This Damn, Nowhere-to-Place Charm

The pungent scent of premium tobacco specially supplied to the Daimyo exploded through the classroom in an instant.

"Cough! Cough cough cough!!!"

Kurenai Yuhi took a full blast of thick secondhand smoke straight to the head, and tears immediately streamed down her face.

She coughed violently, her small hands gripping the edge of her desk as her delicate face turned crimson.

Her reddened eyes were filled with humiliation and fury, and she was repeatedly teetering on the edge of losing her mind.

With a desperate, shrill dry heave, she grabbed the thickest book on the desk, History of the Shinobi World, spun around, and viciously smashed it into Asuma's shoulder.

Asuma did not dodge at all.

He took the blow head-on, then smoothly removed the pipe and elegantly tapped its ashes against the corner of the desk.

Then, in a deliberately lowered, bass-heavy voice, he uttered a line fit to be recorded in the Shinobi World's cerebral thrombosis case files:

"Kurenai, I can tolerate a woman's little temper."

Faced with this absurd scene, Gang Ziyun's brain crashed for a full five seconds.

Gang Ziyun felt like he was about to go insane.

Because the other boy was the Hokage's son, he forcibly swallowed the words "you little bastard."

His cheek muscles twitched wildly as he gritted his teeth and demanded, "A-su-ma!"

His thunderous roar nearly shattered the windowpanes. "What the hell are you doing?! Who taught you to smoke in the classroom?!"

The entire class fell deathly silent.

In that silence, Asuma slowly rose to his feet.

He slightly raised his chin and swept his gaze over the room before finally looking affectionately at Kurenai Yuhi, who was nearly rolling her eyes from the smoke.

Then, with a proud expression, he gave his response:

"Teacher, you don't understand. This is...