The weather was much colder as Hikaru made his way toward the Academy, leaping from one building rooftop to another in a relaxed manner. The morning sun shone across his face as he felt the cold breeze hitting him while moving through the air.
He had originally planned to walk the entire way, but changed his mind to enjoy the view from above the buildings. The sight was quite amazing, letting him see the village's architecture from a completely different angle than what he was used to from ground level.
Construction crews were already hard at work throughout the village, their hammers creating a steady rhythm that echoed off the buildings. New wooden frames stood next to repaired foundations, and the smell of fresh sawdust drifted up to him on the cool breeze. Workers moved with purpose, their breath visible in the cold air as they called out instructions to each other.
"Morning, everyone!" shouted a foreman to his crew below. "Let's finish this section before the rain starts!"
Hikaru glanced at the gray clouds gathering overhead. The man was probably right—those clouds looked heavy with moisture. He picked up his pace, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with growing confidence.
The village was coming alive around him. Smoke began rising from chimneys as families started cooking breakfast. Shopkeepers opened their doors and began setting up their displays, calling out greetings to neighbors and early customers. Children emerged from houses, some heading toward the Academy while others ran errands for their parents.
"Fresh fish! Caught this morning!" called a vendor from the market district, his voice carrying clearly in the crisp air.
"Hot tea! Perfect for cold mornings!" answered another, already drawing his first customers of the day.
As he leaped over a small shrine tucked between buildings, Hikaru noticed an elderly woman placing fresh flowers at its base. She looked up at the sound of his footsteps on the roof above, smiled, and waved. He waved back, feeling a warm connection to this place and its people that surprised him.
This really feels like home now, he realized as he watched the woman continue her morning ritual.
"Hikaru-kun! Is that you up there?"
He looked down to see Yamada-san, the pottery shop owner, sweeping outside his store. The man's face was split by a huge grin as he waved enthusiastically.
"Good morning, Yamada-san!" Hikaru called back, slightly embarrassed at being spotted but pleased by the friendly recognition.
"Be careful up there! And tell your sister her yakitori was excellent yesterday!"
"I will!" Hikaru promised, then continued on his way with a smile. Maybe rooftop running wasn't as sneaky as he'd thought, but the warmth of community connections made up for the lack of stealth.
As he approached the Academy entrance, he could see the three-story building surrounded by thick trees, with a small training ground nearby. The Hokage office and the Academy were located in the same area, just as he had seen in the anime. From this distance, he could see the Hokage Rock landmark behind the Hokage office building, with the large kanji character for "fire" clearly visible.
Although Hikaru was the same age as Uchiha Itachi, they were not in the same class. Hikaru's performance in the Academy entrance exam had only qualified him for a lower-level class, which included twenty-seven students. Most of them were civilian ninja children or orphans, with only a few rare exceptions coming from actual clans, such as the Inuzuka boy in his class.
Hikaru watched a large group of children arrive at the school entrance as he walked past many of them to reach his assigned classroom: First Year Class C.
When he entered the room full of kids, he realized he wasn't friends with any of them. Therefore, he remained quiet and walked past everyone to sit in the back near the window, patiently waiting for class to begin.
Many people looked at him but didn't pay much attention, since they knew he wasn't originally a talkative type. These were the characteristics of the original body before he took over, so he decided to keep acting the same way.
As the class bell rang, a Chūnin ninja suddenly appeared with a puff of white smoke. He wore a standard Konoha chūnin outfit, with spiky hair and a leaf forehead protector gleaming on his head.
Takayama Koji-sensei, Hikaru immediately thought, remembering the name of the shinobi who had been teaching them since the beginning of the school year.
"He's a bit of a showoff, isn't he?" someone nearby whispered.
Hikaru's mouth lifted in a small smile as he heard the comment, and he couldn't have agreed more after seeing the dramatic entrance.
"Welcome back, everyone, to the classroom," Takayama Koji-sensei started the class with a bright smile. "It's been a month without class, and what's better than some morning exercise to warm up?"
"Let's do a morning run, everyone, and we'll come back to continue our studies afterward." Koji-sensei spoke while raising his hand and showing five fingers, indicating he wanted everyone to do five laps around the training ground.
"Five rounds in the morning?"
"Sensei, are you joking?"
"Can't we just stay in the classroom?"
"Don't blame me if I throw up later."
Upon hearing this announcement, many children voiced their complaints loudly. Koji-sensei couldn't help but stare at these children with a blank expression, thinking, These spoiled brats.
"Hurry up, or else you'll need to do ten laps if you're not out of here by the count of ten," Koji-sensei said, and he began counting down to put pressure on them.
Hikaru had no choice but to get out of his seat and join the other students filing out of the classroom.
They ran along a track near the Academy. For him, five laps didn't seem like much at all. Hikaru was able to complete them with ease, having run much longer distances during his training over the past month.
He couldn't say the same for the other kids, watching their struggles with completing a simple five-lap course. This probably explained why most of them had ended up in the same lower-level class.
Hikaru tried his best and finished the morning run in the top five. He was working hard because he wanted to earn a good evaluation from his sensei, but not so much that he would attract unwanted attention to himself.
Koji-sensei only gave him a small nod as he finished his laps and waited for the others. After everyone had completed the run, he announced, "That concludes our warm-up exercise. Let's return to the classroom."
Once everyone had returned to their seats, Koji-sensei began calling out the names of students to check attendance before starting with a brief review of the lessons they had learned so far. The topics included chakra theory, chakra control, hand seals, taijutsu, and shurikenjutsu.
Hikaru paid close attention in class, wanting to cross-check his understanding with what he had been reading on his own.
To keep students interested, Koji-sensei also introduced new elements to the lesson, such as a rope escape technique and a basic camouflage technique.
For other fundamental subjects, Koji-sensei explained that different teachers would handle those classes. This included reading, writing, mathematics, science, ninja history, and geography. He would be responsible only for ninja theory lessons and physical training exercises.
As soon as the bell rang to signal that the morning class had finished, Koji-sensei reminded everyone, "We'll do taijutsu practice this afternoon. Meet me at the training ground nearby after lunch," and immediately dismissed the class.
Noticing that Koji-sensei hadn't yet taught the three basic Academy jutsu, Hikaru began thinking about his situation. Should I ask him about the three Academy jutsu now? Or should I wait until later?
Both approaches had advantages and disadvantages. His talent wasn't amazing, so it would be better if he could start training the jutsu early. But asking too soon might make Koji-sensei suspicious.
After a few moments of thinking, Hikaru decided to approach him once everyone else had left the room.
"Sensei," Hikaru began with a hopeful voice, "could you please teach me the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique), Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique), and Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)?"
"Why do you want to learn these three jutsu early?" Koji-sensei asked, raising his eyebrow with suspicion. "Do you want to graduate early?"
"No, no, of course not, Koji-sensei." Hikaru waved both hands in denial. "You know what happened to my parents after the Nine-Tails demon fox attack, right?"
Koji-sensei nodded slightly as Hikaru began telling his prepared story.
"I would like to learn some cool jutsu that could make my sister smile, knowing that I've accomplished something important at school." He scratched his cheek and added, "She's been kind of sad recently."
"I see." Koji-sensei used his hand to support his chin, thought for a few moments, then looked at Hikaru before replying, "I would have taught you these three techniques soon anyway, but if you're in a hurry, how about this?"
He took his teacher ID badge from his pocket and held it out to Hikaru. "You can show my ID badge at the school library and tell them I approve of you getting the three jutsu scrolls you need. I don't have time right now to teach you personally."
Before Hikaru could grab the ID badge, Koji-sensei pulled it back slightly and gave him a warning look. "Only the three jutsu, understand? If I find out you took anything else, you'll be in serious trouble, kid."
Hikaru nodded his head quickly and promised that he would only take the three techniques he had asked for. Koji-sensei then handed him the ID badge and dismissed him with a wave.
Excited, Hikaru walked toward the school library. When he met the librarian, he handed over Koji-sensei's ID badge, made his request, and confirmed that he already had permission from his teacher.
After a few minutes, the librarian presented him with the three jutsu scrolls he needed.
"I finally got these," Hikaru said with a smile, holding the three basic jutsu required for graduation.
To be honest, he didn't really want to graduate early. He preferred to spend three to four years in the Academy before making that decision. However, his talent might require him to learn more slowly than others, so getting an early start on these techniques would be helpful.
With his free time before lunch almost gone, Hikaru returned to his classroom, placed the three jutsu scrolls in his backpack, and headed out to grab something quick to eat.
The afternoon's taijutsu training was somewhat disappointing. It mainly focused on throwing punches and kicks and learning how to dodge attacks, which was the typical Academy-style taijutsu. Koji-sensei hadn't yet organized any actual sparring matches between students.
It seemed that the pace of learning in his class was quite slow. Hikaru wished he could be in the same class as Uchiha Itachi—maybe he would learn more advanced techniques there.
According to his parents' detailed notes, the most effective way to learn taijutsu was through real combat practice. This would not only improve your skills but also develop your fighting instincts and how to react to an opponent's attacks.
More battle experience meant better responses to each situation.
This didn't mean that his parents were experts in taijutsu themselves—it was just the theory they had developed from their own experiences.
Hikaru agreed that learning anything like taijutsu, ninjutsu, or even shurikenjutsu was similar to learning how to drive a car or ride a bicycle. At first, you pay attention to every detail and adjust your movements carefully.
However, after practicing for a while, it becomes muscle memory through repetition. You react to every situation naturally, even without thinking about it.
Of course, natural talent also determined how quickly you could master these skills.
One day, Hikaru hoped to reach a state similar to Ultra Instinct from his favorite manga, where his body would move automatically without needing conscious thought. This ability would be perfect for someone with his naturally lazy personality.
Suddenly, a small fist came straight toward Hikaru's face while he was smiling absent-mindedly, lost in his own thoughts. The impact knocked him down instantly, causing blood to flow from his nose as he snapped back to reality in a dazed manner.
Many students in the training area yelled out in surprise when it happened and stepped away from the impact zone.
"Seiji-kun," Koji-sensei said immediately, calling out the attacker's name. "Why would you punch your classmate?"
Inuzuka Seiji shrugged at Koji-sensei's question and replied casually, "Sorry, sensei. Looking at his blank expression and lack of movement during practice, I thought he was under some kind of genjutsu or something."
"I was only trying to help wake him up," Seiji added, picking at his ear with his finger in a bored manner.
Hikaru stood up and wiped his bleeding nose, glaring at the Inuzuka boy and thinking, What the hell is wrong with this kid?
"What?" Seiji noticed Hikaru staring at him and smirked. "Do you need another helping hand?"
The tension in the air was obvious as the two boys faced each other, with all the other students watching nervously. Hikaru's hands clenched into fists as he felt his anger rising, but he forced himself to stay calm.
I can't lose my temper here, he thought. Not in front of everyone, and especially not in front of Koji-sensei.
But the punch had hurt, and more than that, it had been completely unnecessary. Seiji had clearly done it just to be mean, not because he thought Hikaru was actually in trouble.
One day, Hikaru promised himself silently, I'll pay him back for this.