Back in the classroom, Fūka discovered that Guy was also in his class.
At this point, Guy was just as unremarkable as the other background characters, which explained why Fūka's 'predecessor' had no memory of him.
After the morning classes ended, Rin, Kurenai, along with the troubled-looking Obito and the wary Asuma, approached Fūka.
"Fūka, here's the bento I made. Please try it!" Kurenai said, keeping her promise and handing her homemade bento to Fūka.
Fūka took it and opened it up. The bento had a very cute, feminine touch. He picked up a piece of sushi, and to his surprise, it tasted pretty good. Just as he was about to compliment her, he noticed Asuma beside him, grimacing as if he'd been cheated on.
Meanwhile, Rin also pulled out her bento, her eyes fixed on Fūka with an intense gaze.
Fūka's cooking from yesterday had completely won over Rin—and Kurenai, too.
Fūka felt like he was at a disadvantage.
At that moment, he noticed someone watching him from the side. Turning his head, he saw Guy, who was holding a thick stack of pancakes. Guy kept glancing at Fūka, clearly wanting to offer him the pancakes but also worried about interrupting him.
Fūka waved him over with a smile.
"Fūka!" Guy ran over with a big grin. "Thanks so much for this morning. Let me treat you to these pancakes. My dad made them himself!"
Fūka took a look and, as a certified three-star chef from New Oriental, immediately recognized that these pancakes were only lightly baked and probably just had some salt added. The taste was going to be overwhelming.
"Ah, you don't have to," Fūka said, trying to refuse. He wasn't one to expect favors in return. Even if Guy became the King of Pancakes in the future, he couldn't use these pancakes to insult his character!
Unfortunately, Guy wasn't one to give up easily. Seeing Fūka refusing, he started crying and shoved the pancakes into Fūka's... mouth.
"Fūka, these pancakes are super tasty. I would never lie to you!"
"Ahhh!" Fūka's eyes filled with tears. These pancakes... were just too terrible!
Kurenai and Rin watched, laughing heartily.
"Hey, Guy, what are you doing?!" Obito said, pushing Guy away with irritation.
Taking the opportunity, Fūka pulled the pancakes from his mouth, almost choking.
"Obito, this is Guy. I just met him this morning."
"Hey, Guy and we have been classmates for a year. Saying you just met him is too rude!" Asuma huffed.
"It's okay, it's okay!" Guy hurriedly said.
"Anyway, let's eat together," Fūka said, pulling out his own bento. It seemed the number of food lovers was increasing, so he'd better step up his Shadow Clone training. Otherwise, just making food could take half a day!
…
After finishing their bentos, Obito's eyes darted around before he suddenly clutched his stomach in exaggerated pain and ran off before Rin could say anything.
Rin was taken aback, then placed her hands on her hips, glaring at his retreating figure. She turned to Fūka and asked, "Fūka, doesn't Obito know any medical ninjutsu?"
Though it was a question, her tone was quite certain.
Obito had spent the past year constantly hanging around Rin. She knew his character well enough. If Obito knew medical ninjutsu, he wouldn't have fled in such a manner.
But even so, Fūka felt he should say something good about his buddy.
"Rin, you know Obito. He's always either helping old ladies cross the street or on his way to help old ladies cross the street. Forget medical ninjutsu, he doesn't even have time to practice basic jutsu. How naïve are you to believe him?"
Obito, no need to thank me. This is what a brother does!
Fūka silently gave himself a pat on the back.
Across from him, Rin's face turned red with anger as she puffed out her cheeks, vowing never to trust Obito again.
Fūka nodded with satisfaction.
As evening classes ended, Fūka told Obito that he might be late coming back and that he should make dinner himself.
Obito asked where he was going, looking curious.
Fūka said he was going to practice taijutsu.
Obito, losing interest, decided not to press further.
As Fūka headed towards the place he had arranged to meet Guy, Hyuga Shinzo returned home, looking embarrassed.
"Father!"
In a spacious traditional Japanese estate, Hyuga Shinzo lowered his head and reported the morning's events to his father, Hyuga Tan.
"The Uchiha kid said that?" Hyuga Tan, in his thirties, sat upright in his white kimono, his posture straight. He pondered slowly, "Such words couldn't possibly come from a 6-year-old!"
"Father, what do you mean?" Hyuga Shinzo asked timidly.
"It must have been someone directing him!" Hyuga Tan glanced at his son with an annoyed expression. "Shinzo, you fool! You had your Byakugan activated and still couldn't defeat Uchiha Fūka? How idiotic!"
"Father, please, teach me all the Gentle Fist techniques. I will prove myself by defeating Uchiha Fūka!" Hyuga Shinzo knelt, his head bowed, trembling in fear.
Hyuga Tan nodded. "Fortunately, you apologized. Otherwise, this would have been a serious issue. Shinzo, I've reported your Byakugan to the main family. They hold you in high regard, so you mustn't disappoint me!"
"Yes, I will train diligently and defeat Uchiha Fūka, and I will never let you down!" Hyuga Shinzo declared, his voice filled with excitement.
"Good. Tonight, I will teach you the Gentle Fist!"
…
Clap, clap, clap!
In a remote grove southeast of Konoha Village, the sound of rapid clapping echoed. Duy was standing in front of a wooden post, his hands a blur as he struck the post furiously.
"Hmm?" Duy's ears perked up, and he looked to the left. "Is that Fūka arriving?"
"Yes, Uncle Duy," Fūka said, running out with a slight pant but bright eyes. "I'm here!"
"Great, you're not late!" Duy said with a wide grin, showing his big white teeth. "The sunset is brief, so we can't waste a single moment! Now, let's start with the warm-up!"
Fūka felt like he was facing an ocean of fury behind Duy.
"A warm-up, huh?" Fūka twisted his neck and shook his hips a few times.
Duy's face darkened. "Fūka, this level of warm-up doesn't count. Come on, run ten laps around this grove!"
"Ten laps?!" Fūka gasped. Though the grove was small, running around it was at least a thousand meters. Ten laps would be ten thousand meters. Is this what you call a warm-up?!
"Of course, if you can't finish ten laps, then jump rope ten thousand times!" Duy said matter-of-factly.
"…" Fūka's eye twitched. He reminded himself to stay calm and composed. After all, Duy had trained like this in the original story. What was there to get worked up about?
"Alright, I'll start running now!" Fūka said.
"Wait a minute," Duy's ears twitched again, and he shouted, "Guy, you're late again!"