Evaluation

"Why can we have peace like this? Because our Lord Hokage, the Third Hokage is also the strongest in history..."

Luo Mang placed his hands on the desk, listening to this daily declaration as the corners of his mouth twitched wildly.

Propagandizing like this was fine, as it could give ordinary people a greater sense of security and allow the Sarutobi Clan to obtain better benefits.

However, doing well internally did not amount to much; the key was the external front. Being overly weak externally did not look like being strong at all, and surely they were not trying to emulate Hashirama from the First Generation.

The most obvious instance was when people from the Cloud Shadow Village kidnapped little Hinata, only to turn the tables and falsely accuse the leaf village in the end, actually getting away with it while sacrificing a single person.

It could also be considered the most important event that changed Neji Hyuga-the fates of the branch family and the main family, a great hero and a scapegoat. How ironic.

Yet judging by the storyline, at least when the other party made that decision, he was free, a truly free bird that had broken out of its cage, and did not die because of the cage above his head.

Idle fantasies over, today's classes were also finished.

The teacher on the podium closed the book in his hand.

"We'll have a test this afternoon. If you secure a good ranking, the teacher will definitely have rewards."

After dropping this motivational pep talk and painting a big picture about the afternoon's situation, the teacher walked out.

Naruto Uzumaki remained the most socially bold person, reacting directly to these words by slamming the table and laughing out loud.

"Hahaha, the afternoon's reward naturally belongs to me, Naruto!"

"Idiot."

Sasuke Uchiha cursed inwardly and paid him no more mind, currently opening his diary through his consciousness to check if anything had been written.

Yet the person he wanted to find was right behind him!

Class dismissed, and Luo Mang gave a yawn.

He paid no attention to extraneous matters, putting his head down to sleep. He did not have much money on hand and could not even afford a bento for lunch, so he might as well sleep facedown to reduce energy consumption.

The surrounding people were different, one after another taking out the bentos prepared by their family members or themselves that morning, continuing to taste them.

They were also preparing for the afternoon's match, hoping to secure a good ranking and make a show of themselves in front of their family members.

"Wow, today is my favorite rice ball!"

"Hehe, today I have my favorite sausage..."

"Sasuke-kun, I prepared a bento, do you want to eat some?"

Ino with her blonde side-ponytail held a bento box as she quickly closed in beside Sasuke, asking with a smile.

Seeing her best friend beat her to it, Sakura directly twisted her brows into a knot, though she soon grabbed a bento and hurried over as well.

"Sasuke-kun, I brought some too. Do you want to eat something really delicious?"

"No."

Sasuke Uchiha had his own matters to mind, and he directly refused.

"Hey hey hey, Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, I want some, I want some!"

Naruto shamelessly squeezed right up, looking to cheaply eat the bento Sakura had made.

"Get lost, Naruto, this is for Sasuke-kun."

Sakura's expression changed to something resembling a facial transformation as she looked at Naruto, her expression rapidly plunging into coldness.

"Heh, Sakura, seeing how much Naruto likes you, you might as well go with him. Sasuke-kun, I'll graciously accept."

Seeing this scene from the side, Ino directly drove the final nail into the coffin, speaking to disgust her rival.

The squabbling started up again.

Shikamaru looked at the noisy crowd below, a look of intolerance filling his face.

Women are such a pain!

He pressed his face against the desk, blocking his ears as his gaze happened to catch Luo Mang's direction at the right-hand doorway, a sense of curiosity appearing within his eyes.

Seeing the other boy sleeping as well, he felt deeply moved, experiencing the feeling that a soulmate was hard to find.

Although Shikamaru could not sense the other's strength, he could sense that his state of mind was stronger than the average person's, yet he did not contend for the spotlight with others.

That left only one possibility: the other boy was just like him and disliked troublesome things.

Crunch, crunch...

"Shikamaru, do you want to eat something?"

Choji, sitting nearby, looked somewhat reluctantly at his good friend and placed a bag of potato chips next to him.

"No."

Shikamaru pushed his hand away while lying facedown on the desk, replying casually.

Eating potato chips, Choji instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Following his friend's gaze, he also spotted Luo Mang in the corner.

A pure wallflower. He recalled for a long time without remembering what the other boy's name was. The other boy had been staring all this time-could they be acquaintances?

"Who is he? Do you know him?"

"Don't know him."

Shikamaru very much agreed that the other boy disliked trouble, and naturally would not go make trouble for him. He withdrew his gaze, turned his head slightly, and rested his forehead on his arms to sleep.

"If you don't know him, forget it. He's just a wallflower anyway, and we won't have any intersection with him in the future."

As the heirs of Ino-Shika-Cho, the three of them would undoubtedly become the left and right arms of the future. Aside from peaceful times mingling with commoners during their stay at the Ninja Academy, they might not even see each other at other times.

Since his good friend did not care, he would not take a serious look either. He turned his head back and continued enjoying his potato chips.

Rustle...

Luo Mang, who was sleeping facedown, suddenly felt his arm being poked. Feeling somewhat puzzled, he opened his eyes.

Hinata hung her head, holding a bento box in her hands that was wider than anyone else's. A wide variety of food was placed on top of it, and at a glance it was not cheap.

"What's wrong?"

Luo Mang narrowed his eyes and asked curiously.

"Um..."

With her eyes lowered, Hinata raised her hand to pick up two rice balls wrapped in seaweed, handed them over, and stammered,

"I-I brought too much for lunch. C-can you help me finish them?"

Hearing this, Luo Mang's expression instantly froze. He pressed his lips together, looking at the other girl, who was clearly unbelievable.

As a big eater, she definitely had the talent for it since childhood. Even though the bento looked large, she could definitely handle it herself.

Since she was still handing them over, there was only one explanation: it was meant for him. She was afraid he would refuse, so she changed the way she phrased it.

How thoughtful. Sure enough, the fortune-teller was very accurate-saying his appetite was poor and that he was suited to rely on a woman for meals was true.

Being suited for it did not mean he had to accept, however, and he still waved his hand.

"No need. Whenever I observe you finishing your food, you always stroke your stomach like you haven't eaten your fill. You can definitely finish this little bit of food, so there's no need."

"Ah!"

Being exposed, Hinata's face instantly flushed red, and she felt as if steam was about to rise from her head.

"I-I..."

"Thanks for your concern, but eat it yourself."

With her method of showing concern exposed, Hinata could only taste the food alone.

Nom, nom...

Nom, nom...

Luo Mang lay on the desk, turning his head sideways to look at Hinata.

She was very cute, but her short hair did not quite fit; it would look better if her hair were long.

As for why the other girl kept pestering him, it was naturally because he had stopped the bullying that winter.

At the time, he had been entirely out of goodwill. After all, he was an ambitious young man, and seeing someone being bullied, he had naturally gone up to help with great enthusiasm.

As for her name being Hinata, he had only found out during subsequent interactions.

"Have you ever thought about growing your hair long? I feel like long hair would look a bit prettier."

Luo Mang's voice drifted leisurely from the side. After being stunned for a moment, Hinata raised her gaze upon hearing this and found that the other boy's eyes had been staring right at her, making her realize he was talking to her.

"I-I, um..."