Kurenai poked Seiryū's waist, leaned in, and whispered, "Seiryū, do you have some problem with him? Did he make you mad?"
Although Seiryū rarely interacted with people outside their circle, he was usually polite.
So why did he seem to have an issue with Asuma, the Hokage's son?
Grabbing Kurenai's mischievous hand—why was she poking his waist again?—Seiryū whispered, "I don't have a problem. But bad eyesight really can't be solved by just changing seats. It's an illness. And if it's an illness, then he needs to see a doctor."
Kurenai nodded thoughtfully. "That's right. He's the Hokage's son. If he's sick, why doesn't he get treated?"
The girl clearly hadn't grasped the true meaning behind Asuma's earlier words. She seemed a little slow when it came to emotional cues.
"Who knows? People's thoughts are weird," Seiryū shrugged.
He glanced toward Kakashi. "Look at Hatake Kakashi, the one Uncle Shinku mentioned. It's so hot right now, and he still wears that mask. Isn't that strange?"
Kurenai looked over too and found it odd. After thinking about it for a moment, she nodded firmly. "Just like you, Seiryū. Sometimes you do things others don't understand, and other people do strange things too? I get it now!"
Applying the logic to Seiryū, she suddenly felt enlightened.
So it wasn't just Seiryū who behaved strangely. Other people also did inexplicable things.
From now on, she shouldn't think there was something wrong with Seiryū's brain. She was just behind the times!
Seiryū: "..."
You don't get it at all!
When did he ever do things people couldn't understand?
This was slander. Slander! He was perfectly normal!
Since it was only the first day, there was no rush to make friends. Seiryū and Kurenai chatted casually at their desks until the bell rang shortly after, signaling the next class.
Oda walked to the podium, textbook in hand. He cleared his throat and began, "You've all received your textbooks, right? Turn to the first page. Today, I'll be teaching about the 'Will of Fire.'"
"This is a will, a spirit, proposed by First Hokage-sama, Senju Hashirama. It is also Konoha's most precious treasure…"
After a lot of blah blah blah, the other students listened intently, but Seiryū grew extremely drowsy.
They're just blindly promoting selfless devotion, fearless sacrifice, collective effort, and putting the greater good above all else… Even pyramid schemes aren't this bad. At least those offer some benefits first…
Seiryū shook his head. If someone tried this kind of sales pitch in his previous life, even elementary schoolers wouldn't fall for it.
This propaganda wasn't convincing at all.
They just asked people to give and sacrifice, go to the battlefield, without even mentioning any benefits. They relied entirely on that hollow phrase, "For the sake of Konoha," to make people shed their blood and sweat?
This might not work in his past life, but in this world, it actually worked. The level of awareness was different, and the concept of critical thinking barely existed here.
For Konoha shinobi, the slogan "For the sake of Konoha" was more than enough. Especially since the Hokage did act when needed and wasn't just shouting slogans...
Of course, Seiryū still felt it was ridiculous. He was just a kid, and they were already trying to brainwash him into sacrificing himself on the battlefield?
This was messed up.
Even if you want to start them young, this was too early...
Over the next stretch of time,
Life remained peaceful.
The signs of the Third Great Ninja War had yet to fully emerge. The major hidden villages were only engaging in minor skirmishes, and no large-scale conflicts had broken out yet.
These weren't things a student like Seiryū needed to worry about.
The Ninja Academy curriculum advanced steadily, cycling through theory, physical training, chakra insights, and history. It was even more intense than elementary school in his past life...
Take ninja tool throwing, for example. Would you believe they needed to apply math knowledge to calculate the trajectory arc?
Fortunately, Seiryū was extremely talented and learned quickly. Having completed nine years of compulsory education and some beyond that in his past life, this was no challenge at all!
His written test scores were firmly in first place, followed by Kakashi in second, with Kurenai in third...
Kakashi really lived up to his title as the genius who graduated at five and became a Chūnin at six. Compared to the other little kids, he truly stood out. Calling him a genius wasn't an exaggeration.
Seiryū, though, was even more of a prodigy. Aside from the "reading comprehension" section on the Will of Fire, where he couldn't guess the grading teacher's "intended answer," he scored full marks on every other test!
He completely crushed the rest of the class.
On top of that, with his appearance—red-haired shota style, cuter than the aloof, masked Kakashi—he was much more popular with the girls.
His popularity in class was solidly ranked number one, completely outshining Kakashi.
There were even faint signs that Kakashi viewed him as a rival...
Nearly a month passed during this time.
The Academy still didn't arrange any practical combat training, focusing mainly on building strong foundations.
The students gradually got to know each other. As if guided by fate, bonds were silently forming between them... except for the transfer student Seiryū.
During a break.
Obito, wearing his goggles, came over and quietly asked Seiryū, "Seiryū, do you have a special way of studying? We attend the same classes, so how are your grades so good? Even that arrogant guy Kakashi can't beat you!"
Because Kakashi and Rin were deskmates and sat right in front of him, Obito was deeply unhappy. The girl he liked was sharing a desk with someone else?
Unacceptable!
What was even worse was that Kakashi's grades were excellent. He had even heard Rin asking Kakashi for help with schoolwork. How could he put up with that?
So, he came over to consult Seiryū, the number one in their class, hoping to get some tips.
"Oh, it's Obito." Although Seiryū didn't keep his distance from Obito, the future big boss, their relationship was nothing more than regular classmates.
But seeing him come over to ask questions, Seiryū didn't act standoffish either. One reason his popularity stayed high in class was because he was approachable and kind. He shrugged. "You can't learn my method."
Obito blinked. "Why not?"
Seiryū shook his head and sighed. "Because it's talent. Talent can't be learned. You're either born with it or you're not."
Obito didn't believe him. "Hmph. If you don't want to say it, just say so. So stingy!"
Seiryū smiled. "But it's not like there's no way to improve your test scores."
Obito's eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned in. "What is it? Tell me!"
"Do more practice problems. As long as you do enough, your scores will go up," Seiryū said, his tone turning serious and deep. "Why do you think Kurenai placed third on the written exams?"
Before Obito could reply, Seiryū answered for him. "It's because she did enough practice problems. Only by accumulating little by little can one succeed."
Kurenai, who was nearby and overheard the words "practice problems," shuddered involuntarily. Her beautiful red eyes filled with horror, as if recalling some traumatic memory.
That was hell...
(To be continued.)
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