Just as Hatake Sakumo was about to lap them again, he deliberately ran beside Shanks and said in a flat voice, “Two more laps and I’m done.”
Then he kept running without slowing down.
Shanks froze for a moment.
What was that supposed to mean?
Was he challenging me?
Were all Hatake people this direct?
With a girl beside him, there were some things a man could endure.
But even his grandmother wouldn’t let him endure this.
“Can you still run?” Shanks asked Haruko, who looked ready to stop and rest.
“I… I can’t… keep running…” Haruko gasped.
“You should… go ahead…”
“I’ll carry you.”
Shanks didn’t wait for her to answer.
He stepped forward, lifted Haruko onto his back, and immediately sped up.
“What the hell?
Am I seeing things?”
A boy from the Inuzuka Clan had just been overtaken.
He picked up the husky puppy in his arms, placed it on his head, and rubbed his eyes.
Nope.
He really had seen a red-haired kid carrying a girl on his back while accelerating.
“You should put me down,” Haruko said from behind him, her face bright red.
Whether it was from exhaustion or embarrassment, even she didn’t know.
“If you run like this, you won’t reach the finish line.”
“It’s fine,” Shanks said in what he believed was a deeply affectionate voice.
“In my eyes, you’re the most important thing.”
At that exact moment, Shanks happened to run past a chūnin teacher from the Sarutobi Clan who was observing the test.
The teacher heard the line clearly.
In that instant, he felt as if he had seen a brand-new world.
He had achieved enlightenment.
So this was how you pursued girls.
He was suddenly deeply grateful that he had accepted this teaching assignment.
Hearing Shanks speak today had elevated his soul.
Years later, the famous Konoha Love Saint, Sarutobi Hōse, would trace his breakthrough back to this very moment.
And from then on, he would become a man wanted by the husbands of all four great nations.
Haruko heard Shanks’s words and immediately lowered her head.
Steam almost seemed to rise from her face as she buried it against Shanks’s back and stopped talking.
Shanks kept accelerating.
Before long, he had made up two laps.
By then, Sakumo only had one lap left.
Shanks was also covered in sweat, but his breathing remained steady and long.
On his back, Haruko could feel the heat coming from his body and kept her face buried there, too embarrassed to lift her head.
On the final lap, Shanks caught up to Hatake Sakumo.
Sakumo suddenly sped up as well, maintaining his lead.
There was nothing Shanks could do about it.
His body was still small, and carrying another person while reaching this point was already impressive enough.
Besides, they would be in the same class from now on.
There was plenty of time.
In the end, Hatake Sakumo finished first.
Shanks took second while carrying Haruko.
Haruko, who had been carried the whole way, somehow took third.
The remaining spots were taken by children from various shinobi clans.
A few Uchiha children looked at Haruko with clear resentment.
Although the Uchiha Clan had been keeping a lower profile in recent years because of Uchiha Madara’s matter, pride was carved into their bones.
They could not stand seeing a civilian ranked ahead of them.
Especially when that civilian was a girl who had been carried to victory.
To them, this was humiliation.
Hatake Sakumo and Shanks were one thing.
They were both recognized geniuses in the village.
But a civilian beating them through a trick like this?
If Uchiha Madara were still around, he might have gone to find Senju Hashirama for a long and meaningful talk about life and dreams.
As Shanks had wished, he and Haruko were placed in the same class.
The legendary Class A.
The rest of the students were mostly elite children from shinobi clans.
There were three from the Uchiha Clan, two from the Hyūga Clan, four from the Senju Clan, and several extras from smaller clans.
At least, to Shanks, aside from Hatake Sakumo, everyone else from this era was basically an extra.
“Ahem.”
“All right.
Welcome, everyone, to the ninja academy.
From today onward, I will be your homeroom teacher.
For the next three years, I’ll be guiding you.”
The students were already seated inside the classroom.
The room’s layout was fairly similar to the academy classrooms Shanks remembered from the original story.
Since everything was new, it looked much better than it would years later.
Each long desk seated three people, with three desks in each row.
Shanks, Hatake Sakumo, and Haruko sat in the first row near the window.
Shanks sat in the middle, with the painfully honest Sakumo on one side and Haruko on the other.
“Now, let’s begin with self-introductions.”
“Teacher, what are we supposed to say in a self-introduction?”
The Inuzuka boy was the most energetic one in the room.
“I’ll give you an example first,” the teacher said.
“My name is Sarutobi Hōse.
I’m twenty-one years old and a special jōnin.
My favorite foods are roasted meat and fish balls.
I dislike all sweets.
My dream is to protect Konoha.”
He clapped his hands once.
“All right.
We’ll start from the first row on the left.”
Sarutobi Hōse?
Shanks nearly choked.
What a perfect name.
Was the Sarutobi Clan’s naming style based on clan traits?
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hōse Sarutobi.
Was this entire clan destined to walk a questionable path?
An Uchiha boy walked up first, his chin lifted with the air of a young master from a cheap revenge novel.
“I am Uchiha Sorato.
Six years old.
I don’t want to say what food I like, and I don’t want to say what I dislike either.
My dream is to restore the Uchiha Clan and become Hokage.”
Shanks badly wanted to say: Yes, that is very Uchiha of you.
But, young man, reviving the Uchiha Clan and becoming Hokage are two completely opposite routes.
For all they knew, Senju Tobirama might be spying from somewhere right now.
After all, peeking was practically a traditional skill passed down through the Hokage line.
If Tobirama heard an Uchiha say that, would these boys even be able to come to school tomorrow?
Shanks glanced around the classroom.
Sure enough, there was a faint trace of moisture on the window.
He looked deeply at the water stain.
Second Uncle, try harder.
With weather this hot, how could there still be water on a window near noon?
Somewhere out of sight, Tobirama saw Shanks wink playfully in his direction.
“How did this little bastard know I was watching?”
The Uchiha introductions were all more or less the same after that.
Then several other children went up one by one.
Their answers were also nearly identical.
Most of them wanted to become Hokage.
In this era, that was understandable.
To these children, Konoha’s Hokage was the strongest shinobi in the world.
Then it was Haruko’s turn.
She stood on the podium, clearly nervous.
“My name is Haruko.
I’m six years old.
My favorite food is charcoal-grilled squid.
I don’t really have any food I hate.
My dream is to live peacefully in Konoha.”
Her dream was the same as many orphans’.
She simply wanted to keep living in Konoha.
Then it was Shanks’s turn.
Everyone in the class looked at him.
After all, Shanks’s personality was famously unpredictable.
Even Tobirama, who was watching from the shadows, wanted to hear what kind of dream this little brat had.
Shanks swaggered onto the podium with a walk that looked like he refused to recognize any relatives.
The whole class stared at him, speechless.
They had never seen anyone act this arrogant.
“How has he survived until now?” Hatake Sakumo muttered, speaking the thought in everyone’s heart.
“My name is Uzumaki Shanks.
I’m five and a half years old.
My favorite thing is drinking alcohol.
What I hate most is being woken up when I’m trying to sleep in.”
He paused, then grinned.
“As for my dream…”
Everyone listened closely.
“I want to become the world’s greatest swordsman, drink every kind of alcohol in the world, become the Pirate King, become Fleet Admiral, become one of the Four Emperors…”
And then came an endless list of “becomes.”
Half an hour later, Sarutobi Hōse finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“All right, Shanks.
We understand your dream.
Next student.”
“What?
I wasn’t finished yet.”
Shanks complained as he reluctantly walked back to his seat.
“You weren’t finished, but we were,” everyone thought at the same time.
Also…
What was the world’s greatest swordsman?
What was the Pirate King?
And what was a Fleet Admiral?
In the shadows, Tobirama sighed helplessly.
“I knew it.
Big Brother corrupted him.”
Hashirama: “???”
After Shanks returned to his seat, Hatake Sakumo walked up.
“My name is Hatake Sakumo.
I’m five and a half years old.
I like training with my father.
I don’t really dislike anything.
My dream is to protect Konoha.”
Although Sakumo was a little too straightforward, he was not the same kind of cold and aloof as his future son, Kakashi.
After Sakumo sat down, Shanks nudged his shoulder.
“I thought your dream would be to have more children for the Hatake Clan.”
He couldn’t help laughing after saying it.
But Hatake Sakumo looked at him seriously.
“One child is enough.
My father said that when there are too many people, their nature becomes mixed.”
“…”
“Brother, you win.”
Damn it.
No wonder he would later raise a weirdo like Kakashi, who spent his whole life unable to find a wife.
At this rate, the Hatake Clan would have no descendants.
Shanks wanted to remind Sakumo that he should adopt a childhood bride for Kakashi early and raise their relationship from the beginning.
But when the words reached his mouth, he swallowed them back down.
After all, no matter who you told, “Your family line is going to end in the future,” they would probably draw a blade on the spot.
Why was it so hard to be a good person?
“What’s wrong, Shanks?” Haruko asked when she heard him suddenly mutter to himself.
“Nothing,” Shanks said.
“I just wanted to ask if you’re hungry.
After school, I’ll treat you to barbecue.”
“Ah?
How could I accept that?
Barbecue is expensive.”
“Diamonds and gold are nothing compared to my sincerity.”
Shanks spoke with complete confidence.
Hatake Sakumo’s face darkened.
In the shadows, Tobirama felt a headache coming on.
What exactly was stored inside this little bastard’s head?
“Shanks, stop saying such strange things,” Haruko said, her face turning as red as an apple.
Tobirama watched her reaction and fell silent for a moment.
It’s over.
I should go back and discuss this with Sister-in-law.
At this rate, this girl is not getting away.