The Transfer Student

"Have you heard? We're getting a transfer student in our class."

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

The so-called well-informed students had really just happened to overhear it while passing by the teachers' office.

"Obito, we're getting a transfer student! I wonder what they're like?"

A sweet, innocent-looking girl with short brown hair struck an expectant pose. Two streaks of face paint adorned her face, making her look especially pretty.

The girl was simply curious about unfamiliar people and things. But young boys with budding crushes often found rivals for themselves in the strangest places.

"Hmph, whoever it is, they can't beat the genius Obito! Rin, just wait until I become Hokage!"

The girl named Rin was taken aback for a moment, then smiled brightly.

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

The girl always took the boy's remarkably childish words seriously. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she held such an important place in his heart.

Not far away, Kakashi, a white-haired, masked boy with dead-fish eyes, folded his arms and looked toward the door, keenly sensing something was happening.

"I could hear you making a racket from downstairs. Have some decorum!"

Their teacher, Yamashita Hiroshi, who was known for his strictness, shouted loudly.

The whole class fell silent, though one boy still quietly tried to talk to the girl beside him.

He wore a mesh shirt under a sleeveless jacket, and his skin was a little darker than that of the other children his age. He was speaking animatedly to the girl beside him.

But the girl's attention had already drifted elsewhere.

The transfer student Father told me about must be him...

She had long, slightly wavy black hair and big eyes of a dazzling ruby red. Her slightly chubby cheeks were delicate and cute.

The two teenagers were Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai.

"Quiet down!"

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

Looking at Asuma, Yamashita Hiroshi thought helplessly, He is Lord Hokage's son, after all. I should give him some leeway.

Asuma's academic performance was among the best in the class, but he was rather immature—or perhaps rebellious—and something of a troublemaker.

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

That was Yamashita Hiroshi's assessment, based on more than twenty years of teaching.

Yamashita Hiroshi looked around. No one dared make another sound under his gaze, so he nodded with satisfaction.

This is the advanced class, after all. They have potential. If nothing unexpected happens, they'll all become pillars of Konoha one day.

Yamashita Hiroshi had high hopes for the class.

"We have a new student joining our class. Now, let's have him introduce himself."

After speaking, Yamashita Hiroshi gestured for Uchiha Toru to come up to the front, then stepped aside.

As Uchiha Toru walked up to the front, his classmates began chattering among themselves again, especially the girls.

Toru's striking looks were particularly captivating to girls.

Uchiha Toru swept his gaze over the class. His eyes, brilliant as the starry sky, made several girls shriek—like celebrity-obsessed fans on Earth.

"My name is Toru. Uchiha Toru."

Uchiha Toru spoke quite calmly.

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

Nohara Rin nudged Obito and asked in a quiet voice.

Obito's face turned red, a moment too late. Then he caught on and replied, "Oh! I heard about him. He's that mixed—well, anyway, he's not a pure-blooded Uchiha."

Obito looked over the white-haired boy on stage again and curled his lip. "Hmph, another stuck-up white-haired guy."

Kakashi, who had been insulted, shot Obito an annoyed glance before turning his gaze toward Uchiha Toru.

Uchiha... A hint of competitiveness quietly stirred in Kakashi's heart. He sensed that Toru posed a threat to his status as a genius.

So his name really is Toru. Yuhi Kurenai was now certain that the boy before her was Uchiha Toru, the one her father had told her to treat like family. He's pretty handsome, too.

Beside her, Sarutobi Asuma leaned back with an irritated look.

"What's so special about the Uchiha? The Sarutobi Clan is the strongest in Konoha."

Asuma hadn't spoken particularly loudly, but Toru heard him.

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

Asuma was startled by Toru's sharp ears. He hadn't spoken very loudly, and the classroom wasn't exactly quiet, so how had Toru noticed him?

Just then, Yamashita Hiroshi spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

"Besides your name, you should tell everyone about your interests and dreams. That'll help your classmates get to know you better."

So Toru continued, "I like..."

He had planned to give a perfunctory answer, but just then, fragments of memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Toru knew he didn't belong in this world, but he knew very little about his previous life. It was no exaggeration to say he had amnesia.

Now, being asked about his personal interests had brought some of his memories to the surface.

"I like eating white sugar and grilled meat, fighting, hunting, and listening to the shamisen. I don't like drinking."

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

"Hahahaha! Those interests are so old-fashioned! You listen to the shamisen? Even my grandma doesn't listen to it! Hahahahaha!"

Obito laughed the loudest. He couldn't hold back when he heard Toru's old-fashioned interests.

Several other boys laughed, too.

Sarutobi Asuma mocked Toru for pretending to be grown-up. "Heh, you like fighting and hate drinking? You're just a kid. Why are you acting so mature?"

Hearing the others mock him, Yuhi Kurenai couldn't agree with them. From Toru's eyes, she could tell he didn't seem to be lying.

But the interests he'd mentioned really didn't sound like the sort of things a child would say. It left Kurenai feeling conflicted and intensely curious.

Asuma turned to Yuhi Kurenai. "Kurenai, look at him. He says he hates drinking, too. Konoha's laws forbid minors from drinking. Isn't he taking this mature act too far?"

Yuhi Kurenai nodded absently, not really listening to a word Asuma said. Her red eyes were fixed on Uchiha Toru at the front of the classroom.

Asuma felt his cheeks and ears growing hot. They must have turned red. The embarrassment made him feel awful.

Just then, Toru spoke again.

"Dreams... I'd call it a goal rather than a dream. My goal is to become strong—strong enough to take control of my own life."

That unusually mature declaration made some of the less composed girls shriek again.

Mature, aloof, handsome boys had always been popular with the younger girls at the Ninja Academy.

Some of the others, however, pondered Toru's words.

Kakashi murmured the words "take control" to himself, looking thoughtful.

Yuhi Kurenai knew Uchiha Toru's family circumstances, and felt even more sympathy for him. He'd lost both parents at a young age and lived alone in the Uchiha Clan compound. That was hardly a life he could control. No wonder he was so determined to take charge of it.