"Si... Feng?"
Sikong froze in place, turning the name "Sifeng" over on his tongue twice. The more he mulled it over, the more confused he became.
"What do you mean?" he shouted at the redhead. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Uzumaki Hayashi gave him a lazy glance.
"Nothing much," he said. "It's a blessing for people like you."
Without waiting for Sikong to reply, he turned and strolled toward the center of the field.
Sikong stayed where he was and thought it over again. He still didn't get it.
A blessing?
What kind of blessing started with changing someone's name?
"Don't go-!"
At the edge of the field, Naruto Uzumaki pushed himself upright on the grass and shouted anxiously.
"You're no match for him! He knows the Body Flicker Technique!"
He struggled to get up and stop him, but his legs were too weak to support him. He only made it halfway up before collapsing again, left to watch helplessly as that Redhead walked toward the center of the field, step by step.
"Shut up, dead last."
A voice sounded beside Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto Uzumaki turned to find that Sasuke Uchiha had come up beside him without him noticing. Sasuke stood with his arms folded, his gaze on the center of the field and a mocking smile on his lips.
"Just watch," Sasuke Uchiha said. "The person you're trying to protect has power you can't even imagine."
Naruto Uzumaki froze.
Sasuke Uchiha gave a derisive snort and continued:
"That guy, Si whatever-he's done for."
Naruto Uzumaki was completely lost.
What did he mean by "power you can't even imagine"? What did he mean by "done for"?
His attention was still stuck on something else. He scratched his head and ventured cautiously:
"Um... was that guy's name always that?"
Sasuke Uchiha was taken aback for a moment, too.
Then it clicked-this dead last hadn't even realized that "Sifeng" was a name made up on the spot. He thought it was the guy's real name.
"Pfft."
Sasuke Uchiha couldn't hold it in and laughed.
"No." He reached down and pulled Naruto Uzumaki up from the ground. "He just gave him that name. It's a good one."
Naruto Uzumaki finally understood and chuckled along with him.
The two boys, who had been unable to stand each other just moments earlier, now stood at the edge of the field, sharing a rare laugh.
Sasuke Uchiha steadied Naruto and looked back toward the center of the field. His smile faded a little as he spoke in earnest:
"Watch closely, dead last."
"There's more to him than a heart that wants everyone to be happy."
Uzumaki Hayashi came to a stop in the center of the field.
Sikong walked over as well, stopping a few paces away to face him.
Uzumaki Hayashi looked him up and down.
A brat who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy, who had barely refined any chakra. The only thing he had worth showing off was that sloppy Body Flicker Technique.
To be honest, he really couldn't muster much fighting spirit right now.
It was like asking an adult to arm-wrestle a kindergartner-winning was nothing to be proud of, and losing made you a laughingstock. No matter how you looked at it, you lost.
But he had no choice. The system's warning, "otherwise, the mission will fail," was still nailed into his mind.
For the sake of his guaranteed B-rank ninjutsu, he not only had to fight this battle, but also had to pretend he was fired up about it.
Ugh.
Rewards were hard to earn, and fights were hard to fight.
To his surprise, before he could start his performance, Sikong spoke first.
And instead of taunting him, he actually tried to persuade him.
"Listen." Sikong folded his arms and looked him up and down with a cloying gaze. "What's a pretty girl like you getting out of hanging around trash like Naruto Uzumaki?"
"Take my advice. Stop playing with that demon fox. Join our group, and I guarantee no one at school will dare give you a dirty look again."
"With a face that pretty, hanging around that loser is such a waste."
The expression on Uzumaki Hayashi's face faded little by little.
Here it came.
That line again.
Pretty, pretty, pretty.
He had only been in Konoha for two days.
The old man at the registration office, the Third, the two chunin, his homeroom teacher, the whole class, and those kids from other classes leaning in through the windows-now even this small-fry bully kept calling him "pretty."
He was a guy, for crying out loud.
In these two days, people had mistaken his gender more often than they had in an entire year of his previous life.
Even if it was for the mission, even if he'd already decided not to clear things up, hearing it over and over still inevitably made him angry.
"Well? I'm only saying this because I think you're worth-"
"I don't agree with you."
Uzumaki Hayashi spoke, cutting Sikong off.
His voice wasn't loud, but every word was firm and clear.
"No one has any right to insult others as they please."
The surroundings suddenly grew much quieter.
The children who had been egging him on just moments earlier exchanged glances. A few had already quietly lowered their heads.
On the surface, those words were directed at Sikong, but upon reflection, they included every one of them.
At the edge of the field, Naruto Uzumaki stood listening, his eyes growing hot.
Sasuke Uchiha said nothing. He merely kept his arms folded, the corner of his mouth shifting almost imperceptibly.
"You-!"
Sikong's face flushed bright red.
Being interrupted in public and then lectured in front of everyone was more humiliation than he could take.
"What do you mean?" He stepped forward, raising his voice again. "Why do you have to do this? Huh? What's so great about hanging around a demon fox?!"
Uzumaki Hayashi looked at him and suddenly smiled.
Apparently, the guy needed him to give a reason for hanging around that kid Naruto Uzumaki.
Easy enough. He could just make one up on the spot and win everyone around him over while he was at it.
"If I want everyone to find happiness, then I have to be the first to become a hero who stops you from insulting others!"
"And a hero," he continued unhurriedly, "doesn't need a reason."
The moment those words left his mouth, Sikong froze for half a second.
He didn't understand.
But not understanding didn't stop him from feeling utterly mocked-that smile, that tone, made it plain that the other boy didn't take him seriously at all.
"You're messing with me-!!"
Sikong flew into a rage, his face turning dark red. He kicked off the ground and lunged straight at Uzumaki Hayashi.
Uzumaki Hayashi stood where he was without moving a muscle.
Watching the figure charge toward him, he leisurely flexed his wrist in his mind.
-Come on.
Let's hurry up, get this over with, and go home for braised chicken wings.
Before you continue