Won Again

Nara Shikaku: !!!

What had he just heard?

Nara Shikaku's face turned green, then red, looking utterly terrible.

Never before had anyone dared insult him like that!

Hearing Uchiha Kento's words, the Third Hokage could no longer hold it together. He shouted sternly, "Fugaku! If you intend to launch a coup right now, then your Uchiha clan has no chance of winning!"

Fugaku and Itachi stood within their partial Susanoo.

The two partial Susanoo, each taller than a house, made the residents feel the same fear they had once felt when facing the Nine-Tails.

The only difference was that the partial Susanoo were controllable.

Sasuke said, "Third Hokage, let me reiterate: we Uchiha are merely reclaiming our rights. Patriarchs present, who supports this, and who opposes it?"

Nara Shikaku was the first to step behind the Third Hokage. He declared loudly, "Third Hokage, the Nara clan will always support you!"

Then came the Aburame clan, followed by the Yamanaka clan, and then the Akimichi clan.

The clans, large and small, throughout Konoha all stood behind the Third Hokage.

The corners of the Third Hokage's lips curled up slightly. If that was the case, then even if war broke out,

the Uchiha clan would have no chance of winning.

The last clan was the Hyuga clan.

The Third Hokage met Hyuga Hiashi's gaze, his eyes seeming to say, Hurry, stand behind me. Then the Uchiha clan truly won't have any chance of winning!

But Hyuga Hiashi said, "Sorry, Third Hokage, but I feel that the village has been far too harsh on the Uchiha over the years!"

Then Hyuga Hiashi stepped to Sasuke's side.

The Hyuga clan had made its stance clear!

Konoha's strongest clan had stood beside the Uchiha!

The Uchiha and Hyuga clans alone were enough to deter Konoha's higher-ups from acting rashly!

The Third Hokage stared at Hiashi in disbelief,

as though he had been betrayed.

The Third Hokage did not scream hysterically or say anything else. After serving as Hokage for so many years, he knew how to minimize the village's losses.

The Third Hokage said in a grim voice, "I agree to all the conditions proposed by the Uchiha clan. You Uchiha have won!"

The Uchiha's second confrontation with Konoha had ended in victory once again!

At last, the Third Hokage looked at Hyuga Hiashi in disappointment and asked, "I only want to know why you chose to stand with the Uchiha."

The corners of Hyuga Hiashi's lips lifted slightly. "Sasuke and Hinata have an arranged childhood engagement. The Hyuga and Uchiha are now joined by marriage."

The next day, Sasuke still chose to attend class as usual.

Some students had learned of Sasuke's great feat of representing the Uchiha clan in negotiations with the Third Hokage—and succeeding.

Others were poorly informed and knew nothing.

Like Naruto.

Naruto arrived in the classroom early in the morning. He was determined to become Sasuke's friend, but a friend should not hold Sasuke back, right? Sasuke was a genius, while he himself was very stupid, so he needed to work twice as hard!

Sasuke, meanwhile, plopped down beside Hinata.

He whispered to her, "Why's your face red?"

Hinata turned her head away, too embarrassed to look at Sasuke.

Sasuke took hold of Hinata's soft, fragrant little hand and said to her, "Don't be shy. You're my wife now. We're going to get married someday!"

Marriage...

Hinata imagined her married life with Sasuke.

Her face instantly turned as red as an apple. Then her body went limp, and she fainted to the floor.

Sasuke raised his hand and shouted, "Teacher, Hinata fainted! I need to take her to the infirmary!"

Iruka frowned. "How did she faint for no reason?"

Iruka had just been about to question him further when he remembered the Third Hokage's special instruction that morning not to restrain Sasuke too much.

So Iruka said, "Go quickly and come back quickly."

Sasuke carried Hinata and jogged all the way to the shade beneath a tree outside.

Sasuke took off his outer jacket, laid it beneath Hinata, and propped her against the tree.

She had fainted from nervousness, so she would be fine after resting for a while.

There was no need to go to the infirmary.

Sasuke simply did not want to listen to the lesson in the classroom.

"I have to run five hundred laps!"

Suddenly, Sasuke heard a panting voice. A middle-parted-haired boy was running around the Ninja Academy.

It was Rock Lee.

Sasuke asked him, "Hey, what are you doing?"

Rock Lee stopped to catch his breath, then said to Sasuke, "I'm going to run five hundred laps around the Ninja Academy. That way, I'll be able to enroll!"

Rock Lee continued, "I have no talent for ninjutsu, no talent for genjutsu, and no talent for taijutsu, so the Ninja Academy won't accept me. But the examiner told me that if I run five hundred laps today, he'll let me into the school!"

In truth, that had only been something the examiner said to brush him off. He had not expected Rock Lee to actually run.

Sasuke asked, "How many laps have you run?"

Rock Lee said with conviction, "I've already finished fifty laps. I still have four hundred and fifty to go. Once I finish them, I can enter the Ninja Academy! Enough talking—I'm going to keep running. Maybe we'll even become classmates!"

Rock Lee rubbed his calves, then started running again.

Meanwhile, atop the Ninja Academy's roof,

a chuunibyou bowl-cut man in a green jumpsuit watched the scene with a serious, silent expression.

How similar was this to his own past?

No talent for ninjutsu, no talent for genjutsu, not even a sufficiently strong body.

All he could do was persevere and work hard!

He had to maintain the vigor of youth at all times, never daring to relax for even a moment!

Those with poor talent could only surpass talent through hard work!

Hinata slowly woke up.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Sasuke's handsome face. Hinata's cheeks immediately turned red again.

Hinata whispered, "Sasuke-kun, don't stay so close to me. My face feels so hot, and my heart is beating so fast."

Sasuke said, "Your heart's beating fast?

Let me take a look..."