“Kurenai, what on earth is going on here?!” He was panicked.
Completely and utterly panicked.
Asuma Sarutobi demanded frantically.
Kurenai blinked, completely failing to understand why his reaction was so intense.
They hadn’t known each other all that long, and given how young they were, she had absolutely no romantic awareness; she simply treated him as a friend.
She had no idea how much raw damage her previous sentence had dealt.
It was enough to make Asuma turn into a complete clown right then and there.
“Well, it’s like this…” Kurenai casually explained the sequence of events.
After listening, Asuma stood frozen in the bright daylight, practically shaking with pure rage.
The main culprit behind all of this was actually the old man in his own house?!
At this stage in his life, Asuma was going through a rebellious phase.
He desperately wanted to step out from the massive shadow of Hiruzen Sarutobi, which meant he and his father didn’t get along well at all.
“Asuma?” Kurenai noticed a sudden anomaly.
“Why is your face so red?” “Ah, it’s nothing,” Asuma steadied his mind and forced out a smile.
“Class is about to start soon.
Let’s get moving.” Kurenai didn’t overthink it and walked ahead.
Asuma followed closely behind her, his eyes darting toward Hanekawa out of the corner of his vision.
Hanekawa’s lips twitched slightly.
Asuma kept staring at him the entire way to school, vividly reminding him of a classic meme: I will watch you forever…
forever and ever…
jpg.
“Asuma, I’m taking Hanekawa to the faculty office.
You head back to the classroom first,” Kurenai said once they arrived at the Academy.
“I can take him!” Asuma stepped forward, volunteering immediately.
“No way,” Kurenai rejected him instantly.
“This is a mission my dad gave directly to me.” “But…” Asuma wanted to argue further, but Kurenai had already turned a corner, dragging Hanekawa along with her.
No!
Watching their retreating figures, Asuma instinctively reached out a hand in despair.
Damn you, Hanekawa!
Asuma wailed internally, a look of tragic indignation plastered across his face.
Inside the faculty office, Hanekawa handed his enrollment notice to a young shinobi.
According to Kurenai’s brief introduction, his name was Eiichiro Yamamoto, an ordinary Chunin instructor.
“Hanekawa-kun, welcome to Class 1-A,” Eiichiro said with a warm smile as he closed the file.
Since this was a student personally admitted by Hiruzen Sarutobi, he had to take it seriously.
“Thank you, Yamamoto-sensei,” Hanekawa greeted him politely.
Eiichiro nodded in approval.
It looked like the new kid wasn’t going to be a problem student.
“Kurenai, you head out first,” Eiichiro instructed.
“I’ll bring Hanekawa to the classroom myself.” “Got it!” Kurenai shot Hanekawa a quick look before leaving the office.
“These are your first-year textbooks,” Eiichiro said, picking up a thick stack of books from his desk.
Hanekawa counted them—there were seven books in total.
The one sitting right on top read: Chakra Concepts and Refinement Techniques.
“We still have a few minutes before the bell rings.
Feel free to skim through them,” Eiichiro suggested kindly.
“Thank you.” Since time was short, Hanekawa briefly flipped through the titles.
Ninja Tool Throwing, The Will of Fire, The Shinobi Code, The History of Konoha…
it covered practically everything.
Hanekawa recalled that back in his past life, hardcore fans had thoroughly analyzed the written portion of the Chunin Exams, discovering it contained advanced questions rooted in English, chemistry, and physics.
While graduating as a Genin technically only required mastering the Three Academy Jutsu, the Academy actually packed a ton of academic theory into their curriculum.
Ding, Dong, Dell.
The morning bell rang.
“Let’s go,” Eiichiro picked up a lesson plan and walked out the door.
Hanekawa closely followed.
They arrived at Class 1-A in no time.
Eiichiro walked straight up to the podium, leaving Hanekawa waiting at the entrance.
The moment he stood there, dozens of curious eyes snapped toward him.
Several girls in the classroom practically had green light flashing in their eyes, looking as if they might devour him whole.
Hanekawa immediately spotted Hatake Kakashi.
With that shock of white hair and that distinctive face mask, it was impossible to miss him.
In the original series, he graduated at age five, became a Chunin at six, and a Jonin at thirteen—an absolute freak of a prodigy.
In the future, he would be a student of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the squad leader of Team 7.
The seat to Kakashi’s left was currently empty.
Sitting to his right was a young girl who, without a doubt, was Rin Nohara.
Her features were unmistakable: short brown hair, a gentle expression, and two purple rectangular markings on her cheeks.
The empty seat belonged to Obito Uchiha.
The future mastermind behind the scenes, the rising star of the Uchiha clan, was currently just a clumsy, blundering dead-last.
“Ahhh!” Just then, a frantic, desperate shout echoed from down the hallway.
Hanekawa instinctively turned his head and saw a young boy around his own age sprinting toward the door.
He was wearing a blue track jacket, orange-tinted goggles, and his face was flushed bright red as he sprinted at maximum velocity.
“Out of the way!” the boy yelled out in a panic.
Hanekawa quickly stepped back.
The boy zipped into the classroom like a gust of wind.
He tried to halt, but due to his excessive speed, he violently over-corrected, sliding across the floor before face-planting spectacularly.
“You’re late again, Obito,” Eiichiro said, shaking his head with a sigh.
“I’m sorry, Sensei!” Obito scrambled back to his feet, quickly defending himself.
“I ran into an old lady who needed help crossing the street, and it held me up!” “Try coming up with a new excuse next time,” Eiichiro said, completely exasperated.
“But I’m telling the truth!” Obito protested loudly.
“Just go to your seat,” Eiichiro sighed.
He obviously didn’t buy it.
Who on earth found an old lady to help cross the street literally every single day?
“Rin!” Obito called out happily as he slid into his desk.
“Good morning, Obito,” Rin replied softly.
“Hehe.” Obito immediately let out a dopey grin.
“Before we begin class today, I have an announcement to make,” Eiichiro clapped his hands to gather attention.
The classroom immediately fell silent.
The smarter students had already deduced that it had something to do with the new face at the door.
“Starting today, Hanekawa-kun will be joining our class.
Let’s give him a warm welcome!” Eiichiro led the applause.
The classroom erupted into cheers and clapping, though there were exceptions—like Asuma Sarutobi.
Watching Kurenai clapping excitedly in the front row, he felt an intense surge of jealousy.
“The new kid is actually really good-looking,” a short-haired girl sitting right behind Rin whispered.
“Rin, what do you think?” Obito asked, instantly on high alert.
Rin noticed his defensive look and hesitated for a moment.
She honestly did think Hanekawa was very handsome, but saying it out loud would definitely upset Obito.
“Good looks are completely useless.
In this world, only strength matters,” Kakashi said coolly.
“You arrogant jerk!” Obito snapped, instantly triggered by the word ‘strength.’ “Just wait until I awaken my Sharingan!
I’ll completely beat you into submission!” He always believed Rin paid more attention to Kakashi solely because the white-haired prodigy was stronger.
“I think Kakashi is absolutely right!” A spirited boy in the front row wearing a green spandex jumpsuit suddenly whipped around.
He flashed a blindingly white smile and gave a firm thumbs-up.
“Alright, that’s enough.
Hanekawa-kun, please introduce yourself to the class,” Eiichiro raised his hand, cutting through the chatter.