Transfer Student

"Did you hear? A transfer student is coming to our class."

Inside a classroom at the Konoha Ninja Academy, a few well-informed children were loudly discussing the news.

In truth, being "well-informed" just meant they had happened to overhear it while passing by the teachers' office.

"Obito, there's a transfer student! What kind of person do you think they are?"

A pure and cute girl with short brown hair struck a pose of anticipation; she had two streaks of face paint on her cheeks, making her look quite lovely.

Actually, the girl was just innocently curious about new people or things, but unfortunately, young boys with budding romantic interests often look for rivals in the most inexplicable places.

"Hmph, whatever! They won't be able to beat me, the great genius Obito! Rin, just wait until I become Hokage!"

The girl named Rin was stunned for a moment, then beamed with a radiant smile.

"Okay, I'll be waiting."

The girl always took the boy's surprisingly childish words to heart; perhaps that was one of the reasons she held such an important place in his heart.

Not far away, a silver-haired, masked boy with dead-fish eyes, Kakashi, sat with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked toward the door, keenly sensing the commotion.

"I could hear your shouting from downstairs! What kind of behavior is this!"

Yamashita Hiroshi, a teacher known for his strictness, shouted loudly.

The whole room went quiet, though one boy was still quietly chatting with the girl next to him.

The boy wore a mesh shirt underneath a sleeveless jacket, and his skin was somewhat tan compared to his peers. He was talking confidently to the girl beside him.

However, the girl's mind was already elsewhere.

The transfer student my father told me about must be him...

The girl had short, slightly wavy black hair and large eyes; her red pupils were as dazzling as rubies, and her slightly chubby face was both elegant and cute.

These two children were Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai.

"Quiet down!"

Yamashita Hiroshi reminded them again, and Asuma finally fell silent.

Yamashita Hiroshi looked at Asuma and thought helplessly, After all, he is the Hokage's son; I should give him some face.

Asuma's academic performance in class was top-tier, but his temperament was a bit immature, or rather, rebellious; he was a troublemaker in the class.

If he didn't change that in the future, his achievements would be limited.

This was the conclusion Yamashita Hiroshi had reached based on over twenty years of teaching.

Yamashita Hiroshi looked around, and seeing that no one dared to make a sound, he nodded with satisfaction.

"As expected of the elite class, they have potential. If nothing goes wrong, they will all be the pillars of Konoha in the future."

Yamashita Hiroshi felt full of anticipation for this class.

"Our class has welcomed a new student. Now, let the new student introduce himself."

After finishing, Yamashita Hiroshi gestured for Uchiha Toru to step onto the podium, then stepped aside.

As Uchiha Toru walked to the podium, the students below began to whisper and chatter again, especially the girls.

Toru's outstanding appearance was quite lethal to the girls.

Uchiha Toru scanned the room, his eyes as brilliant as the starry sky causing a few girls to shriek, rivaling some of the star-struck fans on Earth.

"My name is Toru, Uchiha Toru."

Uchiha Toru said quite calmly.

"Uchiha? Obito, aren't all Uchihas black-haired? Compared to an Uchiha, I think he looks more like Kakashi."

Nohara Rin poked Obito and asked in a low voice.

Obito's face flushed red with a dull reaction before he realized and replied, "Oh! I heard about it, he's that... anyway, he's not a pure-blooded Uchiha."

Obito looked at the white-haired boy on the stage again and couldn't help but pout. "Hmph, another white-haired, stuck-up guy."

Kakashi, being attacked, shot Obito an annoyed glance before turning his gaze toward Uchiha Toru.

Uchiha... A sense of competitiveness silently rose in Kakashi's heart; he felt a threat to his status as a genius from Toru.

So his name really is Toru. Yuhi Kurenai confirmed that the boy before her was indeed the Uchiha Toru her father had told her to treat like family. He's actually quite handsome.

Beside her, Sarutobi Asuma leaned back, feeling quite displeased.

"What Uchiha? The Sarutobi Clan is the strongest in Konoha."

Asuma's voice wasn't loud or quiet, but it reached Toru's ears.

Toru glanced in Asuma's direction, his expression remaining very calm.

Asuma was startled by Toru's keenness. After all, he hadn't spoken loudly, and the classroom wasn't exactly quiet, so how had he been noticed?

At this moment, Yamashita Hiroshi spoke up, breaking the awkward scene.

"Besides your name, you should also introduce your hobbies and dreams so that your classmates can get to know you better."

Toru then continued, "I like..."

Toru had intended to gloss over it, but just then, some memory fragments suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Toru knew he didn't belong to this world, but he knew very little about his past life; calling it amnesia was no exaggeration.

And now, because the topic touched upon personal hobbies, some of Toru's memories surged forth.

"I like eating white sugar and grilled meat, fighting, hunting, and listening to the shamisen. I hate drinking alcohol."

As soon as Toru finished speaking, some of the boys below burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha, what an old-fashioned hobby! Listening to the shamisen? Even my grandmother doesn't listen to that! Hahahaha!"

Obito laughed the loudest; hearing Toru's stuffy interests, he couldn't hold it in.

Several other boys also roared with laughter.

Sarutobi Asuma, meanwhile, mocked Toru for acting mature: "Heh, he likes fighting and hates drinking? He's just a kid, stop acting so tough!"

Yuhi Kurenai heard the mocking comments around her but felt they were wrong, because she could see in Toru's eyes that he wasn't lying.

Yet the hobbies he mentioned were indeed not things a child would say, which made Kurenai feel conflicted, thereby sparking a strong sense of curiosity.

Asuma turned to Kurenai and said, "Kurenai, look at him, he even says he hates drinking. Konoha Village law prohibits minors from drinking; isn't he trying too hard to act mature?"

Yuhi Kurenai nodded without really understanding, not actually listening to what Asuma was saying, as her red eyes were fixed on Uchiha Toru on the stage.

Asuma felt his cheeks and ears growing hot—he must have been blushing—and the feeling of humiliation made him very annoyed.

At this point, Toru on the stage spoke again.

"Dreams... rather than calling them dreams, I'd call them goals. My goal is to become strong—strong enough to gain the initiative in my own life."

This mature statement caused some of the less composed girls to shriek again.

This type of mature, cold, and handsome guy was always popular with the girls at the ninja academy.

However, some were pondering the depth of Toru's words.

Kakashi muttered the word "initiative" to himself, lost in thought.

As for Yuhi Kurenai, who knew Uchiha Toru's family background, she felt a surge of pity. A boy whose parents had both passed away, living alone in the Uchiha household—how could that not be a form of being passive? No wonder he was so obsessed with the idea of initiative.