In the morning, inside the first-year elite class at the Ninja Academy, the classroom was already lively.
Some students sat in their seats whispering to one another. Some were eating snacks. A few were already lying on their desks with their eyes closed, stealing a little extra rest before class began.
Creak.
The classroom door was pushed open.
Hearing the sound, everyone instinctively assumed the teacher had arrived. The room fell silent at once as all eyes turned toward the entrance.
"Haah~"
With his left hand in his pocket and his right hand pushing the classroom door open, Kizaru walked in while rubbing the back of his head, sleep still lingering in his eyes.
Once everyone realized it was Kizaru, the silence only lasted a moment before the room exploded into heated discussion.
Under the guidance of both Hiruzen and Danzō, the news had already spread throughout the village—Shimura Kizaru would challenge a jōnin of the Uchiha clan in his early graduation exam.
A jōnin of the Uchiha clan, one who had already awakened the Sharingan, was widely regarded as nearly unbeatable in a one-on-one fight.
That alone was enough to make people uneasy.
And yet Kizaru, who was only six years old, had not only applied for an early graduation exam—he had specifically chosen to challenge an Uchiha jōnin.
That was no longer merely impressive.
That was frightening.
Most of the students in the elite class came from shinobi families or were the children of civilian ninja. Compared to ordinary people, they had a much clearer understanding of what that kind of challenge actually meant.
And the more they understood, the more outrageous it seemed.
So the moment Kizaru returned to class, the entire room erupted.
Some were jealous. In their eyes, Kizaru was acting too arrogantly, and they were convinced he would be taught a painful lesson by the Uchiha during the exam.
Some admired him. To children growing up in the shinobi world, strength was everything, and Kizaru's move felt unbelievably cool.
And some were upset for entirely different reasons.
For example—
Why the Uchiha clan?
Why not the Hyūga clan, which was obviously the strongest noble clan in Konoha?
That thought belonged to one person in particular.
Hyūga Tōda.
Ever since hearing the news yesterday, he had been simmering with righteous indignation.
In his mind, he, Hyūga Tōda, was Kizaru's lifelong rival, and the Hyūga clan was Konoha's greatest clan. So why challenge an Uchiha jōnin instead of a Hyūga one?
Yesterday, worked up and full of passion, Hyūga Tōda had marched right up in front of his father and the clan elder and loudly declared that he would personally go find Kizaru and convince him to change his target.
Better yet, he should challenge his father directly.
Faced with his son's deeply loyal, family-loving enthusiasm, Hyūga Tōda's father had been so moved that he rewarded him with two clean slaps across the face.
Kizaru's challenge was obviously aimed at the Uchiha because of their public doubts and the long-standing hostility between the Uchiha and Shimura.
And yet his own brilliant son had somehow decided this was the perfect time to drag the Hyūga into it too?
After hearing his son's aggrieved cries, Hyūga Tōda's father felt only one overwhelming emotion:
regret.
Why had he not had another child?
With this boy's level of judgment, how was he supposed to entrust the clan's future to him someday?
As for Hyūga Tōda himself, he still didn't understand why his father had gotten angry.
He simply assumed that his emotional outburst had violated the strict etiquette his father always demanded.
So he had swallowed his grievance, bowed obediently, and offered a sincere apology.
Faced with that apology, Hyūga Tōda's father had fallen into complete despair.
That very night, he resolved in his heart that he absolutely needed to work harder and have another child.
As for Hyūga Tōda, who still had no idea that his position in the family had entered dangerous territory, he was currently sitting upright in his seat, staring intensely at Kizaru as he entered the room.
The glare was so strong that Kizaru noticed it immediately.
Being stared at this hard first thing in the morning left him mildly puzzled.
My, my... being watched that closely this early should probably make me happy. Still, if it were a cute white-eyed girl instead of Hyūga-kun, that would've been far more welcome.
As he walked from the door toward his window seat in the back row, Kizaru slowed when he passed Hyūga Tōda.
Then he stopped.
"Hyūga-kun, did you want something from me?"
Kizaru looked down at him calmly.
Hearing the question, Hyūga Tōda clenched his fists.
He wanted to say everything he had wanted to say yesterday—but his father's harsh warning still rang in his ears, forcing him to swallow the worst of it.
Even so, there was still something he could say.
He stood up at once and looked straight at Kizaru, his expression full of intensity.
"Kizaru-san, I understand now!" Hyūga Tōda declared passionately. "The mere Uchiha clan is no match for you! I'll definitely train harder and catch up to you until I become someone worthy of standing against you!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire classroom fell silent again.
Everyone knew the Hyūga and Uchiha were constantly at odds, but even so, it was rare to hear someone mock the Uchiha this directly to their face.
Kizaru glanced at Hyūga Tōda, then sighed inwardly.
What a scary amount of enthusiasm... though if that kind of attention had come from a cute girl instead, it would've been a far more pleasant way to start the morning.
Bang!
In the sudden silence, the sound of someone slamming both hands against a desk rang out especially loudly.
Uchiha Inari shot to his feet, furious.
"Hyūga Tōda, you bastard! Are you picking a fight with the Uchiha clan?!"
"Shut up," Hyūga Tōda snapped back immediately. "You're just a six-year-old idiot who hasn't even awakened your Sharingan. What right do you have to talk to me?"
To make the taunt even worse, he opened his Byakugan right then and there.
The veins at the corners of his eyes bulged slightly.
Uchiha Inari began trembling with rage.
How was that the same thing?
The Hyūga clan's Byakugan was practically hereditary—most of them awakened it naturally.
The Sharingan didn't work like that at all.
Just because he hadn't awakened it yet at six years old, what exactly did that have to do with this bastard?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
His fists clenched so tightly they shook.
His whole body trembled.
His small chest rose and fell rapidly as he glared at Hyūga Tōda with an expression fierce enough to bite someone's head off.
He was just about to lose control...
when a sharp pain suddenly stabbed through his eyes.
"Ah!"
Uchiha Inari cried out in pain and reflexively covered his eyes.
"Inari-san, are you okay?"
The little sun of the class, Namikaze Minato, immediately got to his feet and hurried over with concern.
Standing beside Hyūga Tōda, Kizaru stared blankly at Uchiha Inari covering his eyes and shouting.
...Well now, what exactly just happened?
Did Uchiha-kun really awaken the Sharingan just from being mocked like that?
That was one dramatic way to grow up. The Uchiha really were a troublesome bunch.
Then he clicked his tongue a few times.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
He looked at Uchiha Inari, then at Hyūga Tōda, who still had his chin lifted proudly and wore an infuriatingly smug expression.
There was genuine surprise in Kizaru's eyes now.
Hyūga Tōda's mouth really was something.
One taunt, and he'd practically gone and helped Uchiha Inari awaken the Sharingan on the spot.
"Hey, what are you doing? Stop pretending!"
At first, Hyūga Tōda was all arrogance and disdain as he looked at Uchiha Inari covering his eyes.
But as the seconds passed, even he began to look a little uneasy.
Supported by Minato, Uchiha Inari gradually adapted as the stinging pain subsided.
Then, slowly, he lowered his hands from his face.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, he understood immediately what had happened.
He had awakened the Sharingan.
With those newly opened blood-red eyes fixed ahead, Uchiha Inari looked back at Hyūga Tōda.
His emotions were complicated.
He was happy, of course.
Proud, too.
But it also felt deeply strange.
He had awakened the Sharingan... because Hyūga Tōda had insulted him into it.
For a moment, Uchiha Inari didn't even know what kind of expression he was supposed to make.
So when he looked at Hyūga Tōda again, his gaze turned extremely strange.
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