"You—you...!"
Hyūga Tōda stared into Uchiha Inari's eyes and froze on the spot.
"Hahaha!"
Uchiha Inari threw his hands onto his hips and laughed proudly.
"Hyūga-san, thanks to you, I awakened the Sharingan!"
Those words hit the classroom like a thunderclap.
The room, which had only just gone quiet, instantly exploded into noise again.
"No way..." Hyūga Tōda shook his head, unable to accept the reality that he had just helped an Uchiha awaken the Sharingan with his own mouth.
Pointing at his eyes, Uchiha Inari lifted his chin proudly.
"I awakened it at six years old, so now I'm qualified to talk to you, aren't I... Hyūga-kun?"
Hyūga Tōda's face flushed red with anger. He was just about to argue back when he suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder.
He turned instinctively.
"Hyūga-kun, sit down. Class is about to start."
Kizaru smiled as he said it, his tone calm and lazy—but leaving no room for argument.
"Oh..."
Hyūga Tōda answered on reflex and sat down obediently.
Only after he sat did he realize what had happened.
He looked back up at Kizaru, clearly wanting to say something, but in the end, he couldn't get the words out and could only swallow them.
"Hah, Hyūga—"
"Inari-kun, you too. Sit down."
Still smiling, Kizaru turned and cut Uchiha Inari off as well.
Uchiha Inari was just as unwilling, but under Kizaru's gaze, the words stuck in his throat.
In the end, he could only sit back down too.
"Thanks."
Kizaru said it lightly, then glanced around the room.
The noisy classroom quieted almost immediately.
Seeing that, Kizaru seemed satisfied. He strolled back to his seat by the window, dropped into it, and kept both hands in his pockets.
"Hm~"
Stretching lazily, Kizaru let out a sleepy yawn. Just as he was about to lie down on the desk, a voice came from the seat in front of him.
"You're getting more and more out of hand."
It was Nara Shikaku.
With his chin resting on one hand, Kizaru smiled and casually made a tiny gesture with his fingers.
"Just a little."
Nara Shikaku stared at him for a second, then rolled his eyes and turned back around.
A moment later, he lay down again and went straight back to sleep.
Watching Shikaku drop right back onto the desk, Kizaru also turned his head and laid down, perfectly ready to do the same.
When Yamakawa Seiji stepped into the classroom and saw how quiet it was, he looked mildly surprised.
Then his eyes landed on the sleeping duo in the back row.
And suddenly, he understood everything.
Expressionless, Yamakawa Seiji picked up a piece of chalk and flicked it with pinpoint accuracy at Nara Shikaku's head.
Just like on the first day of class, he roared:
"Nara Shikaku! Get up and stand in the back!"
Letting out a heavy sigh, Shikaku pushed himself up from his seat and started trudging toward the rear of the room.
As he passed by, he said to Kizaru, who still hadn't even bothered lifting his head,
"Hurry up and graduate already."
Without looking up, Kizaru lazily raised one hand and gave him an "OK" sign before dropping it again.
From the front of the room, Yamakawa Seiji noticed that, unlike usual, Kizaru hadn't even lifted his head this time.
He inhaled deeply, then slowly let it out.
"Class starts now."
And just like that, he chose to pretend Kizaru didn't exist and began the lesson.
"Kizaru-san... Kizaru-san..."
Half-lost in a pleasant dream, Kizaru vaguely heard someone calling his name.
He slowly lifted his head from the desk, propped his chin on one hand, and turned toward the voice.
When his sleepy eyes opened properly, he saw who it was.
Namikaze Minato stood there with an apologetic smile.
Seeing that he had actually woken Kizaru up, Minato rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Kizaru-san, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."
Kizaru didn't answer immediately. Instead, he glanced out the window, clearly trying to judge how much time had passed.
"It's already third period," Minato explained quickly, having guessed what Kizaru was thinking. "Everyone's on the training field right now. We'll have lunch after this."
"What is it, Minato-kun?"
Kizaru finally asked with a small smile.
"Kizaru-kun, I heard from Yoshihiko that you go train after school every day."
Minato looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then forced himself to continue.
"After school... could I train with you too?"
Once he said it, Minato's nervousness became obvious. The hand resting against his leg unconsciously tightened, fingers clutching at his pants.
This wasn't something he had asked on a whim.
He had thought about it for days.
As an orphan, Namikaze Minato carried a dream few people around him truly understood:
he wanted to become Hokage.
But after entering the elite class, he had come face to face with the gap between himself and the children from shinobi families.
Those children had been taught from a young age. They had family training, inherited knowledge, and guidance from their parents.
Minato had none of that.
Even though he worked harder than most of them, his results only placed him somewhere in the upper-middle of the class.
For an orphan with no one to guide him, that was already impressive.
But for Minato—
for someone who dreamed of standing at the very top—
it wasn't enough.
He wanted to do better.
But effort alone couldn't fill every gap.
In the shinobi world, the knowledge needed to grow stronger was precious. Expensive. Often passed down privately within clans and families.
For an orphan like him, it was something almost impossible to access.
So after thinking it over again and again, Minato had decided to come to Kizaru.
He had no delusions about learning some secret technique or being handed special training methods.
It was much simpler than that.
He just believed that training alongside someone strong would definitely help him improve.
Hearing Minato's request, Kizaru didn't answer right away.
Not because he was unwilling.
Minato's words had simply made him remember something.
"Kizaru-san, I won't get in your way," Minato added quickly, worried his silence meant refusal. "I just want to train with you."
Kizaru smiled.
"Of course."
Minato blinked.
"It just so happens Yoshihiko's been pestering me about that too. From now on, after school, you and Yoshihiko can train with me."
The moment he heard that, Minato's whole face brightened.
"Thank you, Kizaru-san!"
He bowed immediately, sincere happiness and gratitude filling his eyes.
"You're welcome, Minato-kun."
Kizaru had two reasons for agreeing.
The first was simple enough.
He knew very well who Namikaze Minato would become in the future.
The future Fourth Hokage.
A talent like that was worth getting close to—both for himself and for the Shimura clan.
As for the second...
The moment Minato made that request, another thought had surfaced in Kizaru's mind.
A technique.
One that the bright little sun standing in front of him would one day create with his own hands.
An A-rank ninjutsu.
The Rasengan.
That technique would suit Kizaru absurdly well.
It paired perfectly with his speed.
And more importantly, if he could create a brand-new A-rank ninjutsu himself, it would bring him another wave of fame and that meant pushing the progress of his fusion further.
By now, Kizaru had already started picturing it.
On the day of the graduation exam—
a flash of light-speed movement,
a laser in one hand,
a Rasengan in the other,
and after winning...
one lazy line to finish it all.
Uchiha really were scary strong.
Just imagining that scene made the corners of Kizaru's mouth curl up.
His smile grew just a little wicked.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 200 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.