament and personality were seriously flawed!

During several mock exercises, he'd been so frightened that he'd panicked and run off, causing accidents.

Then, during a practical lesson on Explosive Tags, he'd panicked and thrown a lit tag into the waiting students' ranks...

Fortunately, it had only been a low-powered training version, and the ninja instructor nearby had reacted quickly enough to defend against the explosion with a jutsu.

Even so, several students had been injured in the accident, and Hiruko had been held back for two years as punishment.

The instructor had even said that perhaps the path of a ninja wasn't right for him. If he didn't change, he should stop dreaming of becoming one.

After Inuzuka Takuya finished gleefully recounting Hiruko's illustrious history, Hiruko's face grew paler and paler until he seemed ready to curl right up inside his clothes.

"Hiruko, is what he said true?" Jiraiya asked, eyes wide.

At Jiraiya's question, tears as big as beans welled up in Hiruko's eyes. He was almost crying.

He'd finally made new friends after all this time, and these past few months had made him so happy! It was like living in a beautiful dream, one that had almost made him forget... the days when he'd been isolated and mocked.

Now the dream was about to end.

Xian Yu frowned. As he remembered it, in the future, Hiruko's lack of talent would cause him to drift apart from his childhood friends Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. Feeling abandoned, he would gradually turn evil and set out on the path of human experimentation and modifying his own body.

"Jiraiya, what's there to ask? Hiruko is our companion!"

Hearing Xian Yu say that, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and carefully studied Hiruko, who was trembling nearby.

Xian Yu rarely called anyone a companion. The only people in their class he'd accepted as such were Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

So this Hiruko was someone Xian Yu valued, too...

Thinking this, Orochimaru stepped forward slightly and placed himself between Hiruko and the others, subtly shielding him.

Jiraiya scratched his head and grinned. "Xian Yu, that's not what I meant."

As he spoke, he walked over to Hiruko and put an arm around his shoulders, making his meaning clear.

"Um... maybe we should just go..."

Hiruko tugged at Xian Yu's clothes and said timidly, "What Senior Takuya said... what he said was true..."

"Fine." Xian Yu sighed deeply.

Little brother, you're making it hard for us big brothers to stand up for you. We can't exactly pick a fight without a reason.

It seemed Hiruko really wasn't suited to being a ninja. Fortunately, being timid and weak didn't stop him from doing research.

"Hmph, brat. You think you can get away that easily after bullying my sister?" Inuzuka Takuya stretched out his burly arm, blocking the four of them. The six or seven older students behind him silently closed in.