Six Eyes

Yamashita Hiroshi was surprised by the transfer student's uncanny maturity, but as a man of wide experience who had seen all kinds of students, he simply walked up to the podium.

"You can take that empty seat."

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

The classroom at the ninja academy was furnished with desks and chairs for three, and the empty seat happened to be the one on the far inside next to Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai, located in the rightmost corner of the second row by the window.

"Excuse me, please."

Asuma did not reply, silently standing up to make room.

Yuhi Kurenai, however, smiled and offered a greeting.

"Hello, I'm Yuhi Kurenai. I look forward to getting along with you."

Uchiha Toru wore a knowing expression; after all, Yuhi Kurenai and Yuhi Shinku were essentially a father and daughter cut from the same cloth.

"Thank you."

Uchiha Toru bowed slightly, which was actually his way of expressing gratitude to the father-daughter pair.

However, Yuhi Kurenai was flustered by such a formal attitude, her face flushing as she waved her hands. "You don't have to be so polite. My dad told me I should look after you."

Uchiha Toru nodded and walked in.

Hearing Yuhi Kurenai's words, Asuma couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy.

Yamashita Hiroshi brought the textbooks to Toru before returning to the podium to begin the lecture.

"Today in history class, we are discussing the First Shinobi World War..."

"War, huh... it's unavoidable in every world," Toru mused, opening the book to read carefully.

"Hm? What did you say?" Yuhi Kurenai tilted her head curiously.

Toru shook his head. "Nothing."

"You have the wrong page; this is the history of Konoha's founding."

Yuhi Kurenai said, looking at the textbook in front of Toru.

Toru gazed at the Senju and Uchiha clan emblems on the page, momentarily lost in thought.

Kurenai reached over to help Toru turn to the correct page. After Toru said thanks, he took the paper and flipped it over.

This harmonious and friendly scene made Asuma's knuckles turn white. He touched his head, feeling a strange discomfort, as if he were wearing something he shouldn't be.

The class passed quickly. Toru listened intently; after all, this was his first time receiving systematic knowledge education since arriving in this world, to the point that he kept flipping through the book even after class ended.

His blue eyes scanned the pages rapidly. History, code-breaking, chakra extraction, ninjutsu theory... all of this information was absorbed into Toru's brain as if water were being soaked up by a sponge.

With Toru's intelligence, understanding these brand-new concepts was effortless. He had already finished most of the material during the lesson, and he had no intention of wasting the break time either.

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

After all, they were only first-year ninja academy students—just half-grown children. No matter how precocious they were, there was a limit to it.

Kurenai left her seat to chat with her friend Mitarashi Anko.

The purple-haired girl, Mitarashi Anko, poked Kurenai with her elbow.

"Hehe, your new desk mate is quite handsome. Much better looking than Asuma, and he suits you better too, tee-hee."

As Mitarashi Anko spoke, she wore a smile that only best friends would understand, accompanied by a suggestive arch of her eyebrows that made her meaning instantly clear to Kurenai.

"What are you saying?"

Kurenai slapped Anko's shoulder, looking slightly shy, only to be met with further gossip.

Asuma looked at Uchiha Toru, who was sitting quietly at his desk, and mocked him as a "bookworm."

The novelty of the transfer student wasn't enough to overcome the urge to slack off during break, so no one bothered Toru.

Toru sat there quietly, reading for several minutes.

The students left the classroom one after another. The next period was a combat drill, which naturally had to be held outdoors.

Toru set down his book, left his seat, and followed the crowd toward the training grounds.

Yamashita Hiroshi was still the instructor for this period and was already waiting on the field.

"Class has already started and you're still walking slowly? Hurry up!"

Yamashita Hiroshi remained as strict as ever, scaring the students into lining up immediately.

Once everyone had arrived, Yamashita Hiroshi took out a roster and announced, "Today's combat drills will continue. Gekko Hayate will start. Choose your opponent; the winner may continue to challenge others."

(According to the setting, Gekko Hayate and Mitarashi Anko are only two years old, but they are Kakashi's peers in the original flashbacks, so the age inconsistency is ignored here.)

"I choose Uchiha Toru."

Gekko Hayate, a boy with dark circles under his eyes who looked sickly, stepped forward and named his opponent.

The atmosphere on the field instantly livened up.

"Hey, the transfer student doesn't look like he knows how to fight."

"Gekko Hayate may cough a lot, but he's actually quite strong."

"Exactly, the transfer student is probably in trouble."

Toru's ears twitched slightly as he gathered intelligence on his opponent.

It sounded like his opponent was considered one of the stronger students in the class.

Yuhi Kurenai couldn't help but worry for Toru; her brows furrowed, her eyes fixed on Toru's back as he walked onto the field.

Beside her, Anko wore a look of someone enjoying the drama, while Asuma looked like he had just swallowed something foul.

Toru and Gekko Hayate stood in the center of the open space in front of the others. The area was about twenty meters long and wide—more than enough for children to fight.

Toru clenched his fists, calculating how to defeat the boy before him.

"You haven't refined chakra yet, right? To be fair, I won't use chakra."

Gekko Hayate was a surprisingly honorable kid, taking the initiative to limit himself.

Toru, however, refused.

"It would be unfair to you if you didn't use chakra."

Toru's words were interpreted by Gekko Hayate as, "I don't need chakra to defeat you."

Consequently, Gekko Hayate stopped hesitating and prepared to use his full strength against the transfer student.

Although he should have been stronger in every respect than a boy who hadn't even mastered chakra, Gekko Hayate felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy gave off an inexplicable sense of pressure.

Being able to use chakra actually made Gekko Hayate feel a sense of relief.

Toru touched the area around his eyes; his azure irises remained clear.

Every detail from all directions was captured by Toru's eyes.

"Six Eyes, is it..."

Toru remembered that his eyes were called the Six Eyes. It seemed these eyes could grant him extreme insight.

These eyes, combined with the combat experience remaining in his subconscious and the fighting instincts ingrained in his bones, were the reason Toru—a newcomer who had only been exposed to chakra for less than two days—dared to challenge the class powerhouse.

Toru raised his fists, one in front and one behind, positioned before his forehead and chest. He spread his feet and dropped into a low stance, ready to face any change with constancy.

Yamashita Hiroshi, however, interrupted Uchiha Toru, who was already prepared for battle.

"Uchiha Toru, you must first perform the Seal of Confrontation."

Gekko Hayate raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers together while pressing his other fingers against his palm; this was the Seal of Confrontation.

Toru followed suit, lowering his hands to form the same seal.