Suguru looked in the mirror as he took a break from his notes. The day was coming to an end, and yet turmoil was brewing within the undercurrents of the village. What his clone had seen earlier had reminded him of such things.
Looking out his window, he saw the orange sky of the setting sun.
'The Uchiha are more of a threat now than ever before.' Suguru thought, 'From Wicked Eye Fugaku, the genius Itachi, and the many youthful Sharingan holders, they are now the most promising clan to rise up in the future.'
Suguru looked at his reflection. A pair of Sharingan gazed back at him.
'Furthermore... Danzo might suspect that Itachi has Shisui's eyes, putting the former on even higher alert than before.'
It was no wonder that the entirety of Root seemed to have been deployed to monitor the Uchiha clan's compound.
'War is on the brink of the horizon, yet Itachi hasn't done anything from what I can see...' Suguru collected himself, 'No... I haven't been hacking into Hiruzen's crystal ball lately because of the Orphanage. Perhaps something has been happening behind the scenes that I have no knowledge of.'
Annoyed, Suguru could only guess as to what was happening.
'I need to spend more time spying,' He thought.
His time in the Academy would be a detriment to that goal. After a little more thought, Suguru shook his head. There wasn't any use snooping around at the moment. If the coup d'etat pushed through, he wouldn't even be on the front lines.
All that he had to worry about was becoming collateral damage.
Being an Academy student meant gaining strength and learning the ways of a shinobi. Therefore, Suguru was going to do just that.
***
One week after the entrance tests came the first day of official classes.
Suguru woke up early, spent twenty-odd minutes concentrating on a leaf, and practiced his Clone, Transformation, and Substitution Jutsus. When he was done, he took a shower and burned some pieces of paper using his chakra to train in nature transformation.
Shadow Clone Jutsu was less about training and more about chakra control, so Suguru didn't mind it as much. He ate breakfast and left his home at a leisurely pace.
'Technically, I can graduate already...' Suguru felt that his E-Rank Ninjutsu prowess was sufficient.
However, 'Ah, but I don't know any Genjutsus and my Taijutsu still needs work...'
Lost in thought, Suguru arrived at the Academy. He walked up a set of stairs and through the wooden hallways to arrive at his classroom.
On his way there, he spotted a young Sasuke being brought to school by Itachi. The innocent smile on Sasuke's face was a pleasant sight.
Seeing it made Suguru chuckle.
Moreover, Naruto's voice also echoed throughout the hallway. His laughter was obnoxiously loud, making Suguru roll his eyes.
—Click!
Sliding the door open, Suguru entered his classroom. His other classmates were there already.
Nara Shikiro saw him and waved his hand, "Yo!"
Suguru nodded at his greeting and then took his seat behind a long desk. When he sat down, he felt a gaze. Looking to his left, he saw a boy wearing the Uchiha clan's symbol staring at him. Dull brown hair and similar brown eyes were his traits.
"..?"
Suguru stared back like a curious owl. His silver irises shone in the morning sunlight.
"Er..."
The silent pressure of Suguru's stare made the Uchiha feel awkward.
"Wh— What are you looking at, huh?" He tried acting tough.
"..."
However, Suguru just continued to stare, unwaveringly, into his eyes.
It was only when the Uchiha averted his gaze that Suguru also looked away, deciding to stare at something else.
***
Walking into the noisy classroom, the chunin teacher for Suguru's class clapped his hands.
"Okay, everyone. Please settle down. My name's Masumi and I'll be your sensei for the duration of your stay at the Academy." He looked over the students before he spoke with a small smile, "Today we're going to go over the basics..."
Starting with the Will of Fire and the Shinobi Rules, the start of a boring class proceeded without any resistance. Suguru began losing himself in thought, making mental calculations and trying to figure out what topics to study next to advance his research.
Ever since he completed his Living Corpse Assimilation Kinjutsu, he hadn't progressed much. He was hoping to get some inspiration from class.
Time passed as Suguru stared blankly at his teacher speaking at the front of the class. One hour and thirty minutes worth of lectures on the Shinobi Rules.
It was a lot, and Suguru expected more.
"...With that said, it's about time we take a break." Masumi realized the time, "Feel free to explore the Academy but be sure to be at the sparring grounds in thirty minutes. We'll have our first round of Taijutsu battles."
Hearing these words, the listless eyes of the children brightened up. They eagerly left the classroom and began scouring the school for anything interesting. Some interacted with their friends from other classes, while some went to watch the cool Taijutsu and Ninjutsu classes of the upper years.
Meanwhile, Suguru chose to open his notebook to write down a few cursory notes to make it seem like he was an excellent student.
When twenty minutes was almost up, he walked over to the sparring grounds and stood with his classmates.
"Okay, looks like everyone's here. No one's late. That's good to see." Masumi said.
"Masumi-sensei! Who are we going to fight?" One of the excited children spoke up.
"It's not a fight, but a spar. We're going to learn how to properly use our body for the sake of Taijutsu techniques." Masumi replied with a chuckle, "Remember, we're not here to fight, but to learn from each other."
"Now, I'll announce the pairs for today's lesson."
"Akimichi Rie and Matsumoto Rin,"
"Hyuga Suzu and Ozaki Tatsuo,"
"Aburame Kazuko and Yamanaka Keiichi,"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Uchiha Tatsuya and Nara Shikiro,"
"Lastly, Hiryu Suguru and Hyuga Mitsuko,"
[]=[]=[]=[]
I made a P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
Read up to five advanced chapters on P@treon! :D
Big thanks to Godphaze for being my first P@treon supporter!!! <3
[]=[]=[]=[]