He turned around to see Hinata standing there timidly, with the Hyuga clan's maid respectfully standing half a step behind her.
"Are you also coming to school?" Menma asked casually, his gaze sweeping over her slightly reddened ear tips.
"Mm..." Hinata lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously intertwining. Just as she was unsure how to respond, a cheerful pitter-patter of footsteps broke the silence.
"Menma!" Ino skipped over like a lively fawn, her golden ponytail bouncing in the sunlight, "We're in the same class!"
Without waiting for a response, she enthusiastically grabbed Menma's wrist, "Come on, we're going to be late!"
Hinata watched the two receding figures in a daze, her small fists unconsciously clenching slightly.
"Big brother, wait for me!" Naruto looked around in a panic, then his eyes lit upSakura was walking towards them.
He immediately straightened his back, waving his arms and shouting, "Sakura! Over here!"
The pink-haired girl flashed a brilliant smile and quickened her pace... then brushed past Naruto and went straight to Sasuke: "Sasuke-kun! Good morning!"
Sasuke's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile as he deliberately walked past Naruto, leaving the golden-haired boy fuming and stomping his feet.
"You bastard, Sasuke!" Naruto threw a few punches at the air.
"Class is about to start," Shikamaru reminded him slowly, while Choji crunched on potato chips beside him.
"Oh no!" Naruto's face paled, and his mother's angry expression flashed in his mind. He rushed into the school gate like a whirlwind, accidentally bumping into two teachers who were chatting.
"Whose child is that?"
"It seems to be Lord Fourth's son... Naruto!"
"Ahaha... Young Master Naruto is certainly full of energy..."
...Inside the principal's office.
The principal wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and solemnly handed a stack of student files to the young teacher in front of him.
"Iruka, this class... I'm counting on you."
The principal's voice trembled slightly, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed the rim of his teacup.
"Please rest assured! I will not fail you!" Iruka straightened his back and took the file bag with both hands.
When he looked up, the principal's seat was already empty, with only half a cup of steaming tea proving someone had been there.
He scratched his head in confusion, "Where's the principal?"
In the corridor, Iruka walked and flipped through the files, the cold sweat on his forehead increasing: "Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino... all from prominent families."
He smiled wryly and shook his head, continuing to look down: "Hinata, the young lady of the Hyuga main family, Sasuke, the second young master of the Uchiha clan, and also..."
His fingers suddenly frozethe smiling golden-haired boy in the file was staring back at him.
"Uzumaki Naruto... Lord Fourth's son..."
When he turned to the last file, he almost dropped the entire stack of documents.
"Uzumaki Menma?! The genius who could defeat a Cloud Village jonin at the age of three? Am I teaching him or is he teaching me?"
Iruka leaned against the wall, suddenly understanding why the principal had run off.
Standing in front of the classroom door, Iruka took three deep breaths before mustering the courage to push it open.
The scene before him instantly turned him to stone
In the back row of the classroom, Sasuke and Naruto were wrestling on a desk;
Sakura was cheering for Sasuke from the side;
Choji's desk was piled high with snack wrappers;
Shikamaru was sprawled on his desk, sound asleep;
Kiba's Akamaru was chasing Shino's bugs wildly in the aisle.
And by the window, the young lady of the Hyuga clan was secretly glancing towards the back rowwhere the legendary genius boy sat, currently drawing strange runes in his textbook out of boredom.
The young lady of the Yamanaka clan, on the other hand, was like a cheerful little bird, chattering incessantly in his ear.
The lesson plan in Iruka's hand fell to the ground with a "thud."
At that moment, he seemed to see his own bleak teaching career stretching out before him.
Iruka took a deep breath and, steeling himself, shouted, "Quiet!"
The noise in the classroom gradually subsidedexcept for Shikamaru, who was still drooling in his nap until Choji nudged him awake with an elbow covered in potato chip crumbs.
Menma sat up slightly, his gaze falling on Iruka's slightly nervous face.
In his memory, this ordinary yet warm teacher, in a predetermined fate, was the first ray of light that illuminated Naruto's darkness.
"I am Iruka Umino, and starting today, I will be your homeroom teacher."
Iruka leaned his hands on the podium, his knuckles slightly white from the effort. He bowed solemnly, "Please take care of me."
"Tch, he looks so weak..." Naruto mumbled under his breath, in his imagination, a teacher should at least have the strength of someone like Kakashi-nii.
"Naruto," Menma called out softly, his voice so faint that only a few people nearby could hear him. Naruto immediately shrunk his neck, becoming as well-behaved as a kitten whose scruff had been grabbed.
Iruka pretended not to notice the small interlude. He scanned the classroom, his gaze finally landing on Naruto: "Well then, let's have this student introduce himself first."
"Me?" Naruto's clear blue eyes widened. After confirming that the teacher was calling him, he immediately flipped onto the podium.
Sunlight streamed through the window, dappling his golden hair. He placed one hand on his hip and pointed to himself with the other, his smile dazzling:
"I am Uzumaki Naruto! The future Sixth Hokage!"
The classroom instantly fell silent for a second, then erupted into chatter.
Shikamaru rested his chin on one hand, an expression of "what a drag" on his face;
Sasuke directly rolled his eyes, muttering, "Naruto, you idiot!"
Menma silently covered his face.
"Why the Sixth Hokage?" Iruka asked, barely suppressing a smile.
"Because the Fifth Hokage will definitely be my big brother!" Naruto pointed at Menma below the podium with righteous indignation, his golden hair shimmering in the sunlight, "He's a super genius!"
Menma's toes unconsciously curled in his shoes, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.
Iruka cleared his throat and quickly called on the next student.
"Woof!" Akamaru barked first. Kiba Inuzuka walked onto the podium with his chest puffed out: "My name is Kiba Inuzuka! I love Akamaru the most, and I hate cats the most!"
He gave Naruto a challenging look, "My goal is to become the Sixth Hokage!"
"I'm going to be the Sixth Hokage! Believe it!" Naruto immediately jumped up from his seat.
A figure wrapped in a trench coat silently rose.
Shino Aburame pushed up his goggles, his voice calm: "Shino Aburame. My hobby is observing insects, and my dream is to create an insect paradise."
No one paid attention; everyone's gaze was focused on Menma.
"This is too much..." Shino Aburame felt ignored again.
He silently walked off the podium.
"My name is Uzumaki Menma," Menma's voice was cool but gentle, "I like Ichiraku Ramen and manga, and I dislike people who don't cherish their comrades."
He paused, then added, "My dream is to protect my family."
[As for cultivating immortality and eternal life...]
He sighed silently in his heart, [I've been scammed by this unreliable system.]
"Alright, let's begin class now."
Iruka breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the legendary genius wasn't as difficult to deal with as he had imagined.
The afternoon sun lazily cast its rays on the classroom desks.
During the break, Menma's figure quietly vanished, reappearing a second later at the top of the Hokage Rock.
He stretched out and lay on the head of his father's stone sculpture, watching a flock of geese slowly fly by, forming the character for "person" in the sky.
[If Mom finds out I skipped school...]
Thinking of Kushina's flowing red hair when she got angry, he couldn't help but shiver. Before the class bell rang, he teleported back to his seat
Mainly because he couldn't stand Ino's incessant chattering. He preferred beautiful women and simply wasn't interested in little girls.
-------------------------------------------
The plans are now available.
Chûnin-Rank Plan: Read 20 chapters in advance + free waifu.
Jônin-Rank Plan: Read 30 chapters in advance + 10 waifu
Hokage-Rank Plan: Read 40 Chapters in advence
Patreon.com/The_Regicide