31. Umino Iruka Is a Good Teacher

"Come on, Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun, you must win!"

"Shikamaru, if you dare to win, you'll die!"

Umino Iruka pretended not to hear the girls' shouts as he watched Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru form the Seal of Confrontation. He quickly announced the beginning of the match.

"Start!"

One minute later, Nara Shikamaru was defeated.

Amid the cheers of many girls, Uchiha Sasuke walked coolly back to his position, completely ignoring his admirers. His indifference only made the girls like him even more.

"Shikamaru, what's wrong with you? How could you lose to that guy?" Uzumaki Naruto asked, disappointment clear in his voice. He could tell Shikamaru hadn't taken the sparring seriously. From his expression, if Iruka-sensei hadn't been watching, Shikamaru would have forfeited immediately.

"I couldn't beat him anyway," Nara Shikamaru replied with a helpless shrug. "Besides, there's no need to be so serious about a simple sparring match."

"Hmph! Just wait and see. I'll definitely punch that Sasuke guy into next week!" Naruto excitedly swung his fist through the air, eager to face Uchiha Sasuke right away.

"Crunch..."

Akimichi Chōji opened a bag of potato chips and started eating. "But Naruto, you can't beat Sasuke. He's the strongest one in the class."

It was obvious who would win in a match between the top student and the one ranked last.

"I'm different from before," Uzumaki Naruto declared confidently. He had been practicing tree-walking for three days and felt much stronger than before. "Just wait and see!"

"Crunch..."

Akimichi Chōji continued eating his chips. He couldn't understand where Naruto's confidence came from, but as a friend, he wouldn't discourage him or laugh at his determination.

"Next group..." Iruka called out.

The sparring matches at the Academy caught the attention of Shihouin Naraku and Hatake Kakashi, who were observing from a distance. They had both been through this stage themselves and watching the young students brought back memories of their own Academy days.

"I really miss those days," Shihouin Naraku said with a smile, watching the matches below. "I remember when you were at the Academy, you always won first place in every sparring match."

"Just like that, Uchiha Sasuke, you were very popular back then. Every time you fought, girls would cheer for you while you kept that expressionless face of yours."

"But I wasn't bad either," he continued. "How many times did I win in our sparring matches?"

Hatake Kakashi straightened up slightly and replied calmly, "You only won three or four times, and those were when I wasn't paying attention."

Shihouin Naraku immediately protested. This was a matter of his reputation, and he wouldn't let Kakashi talk nonsense. "That's bull! I won fair and square!"

"And it definitely wasn't just three or four times. I remember winning at least five or six matches. One of them was a very clean victory for me. I finished you within three minutes, and you lost miserably."

Kakashi glanced at Naraku with his half-lidded eyes. He put away his copy of "Icha Icha Paradise" and asked, "Do you remember why you won so quickly that time?"

"Oh yeah, that time..."

Shihouin Naraku pinched his chin and thought hard.

Although both were considered geniuses during their Academy days, Hatake Kakashi had indeed been more powerful. In their sparring matches, Naraku had lost more often than he won.

After all, Kakashi didn't have any emotional burdens back then, and his strength improved daily. He had graduated at age five, become a Chūnin at six, and was promoted to Jōnin by twelve. His progress had outpaced everyone his age, including many older shinobi.

However, after reaching his peak, there had been a decline. For a long period afterwards, Kakashi's strength had completely stagnated and remained so until now.

Recalling these memories, Shihouin Naraku suddenly burst out laughing. "I remember now! You lost so easily that time because I stole a certain book from a family elder and gave it to you."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You were a bad influence even as a child..."

Hatake Kakashi pretended not to hear anything, keeping his eyes fixed on the sparring matches below.

"Hey, Naruto's up next..."

"Next group..." Iruka announced.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Hyuga Hinata!"

"Hiss..." Shihouin Naraku gasped. Iruka's match arrangement was impressive.

As expected of the teacher who cared most about Naruto. He was already creating opportunities for the boy to interact with others and had even arranged a potential wife for him in advance.

This was the kind of teacher the world needed more of. If there were more teachers like him, there wouldn't be so many single people in the world. Unfortunately, most teachers played the role of breaking couples apart.

Shihouin Naraku perked up and stared intently at the training ground, not wanting to miss a moment. Uzumaki Naruto and his future wife, Hyūga Hinata, were about to spar, and it was going to be interesting.

On the Academy training ground, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Hinata had very different reactions to Iruka-sensei's announcement.

Naruto was disappointed. He had hoped to face Uchiha Sasuke soon, not considering that Sasuke had already won his match, so unless Naruto won too, there would be no chance for them to meet.

With his hands behind his head, Naruto walked carelessly out of the line and stood on the training ground.

On the other side, after hearing her name called alongside Naruto's, Hyūga Hinata's face turned red as a tomato instantly. She stood frozen for a long moment, gathering her courage before hesitantly moving forward.

Forget about sparring—Hinata couldn't even raise her head when standing before Naruto. She resembled a timid quail trying to make herself as small as possible.

Naruto looked at the strange girl in front of him, not understanding what was wrong with her. He formed the Seal of Confrontation, wanting to win quickly so he could eventually fight Uchiha Sasuke.

But after waiting for what seemed like forever, Hinata remained huddled and wouldn't even look at him.

Iruka-sensei was helpless. He understood what was happening, but since Hinata was the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, he couldn't say anything.

Hinata gathered all her courage and was about to raise her head when Naruto suddenly moved closer, trying to see what was wrong with her.

Seeing Naruto so close, Hinata's entire body turned red, as if she had transformed into a steam engine with vapour rising from her head.

"Ah~"

Unable to handle the proximity, Hinata tipped backwards and fainted.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, confused. He hadn't done anything, so why did she collapse? What a strange girl.

"Hahahahaha!"

Shihouin Naraku, standing on a large tree, laughed uncontrollably. Witnessing this scene with his own eyes was so amusing he couldn't help himself.

"Is it really that funny?" Hatake Kakashi asked, looking at Naraku's exaggerated reaction with confusion. Wasn't it obvious the girl had a crush on Naruto? Anyone could see it at a glance. What was so funny about that?

But Kakashi did recognize her. From her appearance, he could tell the girl was from the Hyuga clan.

"She must be from the Main House. Isn't that problematic?"

"Problematic? Not at all!" Shihouin Naraku waved dismissively. Who would dare make trouble?

Hyūga Hinata wouldn't remain the heir to the Hyuga clan later on, so no one would dare mark her forehead with the Caged Bird seal. Her daughter, a Uzumaki, would also awaken the Byakugan, yet no one would place the Caged Bird seal on her either.

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