Hirofumi Ito raised an eyebrow.
It looked like Sasuke Uchiha was about to use the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
Sure enough, the moment Sasuke finished speaking, he drew a deep breath.
His hands began forming seals.
Hirofumi recognized that sequence instantly, it was the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
Every classmate around them froze.
“Hey! No way?! Is Sasuke actually forming seals?!”
“Don’t tell me this guy has already learned ninjutsu?!”
“That’s so unfair! We’re all students at the Ninja Academy — so why is Sasuke Uchiha so far ahead of the rest of us!”
“What ninjutsu is that? Does anyone know?!”
“If it’s ninjutsu… Hirofumi Ito is definitely going to lose, right?!”
“Lose is the least of it! He could get seriously hurt — or even killed!”
“…”
Ino Yamanaka clenched her fists as the chatter washed over her, eyes locked on Hirofumi with barely concealed worry.
Just moments ago, Hirofumi had put on a stunning display, holding his own against Sasuke even after Sasuke activated his Sharingan.
That had filled her with excitement.
This is the man I chose!
Handsome and powerful!
But now, seeing that Sasuke had actually learned ninjutsu, the worry came rushing back.
Even if Hirofumi was strong, surely he couldn’t stand up to a ninjutsu attack, right?
“Shikamaru… can you tell what ninjutsu this is?!”
Ino turned to Shikamaru Nara, tense.
Shikamaru was the smartest one around, if anyone could identify the technique, it was Shikamaru.
Shikamaru watched Sasuke’s seal sequence and thought for a moment.
“That sequence… it looks like a Fire Release ninjutsu. I honestly didn’t expect it, has Sasuke Uchiha really already learned ninjutsu? Looks like we’ve been left pretty far behind…”
On the other side of the field, Iruka-sensei was starting to panic.
Sasuke was actually going to use ninjutsu?!
Was this little punk out of his mind?!
This was supposed to be an ordinary sparring exercise!
If that technique actually went off, Hirofumi Ito was going to get hurt!
“Hey! Sasuke! Stop it! This is just a regular sparring exercise, and Hirofumi Ito isn’t your enemy, he’s your classmate! Keep going and he’s going to get hurt!”
Sasuke bit down hard.
His eyes stayed fixed on Hirofumi, who stood there looking completely calm and unbothered.
“You! This is a C-rank ninjutsu, the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique! The power isn’t enormous, but it’s still more than you can block right now! I’m telling you, you’d better surrender!”
Hirofumi hadn’t expected that.
The arrogant Sasuke Uchiha was actually warning him.
It seemed that between his own earlier performance and the influence of Indra’s Chakra, Sasuke’s attitude toward him had completely shifted.
“Of course I know this is the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique…” Hirofumi said.
“And I know this technique too!”
“Nani?!”
Sasuke’s pupils contracted.
The classmates and Iruka-sensei went dead silent, then erupted.
Hirofumi Ito just said he knew the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique too?!
No way.
How was that even possible?!
It was already hard enough to accept that one student had learned ninjutsu, and now Hirofumi was saying he knew it too?!
Without sparing a glance at any of them, Hirofumi shot both hands up and began forming seals at speed.
The sequence was completely identical to the one Sasuke had just performed.
The only difference was that Sasuke’s seals had been slow and deliberate.
Hirofumi’s looked far more practiced.
Sasuke had started first.
They finished at almost exactly the same moment.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
Both of them shouted it at the same instant.
A fireball erupted from each of their mouths, streaking toward the other at full speed.
BOOM!
The two fireballs met at the center of the training ground and detonated, sending a massive wave of smoke and dust billowing in every direction.
The entire training ground went silent.
Iruka-sensei stood with his mouth hanging open, jaw looking like it was about to hit the floor.
Sasuke had burned through every last trace of Chakra in his body.
He swayed once, twice, then collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Hirofumi felt the drain too.
The sensation was deeply uncomfortable, wave after wave of weakness rolling through him.
He stayed on his feet, but it took effort.
It was a good thing he had spent the past two days enduring Madara Uchiha’s relentless beatings.
Otherwise he probably wouldn’t still be standing right now.
This was only the beginning.
The speed at which he grew stronger would only get faster from here.
The only problem was money.
He had just a few thousand silver ryo on him, after some persistent pleading the day before, his grandfather had given him another ten thousand.
That was nearly everything he had.
The Summoning System’s summons all cost Wealth Value.
A White Summon required 10,000 Wealth Value, corresponding to a Genin.
A Green Summon required 100,000 Wealth Value, corresponding to a Chūnin.
A Blue Summon required 1,000,000 Wealth Value, corresponding to a Jonin.
A Purple Summon required 10,000,000 Wealth Value, corresponding to an Elite Jonin.
A Gold Summon required 100,000,000 Wealth Value, corresponding to a Hokage-level powerhouse.
He had less than 20,000 silver ryo to his name.
He couldn’t even summon a Chūnin.
And honestly, a Genin summon wasn’t worth much.
The next priority was clear.
He needed to make money.
Across the field, Iruka-sensei shook off his stupor and hurried forward to help Sasuke up.
“I hereby announce — the winner of this sparring exercise is Hirofumi Ito!”
Naruto Uzumaki leapt straight into the air.
“Hirofumi! You were insanely cool just now! When did you learn ninjutsu?! Your great lord here wants to learn too!”
Ino Yamanaka let out a long breath, eyes shining with undisguised admiration.
“As expected of Hirofumi-kun… that was so cool.”
Shikamaru Nara scratched the pineapple-shaped hair on top of that head and sighed.
“Didn’t think this guy was already this strong. I guess I’ll have to put in a little effort too… though training is such a drag.”
➤ Next: Borrowing Money from Sasuke Uchiha
Chapter 28 – Borrowing Money from Sasuke Uchiha
On the other side, Sakura Haruno rushed to Sasuke’s side, eyes full of worry.
“Sasuke, are you okay?!”
Sasuke didn’t spare Sakura a glance.
His gaze was fixed on Hirofumi Ito, burning with the will to fight.
“You won this time, Hirofumi. But I’m not admitting defeat — I carry the pride of the Uchiha Clan on my shoulders! Next time, I will beat you!”
Hirofumi raised an eyebrow.
This guy inherited the entire Uchiha Clan’s estate.
He must be absolutely loaded, right?!
Maybe I should borrow a little from him…
“Sure! I’ll be waiting! Sasuke!”
As for what came next, Hirofumi had a few ideas already taking shape.
First and foremost: make money and get stronger.
His Summoning System only understood one language, and that language was cash.
Genin and Chūnin-level summons he couldn’t be bothered with.
Ninja at that tier were genuinely useless, limited help, and they still cost money.
Not worth it.
His minimum target was a blue-tier summon, which meant Jonin-level strength.
But a powerhouse like that required one million Wealth Value.
One million ryo.
So he had to squeeze money out of every possible angle.
His own clan was a dead end.
A few tens of thousands of ryo if he was lucky, that was the ceiling.
Inside the Hidden Leaf Village, he could run some kind of business.
Or write adult fiction, like Jiraiya.
After all, Jiraiya had spent years building a fortune off the Icha Icha Paradise series and was now one of the most famous wealthy figures in the entire Shinobi World.
But that kind of income came in way too slowly.
The fastest method was to take money by force.
He already had a target in mind.
The five great nations and the major hidden villages were untouchable, far beyond his current reach.
But Gato from the Land of Waves?
Absolutely prime pickings.
A merchant with virtually no combat ability, a handful of ordinary warriors for muscle, and at most Haku and Zabuza Momochi backing them up.
And yet the man sat on an enormous pile of wealth.
Even in the Hidden Leaf Village, people knew Gato’s name.
The guy was one of the richest individuals in the entire world, full stop.
So Hirofumi had already considered sending madara uchiha to go rob him.
But looking at things now, he seemed to have stumbled onto a better option.
Sasuke Uchiha held the complete wealth of the Uchiha Clan.
As his good friend, borrowing a few hundred million from him shouldn’t be a problem, right?!
The genuinely wealthy people inside the Hidden Leaf Village were a short list.
Besides Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura, it came down to a handful of major clans.
With the Uchiha gone, the Hyūga Clan was now the largest clan in the Hidden Leaf Village.
And the Nara Clan ran a medicinal herb business, also very well off.
That had always been how Hirofumi mapped it out in his head.
But he’d been sleeping on Sasuke Uchiha.
Now that he thought about it, he needed to find a way to get closer to him.
The mighty Uchiha Clan.
Even with Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura having carved off their share, there had to be a few hundred million left.
Right?
Those two old foxes wouldn’t dare push too hard anyway.
Itachi Uchiha was still out there.
After the match, the afternoon classes wrapped up.
Everyone filed back into the classroom, tidied up briefly, and Iruka-sensei announced dismissal.
The room immediately erupted into chatter, everyone getting ready to head home.
“Hey! Everyone!”
Hirofumi was calling out to his own little group, and they all heard him and looked over curiously.
“What is it, Hirofumi?”
“Did something come up?”
“Don’t tell me you’re planning another group meal?!”
“…”
The members of the Konoha 11 drifted over.
Sasuke hesitated for a moment, didn’t leave, and shifted his gaze across.
Hirofumi walked straight toward him.
“Nothing major — it’s just that our little squad picked up a new member today, didn’t it?”
He said it while looking directly at Sasuke.
“We’ve all visited each other’s homes before. Had meals together at each other’s places. So, Sasuke — you’re not the small-minded type, are you?! Everyone here has been to everyone else’s home. Are you really not going to invite us over to yours?!”
Naruto and the rest of the Konoha 11 immediately perked up with eager expressions.
It wasn’t like there was anything to do after going home anyway.
Hanging out with friends sounded a lot better.
And Sasuke was still living in the Uchiha Clan’s compound, a place none of them had ever set foot in.
Sasuke hesitated.
After what had happened that night, he was the only one left in the entire clan.
Even if he invited his classmates over, what would he even offer them?
But somewhere underneath the hesitation, there was a small flicker of something else.
He had been living alone in that place for so many years.
If everyone came over, it would at least feel a little less empty.
“I… I…”
Naruto spotted the hesitation immediately.
He strolled over, one finger working away in his nose.
“Come on, can you or can’t you~~~ you scrawny little dog~~~ Every single one of us has visited each other’s homes. Even I’m on my own, and I still treated everyone to instant ramen! You, the proud bearer of the Uchiha Clan’s legacy~~~~, you wouldn’t seriously be this small-minded, would you~~~~~”
Finger still in his nose, Naruto goaded Sasuke in the most grating tone imaginable.
“You insufferable Naruto idiot! I’m nothing like your cheap self! I was just, I was just thinking about what to treat everyone to, that’s all! How could I invite people over and feed them instant ramen like some deadbeat?! It’s not like I’m short on money!”
Hirofumi’s eyes lit up the instant those words landed.
That’s exactly what I needed to hear.
Not short on money!
Now that I know you’re loaded, I can actually bring myself to ask you for a loan later!
Naruto, for his part, didn’t take any of it personally.
Treating everyone to instant ramen had genuinely been the best he could pull off.
“Tch~~~~ scrawny Uchiha dog~~~~”
“You insufferable Naruto idiot!”
“Scrawny Uchiha dog!”
“Naruto idiot!”
“Sasuke!”
“Naruto!”
“…”
And just like that, fueled entirely by Sasuke Uchiha’s spending power, the whole squad launched into a full-scale shopping spree.
Hirofumi had already clocked it, the smallest bills in Sasuke’s wallet were in denominations of 10,000 ryo each.
Several dozen of them.
And that was clearly nowhere near everything Sasuke Uchiha had to his name.
➤ Next: The Bond Between Hinata and Naruto
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