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Afternoon.
Training couldn't last the entire day, and by the afternoon, they could no longer afford to skip classes. After all, there had to be some difference between the Ninja Academy with or without their presence.
Had they gone to the Ninja Academy?
Yes, they had. And on time.
When the five of them arrived, the classroom, which had been a bit chaotic, instantly fell silent.
The civilian ninjas seated in the front rows looked on with envy. They were jealous of their privileged backgrounds, jealous of their success, and jealous that they didn't even have to attend classes. Most of the students in the back rows, however, were simply envious. They had no reason to be jealous—they were all the same. The only difference was that these five dared to skip classes, something they wished they could do.
Nohara Rin glanced at Uchiha Obito with some concern but held back from approaching due to the presence of Yuichi Yuuki and the others. On the other hand, Obito was excited to see her and immediately stepped forward.
"Rin!"
"I have to tell you what happened this morning..." Uchiha Obito eagerly began recounting the events of the day.
Nohara Rin listened patiently with a smile, but when Obito started boasting, she couldn't help but laugh.
"Rin, what are you laughing at?" Obito asked, confused.
"Obito, you look so funny like this." Rin poked the large bump on his head, and Obito winced with a grin.
Seeing this, Rin looked apologetically at him.
"Obito, I'm sorry, I didn't realize—"
Before she could finish, Obito waved her off. "It's okay, it'll heal soon."
"I'll bandage it for you," she offered.
As Nohara Rin bandaged Uchiha Obito, Yuichi Yuuki smiled and took a seat with Kurenai Yuhi.
"Yuichi, where did you go this morning?" Might Guy asked as he approached curiously. At the same time, he admonished, "It's wrong to skip classes. Youth should be about studying hard!"
Yuichi Yuuki pulled out a bag of three-color dango, offering one stick to Guy. "Here, this is for you."
He then replied, "We were training this morning. Youth is also about constantly improving yourself! You have to seize every chance to grow stronger!"
As the two continued talking, Ikkaku Umino walked into the classroom. He glanced at Yuuki and the others but didn't say anything about their absence. Instead, he picked up a book on the Will of Fire.
"Class, today we will continue with chakra refinement and literacy. Please open your books to the third page of the Will of Fire."
Yuichi Yuuki exchanged a glance with Kurenai Yuhi, both surprised. They had fully expected to be scolded. Even Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, and Uchiha Obito shared the confusion.
The five of them were prepared to be reprimanded, but the teacher was acting as though nothing had happened.
Just as Yuichi was pondering this, a light blue panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
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[Achievement: I Can Do Whatever I Want]
"I will skip the classes I can skip, and I will skip the classes I can't skip even more! Skip first, scold later—the village chief has given me permission. This is what it means to be a genius!"
[Reward: Ninja Taijutsu – Defense]
[Ninja Taijutsu – Defense: Passively gain a 20% damage reduction effect. Maybe you can even try resisting the Heavenly Aiding Star and see what the Pure Land looks like.]
[Ninja Taijutsu – Defense Upgrade: Ninja Taijutsu – Defense lv2]
[Ninja Taijutsu – Defense lv2: Passively gain a 20% damage reduction effect. Can be actively activated for 1 second to double the damage reduction effect, with a cooldown of one day. This time, you might stand a chance against the Heavenly Aiding Star!]
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"Why would I need to resist the Heavenly Aiding Star?" Yuichi silently complained. What did he do to deserve that?
Despite its flaws, Yuichi found the achievement quite appealing. It was the first time he realized that achievements could be upgraded. From a passive 20% damage reduction to an active ability that doubled that amount—it was quite the improvement.
However, even with all that damage reduction, he mused that a ninja sword was still a ninja sword. Even if the damage was reduced by 50%, it would still hurt—a lot. A sword would cut through no matter how tough you were, unless you had 100% damage reduction.
Yuichi imagined a scenario: while fighting someone, he activates the ability, but the kunai still stabs through with only slightly less force. Maybe instead of being fully impaled, it would only go in 60%?
He couldn't help but shake his head at the thought of relying on this ability and running off to challenge someone like Madara with blind confidence.
"Yuichi Yuuki!" Kurenai's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned to her and smiled.
"What's up?"
"Nothing." Kurenai shook her head, still looking at him with concern. "You were staring at the table earlier, and your expression looked really strange. You were laughing and crying at the same time... I was worried."
"If it's okay, maybe you should have my dad take you to the hospital later?" she suggested while eyeing the wound on his chest.
"I'm fine. I was just lost in thought."
"Oh." Kurenai nodded, returning her attention to the lecture. Yuichi, however, focused again on the achievement panel.
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The achievement description confirmed his suspicions: "The village chief has given me permission. This is what it means to be a genius." It seemed Hiruzen Sarutobi had instructed Ikkaku Umino not to interfere with them on the grounds of their potential. This explained why there was no reprimand today.
Yuichi chuckled at the thought—there would be no pressure to attend class in the future.
Ikkaku Umino, who was explaining the Will of Fire from the podium, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as he noticed Yuichi's smile. Why did he feel like something terrible was coming?
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