The First-Day Test

Ruri kept staring at Harukawa, making her blush furiously, unsure what to do.

Then Ruri came back to his senses and said to Harukawa with a smile, "Of course I'm looking at you because you're beautiful! I can't tear my eyes away. Ever since I first saw you, you've had my heart!"

His expression was wildly exaggerated as he spoke.

After hearing Ruri's words, Harukawa blushed even harder. This time, she turned her head away altogether and stared straight ahead, her heart fluttering, too shy to meet his eyes again.

Ruri continued gazing at Harukawa without restraint, making her heart beat faster and faster.

But Harukawa wasn't put off by him. If anything, she was secretly delighted.

"Ruri, you're absolutely heartless! Just look at what you've done to poor Harukawa!" Reika Hyuga, who was sitting in the row ahead, turned around after hearing their conversation.

"Linghua, you can't say that! How could sitting with you be as nice as sitting with a beautiful girl? Besides, look at your seatmate. Isn't he a handsome guy too? He's definitely your type, so stop staring at me!" Ruri said with a smile.

Ruri pointed at Reika Hyuga's seatmate, who was none other than Uchiha Itachi.

After Ruri finished speaking, Linghua's face turned as red as a monkey's backside, and she immediately buried it in her desk. Just like that, Ruri had made two pretty girls blush at once.

Uchiha Itachi, who had been dragged into this for no reason, stared ahead in bewilderment and ignored them.

Ruri turned back and continued teasing Harukawa. By now, her face was so hot that he could have fried an egg on it.

"Harukawa, you're so shy!"

"Ru... ri, p-please... stop doing... that. Our classmates are all here. If they see us, they'll start gossiping again!" Momokusa Harukawa stammered.

Ruri knew it was time to stop, or he would leave Harukawa with a bad impression of him.

When Harukawa saw that Ruri had stopped teasing her, she felt a little disappointed.

As time passed, all thirty students in the class arrived one after another.

Once everyone was there, Asuma Sarutobi entered the classroom. Seeing all the students present, he said with satisfaction, "Today is the first day of school, and no one is late. I'm very pleased. Now, let's begin our lesson!"

With that, Asuma Sarutobi opened the textbook and began a long lecture. Harukawa looked at Ruri and thought, He's so handsome! I wonder if he really meant what he said earlier!

Ruri noticed Harukawa looking at him and slowly turned to look at her too. Her face reddened again, and she immediately turned toward the blackboard, her heart racing.

Ruri smiled and thought, I really can't figure this girl out. She seems a little like Hinata Hyuga!

After watching Harukawa for a few seconds, Ruri began paying attention to the lesson. After all, the things he learned at school would still be useful.

After an agonizing forty-five minutes, Ruri finally made it through the lesson.

Just before class ended, Asuma Sarutobi said, "All right, everyone, quiet down. Next, we'll be holding an assessment. We'll be testing one of a ninja's most basic skills-ninja tool throwing."

"Get ready, everyone. Meet at Training Ground One in thirty minutes!" With that, Asuma Sarutobi walked straight out of the classroom.

"Wow, we're having a test already? I wonder who'll come in first!"

"It definitely won't be us. My guess is Uchiha Itachi, since he's from the Uchiha Clan."

"Ruri, shall we go together in a bit?" Momokusa Harukawa asked, looking at him shyly.

Ruri nodded and said with a smile, "Sure. Linghua, how about you? Come with us! We can keep each other company!"

Reika Hyuga looked at the grinning Ruri and nodded without a word. She stepped into the aisle beside the desks and said, "Let's go. While we're at it, I'll see how good you are! Let's see if you're better than me!"

Ruri smiled without saying anything, stood up, and headed out of the classroom, with Harukawa and Linghua close behind.

Before long, the three of them arrived at Training Ground One.

"I didn't expect this training ground to be so big!" Ruri remarked as he looked around.

Reika Hyuga walked over to Ruri with a smile and gave him a pat. "Of course it is! This is a big school, after all. How could it get by without some decent facilities?"

After that, Ruri and the two girls began looking around Training Ground One.

Training Ground One was quite large. Rather than being indoors, it was a broad, open-air clearing. Several trees stood twenty meters away, with targets for practicing ninja tool throwing hanging here and there.

Ruri studied the targets twenty meters in front of him. They were fastened to several trees, some facing him head-on and others hanging at an angle from the branches. Those targets wouldn't be too difficult to hit, but two were positioned edge-on. He couldn't see their fronts at all, only their sides.

Hitting those two edge-on targets would be exceptionally difficult. It would take considerable skill in ninja tool throwing.