Yūhi poked Asahi in the waist and side again, leaning closer to him and speaking in a soft voice.
“Asahi… you seem to have something against him, don’t you?
Did he make you angry or upset somehow?”
Even though Asahi rarely interacted with anyone outside their family circle, he was usually always very polite and well-mannered.
Why was he acting this way toward Asuma, the son of the Hokage?
Grabbing Yūhi’s hand to stop her from poking him again – why did she keep doing that, it was his most ticklish spot – Asahi spoke quietly, “I don’t have anything against him at all.
But having bad eyesight is a medical condition.
Swapping seats isn’t going to cure it.
If you’re sick or unwell, you need to go and see a doctor!”
Yūhi nodded thoughtfully as if she understood exactly what he meant.
“You’re right, of course.
He’s the son of the Hokage after all… if he really is unwell, why hasn’t he gone to get treatment already?”
The little girl had completely failed to understand the true meaning and intention behind Asuma’s words.
When it came to matters of love and affection, she seemed to be quite slow and unaware…
“Who knows?
People’s thoughts and ideas are always very strange and hard to figure out,” Asahi shrugged his shoulders.
He shifted his gaze toward where Kakashi Hatake was sitting.
“Look over there at Kakashi Hatake, the person Uncle Shinku mentioned to us.
Even though it’s so hot and stuffy today, he’s still wearing that face mask all the time.
Isn’t that just the strangest thing you’ve ever seen?”
Yūhi looked over in that direction and agreed that it did seem very odd.
After thinking for a moment, she nodded with complete understanding.
“It’s exactly like you, Asahi.
You also sometimes do things that no one else understands.
So it turns out that other people can also act in ways that are hard to make sense of!
I understand now!”
Using Asahi’s own behavior as an example, she suddenly felt as if everything made perfect sense to her.
So it wasn’t just Asahi who did strange and confusing things – other people acted the same way too.
From now on, she wouldn’t think that there was something wrong with Asahi’s mind or way of thinking.
The truth was simply that she herself just couldn’t keep up with how advanced and unique their way of thinking was!
Asahi: “…”
You understand absolutely nothing at all!
When had he ever done anything that no one else could understand?
This was nothing but slander and lies!
He was clearly the most normal and sensible person around!
Since it was still only the first day of school, there was no rush to get to know everyone or make new friends.
Asahi and Yūhi spent their time chatting casually together until the bell rang once again to signal the start of the next class.
Teacher Kootada walked up to the front of the classroom holding a textbook in his hand.
He cleared his throat and began to speak.
“You have all already received your textbooks, haven’t you?
Then please turn to the very first page.
Today, we are going to learn about the Will of Fire.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“This is a philosophy and spirit that was first proposed by Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage.
It is also the most precious and valuable treasure that the village of Konoha possesses…”
He went on and on explaining the concept in great detail.
While the other students listened with great interest and fascination, Asahi found the whole thing incredibly boring and felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep.
Always preaching about selfless dedication, fearless sacrifice, working together for the greater good, and putting the interests of the whole village above everything else… Asahi thought to himself.
Even pyramid schemes and cults don’t use such cheap and ineffective methods.
At the very least, they usually offer people some small benefits or rewards first to win them over…
Asahi shook his head.
If this kind of propaganda and persuasion had been used back in his previous world, even primary school children would have seen right through it and refused to believe it.
It was completely missing the point.
All they were doing was telling people that they had to give everything, make sacrifices, and go off to fight in wars, while never mentioning any benefits or rewards.
They expected people to be willing to give their lives and shed their blood simply because of empty, meaningless words like “for the sake of Konoha”?
Of course, this kind of thing might not have worked very well in his old world, but it was surprisingly effective in this one.
The level of education and understanding here was completely different, and concepts of philosophy and ideology were almost completely unknown or undeveloped.
To the ninja of Konoha, the idea of working and fighting for the sake of the village was something that truly made sense to them.
On top of that, whenever there was a real crisis or danger, the Hokage and the village leaders would actually step forward and take action – they didn’t just talk the talk without walking the walk…
Of course, Asahi still felt that the whole concept was completely unreasonable.
He was still only a child, and yet they were already trying to brainwash him and convince him that it was his duty to go to war and sacrifice his life for the village…
This is exactly what’s wrong with this whole thing!
They say you have to start educating children while they’re still young, but this is going way too far…
…
Time passed, and for a while, life remained peaceful and uneventful.
The Third Great Ninja War had yet to erupt in full force.
The major ninja villages were only clashing occasionally over small issues, and large-scale conflicts had not yet broken out.
These were not matters that Asahi, as a student, needed to concern himself with anyway.
Classes at the Ninja Academy proceeded steadily.
Theoretical lessons, physical training, learning from experience, and studying history followed one after another in constant rotation.
The schedule was even more packed and demanding than primary school had been back in Asahi’s previous life…
Just take the lesson on throwing ninja tools as an example – who would have thought that you even needed to apply mathematical knowledge related to parabolic trajectories to do it properly?
Fortunately, Asahi was exceptionally talented and could learn everything extremely quickly.
Having gone through nine years of compulsory education and even further studies after that, there was nothing here that could ever pose a real challenge to him!
His written examination scores consistently ranked him first in the class.
Second place was always Kakashi, and third place belonged to Yūhi…
Kakashi truly lived up to his reputation as a genius who graduated from the Academy at the age of five and became a Chūnin at six.
Compared to the other ordinary children, he really did possess extraordinary abilities and talents – there was no question at all that he deserved to be called a prodigy.
But Asahi was even more of a freak of nature.
Apart from his answers to questions about understanding the deeper meaning and spirit of the Will of Fire, which sometimes didn’t quite match the “standard answers” expected by the examiners, he scored full marks in every single other written test!
He was far ahead of all his peers.
On top of that, with his appearance – this young boy with bright red hair was far more attractive and charming than the cool, aloof boy who always hid behind a face mask.
He fit the standard of beauty favored by young girls perfectly, so his popularity also remained firmly at number one in the class, even surpassing Kakashi by quite a margin!
It even seemed as though Kakashi had begun to view him as his main rival…
A whole month had passed since the school term began.
During this time, the Academy had not yet held any practical training lessons. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
The focus was still entirely on building a solid foundation of knowledge and basic skills.
All the students in the class had also grown familiar and comfortable with one another.
As if guided by fate and destiny, bonds and connections between them had already quietly formed and taken root…
With the only difference being that Asahi – a person from another world – was now part of this story as well.
During a break between classes, Uchiha Obito – wearing his usual goggles – came over and leaned close to Asahi, speaking in a quiet voice.
“Asahi… do you have some special secret method or trick for studying?
We all attend exactly the same classes and learn the same things, so how come your grades are always so incredible?
Even that arrogant, stuck-up Kakashi can’t ever beat you!”
Because Kakashi Hatake and Nohara Rin sat next to each other, and also sat directly in front of him, Obito was always in a bad mood whenever he looked in their direction.
The girl he had a crush on was sitting right next to someone else?
It was absolutely infuriating!
And what made it even worse was that Kakashi’s grades were always outstanding and excellent.
Obito had even heard Rin asking Kakashi for help and advice with her studies.
How could he possibly tolerate such a thing?
This was why he had come to ask Asahi – who always ranked first in every exam – hoping he could learn the secret to success from him…
“Oh, it’s you, Obito.” Asahi didn’t go out of his way to avoid or keep his distance from Obito, even knowing what kind of person he would become in the future.
Their relationship was simply that of ordinary classmates.
But when Obito came over to ask him a question, Asahi certainly wouldn’t act cold or unapproachable.
The main reason he was so popular in class was precisely because he was always kind, friendly, and easy to get along with.
He simply shrugged and said, “My method isn’t something you’d be able to learn or use yourself.”
Obito looked confused and asked, “Why not?”
Asahi shook his head and spoke in a tone filled with deep feeling.
“Because it’s all about natural talent.
Talent is something you’re born with, and it’s not something you can learn or acquire – it’s decided the moment you come into this world.”
Obito clearly didn’t believe a word of it.
“Hmph!
If you don’t want to tell me, just say so!
There’s no need to make up such silly excuses – you’re just being stingy!”
Asahi smiled gently.
“But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to improve your written exam scores, you know.”
Hearing this, Obito immediately perked up with excitement and asked eagerly, “What way is it?
Hurry up and tell me!”
“All you need to do is solve as many practice questions as possible.
As long as you work through enough problems, your grades will naturally improve and get better,” Asahi said, adopting a mysterious and wise expression as he spoke.
“And do you know why Yūhi always ranks third in the class?”
Without waiting for Obito to answer, Asahi answered his own question in a confident and firm voice.
“It’s simply because she has solved more practice questions than anyone else.
Only by accumulating knowledge and experience bit by bit can you eventually become truly skilled and knowledgeable!”
Standing nearby and hearing the words “solve practice questions”, Yūhi suddenly shuddered uncontrollably, and a look of pure terror flashed across her beautiful red eyes, as if she had suddenly remembered some kind of terrible and traumatic experience.
That time… it had been nothing short of hell…
“Schedule”
Monday – Friday – Update 3 Chapters a Day
Saturday – Sunday – Off