"Mom, Dad, I'm off to school. You can go back first."
After getting off the car, Logan, carrying his schoolbag, said to his parents who seemed to want to follow him out of the car.
"Oh, then we won't go in." Upon hearing that there wasn't much need to see off the homeroom teacher on the first day of school, Logan's parents, Frank and Amanda, nodded.
As Logan's figure disappeared at the school gate, Frank rubbed his stubble and said somewhat strangely to his wife: "Amanda, do you feel that our son has changed?"
Amanda watched Logan's figure disappear and patted Frank on the shoulder with her backhand, "Isn't it good that our son has grown up?"
"Alright." Frank muttered and drove back.
They also had work to do. They came to see him off on the first day of school, but afterward, Logan, being a commuter student, had to go to and from school by himself.
…
'The Chakra is surprisingly hard to recover here...' Walking on campus, Logan, after bidding farewell to his parents, frowned slightly.
Chakra is extracted from the cells in the human body, and part of it is Spiritual Energy. However, even after a night of rest, Logan could only sense a trace of Chakra remaining in his body, and the rate of recovery was somewhat infuriating.
'Is it because of different worlds?' Logan could only speculate like this.
Logically speaking, even if he didn't deliberately replenish it, his current Chakra should still be over half full. But fortunately, he was no longer in the ninja world now, or rather, on Earth, where he had to avoid using it to prevent causing sensational events.
Even if there is only a trace of chakra, it was enough for his current needs. Regarding the Chakra problem, Logan could do nothing about it, and he would have to leave it for later.
Before Logan traveled to Naruto World, he attended Fresno High School. It was a public high school that was neither outstanding nor subpar in the city. Its grades, teachers, and environment were all in the middle, making significant contributions to comparisons among the high schools in Fresno.
Logan was very unfamiliar with the idea of studying. He stood nervously in front of the classroom, Class 10, Grade 2.
He felt as if a group of enemy village's Ninjas were waiting for him behind the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.
"Hey, Logan!"
The customary noise of the classroom before the start of the semester came to Logan's ears. Before Logan could even get acquainted with the faces that he could not recognize for a long time, a voice with distinctive recognition came from the back row.
A chubby guy with glasses was waving to him, his face filled with excitement at the long-awaited reunion.
"Hey, it seems that you're excited. But what the hell are you excited about?"
Logan recognized him at a glance. This guy is his best friend in the class, David Rodger. David didn't shine academically, instead, he excelled in the field of ACG.
To put it incisively and vividly, David loves otaku culture just like Logan did in the past. As long as it was related to this, he can definitely keep people entertained for more than ten minutes.
As Logan sat in his assigned seat at the back, the back-row duo team was reestablished. Both of them were infamous for causing mischief in class and had some reputation. However, just as David was about to put his arm around Logan's shoulder against Logan's objections and say something, the homeroom teacher came in.
The class teacher is an old man in his fifties who didn't seem very open-minded but always claimed to be open-minded. After an inspirational speech that made people feel exhausted and extinguished the joy of starting school. David was already dozing off on the side, while Logan, who had experienced too much bloodshed, found it interesting to listen to.
After the homeroom meeting, during the break, Logan gradually lost the initial awkwardness. It was reasonable to say that the school is like an ivory tower. The relationships inside were simple. Moreover, he wasn't a 'normie' before, he didn't have much socializing to do.
When math class began, Logan stared at the blackboard attentively for the first ten minutes, but then, his focus began to wane. He shook his head and closed the book with a sigh.
'Maybe I should become a martial arts coach in the future? Assassination techniques training camp...' Logan mused aimlessly.
Being in class was indeed a magical experience. After so many years without attending, he quickly found himself in the brave state of wanting to sleep during class, just like in the old days.
Logan's shortcomings in learning quickly led him to consider his future career, after all, he is mentally quite mature.
"Hey, Logan, Logan, hehehe!"
'Who the heck is laughing like that? Can't you speak properly?' Logan complained in his heart, then turned to look at David, who was lying on the table and communicating with him.
"Logan, this math class is so boring." With this opening remark, Logan knew what David was going to say next.
"Oh." Yu Xiaobai's response was not enthusiastic.
"What's with the 'oh'? By the way, do you know Suzan from the first year? The pretty one. I just found out from someone else before school started that she is super good at playing games!"
Logan nodded unenthusiastically.
"...And also, our senior school flower, Susan, do you know that she..."
'Why the hell their names sound so similar?"
"Hey Logan, did you not sleep well last night? You're not reacting at all. Anyway, let me tell you something you'll definitely be interested in. Naruto, which was recently serialized in Weekly Shōnen JUMP, already been announced to be getting an anime adaptation!"
Hearing David's words, Logan's previously calm expression froze.
David thought that Logan's cold response meant that he was not interested in three-dimensional things, so he changed the topic and reported the recent hot news in the two-dimensional world.
"Although I know you probably already know, Naruto is really very popular now. The sales of JUMP are said to have increased by a lot. The physical book is bound to be a big hit. Nowadays, this kind of manga style is rare in the industry dominated by Harem and Yuri genres. Indeed, hot-blooded battles are the way to go..."
"Hey, what are you talking about, David?" Logan had a bad feeling in his heart, and turned to look at the other party, trying to make sure if David was joking, "Did you say the new serialization of Naruto?! It's recent?!"
"Keep your voice down, for Pete's sake." David was startled by Logan suddenly raising his voice.
He shrank back and used a book to shield himself from the teacher's gaze on the podium. Unfortunately, his huge physique couldn't be concealed by a small math book.
"What are you two doing back there?!" The math teacher finally couldn't help but sternly reprimand.
He had long noticed that David and Logan, these two 'negative energy' elements who didn't like studying, were whispering to each other. Fortunately, they managed to maintain a certain level of decorum, after all, as long as they didn't disrupt the class too much, the teachers at public schools were too lazy to intervene much.
However, Logan's outburst just now was heard by most of the class, interrupting the pace of the lesson.
Logan also realized he had gotten a bit too excited. Considering his temperament, he shouldn't have reacted like that, but the news David said was too surprising and ridiculous...
'Isn't it 2024 now? Naruto had ended a long time ago.'
He quickly apologized like a good boy who had done something wrong, and the math teacher pushed up his glasses, suppressing the urge to pursue the matter further.
After the class resumed, Logan used a book to shield himself, and then looked at David with a scrutinizing gaze, "Are you telling the truth?"
"Am I that unreliable to you? Why are you getting all worked up over nothing?!" David couldn't understand why Logan was so excited, 'Didn't he know that Naruto was going to be animated? As a fan, wouldn't he be thrilled to hear the news? Hmm, or maybe...'
The bell rang monotonously, and one class after another passed. The uneasy feeling in Logan's heart lingered for a long time. For some reason, he thought of the three words that had kept him from sleeping the night before, and then, he turned to look out the classroom window. Outside, there were only ten-meter-tall cypress trees on the third floor. The winter sun refracted through the branches, and despite the rare good weather, Logan felt a chill.