The Stoic's Fury, Team 7 Assembles

Iruka felt his throat turn dry and scratchy, the hand holding the roster trembling as if he had Parkinson's disease.

Looking at the tense, explosive atmosphere in the classroom—especially Naruto Uzumaki, who stood arrogantly on a desk, and Sasuke Uchiha opposite him, practically ready to explode on the spot—he felt that his ninja career might end together with Sakura's youth.

Wiping the cold sweat continuously beading on his forehead, he summoned every ounce of strength he had and forced himself to read out the final—and most deadly—name:

"Team 7's last member is... Sasuke Uchiha!"

Boom!

The instant the words left his mouth, an icy, bone-piercing killing intent swept through the entire classroom like a Siberian cold front!

Sasuke Uchiha shot to his feet!

His movement was small, but the violent aura around him made the nearby students shudder in unison. Instinctively, they shifted aside, clearing a large empty space around him.

"Dead last..."

Sasuke's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper scraping together. Within his dark eyes, the two scarlet tomoe that had been etched into his bloodline on the night of the massacre were reawakened by this extreme humiliation, spinning and boiling madly!

Sharingan!

He had actually been angered into activating his Sharingan!

"Don't think that just because you pulled some petty little trick, you can act so arrogantly in front of me!"

Sasuke stared Naruto down, every word squeezed out through clenched teeth.

The entire class was petrified. No one dared make a sound, barely even daring to breathe.

Holy shit!

They were fighting! They were really fighting!

One was the mysterious tyrannosaurus who had kicked the Hyuga Clan genius into a trash can. The other was the Uchiha survivor who had activated his eyes after being humiliated in public!

Was this really a genin team assignment?

This was practically a martial arts showdown!

Yet Naruto merely casually picked at his ear. There was not even the slightest extra expression on his face, as though Sasuke's killing intent—enough to make an ordinary genin cry—was nothing more than cold air from an air conditioner.

"Oh?"

He glanced down at Sasuke, the corner of his mouth curving into an amused smile. His tone was light, yet filled with utter contempt.

"You want to get beaten up right now?"

"Good. I know the Medical Department like the back of my hand. I wouldn't mind sending you to a trash can to keep that wimp Neji Hyuga company."

"You—!"

Sasuke's lungs were about to burst from rage!

A trash can!

Again with the trash can!

That bastard had turned Neji Hyuga's greatest humiliation in life into a unit of measurement he could casually toss around!

An unprecedented sense of humiliation, mixed with the fury of being completely ignored, surged toward the top of his head like magma.

His hands clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into the soft flesh of his palms. Even as blood seeped out, he did not notice.

Revenge!

Become stronger!

Kill that man!

That was the entire meaning of Sasuke Uchiha's life!

For that goal, he had abandoned everything and borne everything!

He was the chosen one. He was the avenger who should have stood above everyone else!

But now, the dead last he had always regarded as dust, as a joke—the useless fool who could not even perform the Clone Technique properly—had transformed into a colossal existence that made even him feel dread!

One kick had sent Neji flying!

He had fired chakra bullets without hand seals!

And now, he was looking at him as if he were trash!

The humiliation of being caught up to—and even surpassed—by someone who had once been an ant beneath his feet gnawed madly at his heart and pride like ten thousand venomous snakes!

Unacceptable!

He absolutely could not accept this!

Right here, in front of everyone, he had to beat this dead last who did not know his place back into his original form!

He had to make him understand that the glory of the Uchiha could not be challenged!

"I will..."

Just as Sasuke was about to roar, chakra was already surging wildly through his body. A world-shaking battle was on the verge of erupting inside the classroom.

However, at that very instant, when tension filled the air and it seemed ready to freeze solid—

"Well, well. Looks like this year's students are quite lively."

A lazy, listless voice, sounding as though its owner had not woken up yet, suddenly drifted in from the classroom door.

Everyone froze and turned toward the entrance in unison.

There stood an odd ninja with a head of messy silver hair, a black cloth mask over his face, and a forehead protector tilted crookedly over his left eye, leaving only one dead-fish eye exposed. He leaned languidly against the doorframe.

In his hand was an orange paperback with an extremely eye-catching cover and an even more heavyweight title—Icha Icha Paradise.

Kakashi Hatake!

In the original story, Naruto should have welcomed him with a carefully prepared prank involving a chalkboard eraser wedged in the doorframe.

But now, nothing happened.

Naruto could not even be bothered to climb down from the desk. He merely turned his head with interest and scrutinized the future "Copy Ninja" from head to toe with an extremely dangerous gaze, like a hungry wolf locking onto its prey.

It did not look like a student looking at a teacher. It looked more like a butcher estimating how much meat a pig could yield.

"Hm?"

Kakashi's dead-fish eye twitched imperceptibly.

On the surface, he still looked like a lazy, dispirited slacker, but inside, every alarm had instantly gone off!

This brat...

What is with that look in this brat's eyes?!

A storm raged in Kakashi's heart.

That was absolutely not the gaze a twelve-year-old boy should have!

It was filled with undisguised aggression, scrutiny, and even a hint of... amusement?

It was as though Kakashi was not a jōnin renowned throughout the Shinobi World, but a toy that was about to be taken apart and devoured!

Was it an illusion?

No!

Absolutely not!

This kid was a completely different person from the idiot in the intelligence reports who only knew how to play pranks!

Kakashi instantly slapped an "extremely dangerous" label onto Naruto in his mind, but his expression remained unchanged.

He slowly closed Icha Icha Paradise, swept his dead-fish eye over the three people in the classroom, then said in an exceptionally irritating, lazy tone:

"My first impression of you all..."

"—I really dislike you."

"Meet me on the roof."

The moment he finished speaking, Kakashi vanished in a puff of white smoke with a poof!

The classroom fell silent for half a second before erupting into commotion again.

"Wow! What a cool Body Flicker Technique!"

"So that's our supervising jōnin? He's so cool!"

Naruto, however, merely curled his lip and snorted disdainfully.

"Putting on airs."

With that, he finally lazily leaped down from the desk. His hands tucked into his pockets, he could not even be bothered to look at Sasuke again as he took the lead toward the door.

"N-Naruto, wait for me!"

Sakura's legs seemed to be pulled by invisible strings as she uncontrollably followed behind Naruto.

Her mind was still in complete chaos, her heart pounding as if it were about to burst.

She did not know why she was following him—no, she did know.

It was not love. It was a kind of... instinctive, almost pitiful... submission after her pride had been crushed by absolute power.

This dramatic scene was like a red-hot branding iron, viciously searing Sasuke's eyes.

He watched Naruto leave with ease. He watched Sakura Haruno, who had once had eyes only for him, follow that "dead last" without the slightest hesitation.

He, Sasuke Uchiha, had been isolated!

"Na—ru—to—Uzu—ma—ki!!!"

Sasuke stood where he was, trembling with rage, his teeth grinding audibly. Flames seemed ready to burst from his scarlet Sharingan.

He would settle this debt with him on the roof!