Hinata, Stop Pretending

Yesterday, Sasuke had probably been utterly devastated, but he had surely received the teachings of the Will of Fire from the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, allowing him to temporarily forget his sorrow.

He had also temporarily suppressed the hatred in his heart, regarding the man he had spoken of as a target he absolutely had to kill.

Although Sasuke looked no different from the one in Hinata's memories or from how he usually was.

In truth, however, Sasuke was no longer merely imitating Itachi Uchiha in his behavior. He had undergone a complete transformation in personality.

Hinata turned her head to look at Naruto and discovered that, at some point, the guy had fallen asleep sprawled on his desk, drooling all over it. This greatly displeased the bespectacled boy beside him.

Sakura and Ino's verbal brawl came to a temporary halt, each tossing out one final line: "Piggy Ino!" "Billboard Brow!" before calling a truce.

Ninja Academy Daily Life

It was not that they no longer wanted to fight. The school bell had rung right on time, and the teacher would be arriving in the classroom soon. If they kept going, they would definitely become the center of attention.

Having fought so many times, the two had long developed an unspoken understanding, so they each consciously stopped.

The other students, however, had no interest in the two of them. Their fights were practically three minor squabbles a day and one major brawl every three days, with not a shred of fresh creativity.

Given their personalities, everyone was more eager to see the dead-last Naruto make a comeback against the genius Sasuke Uchiha.

Not long after the bell rang, the classroom door was pushed open again. A man with yellowish skin, a noticeable scar across the bridge of his nose, and a green vest like the ones worn by Konoha ninja entered.

Even so, everyone could sense the kindness radiating from this teacher, this ninja.

Iruka held a set of teaching materials in both hands. After walking to the podium, he casually set them on the desk and swept his gaze across everyone in the classroom.

His gaze paused briefly on Hinata before shifting to Naruto, who had already begun sleeping soundly.

Everyone in the classroom turned their attention to Naruto. Seeing this, the listless Shikamaru said weakly and irritably, "If I end up with a teammate like this after graduation, that would be such a pain!"

Even Akamaru, the ninja hound tucked inside Kiba Inuzuka's coat, poked his head out and let out a bark. Kiba patted Akamaru's head and said, "This isn't the first time Naruto's done this, is it?"

A rather tall, skinny-looking boy gently nudged Naruto, who was still sleeping on his desk. Naruto opened his eyes in confusion.

When he saw everyone staring at him, as well as what seemed to be Teacher Iruka, he jolted awake. Teacher Iruka, class has already started? Those bastards, why didn't anyone remind me?

Seeing Naruto fully wake up, Iruka frowned deeply. Before he could say anything, Naruto suddenly sprang to his feet.

Clutching his stomach, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha, I fooled all of you, didn't I?!"

"Who would sleep on their desk first thing in the morning? Since we're attending the Ninja Academy, we naturally need the awareness of being ninja."

"I was actually practicing the Transformation Technique just now. See? I fooled all of you, right?"

Iruka was speechless. Shikamaru was speechless. Sakura was speechless. The entire class was speechless. Sasuke turned his head and muttered, "Idiot."

At that moment, Hinata's mind began providing a commentary on the battle. Naruto had unleashed the Shameless Technique, attacking her fiercely. Hinata had been caught unprepared.

She was heavily wounded as a result, and the scales of victory had completely tipped toward Naruto. Everyone else had already lost the strength to continue fighting, while Hinata remained unwilling to accept defeat.

She then decided to risk everything. With the mindset that even if she died, she could not let her opponent get away unscathed, she unleashed her unique secret technique in this desperate situation.

This technique was incomparably powerful, having reached the realm of returning to simplicity. Though silent and unassuming, the might contained within it was unstoppable.

Hinata roared in her heart: Secret technique, True: Byakugan Technique!

After laughing for a while, Naruto realized that the atmosphere in the classroom remained silent. He could only helplessly turn his gaze toward Iruka.