"Hey, look, that's the freshman prodigy, Kabuto Yakushi."
"White-haired… it really is him."
"He's amazing. Not only did he defeat his Hyuga classmate in Taijutsu, he also got full marks in that exam. Even the kids from well-known Shinobi Clans couldn't hold a candle against him."
On his way back to class, Kabuto became the center of attention. Kabuto, who was already accustomed to it, did not care. Instead, he greeted everyone in a friendly manner.
Ever since the results of the mid-term exams in June were announced, Kabuto had successfully made a name for himself in the Academy.
After all, in addition to ranking first in the entire first grade, he also got full marks in all the exams.
Getting perfect marks in every exam wasn't easy as he became the center of attention, so he decided to consult Nagasawa about it.
However, Nagasawa told him he was bound to become the center of attention as a genius. He had to treat this as training.
Eventually, Kabuto was no longer bothered by this, and he even befriended the students from other classes and some older students.
Of course, it was also because Kabuto was strong enough to point out their shortcomings and things they should work on that they decided to become friends with this junior who had just entered the Academy.
As soon as Kabuto entered the classroom, a boy rushed to the classroom in a hurry. When he saw Kabuto, his eyes lit up, and he said,
"Kabuto, come with me quickly. Ryota was getting picked on by senior students. Hanayo had already rushed there to help, but they have more people."
Kabuto frowned slightly as it was almost time for class, but he still quickly said, "Zuya, take me there."
Considering his grades and all, the teachers probably would not think that he was ditching class.
Zuya nodded and then ran with Kabuto, finally bringing him to the small forest behind the Academy.
Hanayo looked at the six tall seniors without fear and said, "Don't you people have any shame? As a senior, you're supposed to protect your junior, not ask for their money."
The boy, who seemed to be the leader among them, was insulted and said angrily, "You are just a freshman. Don't think that I am afraid of you just because you are from the Hyuga Clan."
"Boss, why don't we just forget about it? We shouldn't mess with a member of the Shinobi Clan." One of the seniors persuaded the leader.
It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of the Shinobi Clan, but if he couldn't even take some freshman's money and was scared off by a girl freshman, he'd be humiliated for sure.
However, at this time, he still had a trace of rationality in his heart. He threatened, "This has nothing to do with you. You better not meddle in other people's business."
"Who said that this has nothing to do with me? I can't just sit by and watch my classmate get bullied." Hanayo said seriously.
"Hyuga-san, just forget about it. I'll give them the money, and we can get out of here." Ryota tried not to involve Hanayo in this matter.
There were only two of them, and he was too afraid. Wouldn't Hanayo have to fight six people then?
"That's no good Ryota-kun. If you do that, they will keep asking for your money." Hanayo argued.
Ryota was speechless.
"You asked for it. Teach her a lesson!" The leader of the bullies felt like Hanayo underestimated him and ordered his friend to gang up on her.
The other five people looked at each other for a while, but in the end, they still followed their leader's order.
Being scared away by a girl freshman was indeed embarrassing.
Hanayo activated her Byakugan and assumed her Gentle Fist stance. At first, she could hold off the six bullies just fine. However, Byakugan had a blind spot despite its nearly 360-degree field of vision, and because she was surrounded, one of the bullies happened to attack from Hanayo's blind spot, so he managed to hit Hanayo, disrupting the rhythm of Hanayo's Gentle Fist.
The other five instantly attacked at the same time, overwhelming Hanayo.
At this moment, several Shuriken were thrown toward the bullies, preventing them from going after Hanayo.
Kabuto quickly walked to Hanayo's side and asked, "Hanayo, what's going on?"
The leader of the bullies was shocked by the incoming Shuriken. Seeing that it was another freshman that ignored him right off the bat, he couldn't help but curse,
"Do you have a death wish? You actually dare to use Shuriken."
Although fights often happened, those who used a real Ninja Tool would be severely punished if they were caught.
"On the way back to the classroom, I saw that Ryota was bullied by them, so I wanted to help him. They were not willing to let Ryota go and even ganged up on me."
Hanayo honestly told Kabuto what had happened.
The leader of the bullies was furious. These two actually ignored him and continued their conversation as if he did not exist.
Right when the leader of the bullies was about to rush toward Kabuto to teach him a lesson, Kabuto saw the leader's movements and quickly made a series of hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Kabuto spewed a large amount of water around the six bullies that surrounded them.
This technique was inspired by Nagasawa. By changing the shape of the Water Formation Wall into a cylinder instead of its normal wall shape, it could defend against attacks more efficiently.
However, he used this simply so that the six bullies couldn't disturb his conversation with Hanayo.
Even though the top part of the cylinder water formation was open, and the cylinder itself was not high, it should be enough to deal with the students of the Academy because being able to use that level of Ninjutsu alone already scared them to the point where they could not move. Their eyes were wide open as they looked at Kabuto in disbelief.
Kabuto looked at Ryota, a sign that he wanted to ask the story from Ryota's perspective since he was the one getting bullied.
Ryota quickly told the story again. It turned out that this was not the first time he was blackmailed.
Kabuto was a little puzzled. Why would these seniors take their juniors' money? It was not much, and they would graduate soon. They could do missions to earn money soon. Why did they do something like this?
However, he also knew this was not the right time to ponder about his. What he should do was to solve this problem.
"Senpai, I am Kabuto Yakushi. I will forget about this matter as long as you don't bother Ryota again." Kabuto said as he looked at the six bullies inside Water Formation Wall.
Although he wanted to get Ryota's money back when he was blackmailed last time, he was afraid that this would cause resentment. The one who would be the victim later on wouldn't be him, but Ryota because Ryota was too weak.
After saying that, he also removed the Water Formation Wall.
"You are that genius freshman Kabuto Yakushi? You really are amazing."
"If I knew he was your friend, I wouldn't have asked for his money. Let's go, guys!"
The leader of the bullies immediately agreed with Kabuto's terms as soon as he saw he could use such Ninjutsu. He was not stupid. His older brother, who had graduated and become a Genin, could not even use such a Ninjutsu, but Kabuto could!
"Kabuto, thank you." Ryota expressed his gratitude.
"Don't mention it. We are all friends. Let's get back, class already starts," Kabuto Kabuto said with a smile.
"Yes." Ryota immediately ran to the class.
"Kabuto, am I useless? Not only did I not help anyone, but I also almost hurt myself." Hanayo sounded disappointed.
Kabuto shook his head and said, "It's not your fault. You did a good job. If you're not here, Ryota might have been bullied before I came."
After being praised, Hanayo felt much better and smiled.
"Kabuto, let's go back to class too. Ditching classes is not good," Hanayo said.
Kabuto thought for a moment and said, "I will be right behind you."
Hanayo didn't think too much about it. She thought that Kabuto might need to go to the toilet, so she just walked back to the class.
Kabuto watched Hanayo leave and conjured a Shadow Clone. He sent the Shadow Clone to the classroom while he himself left Academy.
At this time, Kabuto felt that he had encountered a difficult problem.
Why did such a conflict arise? They were from the same village and even attended the same Academy. Shouldn't they get along?