The strong

After returning to Ruri's side, Reika Hyuga and Momokusa Harukawa exchanged glances, then started laughing.

"Harukawa, I've seen what you can do. You're really strong, but there's one thing you need to work on: you're too softhearted. On the battlefield, that softness could give an enemy the chance to turn the tables and kill you!" Ruri said, looking at Momokusa Harukawa.

"Ruri, I was afraid my Explosive Tags would hurt Linghua! Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone over to her!" Momokusa Harukawa said quietly, lowering her head.

"You were afraid of hurting me? Come on, you already reduced the power of your Explosive Tags yourself! How could blasts that weak hurt me?" Reika Hyuga said helplessly.

Momokusa Harukawa looked up and said sheepishly, "I forgot! Hehe, all right, I lost fair and square! It's fine!"

Watching Momokusa Harukawa's goofy smile, Ruri thought, What a silly girl!

"All right, next up is..." Asuma Sarutobi said, restoring order.

Soon, the matches drew to a close, and the final results were announced. First place: Ruri Hyuga. Second place: Uchiha Itachi. Third place: Reika Hyuga. Fourth place: Momokusa Harukawa...

"All right, that's it for today's class. It's time to go home. You're dismissed!" Asuma Sarutobi said with his hands behind his back.

"Goodbye, teacher!" All the students in Class Five bowed to Asuma Sarutobi.

"Goodbye, Ruri! Goodbye, Linghua!"

Momokusa Harukawa had something to take care of with her family that day, so she didn't head home with Ruri and the others. Instead, she went by herself to her mother's workplace!

"Ruri, do you have any goals?" Reika Hyuga asked as she walked beside him.

Ruri glanced at Reika Hyuga's face and said, "Goals? Of course! My goal is to become the strongest person in Konoha!"

"Keep dreaming! That's a pretty arrogant goal! You may be a genius of the Hyuga Clan, but you've never seen the people who are truly strong!" Reika Hyuga said, shaking her head.

"Really? Then who do you think qualifies as truly strong?" Ruri asked with a smile.

"Strong people? Just look at Sakumo Hatake. Now he's really amazing! And there's the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Oh, right, and the most handsome one of all, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!" Reika Hyuga said dreamily.

"Now those are truly strong people! As you are now, you wouldn't stand a chance against them!" Reika Hyuga said, rolling her eyes.

Ruri smiled and said, "I won't deny that they're considered strong, but don't worry. One day, I'll definitely be the strongest ninja in Konoha. Just you wait!"

"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you brag. Let's see what you do if you can't pull it off!" Reika Hyuga said with a look of disdain.

It was almost evening already. Time really did fly in Konoha!

"Hurry up! Otherwise, we'll have to go through another inspection! I don't want that hassle!" Reika Hyuga said, quickening her pace.

Ruri nodded and sped up as well, keeping pace with Reika Hyuga.

After a full day of fighting, the students of Class Five at the Ninja Academy were utterly exhausted! Once they got home, they lay down in bed and went to sleep.

Ruri was no exception. After getting home and greeting Mei Ling Hyuga, he lay down on the sofa. But he wasn't doing it because he was exhausted. He had promised Momokusa Harukawa that he would teach her ninjutsu the next day, so he wanted a good night's sleep to make sure he was at his best when he taught her.