— Why the long face?
As Yashin plopped down into his chair, Shino, sitting next to him, asked about his dead-fish expression.
After catching a quick glimpse of his reflection in his desk partner's glasses, Yashin let out a sigh and slumped into the chair.
— If you had a sister too, you'd never ask such a silly question.
— If I had a sister too, I'm sure we'd get along pretty well. I'm not as much of a pain in the neck as you are.
— You should put a little more effort into your jokes. If you talk with such a boring expression and tone, people might take it seriously.
Before Shino could reply and tell him that no, his comment wasn't a joke, Yashin pulled a stack of papers from his montsuki and placed them in front of him.
— What's this?
— The results from the last breeding cycle. You can kill some time with that before Iruka shows up to bother us with his presence.
— You should call him sensei.
"Is that your point of contention?"
Without responding to the usual sarcasm from the melted-looking pink-haired boy on the desk, Shino took the papers and began skimming through them.
"The adaptation rate exceeds seventy percent in adult females."
As muted as the bespectacled boy's murmur sounded, Yashin could still sense his surprise.
— Seventy-three point two in the ovisaco carriers. First-instar larvae after their first molt exhibited a cuticle with greater water retention, which makes them better adapted to humid environments. In short, they can now live inside the bodies of your clan members.
Kiba Inuzuka's ears and little Akamaru's ears on top of his head twitched, not understanding a single word spoken by the pair of weirdos at the back of the classroom.
— Our bodies generate constant heat and a certain level of humidity. How did you manage that?
— A little chakra stimulation here and there. Nothing surprising. After all, Lycosa singoriensis possesses a phenotypic plasticity that kikaichū do not possess to the same degree. That makes it the ideal candidate for variable physiological environments.
For a few more seconds, Shino continued to scan the messy, barely legible writing before giving up on his attempt to decipher it and tucking the papers inside his coat.
— So, what's the problem?
— The females are still damn territorial bugs.
"Bugs? Didn't you say a while back that spiders aren't insects?"
"… You should stop focusing so much on insects and start paying attention to the way people talk."
With obvious difficulty, Yashin lifted his forehead off the desk to look toward the classroom entrance.
— In any case, getting two females to coexist within the same user is going to be nearly impossible. So instead of wasting time on that, I'd say it's better to start modifying them. Their current abilities, while useful for reconnaissance, are disappointing when it comes to combat.
…
"Disappointing? Right now, those damn bugs are way more useful than the mites you've been playing with. Or have you already forgotten how good Lycosa singoriensis larvae are at detecting pressure changes within a certain radius and communicating with each other through vibrations?"
…
Although Shino wanted to retort with a statement similar to the voice in Yashin's head, the sharp knock on the door and Iruka's hurried entrance cut him off before the words could reach his tongue.
— Everyone, return to your seats. Naruto, what are you doing behind the podium?
Caught red-handed, the blond barely managed not to fall on his butt from the shock.
— I-Iruka-sensei, you're late.
"I know, Naruto. Get back to your seat."
Still, his quick thinking to change the subject was pretty decent—or more likely, Iruka didn't want to deal with the youngest demon fox's antics right at the start of the day.
Naruto didn't hesitate for a second before running to his seat in the back corner of the classroom next to his sister.
Meanwhile, Natsuko's eyes coldly observed the look of boredom on their teacher's face and her brother's smile.
After walking up to the podium and making sure there were no traps on it, Iruka spoke again.
"All right, everyone. About yesterday's homework…"
Countless faces paled.
Naruto, Kiba, even Uchiha and Shikamaru seemed to shudder for a moment.
"...we'll postpone it until tomorrow. Today we have something more important to do. The Third Hokage is coming to visit us, so..."
"Really?!"
Naruto sat up straight as if his chair had suddenly turned into a stove.
Although he received many hostile and disapproving glances, it was also clear that many wanted to react the same way he did.
— Naruto! Sit back down.
The blond obeyed the order immediately; however, judging by the frantic way his legs were swinging under the desk, it was clear he could barely keep his butt glued to the chair.
Despite the growing tremor of her desk, Natsuko showed no reaction, other than glancing at those who were glaring resentfully in her direction.
For a second, her eyes seemed to meet those of the Haruno sisters' eldest; however, the latter barely gave her a moment's disdain before turning her gaze back to the back of the Uchiha's head.
— As I was saying, the Third Hokage is coming to visit us, so I want you all to behave yourselves—especially Naruto and Yashin.
The pink-haired, who was barely recovering from the endless complaints he'd had to endure that morning, turned to look at Iruka, confusion etched on his face.
Before Yashin could even think of how to respond to the unfair attack, a new voice took the stage.
— Sensei. May I ask if the Third Hokage is coming to give a speech or to do something else?
After hearing Sarada, all the students, with the exception of the still-perplexed Yashin, felt a tingling sensation on their scalps.
Seeing the Hokage in person was something that could excite every student at the academy, but the endless lectures on the Will of Fire that his visits usually entailed were too much even for the most devoted.
Aware of his students' dread, Iruka smiled sardonically before answering.
" Although I'd like to say he's coming to share his wisdom, this time his goal is to observe the new seedlings. More specifically, the second-year students.
Paying no heed to the growing commotion—a mix of complaints and cries of relief, led by Naruto and Shikamaru—the teacher continued speaking.
— Your job is simply to behave yourself and learn from your seniors' battles, understand?
— Sensei!
— … Naruto, you don't need to stand on the desk to ask a question.
— Iruka-sensei, will we get to fight too?
— No. You can only watch. Also, by tomorrow you'll have to bring in a report on the most commonly used tactics in combat.
As Naruto slumped back into his seat once again and Nara, a few desks away from him, muttered about how annoying the situation was, the rest of the class began to stand up to leave the classroom.
— What the hell does he mean by telling me to behave myself?
— You actually dare to ask that?
Instead of lashing out at the incredulous Shino, Yashin merely shot him a sullen look before also getting his butt off the chair and walking with the rest toward the exit.
Meanwhile, inside his head, laughter echoed wildly.
…
"Hey, since that teacher seems so cautious, why don't you give him a real reason to worry? After all, if he can still talk to you like that, it's only because last time you were too soft in your actions. Imagine if, instead of breaking a couple of legs, you'd amputated all the limbs of those brats who dared to look down their noses at me. Do you think that Iruka guy would dare to talk to you like that now?"
…
A memory from several months ago, from the first week of classes, flashed through Yashin's mind.
The familiar scene: the arrogance of the second-year students trying to show off their limited strength, their petty offer to give personal instruction to the new students, and the subsequent display of brutality and violence against certain scum.
Yashin's growing smile was quickly concealed beneath his usual expression of boredom; however, the sharpness and coldness with which his chakra flashed for a second could not be hidden from the pair of Hyuga princesses, nor from the Yamanaka heiress or the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, walking a couple of steps ahead of him.
Hinata simply shuddered like a frightened puppy, aware of the only person who could unleash such a torrent of malice in a single instant.
For her part, Hanabi immediately activated her Byakugan to observe the source of that fluctuation without him noticing; however, as soon as the world shifted in color and she focused on Yashin, she felt him return her gaze.
Even so, the sense of confrontation vanished the next second, when the pink-haired turned his head to accept the attention of the pair of blonde beauties in his class.