The Four Truant Kings couldn't help looking worried for their friend Lin Fan.
But Lin Fan was unfazed; if anything, his eyes were filled with barely concealed excitement.
[ Ding! Guidance mission issued: Defeat Sasuke at full strength and knock him down three times. Reward: Tomoe Sharingan Lv. 1. ]
As expected, the system's guidance mission had finally appeared.
And the reward for completing it made Lin Fan secretly rejoice.
After all, even in the once-powerful Uchiha Clan, not everyone could awaken the Sharingan, a special Kekkei Genkai.
It took intense emotional trauma to awaken it, and further evolution required even more.
Sasuke, after all, had only awakened a One-Tomoe Sharingan in a fit of rage after witnessing his entire clan's massacre with his own eyes.
But Lin Fan only had to complete a guidance mission to obtain one with ease. And with his infinite skill points, he'd surely awaken the max-level Three-Tomoe Sharingan right from the start.
He'd even awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at an age younger than his world-shattering idol, Madara.
Now that was exhilarating.
For Lin Fan, the only difficult part of the mission was figuring out how to make Sasuke go all out so he could complete it.
He already had a rough plan.
"Hey, Iruka, how exactly did you choose our matchups? Why'd you pair me up against this dead last in one-on-one combat training? Aren't you worried I'll hurt him?"
Sasuke, surrounded by adoring girls, suddenly twisted his lips in annoyance and challenged Iruka.
A bead of sweat appeared on Iruka's forehead. He explained awkwardly, "Sasuke, I drew lots before class. I wasn't targeting you. Besides, this is just an ordinary training session. If you spar, I hope you'll go easy on Lin Fan."
"Hey, dead last, listen up. You can surrender, just like that Pineapple Head did earlier. You're no use to me as a training partner."
Sasuke spoke coldly, then turned to leave.
"Hmph. Pineapple Head? I knew I couldn't stand Sasuke."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, looking annoyed at Sasuke's remark.
"Heh. You're just scared of my big bro Lin Fan, aren't you, Mr. Show-Off? Are you trying to run away with your tail between your legs?"
Naruto hurried forward to block Sasuke's path and taunted him with a snicker.
"Get lost. You won by ambushing me with that sleazy Transformation Technique. Naruto, in my eyes, you're a hundred times more useless than Lin Fan. Just looking at you disgusts me."
Sasuke's words were as cold and merciless as ever.
Naruto flew into a rage. He rolled up his sleeves, his eyes rolling back as he shoved his face toward Sasuke. "You arrogant show-off! You want to fight or what?"
Sasuke didn't back down. He pressed his face just as close to Naruto's. "If you've got the guts, come at me. I'm ready for your transformation jutsu now. I'll beat you until you're crawling!"
Seeing the two of them bristle at each other, the Truancy Trio, Sakura, Ino, and the others quickly stepped in to pull them apart.
Lin Fan stood quietly to the side, watching the bickering Naruto and Sasuke with a fond smile.
Naruto might look annoyed with Sasuke now, and the two might think nothing of each other.
But Lin Fan knew Naruto would spend the next ten years chasing after him.
Naruto would even swallow his pride and kneel before the Fourth Raikage, just to beg him to spare Sasuke's life.
Could their relationship really be summed up so simply by the word "bond"?
Lin Fan didn't think so.
Didn't it just prove that Hinata, Sakura, and the others were nothing more than an accident in Naruto and Sasuke's lives?
BAM!!!
"That's enough, Naruto! Stop embarrassing yourself on the training field. Lin Fan can decide for himself whether to fight or surrender. You don't need to make the decision for him."
Iruka hurried over, rapped Naruto hard on the head, then grabbed him by the collar and tossed him into the spectators' area.
After watching the couple's everyday bickering, Lin Fan cleared his throat and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry. For Naruto's sake, I'll go easy on you, Sasuke. I'll try not to hurt you."
"Hahahaha!"
Lin Fan's words drew a roar of laughter from the class.
The boy who'd been dead last for years had just said that to the top student in their grade.
That was some next-level humblebragging.
"Hmph. I, Sasuke Uchiha, don't need you to go easy on me. Dead last, this is your final chance to surrender. Once I start, there's no such thing as holding back."
Lin Fan kept smiling. "I agree. Otherwise, how did the Uchiha Clan disappear from Konoha? I guess your clansmen were so confident in their strength that they never learned the meaning of holding back."
Iruka broke out in a cold sweat.
Bringing up the destruction of the Uchiha Clan had to have crossed Sasuke's line.
He couldn't understand why Lin Fan, who usually surrendered without a fight during training, was suddenly so bold today.
Sure enough, after Lin Fan deliberately brought up his clan's massacre, Sasuke turned and walked back.
His eyes were now coated in a cold frost.
"If you're looking for trouble, I'll go all out and finish you quickly."
"Why did Lin Fan have to bring that up? This is bad..."
Sakura, watching from the sidelines, looked worried.
But her inner self was excitedly thinking, Sasuke-kun, beat Lin Fan senseless for me. I can't forgive anyone but you for peeking at me while I bathe!
Then Lin Fan stepped out of the crowd to face Sasuke.
"Go for it, Big Bro Lin Fan! You have to beat that smug face!"
Naruto, down below, squinted with a grin as he cheered him on.
"L-Lin Fan..."
Hinata watched Lin Fan worriedly from nearby, her index fingers nervously tracing circles against each other.
Lin Fan smiled gently at Hinata to reassure her, then turned toward Sasuke.
He clenched his left fist and held it behind his back, raising his right hand forward. His expression was calm.
"Three moves are all I need to finish you."
"All right. I declare the third training match underway!"
The moment Iruka finished speaking, Sasuke dashed toward Lin Fan.
Once he was close, he clenched his right fist and swung it hard at Lin Fan's face.
"Heh. Too slow."
Lin Fan murmured, then turned one hand into a palm and pushed against Sasuke's fist, effortlessly deflecting his attack.
BAM!!!
Their fist and palm collided, and Sasuke staggered back a full step!
Lin Fan didn't budge.
Sasuke was startled.
Lin Fan's strength and physique clearly weren't what they'd been when he was just a dead-last student.
He didn't dwell on it. He stepped forward with his left leg and swung his right fist again.
BAM!
To everyone's surprise, Sasuke's vicious straight punch struck nothing but air.
A wisp of white smoke drifted by.
Lin Fan had already been replaced by a short log.
"Substitution Technique?"
Even Iruka, watching from the sidelines, was stunned.
As a Chunin, he couldn't replace himself with a nearby object as quickly as Lin Fan had.
"Up there! My turn to counterattack—Konoha Whirlwind!!!"
Sasuke turned around and saw the afterimage of a whipping kick hurtling toward his head!
I can dodge it!
Sasuke thought to himself.