Six Eyes

Yamashita Hiroshi was also surprised by how unusually mature this transfer student seemed. But he had seen all kinds of students, so he simply stepped up to the lectern.

"You can sit in that empty seat."

Yamashita Hiroshi pointed to an empty seat in the classroom. Uchiha Toru had no objections and walked over.

The Ninja Academy classroom had rows of desks with three seats each. The so-called empty seat was the innermost one beside Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai, in the second row by the window on the far right.

"Excuse me, could you move?"

Asuma didn't answer. He silently stood up and moved aside.

Yuhi Kurenai smiled and greeted him.

"Hi, I'm Yuhi Kurenai. I hope we get along!"

Uchiha Toru gave a knowing look. After all, Yuhi Kurenai and Yuhi Shinku were practically identical, like father, like daughter.

"Thank you."

Uchiha Toru bowed slightly, actually expressing his gratitude to the father and daughter.

But his serious manner made Yuhi Kurenai blush. She waved her hands and said, "You don't have to be so formal. Dad told me to look after you."

Uchiha Toru nodded and went inside.

Hearing Yuhi Kurenai's words, Asuma couldn't help feeling jealous.

Yamashita Hiroshi brought Toru's textbook over, then returned to the lectern and began the lesson.

"Today, in history class, we'll be covering the First Shinobi World War..."

"War... Every world has to face it eventually." Toru sighed, opened his book, and began reading carefully.

"Hm? What did you say?" Yuhi Kurenai asked curiously, leaning over.

Toru shook his head. "Nothing."

"You're on the wrong page. This is the history of Konoha's founding."

Yuhi Kurenai pointed out the textbook in front of Toru.

Toru stared at the Senju and Uchiha crests on the page, momentarily lost in thought.

Kurenai reached over and turned to the correct page for him. Toru thanked her, then took the page and turned it.

The harmonious, friendly scene made Asuma's fists clench. He touched his head, feeling as if something was off, as though he were wearing something on it.

The lesson passed quickly. Toru had listened very attentively; this was the first time since arriving in this world that he had received such a systematic education. So even after class ended, he kept turning pages.

His blue eyes rapidly scanned the book. History, coded messages, chakra extraction, ninjutsu theory... All of it flowed into Toru's mind like water soaking into a sponge.

With Toru's intelligence, understanding all this unfamiliar material was easy. He had already read most of it during the lesson, and he naturally wasn't going to waste the break, either.

The classroom was noisy during break, with nearly everyone gathered in small groups, chatting and playing around.

After all, they were only first-year Ninja Academy students, barely more than children. No matter how precocious they were, there was a limit.

Kurenai left her seat to chat with her close friend, Mitaraishi Anko.

The purple-haired girl, Mitaraishi Anko, nudged Kurenai with her elbow.

"Hehe, your new deskmate is handsome! Much more handsome than Asuma, and a better match for you, too. Hehe."

As Mitaraishi Anko spoke, she wore the knowing smile of a close friend, complete with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows. Kurenai immediately understood what she meant.

"What are you talking about?"

Kurenai bashfully patted Anko on the shoulder, only for Anko to continue teasing her.

Asuma watched Uchiha Toru sitting obediently at his desk and sneered, "Bookworm."

The novelty of having a transfer student couldn't compete with the freedom of break time, so no one came over to bother Toru.

Toru simply sat there quietly, reading for several minutes.

The students gradually left the classroom. Their next lesson was a combat exercise, so they had to go outside.

Toru put down his textbook, left his seat, and followed the others to the training ground.

Yamashita Hiroshi was still teaching this lesson and was already waiting on the field.

"Class has started. Stop dawdling and hurry up!"

Yamashita Hiroshi was just as strict as ever, and the students hurried to line up.

Once everyone had arrived, Yamashita Hiroshi took out the roster and announced, "We'll continue our combat exercises today. Gekko Hayate will go first. Choose your own opponent. Whoever wins can choose the next opponent."

(According to the setting, Gekko Hayate and Mitaraishi Anko are currently only two years old, yet in the original story's flashbacks, they were Kakashi's peers. So for this scene, just ignore the age-setting inconsistency.)

"I choose Uchiha Toru."

The dark-circled boy, Gekko Hayate, who looked perpetually sick, stepped forward and named his chosen opponent.

The atmosphere on the field instantly came alive.

"Hey, that transfer student doesn't look like he can fight."

"Gekko Hayate coughs all the time, but he's still really strong."

"Exactly. The transfer student's probably in trouble."

Toru's ears twitched slightly as he gathered information about his opponent.

From what he heard, his opponent was one of the strongest students in the class.

Yuhi Kurenai couldn't help worrying about Toru. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes followed him as he walked onto the field.

Anko looked delighted, as if she were watching something adorable, while Asuma looked like he'd just eaten crap.

Toru and Gekko Hayate stood in the middle of the open space before the others. The clearing was about twenty meters across, more than enough room for children to fight.

Toru clenched his fists, considering how to defeat the boy in front of him.

"You haven't learned to extract chakra yet, have you? To keep things fair, I won't use chakra."

Gekko Hayate was a pretty honorable kid. He even offered to limit himself.

But Toru refused.

"It wouldn't be fair to you if you didn't use chakra."

Gekko Hayate understood Toru's words to mean, I can beat you without chakra.

So Gekko Hayate stopped hesitating and decided to use his full strength against the transfer student.

By all rights, he should have been stronger than the boy in front of him, who couldn't even use chakra. And yet Gekko Hayate felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

There was an inexplicable pressure coming from the white-haired, blue-eyed boy.

Being able to use chakra actually made Gekko Hayate feel relieved.

Toru touched the skin around his eyes. Those clear, bright blue eyes remained as limpid as ever.

Every detail from every direction was reflected in Toru's eyes.

"Six Eyes..."

Toru recalled that his eyes were called the Six Eyes. It seemed they granted him extraordinary powers of observation.

Those eyes, together with the remnants of combat experience buried in his subconscious and the fighting instinct in his bones, gave Toru the confidence to challenge one of the strongest students in the class, despite having only recently begun learning about chakra.

Toru raised his fists, one in front and one behind, holding them before his forehead and chest. He spread his feet and sank into a horse stance, ready to respond to anything.

Yamashita Hiroshi interrupted Uchiha Toru, who was already prepared to fight.

"Uchiha Toru, you need to form the Seal of Confrontation first."

Gekko Hayate raised his right hand and extended his index and middle fingers together, pressing his other fingers against his palm. This was the Seal of Confrontation.

Toru followed his example, lowering his hand and forming the Seal of Confrontation too.