The First Day of School

On the school playground, the 175cm-tall Kizaru stood at the very back of the new student ranks, towering over the rest like a crane in a flock of chickens.

On the elevated platform at the front of the playground, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was delivering the orientation speech for the incoming class.

Watching the middle-aged Third Hokage on the platform—who had been rambling for nearly half an hour about fire one moment and leaves the next—Kizaru realized for the first time that there were aspects of the ninja world that were strikingly similar to the Earth he had lived on in his past life.

For instance, the leadership speeches: the same empty rhetoric, the same brainwashing, and the same tedious droning!

The Third Hokage's speech lasted for about forty minutes, and amidst the "tear-filled" cheers and applause from the crowd, he departed with a look of satisfaction.

Once the Third had left, the flow of the entrance ceremony accelerated instantly.

Within ten minutes, the opening ceremony concluded smoothly, and the new students were led by their teachers to their respective classrooms.

The Ninja Academy was not particularly strict about student management, allowing everyone to choose their own seats. Kizaru, being the tallest, opted for the window seat at the very back of the classroom out of consideration for his classmates.

The seat next to Kizaru remained empty. Shimura Yoshihiko had wanted to sit beside him, but Kizaru sent him off to the front row under the guise of needing to focus on his studies.

As for the other students, having witnessed Kizaru's "Great Demon King" performance during the entrance exam, no one dared to sit next to him.

However, sitting in the row directly in front of Kizaru were the heirs of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, with Nara Shikaku occupying the seat right in front of him, also by the window.

The Shimura Clan and the Yamanaka Clan—one of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio—had a good relationship; when Danzo established Root, the Yamanaka Clan had dispatched many ninjas to assist.

Therefore, after taking his seat, Yamanaka Inoichi, as the son of the Yamanaka clan head, politely turned around to greet Kizaru, expressing his goodwill.

Kizaru naturally responded with a smile, and after a brief exchange, a preliminary friendly relationship was established.

Where there is goodwill, there is naturally hostility. The new students from the village's two clans plagued by eye conditions—the Red Eye Disease and the Cataract—looked at Kizaru with palpable animosity.

Uchiha Inabi and Hyuga Toda had both been defeated by Kizaru during the entrance exam.

After the Senju Clan dissolved and integrated into the village, the Hyuga and Uchiha clans became the two most powerful ninja families. As children of these prestigious houses, both boys possessed an innate sense of pride, and they felt deeply aggrieved by their loss to Shimura Kizaru.

Their hostility toward Kizaru didn't amount to a deep-seated blood feud; it was merely a refusal to accept defeat. Their sole goal after enrolling was to beat Kizaru.

The curriculum for the first day of school was similar to that of the Earth Kizaru had transmigrated from, consisting mostly of explanations of school rules and moral education rather than any substantive teaching.

The teacher in charge of Kizaru's class was Yamakawa Kiyoshi, a former elite Chunin from the Anbu who had voluntarily requested a transfer to the Ninja Academy to teach after getting married and settling down.

As a teacher, Yamakawa Kiyoshi was quite conscientious. After briefly explaining the school rules, he began the formal lesson.

Knowing that cultural and ideological classes were too dull for children, he would incorporate his own experiences or small stories he had heard or seen while out on missions into his lectures.

This teaching style made the dry, boring moral lessons interesting, and most of the students listened with great enthusiasm, their eyes shining with genuine interest.

The students' reactions brought a secret joy to Yamakawa Kiyoshi. He looked around the classroom with self-satisfaction, his gaze finally resting on the window seat at the very back.

Snap!

Having lost control of his strength, the chalk in Yamakawa Kiyoshi's hand broke in two, and the smile on his face vanished.

The reason for his loss of composure was simple: at the back of the classroom by the window, two students were already buried in their desks, sleeping soundly.

Taking a deep breath, Yamakawa Kiyoshi felt he needed to demonstrate his authority as a teacher on this very first day.

He recognized both students: one was the "Great Demon King" who had dominated the entrance exam, the peerless genius of the Shimura Clan, Shimura Kizaru; the other was the son of the Nara clan head, who had achieved a perfect score on the written entrance exam, Nara Shikaku.

Recalling the strength Kizaru had displayed during the entrance exam, Yamakawa Kiyoshi realized with a heavy heart that if he were to clash with Kizaru, his chances of subduing the boy easily and cleanly were less than thirty percent.

If they fought at full strength, Yamakawa Kiyoshi was ten-tenths certain he could defeat Kizaru (or so he believed), but as a teacher of the Elite Class, if he had to go all out to subdue a six-year-old freshman and potentially trade hundreds of blows, what would become of his dignity and authority?

Not knowing Kizaru's personality and having carefully assessed the risks of a direct confrontation, Yamakawa Kiyoshi decided to change his approach: killing the chicken to scare the monkey would suffice.

Picking up the broken piece of chalk from the lectern, he used a kunai-throwing technique to launch it, striking Nara Shikaku squarely on the head.

The students below the podium followed Yamakawa Kiyoshi's movement and turned to look toward the back of the classroom.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing Nara Shikaku slowly lift his head with a pained expression after the sudden attack, the students burst into laughter.

Shimura Yoshihiko, sitting in the front row, also turned around. Seeing the pineapple-headed boy from the Nara clan get hit by the teacher for sleeping in class, he joined in the laughter.

But as he laughed, Yoshihiko noticed something off: behind the Nara boy, Big Brother Kizaru was also slumped over his desk, fast asleep.

Big Brother Kizaru must have been exhausted from training last night! Yoshihiko immediately found a justification for his brother in his heart.

"Nara Shikaku, go stand at the back of the classroom and wake yourself up!" Yamakawa Kiyoshi roared, intentionally using a loud voice to wake the person behind Shikaku.

"What a drag," Shikaku muttered. Rubbing his head, he didn't try to argue. He lifted his rear from the chair, stood up, and sauntered out of his seat.

"How troublesome."

As he walked out of his spot, Shikaku heard a voice from his side.

Looking at Kizaru, who was leaning against the back of his chair with a faint smile on his face, Shikaku seemed to realize something.

The guy behind him had been the first one to fall asleep on the desk!

Shikaku looked at Kizaru, then turned to look at the stern-faced teacher on the podium, and immediately understood.

He was the chicken being slaughtered to warn the monkey behind him!

How detestable! A teacher who bullies the weak and fears the strong!

Complaining inwardly, Shikaku walked to a spot not far to the left of Kizaru and stood still.