Takayama Koji-sensei showed immediate interest in the tension between the two boys, lifting his chin thoughtfully as he watched the situation develop.
Good timing for some motivation to learn and become stronger, he thought. A little competition between students can be healthy.
Unfortunately, though, Koji-sensei realized, he couldn't allow this fight to continue. If it looked like he was supporting bullying, his reputation and career would be in serious trouble if other teachers or his superiors found out.
"Not today, boys," Koji-sensei said, stepping between the two children. "I'd love to see a proper student match too, but let's wait for another day."
"You all just returned from break, and we still haven't finished our review lessons. Let's save it for later, shall we?" Koji-sensei's firm words put an end to the growing tension between the two boys.
"Yeah, whatever," Inuzuka Seiji said with annoyance, turning away dismissively.
Hikaru could only sigh and think bitterly, Ultra Instinct, my butt. I can't even dodge a kid's punch. He relaxed his clenched fists, knowing that he would have to face Seiji again someday. It would be pointless to show his anger right now.
But he definitely wouldn't forget this punch.
Looking at Hikaru's bleeding nose, Koji-sensei asked while pointing at his own nose, "Do you need medical help with that?"
When he saw Hikaru shake his head slightly, Koji-sensei checked the time and informed everyone, "Alright, everyone, let's move. We still have time for some quick throwing practice."
All the students in the area hurriedly followed Koji-sensei to the weapon training section, where they began the exercise.
There were five target practice stations in the area. Students lined up in rows and waited for Koji-sensei's signal to start showing off their skills.
When it was Hikaru's turn to perform, he did exceptionally well. Maybe it was the earlier incident that caused the change in his performance, but every kunai and shuriken hit the center mark on the targets with amazing precision.
Hikaru clenched his fist with happiness as he saw the result. His progress since his first solo attempt was remarkable.
When it was Inuzuka Seiji's turn, only nine out of ten hits were accurate. Seiji just snickered at the result and said loudly, "He just got lucky."
Koji-sensei remembered everyone's performance at shurikenjutsu. Not many students had done better than last time, except for Hikaru.
"This should be interesting," Koji-sensei muttered to himself, making a mental note to watch Hikaru's development more closely.
As soon as class ended, Hikaru left the training ground, went back to the classroom, grabbed his backpack, and headed home.
This time, Hikaru simply walked back home to clear his mind and deal with his frustration. Getting into a fight with a kid seemed stupid for someone with a grown-up mind like his. However, receiving an undeserved punch to the face was completely unacceptable.
He would return the favor one day, when he had a chance.
As soon as Hikaru stepped into the house, Ayako immediately shouted when she saw his swollen face, "What happened today, Hikaru-kun?"
"It's only your first day back, and you've already gotten into a fight?" Ayako said as she stood up and searched for some medicine to ease the pain.
Hikaru couldn't help but feel embarrassed, scratching his nose and trying to avoid Ayako's eye contact while making up an excuse. "I tripped and fell on my way home."
His sister stared at him with a look of complete disbelief as she heard his explanation.
You think I believe that?
Ayako felt annoyed and said sarcastically, "If you want to lie, why not say someone punched you while you were sleeping?"
Hikaru's mouth twisted as he thought, She got pretty close. I was daydreaming, not sleeping.
"So, what do we have for dinner today to celebrate your birthday, Onee-chan?" Hikaru asked, hoping to change the subject by bringing up her birthday.
His sister would turn seventeen today, while his own birthday was about four months away.
"Don't think you're getting away with this." Her eyebrows came together as Ayako spoke, then she added, "I already prepared everything on the table."
"Go wash your face and come back."
Hikaru swallowed hard when he heard her stern tone, but he followed her instructions quickly.
When Hikaru returned to the kitchen and saw the food on the table, he was amazed. There was so much food that he thought it looked like a buffet. His sister had really outdone herself.
"So, what do you think, Hikaru-kun?" Ayako asked after seeing her brother's wide smile.
"Of course, it's amazing!" Hikaru exclaimed as he sat down at the table and began eating everything he could see.
"Well, at least you're happy," Ayako smiled before shouting and complaining, "Wait, don't start eating without me! It's my birthday!"
After an hour of playful fighting between the siblings over food, Hikaru felt completely full and was the first to get up and stretch his body. "Happy birthday, Onee-chan. The food is delicious as always."
Ayako only gave him a stern look before snorting, "Hmph."
"Tell me first what really happened at school," Ayako said, raising her voice as she stared at Hikaru with furrowed brows. "How did you get into a fight?"
Hikaru pressed his lips together and sighed, "Not exactly a fight. Just a bullying kid in class who caught me off guard."
"Did you deserve it?" Ayako suddenly interrupted. She tilted her head, looking at her brother and saying, "...and why are you trying to sound like you're not a kid yourself?"
"You're all technically the same age."
Hikaru's mouth twisted as he cleaned his plate on the table. Is she on my side or what?
"How is your business doing?" Hikaru asked, hoping to change the subject.
"It's going quite well, especially the yakitori you suggested."
"You should try making the meat pieces smaller and putting vegetables between them to make it look more colorful," Hikaru gave her another suggestion for the yakitori sticks to make them more appealing.
Ayako looked thoughtful for a few moments before nodding slightly at his suggestion. "You seem to have a lot of ideas for food."
Hikaru admitted it with a smile while pounding his chest, saying, "I like eating food, so I think about it a lot."
Seeing his sister smile, Hikaru couldn't help but change the topic and tease, "You're seventeen now, Onee-chan. Is there any boy interested in you that I should know about?"
He quickly dodged the chopstick that Ayako threw at him as he finished his sentence.
Hikaru forced a small laugh and said, "There's no need to throw things. I was just worried about you."
Ayako rolled her eyes as she heard her brother say, "Worried about me, or worried that you won't get to eat good food anymore?"
"Both," Hikaru answered as he ran back to his room. He could still hear his sister complaining even when he closed the door.
"Whew," Hikaru sighed with a smirk on his face, thinking, Now it's time to test the three jutsu I got today.
Before Hikaru started practicing, he rubbed his belly and felt that he had eaten too much. On second thought, I might need to visit the bathroom first.
After finishing his business, Hikaru immediately grabbed the three jutsu scrolls from his backpack and began reading the instructions for performing them.
These three were only E-rank jutsu techniques, so he shouldn't have too much trouble using them. Hikaru then tried to perform the first jutsu hand seals, molding his chakra as instructed and controlling his chakra flow to the best of his ability.
Ram → Snake → Tiger
"Bunshin no Jutsu" (Clone Technique).
A puff of smoke appeared, and two clones came out looking exactly like him. Hikaru was beaming with joy when it succeeded on his first attempt, before beginning to look at the situation more closely.
Seems like I put too much chakra in, so two clones appeared instead of one. Hikaru bit his bottom lip as he walked around the clones, checking them carefully.
After going through a complete inspection, Hikaru finally said, "I now understand why people can easily tell these basic clones apart from the real thing."
The main purpose of the basic clone technique was misdirection. It lacked physical strength and substance. These clones were not solid like other types of cloning techniques. An experienced ninja would see through this clone right away.
Although it was practically useless in real combat, it was helpful practice for a beginner like him. It required very little chakra, and he could study how to mold chakra more efficiently until he could do it with one hand seal or none at all.
Let's try the next one, Hikaru thought, making both clones disappear and beginning to focus as he performed another one of the three jutsu.
Dog → Boar → Ram
"Henge no Jutsu" (Transformation Technique).
He performed this one while imagining himself as Koji-sensei. However, the transformation didn't turn out exactly as he had expected after looking in the mirror.
"Koji-sensei shouldn't look this fat."
"Let's try again."
"Okay, now he's too thin."
"One more time."
"No, no, no... where are the clothes?!"
A drop of sweat appeared on Hikaru's face. Perhaps his chakra control wasn't good enough, or his mental picture was still lacking. Most of the transformations appeared to be unsuccessful—they were either too much or too little of something.
After trying it five more times and still not getting it right, Hikaru stopped for a moment to think, This technique uses more careful chakra control than I thought.
After that, Hikaru decided to move on and practice the last jutsu outside, because there was nothing big enough in his room to use the technique with.
After arriving at the same training ground as before, he searched for a suitable place and began making hand seals to perform the jutsu.
Tiger → Boar → Ox → Dog → Snake
"Kawarimi no Jutsu" (Body Replacement Technique).
A wooden log appeared where Hikaru was standing, accompanied by a puff of smoke.
Not bad for a first try, Hikaru thought as he successfully performed the technique. But it used a lot of chakra.
He couldn't control his chakra efficiently enough yet, and it took too long to use an E-rank technique with all those hand seals. Imagine that in the future, he would have to use forty or fifty hand seals just for one high-ranking jutsu.
It was important for Hikaru to try and reduce the number of hand seals needed for this jutsu for battle purposes and future reference.
Seeing that his chakra reserves still had a little less than half remaining, Hikaru kept practicing the Body Replacement Technique until his chakra was almost completely gone.
As he walked home in the evening, feeling tired but satisfied with his progress, Hikaru noticed that the village streets were quieter than usual. Most people had gone inside for dinner, and the only sounds were the distant voices of families and the soft glow of lights from windows.
I'm getting stronger, he thought as he approached his house. But Seiji won't leave me alone. I need to be ready for whatever he tries next.