Ninja Academy

When Xian Yu asked Fahai to help test the strength of his newly contracted summoning beast,

Fahai of course agreed!

However, the match between the Three-Tailed Fox and Shimura Fahai still failed to satisfy Xian Yu.

It wasn't that the Three-Tailed Fox had lost to Fahai. It was just...

Maybe the Three-Tailed Fox had caught Xian Yu's temper. It suddenly got a little irritable.

First, it grew to the size it claimed was best for fighting in its beast form. It stood about two meters tall.

And then it fought Fahai to a draw?

After all, Fahai was a bona fide Konoha ninja, officially registered and certified as a Chunin. He was no weakling.

Don't look down on Konoha's registered Chunins just because of the Naruto manga. Reality would show you that even the background-character Chunins in the manga were pretty formidable fighters in real life.

Then the Three-Tailed Fox said it wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat.

Fahai laughed.

"Heh? You're not good at hand-to-hand combat? Fine, then show me what you're good at!" He hadn't been able to take down even a little-known fox working for his cousin after all this time, and now the beast was telling him it wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat? That it hadn't even used its full strength?

When you were out in the world, you had to save face. Fahai had his pride, too!

And then there was no more...

The Three-Tailed Fox used an illusion, and Master Fahai probably hadn't quite mastered his Blissful Zen technique.

Trapped in the illusion, unable to pull himself free... he started taking off his, ahem... "equipment."

The sight was truly painful to behold!

If Xian Yu hadn't been unable to stand watching and called a halt in time,

Master Fahai might have lost even the last bit of his modesty... (/▽＼)

Once he was free of the illusion, Fahai was mortified. He dressed himself in the "equipment" he'd stripped off the ground at the fastest speed of his life, then used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished.

He never looked back.

"Mm... not bad. Your master approves." Xian Yu patted the Three-Tailed Fox, which had turned back into a tiny catlike creature, and gave it high praise.

"Mhm, mhm! Master, I'm very useful! So please don't ever have that scary thought again, okay?" True to its fox nature, the Three-Tailed Fox had shown off its "muscles" to its new master, but it had no intention of getting itself killed. It quickly settled into the role of a minion, its attitude as humble as could be...

Arrogant? Not a chance! It would never be arrogant in this lifetime! The fox wasn't ready to die yet. After that earlier bonding ritual,

one thought from Xian Yu would probably be enough to make the poor Three-Tailed Fox disintegrate a hundred times over...

"Mm, good. I like clever foxes that don't get spoiled by their master's favor. So, do you have a name?" Xian Yu was pretty satisfied with what he'd gotten from opening the system's Black Iron Treasure Chest.

Too bad there was no follow-up survey. Otherwise, Lord Xian Yu would definitely have given it five stars.

"Reporting to my master, my name is Bai Sanlang." The tiny Three-Tailed Fox curled up inside Xian Yu's sleeve, its voice drifting out softly.

"Huh! Judging by your name, you're a male fox?" Xian Yu was a little surprised. For some reason, he was also just a tiny bit disappointed.

"Mhm, Master, I'm male. You must get my gender straight..."

Xian Yu fell silent for a long while, then suddenly said, "All right. From now on, your name is Bai Xiaoqi."

"Phew... phew... phew. Y-yes, Master. My name is Bai Xiaoqi." This time, the Three-Tailed Fox took several deep breaths before answering slowly, one word at a time, with grave solemnity.

Only then did Xian Yu smile in satisfaction and mutter softly, "Maybe I should keep Xiao Qi in my pocket next time. It seems a little stuffy inside my sleeve. Look how stifled he is—he can barely get a sentence out. It must be so hard on him."

The fox's inner thoughts: 〒▽〒

Happy days always seemed to pass quickly. At last, on this early morning, the long-awaited first day of the Ninja Academy had arrived!

"Young Master Yu! Young Master Yu! Wake up! It's your first day of class at the Ninja Academy. You absolutely mustn't be late!"

Early that morning, the pretty girl Shinozaki Ayumi had already packed all the books and ninja tools Xian Yu would need into scrolls. Then she loaded herself down with them and went to wake him.

"Ugh... It's not even light out yet. Why do I have to get up so early? The Ninja Academy is the worst."

As he complained, Shimura Xian Yu cooperated while Shinozaki Ayumi brushed his teeth.

Soon, Ayumi had brushed little Xian Yu's teeth until they were sparkling clean.

Next came washing his face.

"Ugh... Ah, ptooey! Ayumi, be gentle! If you rub the towel so hard, you'll ruin my handsome, dashing face!"

Shinozaki Ayumi soothed him gently, sounding a little apologetic. "We're almost late, you know. Be good, Xiao Yu. Hold your breath and let your big sister wash your face quickly. Then we can hurry to the Ninja Academy."

"Mm, and this too. Help me put it on." At last, after washing up, Xian Yu mysteriously pulled out a set of stickers and asked Shinozaki Ayumi to stick them on his chin.

Xian Yu suddenly fell into deep thought...

When had his life started getting more and more decadent?

He remembered how things had been when he was just over two years old. His mornings had gone like this:

"Oh, Young Master Yu, don't move. I'll brush your teeth and wash your face for you."

"No need. I can handle little things like this better myself."

When had it all started? Xian Yu fell deep in thought...

With scrolls full of all kinds of supplies hanging from her, Shinozaki Ayumi carried Xian Yu across other people's rooftops and finally reached the Ninja Academy gates.

"This one, this one, and this one! Young Master Yu, be careful not to lose these scrolls on the way! They contain the books you need for cultural studies, as well as the kunai and shuriken for throwing class. And your lunch, too. Right, the red food scroll has the lunchbox I made myself. The blue scroll has rice balls. And the purple scroll has the ginseng soup I stayed up all night making. I made extra so you can share it with your good friends!"

Shinozaki Ayumi spoke rapidly. Once she'd finished giving her instructions, she immediately urged him, "Hurry in to class! First-year, Class Seven. Don't go to the wrong classroom!"

Xian Yu had been a little anxious, too. It was his first day of class, after all. Being late would leave a bad impression on the teacher.

But when he spotted a certain figure at the school gates, the young Xian Yu instantly became calm and unhurried.

"Young Master Yu, hurry up and go inside! You really are going to be late!" Seeing Xian Yu still squatting on the ground, leisurely sorting his scrolls, Shinozaki Ayumi grew genuinely anxious.

"Hey, hey, hey, Ayumi, don't worry. See that pineapple head who just came through the school gates?" Xian Yu remained perfectly calm.

"Huh?" At his words, Shinozaki Ayumi glanced toward the school gates. She saw a pineapple-headed kid ambling toward the school at a leisurely pace. Confused, she had no idea what her young master meant.

"Those pineapple heads are the worst! They always cut it so close to class. They always step into the classroom at the very last second!" Xian Yu paused, then smiled confidently. "So as long as I get into the classroom one step ahead of him, I definitely won't be late."

"Huh?" Shinozaki Ayumi looked in surprise at the pineapple-headed kid coming their way, now closer than before.

Nara Pengyi slowly walked around the unfamiliar woman and the kid with two crossed blade scars on his chin who were blocking his way.

As they passed each other, Nara Pengyi couldn't hold back and muttered, "What a drag."

"Huh?" Shinozaki Ayumi looked completely baffled. She had no idea that pineapple head had been talking about her.

Seeing the pineapple head walk past him, Xian Yu had no time to keep chatting with Shinozaki Ayumi. He immediately hurried after him.

Heh heh, I can't stand you arrogant pineapple heads.

Luckily, I'd already checked the records for Class Seven. This pineapple head is in Class Seven, too.

I'll stick right behind you and pretend to accidentally step on your heel, just to get you mad.

Heh heh, then I'll get ahead of you and step into the classroom first, right before we reach the door.

Xian Yu thought smugly.

This was his first chance to show up right on the bell without getting into trouble, leaving the teacher powerless to do anything about it.

A few minutes later.

Outside the First-Year, Class Seven classroom.

"Nara Pengyi! Shimura Xian Yu! It's your first day as new students, and you're already late! Stand outside the classroom and do a morning's worth of punishment!"

That day, the roar of their homeroom teacher, Shimura Xiong Yi, echoed across the entire school...

"Can the Nara Clan's mental arithmetic really be wrong?" Standing beside Nara Pengyi as they both served their punishment, Xian Yu stared at him with wide, dark eyes, looking utterly incredulous.

Nara Pengyi: "Idiot, it's all your fault, you moron. You kept following behind me and stepping on my heel over and over, so I lost track while counting in my head... It was too much trouble to figure out the time difference partway through, so I decided to carry on counting from where I'd left off..."

Xian Yu burst into tears: "Big Brother Pengyi, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have accidentally... stepped on your heel 108 times..."

Nara Pengyi said in surprise, "So it was 108 times... No wonder I thought it was quite a lot. I was keeping count in my head, and figuring out how many times you'd stepped on me on top of that would've been too much trouble..."

"Yeah, that really would've been too much trouble..." The two sighed together.