The All-Show Hayate Hoshi

"Ring, ring!"

The somewhat shrill dismissal bell sounded more wonderful to the Ninja Academy students than the most beautiful song in the world.

The students slung on their little backpacks and rushed out of the classroom in groups of two and three. Even Jiraiya beside Hoshi urged him to hurry outside, as if leaving the classroom before everyone else was some tremendous honor.

After packing their bags, Tsunade and Yazi stood up hand in hand. Before leaving, Tsunade did not forget to make a face at Hoshi. "Just wait until I surpass you!"

After saying that, Tsunade grabbed Yazi and ran out of the classroom without even looking at Hoshi.

Seeing Tsunade's face, Hoshi could not help smiling. So the domineering and bold Female Hokage from the Original Story had been a little tsundere as a child.

As Hoshi leisurely packed his bag, he failed to notice that the four Uchiha Clan children led by Uchiha Iwa glanced at him before walking out of the classroom with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Sakumo noticed it, but he said nothing and merely followed them out of the classroom.

Only after fastening his Wooden Sword to his back did Hoshi stand up with the impatient Jiraiya. Looking around, he realized Sakumo was gone. "Hey, where's Sakumo? Didn't we agree to train together?"

Jiraiya said carelessly:

"He thought you were too slow, so he left first. He's probably waiting for us at the school gate. Come on, come on. If you keep dawdling, it'll be dark before we know it."

Hoshi followed Jiraiya out of the classroom. As they reached the stairway landing, four people came up from below, directly blocking their path. They were Uchiha Iwa and his group.

The three Uchiha Clan lackeys wore malicious smiles, while Uchiha Iwa arrogantly looked Hoshi up and down.

"You've been pretty cocky these past two days, huh? You're almost stealing all my spotlight."

Hoshi looked at Uchiha Iwa with an expression like he was severely constipated. Honestly, he was falling apart inside. What was this supposed to be? Some traditional Uchiha Clan specialty?

Seeing Uchiha Iwa spout such cringey middle-schooler lines up close from a first-person perspective nearly made Hoshi feel as if he were watching one of those cheesy short videos, the elementary-school version.

Looking at Uchiha Iwa, Hoshi suddenly recalled a King Han video he had stumbled across in his previous life.

Your King Iwa, endlessly wild? Damn it, it really had that flavor.

At that moment, he could already picture Uchiha Iwa awkwardly grinning as he broke into some ridiculous dance for him.

No, stop this embarrassing mental theater right now.

Uchiha Iwa stared at Hoshi as inexplicable anger rose in his heart. What was with this guy? Not only was he not afraid, he was holding back laughter?

Was he laughing at him? This bastard actually dared to mock him at a time like this?

"You bastard!"

Gritting his teeth, Uchiha Iwa reached for Hoshi's collar. But at that moment, a figure suddenly flipped down from upstairs and grabbed Uchiha Iwa's wrist.

It was none other than Sakumo. He had been observing Hoshi's group earlier, and when he saw the two sides about to fight, he promptly joined the fray.

Holding Iwa's wrist, Sakumo said to Uchiha Iwa, "If you want to fight, then bring it on."

Sakumo's sudden appearance clearly caught Uchiha Iwa off guard. He asked in surprise:

"You're helping Hayate Hoshi? You're going against me? You're going against the Uchiha Clan?"

Sakumo replied coldly, "Stop using the Uchiha Clan to bully people. A guy like you who hasn't even awakened the Sharingan can't represent the Uchiha Clan."

Uchiha Iwa was instantly left speechless. That damned Sakumo actually dared to look down on him too.

But he truly did not dare do anything to Sakumo.

He was actually somewhat wary of Sakumo's strength. He was arrogant, not stupid. He still possessed the most basic ability to judge strength.

In terms of individual strength alone, Sakumo was slightly stronger than him. On top of that, Hoshi and Jiraiya were clearly stronger than his three lackeys.

If they really fought, once Sakumo held him back, his three lackeys would likely go down, leaving him at a disadvantage in a one-against-three fight.

Thinking of that possibility, Uchiha Iwa's expression shifted back and forth. After a long while, he suddenly glared viciously at Hoshi. "Consider yourself lucky this time. I'll let you keep acting cocky for a while longer. Two months from now, during the Practical Assessment, I'll expose you as the fraud you are in front of everyone.

"By then, Sakumo won't be able to protect you. I'll make you regret this! Let's go."

With that, Uchiha Iwa waved his hand and hurried off with his three underlings, leaving the three of them standing there speechless.

It took Jiraiya quite a while to react. He asked slowly:

"They just left? Weren't we going to fight?"

Sakumo glanced at him without saying anything. It seemed he had no intention of dealing with this idiot.

Hoshi also came back to his senses then. After calming himself for quite some time, he finally drove the horrifying thought of "your little brother King Iwa" from his mind. Not wanting to recall that terrifying scene anymore, he quickly pulled the two of them along. "Forget that weird nonsense. Come on, let's train."

While Hoshi and the other two were looking for a place to train, Tsunade returned to the Senju Clan Compound. After completing the training task Grandma Mito had assigned her, she hurried back to her room, took out a pencil, and began practicing pencil spinning for the day.

She had not forgotten her bet with Hoshi. She wanted to see how wonderful that bad guy's expression would be after she beat him.

As Tsunade repeatedly tried to spin the pencil, Uzumaki Mito silently appeared behind her.

"A-Gang, what are you doing?"

Hearing the voice, Tsunade shuddered instinctively. She hurriedly hid the pencil behind her back and forced a smile. "N-Nothing. Grandma, I finished all my training today."

Tsunade both loved and feared Grandma Mito. Grandma Mito was usually very gentle, but whenever she supervised Tsunade's training, she became extremely strict. When punishing her, she never showed mercy either.

In Grandma Mito's words, as Hashirama's granddaughter, Tsunade had to possess enough strength to protect Konoha.

Mito shook her head helplessly, walked over, and rubbed Tsunade's little head.

"Grandma knows you finished your training. I'm just curious why you're spinning a pencil. Did your teacher teach you that?"

Mito had actually been watching from behind for quite some time. At first, she thought it was just some children's game, but after watching for a while, she noticed the trick behind it.

The game appeared to be nothing more than a pastime, but it actually placed considerable demands on finger dexterity, eyesight, timing, and control over one's strength.

Those things were extremely important for a ninja. Possessing them alone would not make someone an outstanding ninja, but outstanding ninjas generally possessed such qualities.

Cultivating these qualities in children from a young age would indeed benefit their future path as ninja. Whoever had taught Tsunade this game was an expert.

For a moment, even Mito became curious about which teacher had come up with such an excellent teaching method.

But Tsunade's answer was beyond Mito's expectations.

"Hoshi taught me. I bet him that I'd surpass him within three days."

Hashirama called Tsunade A-Gang, so Mito used the same form of address here.

P.S. I don't know whether SF Express is being unreliable, but I mailed the contract on Thursday, and the status still hasn't changed to signed...