Gua might be a philosopher

When Gua came home carrying a pheasant, Dashan and Nai were both stunned.

"Didn't we tell you to stop studying, Gua?"

"How did your shuriken skills improve again?"

At first, his shuriken could only hit stationary targets. Hitting a living creature had been quite difficult.

Yet today, their son had actually brought them a pheasant.

"Oh, I wasn't studying."

Gua answered honestly.

He really was telling the truth. He had never studied in the first place.

Ever since he was born, he had been idling.

He had never put in any effort at all, yet everyone thought he was a hardworking genius.

Gua felt rather helpless.

"You're still saying you weren't studying? Then how did you catch this pheasant?"

Seeing that his son refused to admit it, Dashan seized on the evidence and demanded an answer.

"I just threw something at it, and it couldn't fly anymore."

"Then weren't you practicing after all?"

And so, after they ate the roast chicken, a fresh pile of extracurricular books appeared at home the next day.

He couldn't finish them. There was simply no way.

"But, Dad, why did you even buy me these little adult books?"

"Those are for me!"

Watching his father snatch away the adult book he had found among the mountain of extracurricular reading, Gua's mouth twitched. "Fine."

It had been over a month since Gua awakened his system.

His taijutsu had been idling for a month now, and he felt as strong as a wild ox.

In terms of taijutsu alone, even an ordinary adult might not be a match for him.

His eyesight had also been idling for a month, but unfortunately, he still hadn't awakened the Sharingan.

His dynamic vision kept improving, though the gains were becoming less and less noticeable.

Gua had expected that.

Whether it was taijutsu, eyesight, his earlier Chakra Extraction, or the shuriken skill he had now been idling for a month, progress slowed the longer he kept at it.

But he currently had no opportunity to learn any new ninjutsu, so he could only keep those three abilities idling.

Today, he came to school as usual.

"Gua!"

Once again, it was Izumi calling him.

Once again, she had Three-Color Dango.

He had to admit that Izumi was a good girl: gentle, cute, lively, willing to give, and able to find herself a graceful way out. Back then, she had ignored Gua for two days over his idling, only for him not to notice at all.

In the end, Izumi had let out an "Ow!" on their way home one day and twisted her ankle.

"Gua! Could you take me home?"

Gua had taken her home.

Then, the next day, Izumi's ankle was fine, and she brought him Three-Color Dango as thanks.

And just like that, Izumi had taken the graceful way out she had arranged for herself.

Gua had only realized it afterward.

At the thought, Gua gently shook his head.

That bastard Itachi had actually killed even a girl like her, who liked him.

Gua truly despised Itachi from the bottom of his heart!

If it were me, whether that girl was an Uchiha or not, I would never plunge a blade into her heart!

Gua told himself silently.

He accepted Izumi's Three-Color Dango.

"Thank you, Izumi."

"Then will you go shopping with me next weekend? I can treat you to the best Three-Color Dango in town!"

Izumi smiled brightly.

Gua shook his head. "I'll be reading extracurricular books at home over the weekend. Dad won't let me go out."

"Ah... I see. All right, then. That's such a shame."

Izumi shook her head, disappointment showing on her face. This wasn't the first time Gua had turned her down.

But this time was different. Gua hadn't said he needed to go home and idle. Instead, he had made a proper excuse to turn her down.

Izumi actually felt a tiny spark of happiness.

What Izumi didn't know, however, was that Gua hadn't invented an excuse to reject her. His father, Dashan, really wouldn't let him go out.

His father was afraid he would go out and train.

Training was addictive. If he trained during the day, his son wouldn't be able to stop himself from training at night. If he trained at night, he wouldn't get enough rest. If he didn't get enough rest, he would want to train the next day...

"Keep this up, and Gua's body is bound to break down."

Uchiha Oyama had declared it with absolute conviction!

And so, Gua had been stripped of his right to train.

There was nothing he could do. His parents believed in letting him enjoy his childhood.

Gua sighed silently.

It seemed he was being spoiled.

This was the life so many children dreamed of. He should cherish it while he could.

Today's school routine was a little different from usual.

Ye Chuan Dahei called them out to the training ground.

The elementary school training ground was really just their Ninja Academy's sports field.

It was a vast lawn backed by dense woods. Several straw dummies stood on the field, wearing targets marked with concentric rings.

Gua thought he knew what was coming.

"Gua, do you think the teacher's going to have us practice shuriken today?"

Itachi leaned close to Gua and asked quietly.

"Yeah."

Gua nodded, agreeing with Itachi.

Used to Gua's idling ways, Itachi continued, "I've been practicing with Shisui for several weeks now. I can pretty much hit the bull's-eye consistently with shuriken. You haven't come along since then, Gua. You've just been reading extracurricular books at home. I wonder if your shuriken skills have improved? If you do well, maybe Mr. Ye Chuan Dahei will praise you."

"What do I need his praise for?"

Gua was speechless.

He didn't understand!

His body might belong to an elementary school student, but he had actually lived two lifetimes.

An elementary school teacher's little tricks, like rewarding students with red flower stickers, held no appeal for him whatsoever!

With that little reminder from Gua, Itachi seemed to see the light.

"Right. What do we need his praise for?"

"Gua, you might be a philosopher."

Gua: "..."

Gua said nothing more.

Mr. Ye Chuan Dahei began speaking.

"Class! As you can see, we didn't go to the classroom today. Instead, we've brought you here. Do you see those straw dummies up ahead?"

"Yes!"

"Then do you know what those straw dummies are for?"

"For practicing shuriken!"

"For practicing kunai!"

"..."

"That's right! Today, we're going to learn about shuriken!"

As Ye Chuan Dahei explained, he took a shuriken out of the weapon pouch he carried and showed it to the students.

"Most of you probably already know what a shuriken is, so today's main lesson will be about throwing them..."

Ye Chuan Dahei went on and on at the front.

A group of students gathered around Ye Chuan Dahei, listening intently.

Only Gua and Itachi stood at the very back of the crowd.

"Gua! Itachi! Why are you two standing so far away?"

Ye Chuan Dahei called out to them.

Gua stepped forward and joined the crowd.

Ye Chuan Dahei liked that side of Gua's personality. Although he sometimes did things that were hard to understand, as long as you reminded him, Gua would always listen to your advice.

In Ye Chuan Dahei's mind, Gua was probably the sort of person who, if he were playing Xiao Qiao and you recommended a critical-hit build, would quietly click the preorder button.