I Want to Become Hokage!

After Hinata got up and left, Ryosuke was the only one remaining in the last row of the classroom.

There were quite a few students, but the classroom itself was large enough to accommodate over a hundred seats.

Most of the students had gathered toward the front, clustering together in groups.

Of course, there were also people like Ryosuke who preferred sitting in the back, or sitting alone in a row.

For example, Sasuke Uchiha sat alone in the row by the window, unwilling to sit with anyone else.

"Sit wherever you want."

Ryosuke smiled lightly at the uneasy face beside him and answered casually.

Naruto Uzumaki.

He had not expected Naruto to come all the way to the last row.

But it made sense. Naruto's personality was somewhat different from the one in the story. He had yet to become so cheerful and mischievous.

Right now, he was merely an ordinary child who had been rejected by the outside world for a long time and was extremely poor at speaking.

"Thank you. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto was quite polite. After thanking him and taking a seat, he introduced himself, then waited curiously for Ryosuke's response.

"My name is Hyuga Ryosuke."

Ryosuke nodded warmly, gave his own name, then lowered his head and picked up the ninja handbook provided beneath every desk to leaf through it.

Beside him, Naruto looked as though he wanted to continue the conversation but did not dare to speak.

Since Naruto said nothing, Ryosuke did not take the initiative to chat with him, even though he could tell Naruto had something on his mind.

Too much contact with Naruto was not a good thing. Ever since Naruto had come over and sat beside him, Ryosuke had been able to feel a sense of being watched from the shadows.

As for why Ryosuke had not refused to let Naruto sit down or driven him somewhere else—

There was no need.

Before he had enough strength to guarantee his own safety, Ryosuke intended to keep a low profile.

But keeping a low profile did not mean turning himself into a pig in everyone else's eyes, nor did it mean avoiding every dangerous person. That would have been far too deliberate.

Going with the flow and acting like a normal person at school was the best disguise.

After holding it in for a long time and seeing that Ryosuke had no intention of acknowledging him, Naruto finally could not help asking, "Um... you don't hate me?"

"Hate you?"

Ryosuke stopped flipping through the book and turned to him in confusion. "Why would I hate you?"

But the question only left Naruto stunned.

For a long while, he could not come up with an answer.

Yeah, why did they hate him?

Ever since he could remember, that question had often surfaced in his mind, but no one had ever given him an answer.

Everyone's disgust and rejection of him seemed to have no reason or cause.

But now, Naruto was confused.

That rejection and disgust almost everyone had shown him since he could remember had vanished. It had vanished from quite a few people in this classroom.

That included the desk mate with such a warm smile.

"Everyone, please quiet down."

Just as Naruto was lost in thought, a young man wearing a Chunin Forehead Protector and bearing a scar on his face walked into the classroom. "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Umino Iruka, and I'll be your theory teacher for the next month."

Disgust, rejection, even hatred.

Naruto could clearly feel from the teacher at the podium the same feelings he had sensed from many villagers.

"Like him... I can feel it. He really hates me."

When Naruto spoke again, his voice was tiny, yet filled with confusion and grievance. "But I don't feel those things from you, Ryosuke. Why do they hate me for no reason, but you don't?"

He stared intently at Ryosuke. Quite a few students in the classroom bore him no ill will.

But for some reason, Ryosuke was the one he had approached.

Perhaps it was because the gentle smile on Ryosuke's face made him seem approachable and easy to talk to.

"I don't know."

Ryosuke shook his head apologetically. "But I suggest you ask Third-sama. As the Hokage of this village, Third-sama knows many things about it."

"From the way Third-sama called out to you on the training field earlier, your relationship should be pretty good, right? You can ask him."

As soon as he finished speaking, he clearly felt the consciousness that had been watching him seem to become somewhat emotional.

But Ryosuke did not care in the slightest. He had long suspected that the person secretly watching him was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The higher-ups in the village all knew about Naruto's identity and origins. As the Fourth's son and the son of a hero, anyone who knew the truth would not reject him.

And many of the students in this classroom were future heirs of the Great Clans. Naturally, they knew about it, which was why Naruto could not sense malice from some of the students here.

But Ryosuke naturally could not tell him that, nor did he want to comfort him too much.

He did not want this matter to raise Konoha's higher-ups' vigilance toward him.

As for this matter, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other Konoha higher-ups had planted the cause themselves. They could resolve it themselves.

Naruto nodded thoughtfully, looking as though he had taken the matter to heart.

Standing at the podium, Umino Iruka spoke to all the students with practiced ease. "Although some of you may leave this class in a month because of your test results, according to tradition, please introduce yourselves first."

"We'll start according to the seating order, one at a time."

With a warm smile, he gestured for everyone not to be nervous. "Start with your name, age, and dream."

With those words, the first day of school officially began.

The first student to introduce himself was a ninja from the Sarutobi Clan sitting in the very front row. His dream was to become Hokage.

After he finished introducing himself, Iruka gave him warm affirmation and encouragement.

The second was a ninja from the Mitarashi Clan, followed by Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame.

One after another, as the introductions drew closer, Ryosuke could clearly sense that Naruto's subtle movements beside him had already exposed the tension in his heart.

"That's a very good dream. Medical Ninja are also a highly respectable profession. Now, next is..."

At the podium, Iruka smiled as he recorded the previous student's information. But the moment he turned his gaze to the next student, his smile abruptly vanished, leaving his face expressionless.

Yet Naruto was clearly already used to this. He clenched his fists and stood up.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My dream is to become Hokage."

Naruto was not the only one who had said that his dream was to become Hokage, but when he said it, it drew particular attention.

Those in the class who did not know the truth let out sneers.

They did not say anything, but their laughter was extremely grating.

"Is that so..."

Iruka did not stop their laughter. He muttered casually, made no record, and turned his gaze to Ryosuke.

Without receiving encouragement or even a response, Naruto silently sat down with his fists clenched, lowering his head and saying nothing more.

"My name is Hyuga Ryosuke. My dream is to become a great ninja."

Without any especially lofty goal, Ryosuke gave a casual answer after standing up, then sat back down.

"A great ninja... Ryosuke, your dream is rather vague. It seems you still don't know what you plan to do in the future?" Iruka returned to his previous gentle smile. After making a teasing remark, he recorded Ryosuke's information.

Then he spoke again. "The seats in front are better for listening to class. Ryosuke, would you like to sit up front?"

In an instant, Ryosuke could feel Naruto lower his already bowed head even further.

"No, that won't be necessary. Thank you, teacher."

Ryosuke smiled as he responded, "I prefer the seat I chose myself."