Childhood Sweethearts Can't Compare to a Heavenly Arrival

After mastering the astonishingly powerful Fireball Jutsu, Hayato's face remained radiant with a sense of lingering excitement, his eyes shimmering with curiosity and a thirst for the unknown.

"Grandfather, is there anything else you can teach me?" He looked at the Grand Elder beside him with eager anticipation, his tone filled with a hunger for knowledge.

Watching his grandson's enthusiasm for learning, a surge of indescribable gratification welled up in the Grand Elder's heart.

He pondered for a brief moment before slowly drawing a somewhat archaic-looking scroll from his robes and handing it to Hayato with a solemn expression.

Hayato took the scroll, his eyes revealing curiosity and excitement. "What is this, Grandfather?"

The Grand Elder smiled kindly and explained, "This contains various applications for our Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, as well as some matching genjutsu. As a descendant of the Uchiha bloodline, you must not let the power of the Sharingan go to waste. Study this scroll on your own; I believe it will be of great benefit to you."

Upon hearing this, Hayato felt a surge of wild joy. Although he had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he still felt somewhat lost and confused regarding its practical application.

The scroll gifted by the Grand Elder was, without a doubt, a timely gift.

"Thank you, Grandfather!" Hayato said, filled with gratitude.

"This is something you deserve. Alright, that's enough for today. It's getting late, and you should go back and rest."

The Grand Elder gently ruffled Hayato's hair, his tone brimming with affection and care.

As for why he didn't simply explain it orally, it was because Hayato's previous startling question—"Why must Fire Release ninjutsu be exhaled from the mouth?"—had caught the Grand Elder completely off guard.

How was he to know? It had always been that way.

Hayato was so immersed in the ocean of knowledge within the scroll that he couldn't pull himself away, as if the entire world had come to a standstill.

However, the Grand Elder grew concerned for his eyes. "No rush, read it slowly when you get back. The lighting here is poor, and it's bad for your eyes," he urged, gently nudging Hayato.

Before long, the two returned home together. After seeing Hayato home, the Grand Elder turned and left.

Clutching the scroll tightly, Hayato couldn't wait to return to his room and began to study with insatiable hunger. He spent the entire night wandering through the world of the scroll, submerged in the sea of knowledge.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight bathed the earth, Hayato was already up early to begin his morning training.

He moved with vigor in the courtyard, practicing Baji Quan; his punches whistled through the air with an imposing, rainbow-like momentum.

The sounds in the courtyard awakened Misaki and Shota, who were still fast asleep. Rubbing their sleepy eyes, they came out to the courtyard to see what was happening.

"Why is Hayato up so early? It's still early for school," Shota said with some surprise.

Misaki gently tugged on Shota's arm and shook her head. "Let's go, let's prepare breakfast."

The two exchanged a smile and left the courtyard together.

After finishing his set of martial arts, Hayato wiped the sweat away with a towel, feeling refreshed, and headed to the main hall for a meal.

Once everything was settled, Misaki took Hayato to school.

"Mom, I can actually go to school by myself," Hayato said, tilting his head up.

Misaki put her hands on her hips and said with a stern face, "No, you're still young, and I'm worried."

Hayato touched his nose helplessly, thinking to himself:

If he went to school alone, he could ask his grandfather for a Shadow Clone scroll, let a clone go to school, and use his real body to train.

But as it stood, that idea was currently impossible to realize.

Not long after, Hayato arrived at the Ninja Academy.

Asuma was sitting quietly to the side with a pout, looking somewhat dejected.

"Good morning, Hayato-kun." Seeing Hayato arrive, Kurenai's face lit up with joy as she greeted him warmly.

"Good morning, Kurenai." Hayato smiled and waved in response.

Seeing Hayato walk over, Asuma stood up indignantly, staring at him with an unhappy expression.

However, Hayato ignored his presence entirely and walked straight to his seat to sit down comfortably.

Seeing Hayato arrive, Kurenai couldn't wait to share the day's interesting news with him.

On the other side, Asuma, ignored once again, gritted his teeth and sat back down, listening to Kurenai and Hayato chatting happily.

He suddenly felt a chill on the top of his head, as if something were about to sprout.

Today's lesson was not a simple indoor lecture. After Shuichi finished his indoor session, he led the students to the playground.

"From today on, we will officially begin practical combat lessons," Shuichi announced loudly.

He then brought out a wooden crate filled with various ninja tools: kunai, shuriken, senbon, and shadow wind-shuriken, among others.

"Today's lesson is on throwing techniques," Shuichi said, holding three shuriken in his hand as he looked at the fixed targets ahead. "The key to throwing lies in the use of elbow strength and precise aiming. If your aim is off, all your effort will be in vain."

After the explanation, Teacher Shuichi demonstrated his throwing skills in front of everyone.

He threw the three shuriken in his hand simultaneously; one could only hear the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of them cutting through the air, followed by the thud-thud-thud of the shuriken embedding themselves into the target.

Without exception, all three shuriken had hit the bullseye.

"Alright, next we will practice in groups. Two to a group; you can follow your seating arrangements or group yourselves freely. I will correct your movements one by one based on your performance," Shuichi began to arrange the groups.

Upon hearing about the grouping, Asuma's eyes lit up.

He had already started practicing his throwing techniques at home yesterday, all to prove himself in front of Kurenai today.

Yesterday had been truly embarrassing, and he did not want to be looked down upon by Kurenai again.

He trotted over to Kurenai's side and said, "Kurenai, let's practice as a pair."

Hearing this, Kurenai turned her head to look at Hayato, seeking his opinion.

Hayato merely smiled and said softly, "It's up to you!"

Having received her answer, Kurenai gave a slight nod and cast an apologetic glance at Asuma.

"Sorry, Asuma. You should find someone else; I'm a bit slow, and I'm afraid I'll hold you back."

Asuma instantly turned to stone, his mouth twitching as he struggled to find words. A wave of intense frustration surged within him, as if someone had doused him with a bucket of cold water.

"Hayato-kun, would it be alright if we practiced together?" Kurenai turned to ask Hayato.

"Sure, I have no problem with that," Hayato readily agreed.

Once they had settled the matter, the two walked over to Shuichi to collect their ninja tools for practice.

They left Asuma standing where he was, looking utterly disheveled and bewildered.

You're afraid of holding me back, but you aren't afraid of holding him back? Damn it! Asuma roared inwardly.

Having been rejected, Asuma had no choice but to look for someone else to pair up with.

Fortunately, as the son of the Third Hokage, there were still plenty of classmates in the group willing to practice with him.

However, as he threw the shuriken in his hand, he kept glancing over at Hayato and Kurenai, who were laughing and chatting.

The anger in his heart was ignited once more. Damn it, what exactly am I lacking? Is it just because I'm not handsome enough?

The more Asuma thought about it, the angrier he became. He kept hurling shuriken forward, but very few actually hit the bullseye.

Out of twelve shuriken thrown, only four hit the mark.

On the other side, Hayato was lightly spinning a kunai in his hand.

He carefully recalled the key points Shuichi had just mentioned, focusing on using his elbow to generate power.

With a flick of his wrist, the kunai shot out, cutting through the air like a bolt of lightning and embedding itself perfectly in the center of the target.

"It's not that hard, after all." A confident smile tugged at the corners of Hayato's mouth.