The Pretty Boy

Now that he knew Senju Kotoha was planning to make a move against him, Ito Makoto immediately raised his guard to the next level.

Senju Kotoha was different from Ueda Shin. Compared to Ueda Shin's recklessness, Kotoha was more rational and had more to consider. That worked in Makoto's favor.

Once someone had people they cared about, they wouldn't go to extremes. In other words, even if Kotoha made a move against Makoto in the future, she wouldn't seriously injure him, let alone kill him. No matter who she was, if she killed an ordinary Ninja Academy student in broad daylight, she wouldn't be able to survive in the village afterward.

To uphold justice, the Third Hokage might even personally kill her. Even Tsunade of the Konoha Sannin, who belonged to the Senju Clan like Kotoha and was supposedly her backer, wouldn't oppose the Third Hokage's decision.

With Kotoha as his opponent, Makoto hardly needed to worry about dying.

However, Kotoha wouldn't hold back when attacking him if she wanted to confirm whether he was a Transmigrator. If he wanted to keep hiding his identity, getting hurt was unavoidable.

For Makoto, who had mastered intermediate Yang Nature Transformation and possessed the Senju Bloodline, getting a little injured was no big deal.

Though he was 95 percent sure Kotoha wouldn't try to kill him, there was still a small chance things could go wrong. Cautious as he was, Makoto wouldn't stake his life on a guess.

To conceal his identity, he had to pretend he was powerless. When he was attacked, he would need to predict in advance whether his opponent's attack was lethal.

To guard against a fatal attack, he first needed to have Earth Spear ready. He also had to use his Sharingan to watch Kotoha's movements and behavior, while the Golden Eagle prepared to perform Reverse Summoning Jutsu. If he couldn't react in time, the eagle would whisk him away at once.

From what he'd overheard earlier, he already had a general idea of Kotoha's abilities. She had mastered the Breathing Technique from Demon Slayer, using it to force Natural Energy into her body through her breathing.

Makoto had copied her Breathing Technique with his Sharingan and tried it once that night. It was his first time using it, so he was very clumsy, but he still grasped some of its principles.

Since the technique absorbed Natural Energy through breathing, it offered almost no ability to sense Natural Energy in the surroundings.

Makoto, for instance, could sense it if someone used Natural Energy in front of him. That was one of the abilities of Sage Mode. But Kotoha's Breathing Technique didn't allow her to do that.

So he could use Sage Mode against Kotoha, too.

In the original world, Naruto Uzumaki had used Sage Mode and its powerful sensory abilities to dodge even the Third Raikage's attacks. Against a young Kotoha, Makoto would have little trouble avoiding her.

With all these abilities as a fallback, Makoto no longer had to worry about dying.

During class at the Ninja Academy the next day, Makoto stayed on high alert, ready to activate Sage Mode at any moment.

He could tell Kotoha was paying much more attention to him. Sometimes, he caught her watching him out of the corner of his eye.

Makoto wasn't the only one who noticed the change in Kotoha. Someone else had picked up on it, too.

"Kotoha, I've noticed you keep staring over here during class. Is something wrong with me?"

It was Sakura who had noticed. Sitting between Kotoha and Makoto, she was naturally the first to spot the change.

Kotoha hadn't expected Sakura to catch her watching Makoto.

"Nothing, Sakura. I was just looking out the window. Class is so boring, after all!"

As she spoke, she stretched nonchalantly.

Sakura gave Kotoha a suspicious look and said nothing more. She simply shifted to block Makoto from view, so Kotoha couldn't see him.

Kotoha noticed Sakura's little move and couldn't help laughing. What a straightforward girl, guarding her crush like a treasure as if someone might steal him away.

But Kotoha wasn't interested in Makoto that way at all. To be honest, Uchiha Sasuke and Makoto were both adorable pretty boys. They were handsome and refined, exactly her type.

But Makoto's style left a lot to be desired. He wore black tracksuits every day and a pair of dark sunglasses, making him look gloomy and dreary. It seriously hurt his looks.

On top of that, he was suspected of being a Transmigrator. Kotoha wouldn't risk her life dating someone whose allegiance she didn't know.

Compared to Makoto, Sasuke was clearly a better romantic prospect.

The problem was, there were too many girls around Sasuke. He wasn't aloof yet; he could laugh and chat with his classmates, and he was cheerful, sunny, and cute. Ever since he started school the day before, he'd captured the hearts of a whole crowd of girls.

Kotoha had fallen for him, too. In her previous life, she'd been a big-sister fan of the three little ones, and she simply couldn't resist a pretty boy like him.

What was a big-sister fan? It was just an excuse to hide how much older women adored pretty boys. In her previous life, liking underage pretty boys was a crime. But this ninja world was different.

She had an adult soul, but the same age as the pretty boys. And this world had no ban on dating them.

So she couldn't hide her love of pretty boys at all.

When they'd picked their seats earlier, she'd wanted to sit next to Sasuke, but Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata had beaten her to it. So she'd had to settle for sitting near Makoto instead.

Now, during breaks and outdoor lessons, Sasuke was always surrounded by a crowd of girls. Even though she belonged to the Senju Clan, she seemed completely insignificant beside them.

She didn't want to be just another fangirl in the crowd. How was that any different from being one of the three little ones' fans in her previous life? She wanted Sasuke to remember her and see her as someone special, the one and only in his heart.

But that was a problem for later. For now, she had to keep her promise and test the Makoto sitting right in front of her.

The school clearly wasn't a good place to test him. There were too many teachers around, and they'd step in if a fight broke out.

Kotoha was confident in her abilities, but she didn't want to challenge the strength of adult Chunin or antagonize the teachers.

So, like with Ueda Shin, she decided to test him on the way home after school.

For now, though, she could observe Makoto a little more and see if anything about him seemed unusual.

She could also enjoy a close-up view of a pretty boy. Makoto dressed like a gloomy loner, but thanks to the eagle-eyed perspective she'd developed as a celebrity fan in her previous life, seeing past his sunglasses to appreciate his face was easy.

If she couldn't date him, she could at least enjoy looking at him.

Hehe, not bad. She'd been unhappy about coming to this world at first, but the thought of openly dating pretty boys made all her resentment disappear.