First!

Go!

Aaaahhh!

Get down!

The red glow of sunset spread across the horizon.

The Ninja Academy after school was as it had always been.

Beyond the wall lay calm, peaceful streets.

Inside, however, it resembled an arena filled with the stench of sweat and blood.

Noise and roars poured out from the school.

The venue, the spectators, the passion, the fighting—every element an arena should have was vividly displayed in the after-school Training Ground.

Those who remained in the Training Ground after school were people willing to cast everything aside and fight for the sake of becoming ninja. Those who avoided battle or held back had already left the school long ago.

Although Chunin-level teachers remained on standby nearby, ready to provide aid at any moment.

Real combat was not something one could casually stop. Even many real ninja could not manage it, much less a group of children.

Although Explosive Tags and lethal ninjutsu were forbidden, once tempers truly flared, children at such a spirited age found it rather difficult to control themselves.

After entering the school, Ryosuke made his way familiarly to the elevated platform above the Training Ground and looked down over the various training areas below.

At a single glance, his eyes passed through the crowd and found Hinata, who stood out brilliantly amid a cluster of girls.

Cool and detached.

She gave off an air that warned strangers to keep away.

That was why Ryosuke could recognize Hinata at once among the densely packed crowd.

The girl had grown considerably during his absence. Perhaps because she had kept up the act for too long, that icy feeling had completely blended into her aura, and she had gradually become accustomed to facing others with that expression.

Though her facial expression and posture both rejected the surrounding crowd.

The girls around her came in an endless stream, clustering around Hinata like flowers competing in beauty.

From time to time, someone would even take the initiative to strike up a conversation with Hinata.

But her responses were cold, and her lips moved only once or twice.

More often, she ignored them altogether, or gave a faint hum or two in reply. Ryosuke was simply too far away to hear her.

"Have you become... the big boss already?"

The strange sight amused Ryosuke.

She looked completely different from the girl he had seen before, but it was not a bad feeling. At the very least, this frosty manner was far better than her former timidness.

Perhaps this temperament was more suited to surviving in the Ninja World.

And Ryosuke found himself looking forward even more to seeing Hinata's current strength.

Because of chakra, the physical differences between men and women were not particularly severe in the Ninja World.

At the same level, many powerful female ninja were no weaker than men.

But in the school's Training Ground, the distinction was still quite obvious.

Girls like Hinata gathered together for sparring, while the boys also formed their own groups.

The two sides did not interfere with each other, and they rarely challenged one another.

Ryosuke lightly leaped down from the platform and entered the Training Ground.

He began walking toward the stream-themed training area where Hinata was.

Along the way, quite a few classmates recognized Ryosuke and greeted him kindly, and he returned each greeting.

Only Sasuke Uchiha still wore that sour expression. Even when he saw Ryosuke, he gave no response to his nod and pretended not to know him.

Though they really were not familiar with each other.

Aside from Naruto, who had approached him on his own initiative, Sasuke Uchiha was the second most dangerous person in this Elite Class. Ryosuke had never spoken to him, and the two had no connection whatsoever.

Come to think of it, Naruto still had not appeared in the Training Ground. He seemed as out of place with the rest of the class as ever.

"Hinata, are you really going to fight Kiba Inuzuka tomorrow? He looks so fierce. He seems like he'd be really hard to deal with."

The moment Ryosuke stepped into the group of girls, he heard someone quietly speaking to Hinata.

"I'll win."

Hinata did not say much. After calmly uttering those four words, she said nothing more.

She looked quite confident.

The smile on Ryosuke's face deepened.

As he approached, many of the girls recognized him and began quietly reminding Hinata.

Ryosuke could clearly sense Hinata's body tremble when she heard the others' reminders.

She quickly turned around. The instant her eyes met his, the coolness on her face and the indifference in her gaze gradually faded, replaced by life and radiance.

"Ryosuke..."

Blinking as she looked at Ryosuke, Hinata walked out from the crowd, while the others knowingly made way for her.

"You're back."

The girl took step after step on her short little legs until she reached him.

Her childish voice and the way she spoke were exactly as before, as though the cold, distant girl Ryosuke had just seen had been nothing but an illusion.

Her demeanor left everyone around them astonished.

They all watched the scene before them with disbelieving eyes.

"I just got back this afternoon. I figured you'd be out of school by now, so I came to pick you up."

Ryosuke nodded, then looked at the crowd behind her. "You should be done here... right? It's about time to go home for dinner. Hanabi misses you."

He asked hesitantly, unsure what had happened over the past month.

But it seemed that the girl who had once planned to take first place only in theoretical knowledge had gained the courage to fight others in practice. She also appeared to be doing quite well, since she was rather popular in the Training Ground.

At his reminder, Hinata suddenly remembered that her disguise had apparently slipped just now.

Yet she did not panic as she would have in the past. Instead, within a few seconds, she calmly adjusted her expression and demeanor, then turned and spoke evenly to her companions behind her.

"I'm leaving first. See you tomorrow."

"Looks like quite a lot happened over the past month."

Walking home with Hinata was something Ryosuke had not done in a long time, and he missed it dearly.

"As a ninja, I can't lack actual combat experience," Hinata responded softly, looking very obedient.

"True. It looks like you're quite popular. Your practical combat ranking among our year should be pretty high, right?" Ryosuke said with a light laugh. "But unfortunately, I didn't get to see you fight today."

"If it's among the girls, I'm ranked first."

Though she tried very hard to keep the pride from showing in her voice, Hinata could not suppress the joy in her heart.

"First... It seems Hinata has been working very hard."

Ryosuke praised her without reservation, though he had expected this outcome long ago.

As a member of a Taijutsu Family, she possessed taijutsu skills far beyond those of children her age.

Before everyone had fully grown, while they were all still children, limited chakra reserves were a common weakness for most of them.

With her powerful taijutsu, as long as Hinata could muster the courage, she could easily defeat not only the girls, but also some of the boys.

Thanks to reader Name-Choosing Failure for the tip.