First Grade Demon King

First Grade Demon King

"Ayato, are... are you all okay?" When the group returned to the classroom, Ino was still waiting at the front. She had been so worried that she had not even had the heart to go inside for class.

"Ayato's fine, but we're not," Shikamaru could not help complaining.

"Mm, it wasn't anything serious. Ino, you did very well. Iruka Sensei arrived in time," Ayato said.

"That's good." Ino finally let out a breath and smiled. She had been scared to death earlier.

"Alright, let's go to class."

"Mm."

At this point, Ino still did not know exactly how things had played out. She only saw that Ayato was uninjured while the others looked rather miserable, which left her a little confused.

But that confusion was quickly answered.

As the saying went, good news stayed indoors while bad news traveled a thousand miles. Even Ayato had not expected the matter to spread so quickly.

Still, it was not hard to understand. They had not been the only ones present at the time; there had also been people who loved watching trouble unfold. Those who had been beaten were too embarrassed to spread the story themselves, but the spectators would not waste such juicy gossip.

Thus, news of a First Grade Demon King swiftly spread throughout the Ninja Academy. During that time, Ino also learned why Ayato had emerged without a scratch. So he was not merely amazing at exams—he was strong in a fight too?

As ninja candidates, nobody thought in terms of whether fighting was wrong. Instead, they saw that Ayato's combat ability surpassed that of Fourth Grade students. Though he had probably only surpassed the good-for-nothing level, that was already extremely impressive.

Sure enough, as Ino watched Ayato get surrounded once more, she puffed out her cheeks. She wanted to squeeze in too, but there was no room left.

Still, Ayato probably would not pay any attention to them. She could wait until the fuss died down before going to see him.

With that thought, Ino's mood suddenly improved again. Looking at the people crowding around Ayato's desk, a growing sense of superiority filled her heart. Why were they crowding so tightly? Ayato would not pay attention to them anyway. Hmph!

Ayato was helpless about it as well. The attention from the Midterm Exam had only just finally faded, and now this had happened. He felt that if this happened a few more times, the attention he received in class might never go away...

At that moment, Ayato could not help making the same observation as Shikamaru.

What a pain!

As usual, Ayato maintained his persona of not speaking to anyone he had not known before, but this time, it was clearly less effective than before.

What left Ayato most speechless was that when he went to the Training Ground after school, even someone like Rock Lee, who paid little attention to many things, had heard about it.

"Ayato, you're amazing! Everyone at school is talking about you," Rock Lee said enviously.

"It was nothing. Actually, if you had been there, Rock Lee, you could have done the same thing," Ayato said helplessly.

"Mm, but Ayato, you're actually in First Grade?" Rock Lee asked again.

"Yeah." Ayato could not help rolling his eyes. Had this guy only just realized it now?

"First Grade... If you're in First Grade, then you're a year younger than me. That means Ayato has been working hard since he was very, very young. Ah, I can't fall behind either! Ayato, let's spar!" Flames burned in Rock Lee's eyes.

"Sure. I'm still far from meeting my training quota for today anyway." Ayato looked at Rock Lee as he spoke. One benefit of training with Rock Lee was that he would never lack motivation to train!

The next day, the Hokage Office.

The Third Hokage was reading the report on yesterday's incident. Such a rather serious matter would naturally be written up and submitted to him, and Iruka had written the report.

"Mm..." As the Third Hokage read the details recorded on the Scroll, he could not help sighing after seeing Naruto's experience. His feelings were complicated.

Back then, should he have revealed Naruto's identity? He should not have listened to Danzo. He had hesitated then, and that hesitation had given Danzo time to act. By the time he wanted to do something, it had already been too late. Besides, even in the end, he had still failed to make a decision and could only tacitly accept Danzo's actions.

But the Third Hokage had no time to reminisce. What had happened had happened, and it was too late to say anything now. He continued reading.

When he saw that Ayato had not acted immediately, he thought back to the scene he had observed with the Telescope Technique and understood. The Shadow Clone must have dispersed, and the original body had wasted time rushing over.

After that came the scene the Third Hokage had witnessed. But the subsequent development was somewhat beyond his expectations. Ayato had actually forced the other side to apologize to Naruto?

He had gone that far for Naruto? The Third Hokage smiled. In that case, there was no problem with the boy's character.

Naruto had found bonds of his own at school, and likewise, Ayato had also formed his own bonds there.

"First Grade Demon King, huh? Hoho..."

After chuckling at that title, the Third Hokage fell into thought. Perhaps there was no need to wait for Jiraiya to return. Besides, what troubled him was that he did not know when Jiraiya would return.

Was he supposed to waste Ayato's talent during this time? The Third Hokage pondered as he stared at the events recorded on the Scroll for a long, long time. To cultivate bonds, he could not let Ayato graduate early, but he could not waste his talent either.

The Third Hokage slowly rose to his feet, tapped his pipe against the desk, then walked to the window. He looked toward Hokage Rock in the distance, staring at that familiar face. In a daze, he seemed to see a familiar figure, which slowly became Naruto's appearance, then finally transformed into Ayato's.

At that moment, the Third Hokage let out a deep sigh.

"Fourth Hokage..."

At that moment, the Third Hokage made his decision. Then he returned to his seat; naturally, this was not the only matter he needed to handle.

Soon, the office door opened again. A man with a cane and one eye wrapped in white bandages entered. It was Danzo.

"Hiruzen, you know about the Demon Fox's affair too, right? I said long ago that he should not have been allowed to attend the Ninja Academy. He should have been handed over to Root long ago." Danzo spoke as soon as he arrived, as if Naruto had committed some unforgivable crime.

"That's enough. Naruto did nothing wrong in this matter." The Third Hokage waved his hand and looked at Danzo. He did not believe Danzo had come here merely to talk about Naruto.

Sure enough, Danzo's expression did not change even after being rejected again. He thought to himself that the Third Hokage indeed already knew about the matter, but he still said, "Hiruzen, even if the Demon Fox cannot be given to us, Root still needs nourishment."

At once, the Third Hokage knew who Danzo was after this time. Naturally, it was Ayato, whose talent had already been displayed. From this matter alone, Danzo could probably infer Ayato's level of talent—it was no worse than Kakashi's had been.

And with the detailed records in hand, the Third Hokage knew that Ayato's talent was likely even greater than Kakashi's.

"Don't say another word. That is impossible." The Third Hokage refused directly, without the slightest hesitation.

"Hiruzen!! You will ruin him like this! With his talent, the school is no longer suitable for him!" Danzo growled in a low voice, attempting to pressure the Third Hokage.

"Whether it is suitable is for me to decide. There is no need to discuss this matter further." The Third Hokage looked at Danzo. He could not claim to know Root's affairs inside and out, but he certainly knew some of them. He also knew what happened to the ninjas who joined Root. In the past, he had turned a blind eye, but now Danzo wanted to lay his hands on Ayato. No—even if it were not Ayato, nobody from the Ninja Academy would do. Those children were the village's future!

"Hmph!!" Danzo understood the Third Hokage's resolve and saw that Ayato had long since drawn his attention. He snorted coldly and left the Hokage Office.

After Danzo left, the Third Hokage seemed to age several years at once. He let out a deep sigh.

At last, the Third Hokage seemed to think of something. He tapped the desk, and in an instant, another figure appeared in his office, wearing a mask.

Sinai listened to the discussions of her colleagues around her, her brow furrowing. Her Ayato had gotten into a fight? And he had even earned the title of First Grade Demon King?

Her colleagues all expressed envy toward her, envying her for having such an impressive son who would surely be capable in the future. But Sinai was not very happy. In her view, fighting was wrong, especially at such a young age.

Sinai also asked around about the reason for the fight. Although the matter had spread among the parents of Ninja Academy students in a small circle, the specific cause naturally could not have spread so quickly. What had mainly spread was Ayato's reputation.

Unable to find out the reason, Sinai became even more troubled. Though she believed her son would not deliberately bully others, she was still uncertain and absent-minded. She wanted to get home quickly and ask Ayato what had happened.

Thus, that evening, at Ayato's home.

Ayato sat upright before Sinai, explaining the reason and course of events. He was rather helpless too. How had this matter spread so fast? It had even reached his mom's ears. The moment he returned, he saw Sinai's serious expression and thought something terrible had happened.

Only after listening to Ayato's account did Sinai's expression ease. Though she had believed her son would not bully others, without confirmation, she could not be completely certain.

"So you stepped in to help a classmate who was being bullied?" Sinai confirmed.

"Yes." Ayato nodded.

"If that's the case, then you did nothing wrong. Classmates should help each other." Sinai let out a breath. It was good that her son had not gone astray.

"However, the person you said was being bullied was named Naruto Uzumaki?" Sinai hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Yes, he's my deskmate." Ayato nodded. Not only did he not deny it, he revealed their closer relationship.

"Are you friends with him?" Sinai frowned.

"Mm, I suppose so." Ayato nodded. Though he felt like he had raised a big son, Naruto probably regarded him as a friend.

"I see..." Sinai did not know what to say for a moment.

"Mom, is there a problem? I get along well with Naruto. He isn't the monster from the rumors." Ayato spoke up first. He did not want his mother to see Naruto the same way the other villagers did.

"So you've heard those rumors too. I don't think he's a monster, but if you become friends with him, it may bring you trouble. Many people dislike that child. I feel sorry for him too, but it's still best not to provoke him." Sinai hesitated, then remembered that Ayato had always been mature for his age, so she voiced her thoughts.

Ayato also breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that Sinai did not hate Naruto for no reason like other people's parents did. That was the most normal way to think. Aside from villagers whose family members had been killed by the Nine-Tails or whose property had been destroyed, this should have been the most common mindset.

Whether Naruto was truly the Demon Fox or not had nothing to do with them. It had been so long already; what grudge or hatred could there be? As long as they did not touch him and invite trouble, that was enough.

And that trouble came from two sources. One was the villagers who hated Naruto, while the other was naturally those with ulterior motives...

"Mom, I can be sure Naruto has no problem. He is a companion I acknowledge." Ayato spoke seriously to Sinai.

Sinai looked at Ayato. In the end, she nodded and said, "Since you know what you're doing, then that's fine. But it's still best not to play together in the village, or people may point fingers at you."

"Mm, I know." Ayato nodded. Whenever he met Naruto, it was either at Naruto's secluded home or at school. An unspoken understanding had formed in the village: Naruto would not take the initiative to approach anyone.

"That's good. Oh, try this on and see how it is." Sinai jogged into the room, then took out a pale yellow Turtleneck Sweater. "Try it on and see whether it fits. If it doesn't, I'll alter it."

Ayato took the sweater and froze, then looked up at Sinai.

Sinai smiled and said, "This is your gift for the Midterm Exam."

Ayato opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing. Sinai must have knitted this sweater herself, stitch by stitch. He was rarely home, so he had never noticed her knitting it for him.

He had clearly said she did not need to prepare a gift for him...

Soon, Ayato pulled the sweater over his head. It fit perfectly, and it was warm.

"Hehe, looks like my skills and eye for size haven't declined~" Sinai nodded in satisfaction as she watched Ayato wearing the sweater. It fit him well, and he obviously looked much more handsome. Clothes really did make the man. Unfortunately, there was no extra money at home to buy Ayato new clothes.

Otherwise, Sinai would have dragged Ayato out shopping one day and dressed her son up properly. He would surely charm a whole crowd of little girls. Her son was so handsome and so strong—wasn't it only natural for him to have lots of little admirers?

Hehe...