"Riiing."
The bell rang, ending class.
After all that torment, Iruka finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That lesson had been agony.
"The next class is PE," he snapped, then scooped up his lesson plans and stormed out.
But the moment he turned away, the "anger" on his face had already faded.
He wasn't really angry.
His pride had just taken a hit.
Any teacher would be stunned for a moment after being outdone by a student in front of the whole class.
Once that moment passed, however, a hint of astonishment rose in his heart instead.
How had this kid, who slept every day and ranked dead last in every subject, managed to remember all that material so well?
Could it be...
Had his previous class treated him so badly that he'd kept his abilities hidden, afraid to show them?
The more Iruka thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. His steps even faltered.
I'll have to find a chance to have a proper talk with this child.
Iruka made a mental note.
No sooner had Iruka left than a golden-haired figure darted over to Cangyue.
"Hey, hey, Cangyue! Let's be friends!"
Naruto grinned broadly, his eyes shining as he rubbed his hands together expectantly.
Cangyue reluctantly opened one eye and glanced at him.
He said nothing.
But he nodded.
"Yes! Awesome!"
Naruto nearly jumped for joy. He plopped into the empty seat beside Cangyue and rattled off question after question.
"How did you remember the answers to all those questions?"
"Do you really not sleep at night?"
"Could you teach me a few tricks sometime?"
Cangyue didn't seem bothered. With his eyes closed, he occasionally offered a word or two.
"When your understanding is sufficient, you remember naturally."
"To sleep is to train."
"You still need more practice."
Every answer sounded unfathomably profound, leaving Naruto utterly bewildered. In the end, he could only nod again and again, his eyes full of admiration.
Naruto slapped his thigh, his eyes shining even brighter.
"Cangyue, you're a genius! No, you're even better than a genius!"
Nearby, Ino's mouth twitched as she watched.
Wasn't he just conning some gullible kid?
Yet that idiot Naruto believed every word, looking as though he'd stumbled upon a treasure.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and muttered:
"I can't even watch..."
She was beginning to wonder whether this class transfer was some sort of con artist.
Still, her impression of the transfer student had deepened further.
Soon, the bell rang again.
[Valor Points +1]
Taijutsu class.
Everyone straggled onto the field to assemble.
The PE teacher had already taught them everything they needed to learn. The remaining time was for independent practice.
Naruto and the other boys rushed excitedly toward the training area.
Cangyue yawned and ambled toward a large tree at the edge of the field, finding a shady spot where he could lie down again.
Just as he was about to settle down, a voice dripping with malice descended from above.
"Hey, sleep god."
Cangyue looked up.
A tall, burly boy stood in his way, flanked by two or three lackeys.
He looked exactly like the sort of class bully who swaggered around as though he owned the place.
"You sleep all day, dead last. Got the guts to compete with me?"
The bully folded his arms and looked down at Cangyue, his voice brimming with provocation.
"Whoever loses has to stay out of the winner's way from now on!"
His lackeys joined in.
"Yeah, yeah! Got the guts?"
"Is our sleep god going to chicken out?"
Cangyue raised an eyebrow.
Inside, he was amused.
Well, well. Trying to bully me?
Nice. Very nice.
Getting bullied by a classmate after transmigrating into Naruto-apparently, this was an experience I couldn't miss.
The Will of Bullying had awakened in the people of Konoha!
His expression remained unchanged, but he knew perfectly well that he currently had little fighting ability.
Still, he couldn't lose the battle of presence.
He slowly raised his eyelids, his tone calm yet unmistakably condescending.
"Such crude skills."
"I could defeat them with my eyes closed."
[Valor Points +1] [Valor Points +1]
In that brief moment, his Valor Points had climbed again.
Together with his earlier gains in class, his available Valor Points had now passed thirty.
Cangyue silently ran through the numbers.
That hundred-point requirement was a cumulative task. His previous earnings had already counted toward it.
Valor Points were meant to be spent. Hoarding them wouldn't make them breed.
Show off to gain strength, then use that strength to show off even harder.
That was called snowballing.
"What are we competing in?"
Seeing that Cangyue had accepted, the bully gave a vicious grin.
"Shuriken first. You dare?"
Cangyue opened the system shop and scanned it.
Before long, he found an item he liked.
[Genin-level ninja tool throwing skills] [Price: twenty Valor Points]
Without hesitation, he bought it.
Even Genin-level skills far surpassed those of these little guys who hadn't even graduated yet.
Cangyue said nothing. He merely lifted his chin.
The meaning couldn't have been clearer.
Bring it.
The two headed to the target range.
Meanwhile, busybodies had already spread word of what was happening.
A large crowd gathered to watch.
"Go, Cangyue!"
A blond boy in the crowd waved enthusiastically.
It was Naruto.
"Choji, what do you think?" Shikamaru asked listlessly, his hands in his pockets.
"Huh?" Choji paused mid-bite, then answered after a moment's surprise, "Kambara might win."
"Huh? Why? That guy's a total dead last."
Ino looked utterly puzzled.
Choji grabbed another handful of chips and said honestly, "Kambara looks really confident to me."
"Tch, I think he's just putting on an act. I bet he'll lose for sure. Ten bags of chips. You in?"
"That... doesn't seem like a good idea." Choji hesitated.
Losing ten bags of chips would be truly heartbreaking.
"If you lose, you don't owe me anything. If you win, I'll give you ten bags. Deal?"
Only then did Choji nod. "All right."
"Honestly... you two." Shikamaru shook his head helplessly.
It was best to avoid things like this, where neither side would thank you.
A smile curled the bully's lips. Apparently, there were still some sensible people around.
He chose to go first, took a deep breath, and flicked his wrist repeatedly.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three Shuriken sliced through the air and struck the target almost simultaneously.
Two nines and a ten.
The watching students gasped in admiration.
The bully turned back, looking smug.
"Well? Scared now?"
Cangyue didn't even lift his eyelids.
He casually picked up three Shuriken and turned around, putting his back to the target.
"He's going to throw backward?"
"Is he crazy?"
"And his eyes are closed?"
Under everyone's incredulous gazes, Cangyue slowly closed his eyes.
His wrist flicked.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The three Shuriken traced three arcs through the air.
Thud, thud, thud.
Straight into the bull's-eye.
Three tens.
Moreover, the three Shuriken formed an almost perfect triangle at the very center of the bull's-eye.
The entire crowd fell utterly silent.
[Valor Points +5] [Valor Points +5] [Valor Points +5]
Cangyue opened his eyes and said mildly:
"Well?"
The bully's face flushed crimson, the veins on his neck bulging.
"You-you just got lucky!"
"Got the guts to fight for real? A Taijutsu spar!"
Cangyue shook his head and spoke calmly.
"A mantis trying to stop a cart."
That sudden surge of Valor Points had left Cangyue's wallet bulging.
He immediately purchased Swordsmanship LV1 for thirty Valor Points.
[Purchase successful]
He turned toward Ino, who stood closest to him, and held out his hand.
"Sorry for the trouble, but could you break off a branch for me?"
Ino's face was red with anger. She'd actually lost ten bags of chips to Choji. That bully was completely useless!
When she saw Cangyue addressing her, she froze.
Break off a branch?
What was he going to do?
But she looked at the three Shuriken that had just hit the bull's-eye, then at Cangyue's impossibly calm face.
For some inexplicable reason, she said, "Oh," turned to a nearby tree, snapped off a finger-thick branch, and handed it over.
"Here."
Cangyue took the branch and hefted it in his hand.
"Thanks."
He turned to face the enraged class bully, his voice casual:
"You only get one move."
Someone in the watching crowd muttered:
"Hey, that guy's the best in our class at Taijutsu. Why would you pick a fight with him?"
The sight of Cangyue's "weapon" sent the class bully over the edge.
"You've angered a lion! How dare you look down on me!"
With a furious roar, his muscles bulged, and he charged like a raging bull.
His fist whistled through the air, hurtling straight at Cangyue's face.
The punch was fast and vicious.
The watching students instinctively took half a step back.
Cangyue stood perfectly still.
Just as the fist was about to strike his face, he moved.
The hand holding the branch flicked upward.
A blur.
Smack.
The branch struck the bully's wrist with pinpoint precision.
His wrist went numb. Before he could even react, another blow struck the back of his knee.
Thud!
His leg buckled, and he lost his balance, crashing heavily to the ground in a cloud of dust.
The bully lay sprawled on the ground, his head buzzing.
He hadn't even seen how he had been knocked down.
Cangyue looked down at him, the branch still poised in midair.
He slowly lowered it, his voice calm, yet landing like a sledgehammer:
"To defeat you, I need no second strike."
Dead silence fell over the crowd.
A few seconds later, it erupted.
"One... just one move..."
"That dead last is actually this strong?"
"Didn't he just land every Shuriken with his eyes closed, too?"
"What kind of monster is he?"
"I just got here. What happened?"
The nobodies who had mocked Cangyue earlier now hunched their shoulders, barely daring to breathe.
Some of the girls were practically swooning.
"'To defeat you, I need no second strike'? Wow! He's so cool!"
"Oh, look at you. You were the one trashing him the hardest in class."
"That was different!"
The nobodies gaped, their jaws nearly hitting the ground.
Naruto bounced up and down in excitement:
"That was amazing! So amazing! Cangyue, you're so cool!"
Sasuke stood with his arms folded, his expression shifting slightly.
He stared hard at the branch in Cangyue's hand, a flicker of wariness entering his eyes.
This guy was hiding far more than he had imagined.
And he really knew how to show off!
"To defeat you, I need no second strike," huh? I'm remembering that one.
Sakura's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth:
"How... how could he..."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and murmured:
"What a pain... The force and angle of that strike were ridiculously precise."
Choji was still munching on chips, but this time, for once, he stopped and looked over.
Standing nearby, Ino stared blankly at the hand she had used to break off the branch, then at the bully on the ground, unable to speak for a long while.
[Valor Points +10] [Valor Points +10] [Valor Points +10] [Valor Points +10]
Notification chimes burst like firecrackers in Cangyue's mind.
At the other end of the training ground, a young Jonin wearing a Forehead Protector had stopped walking at some point.
He narrowed his eyes, looking through the crowd at Cangyue.
"That kid... interesting."
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and he turned to leave.
At the same time, another notification appeared in Cangyue's mind.
[Host's Valor Points have reached the hundred-point threshold. Mission complete.] [Beginner gift pack issued.] [Total Valor Points: 100] [Valor Points spent: 55] [Available Valor Points: 45]
Cangyue lowered his head and looked at the branch in his hand.
A smile slowly curled his lips.
Showing off really is addictive.
Damn, that felt good!
Before you continue