After the morning's theory lessons, it was time for the Shurikenjutsu class that Hagawa had been looking forward to. Led by Eiichiro, the class moved to the training grounds. The class was split into two parts. The first was a lecture on the key points by Eiichiro. The second was practical throwing practice.
Hagawa listened with extreme focus. After all, this was directly related to how quickly he could obtain a new Trait.
In contrast, Asuma had already mastered the relevant skills before even enrolling. As the Hokage's son, he had a private tutor who was a Tokubetsu Jōnin. In the entire class, aside from Kakashi Hatake, he was confident he could defeat any other student.
But... Asuma stared at Hagawa and Kurenai, a look of unwillingness on his face. Why? I was here first! Asuma was burning with the flames of jealousy. In the past, Kurenai had always stood with him, but today she was standing next to Hagawa.
Hey! I have an idea!
Asuma thought of a way to win Kurenai back. It was simple: couldn't he just defeat Hagawa? In the world of ninja, the most important ironclad rule was that the strong were respected. Besides, the gap between him and Hagawa was huge. It was a guaranteed win.
"Next, we'll begin the throwing practice," Eiichiro announced, setting up a row of wooden posts. "I will point out any mistakes."
"Sensei, I'll go first!" Asuma declared loudly, lifting his chin. After speaking, he shot Kurenai a "watch me perform" look.
Hagawa was reminded of the phrase: "the fighting chicken among roosters." Asuma was currently experiencing a hormonal explosion. But Kurenai didn't understand his signal and just looked confused.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
With a stylish flick of his wrist, Asuma sent three kunai flying, all striking the bullseye. He turned around, looking smugly at Hagawa, only to freeze. Kurenai was leaning in, whispering something to Hagawa with her head down.
"Excellent!" Eiichiro said, leading a round of applause.
Asuma couldn't feel happy at all. The excitement is theirs, and he has nothing. Had his strategy gone wrong? It didn't make sense.
"Thank you, Kurenai," Hagawa said after listening to her private tutoring session. As for Asuma's triple bullseye, no one was surprised. He was the Hokage's son, after all.
Hagawa found a nearby post. Following the technique Kurenai had taught him, he threw a kunai. It hit the target, but was still some distance from the center.
"That's it?" Asuma, who had been watching him closely, couldn't help but say.
"You can do it!" Kurenai said, shaking her little fists.
"..." Seeing this, Asuma was furious. Why?! Bro, I can't even get angry anymore.
The Shurikenjutsu class ended. Hagawa's progress bar had reached 10%. The E-Rank Trait only required an introductory level with shuriken and kunai, so it wasn't that difficult.
"Kakashi! Let's have a youthful duel!"
A flash of green flew past Hagawa's eyes. He instinctively looked up and saw Might Guy. The true man from the original series who almost kicked his way to the grand finale with the Eight Inner Gates. His behavior and personality were just a bit... abstract.
"Definitely next time!" Kakashi immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to flee. After enrolling, his exceptional skills had caused Might Guy to latch onto him. At first, he was interested enough to fight him a few times. But Guy was like an unkillable cockroach, filled with passion every single day, finding new and creative ways to challenge him to a "fencing" match. How could he possibly stand it?
"Such speed!" Might Guy's eyes lit up with a grin. "As expected of my eternal rival!"
Watching the scene of one chasing and one fleeing, Hagawa was reminded of his own plan to start physical training. But he wouldn't be able to handle training with Guy. Not just mentally, but physically as well. For Might Guy to have mastered the Eight Inner Gates, his talent in taijutsu was absolutely top-tier in the ninja world. If Hagawa followed his training regimen, he felt it wouldn't even take a week before Kurenai would be wailing at his funeral.
"Hagawa!" Asuma blocked Hagawa's path. "I challenge you to a duel!" Might Guy had just given him the inspiration.
"Asuma," Kurenai asked, a little displeased. "Aren't you just bullying him?" Her impression of Asuma had been okay before, but now she felt he was just being unreasonable. Hagawa had only been learning about being a ninja for less than two days; he was no different from a normal person.
"I... I didn't mean it like that!" Asuma realized the problem and quickly explained, "I can wait until the end-of-term exams to have the duel!"
He's completely lost his head over love. Asuma was actually a decent guy in the original series. He was just in his rebellious phase right now. But you couldn't blame him. Kids are often reckless.
As for this duel, it came at the perfect time. Could he, with his newly acquired system, really allow himself to be wronged? Besides, Asuma was a good touchstone, a perfect unit of measurement for a normal genius.
"No problem," Hagawa accepted.
The end-of-term exams were about three months away. If he still couldn't beat a six-year-old Asuma with a system, he might as well go find Tsunade and smash his head against her.
Kurenai wanted to say something but stopped, a worried look on her face.
"Excellent!" Asuma was instantly thrilled, completely failing to notice the change in Kurenai's attitude toward him.
After setting the duel date with Asuma, Hagawa felt even more motivated. He returned home, ate dinner, and then went to the small grove outside to continue training.
Late at night, Hagawa took a shower and lay in bed, opening his system. After an evening of training, the progress for the [Shurikenjutsu] Trait had increased by another 5%. At this rate, he could probably acquire the Trait in about a week. But as things stood, he had too few Traits.
Hagawa decided to wake up early tomorrow to start physical training and get that Trait first. It would be more motivating to see a progress bar. Besides physical training, there was also the classic Three Academy Jutsu and chakra control practice.
Thinking about his future plans, Hagawa, physically and mentally exhausted, drifted off to sleep.
"Hagawa... Hagawa..."
In the quiet night, a faint voice suddenly called out.
Hagawa shot up, rubbing his eyes. What's going on? Who's mumbling and calling for spirits in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
Just then, the voice abruptly stopped.
"...?"
Hagawa subconsciously looked out the window. Under the moonlight, a very faint wisp of chakra formed a line of text.
"Sunday, 9 AM. Meet at the Konoha Knowledge Bookstore."
The message lasted for only a few seconds before the chakra slowly dissipated, leaving no trace.
Hagawa's heart pounded. It's a ninja from the Cloud Village contacting me! Is it finally time for the spies to meet?
It's just... the location isn't a rooftop. The vibe is wrong.
He wondered who the Cloud ninja sent to meet him was. Hagawa's strongest impressions of the Cloud Village were the omnipresent "Conceptual God, Hentai Raikage" and Samui, whose assets were on par with Tsunade's.
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