Chapter 13: New Dungeon – Second Grade of Ninja School
Taijutsu: Lv2 149/150
Early in the morning, during his routine sparring session with Iruka, Tsuruma Nobuyuki suddenly froze.
A second later, a surge of energy coursed through his body.
Taijutsu: Level Up!
Lv3!
In an instant, a flood of information rushed into Nobuyuki's mind as if it had been etched into his very bones.
"First, my agility improved... now my strength?"
He muttered to himself, feeling the change in his movements—his body had become noticeably stronger.
Iruka, noticing his sudden pause, frowned slightly.
"Nobuyuki, what's wrong?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Nobuyuki smiled.
"Nothing, sensei. I just had a sudden realization about Taijutsu."
Iruka gave him a puzzled look, but before he could ask further, Nobuyuki launched his next attack.
"Here I come!"
Iruka instinctively prepared to block, relying on his past experience. But the moment their fists clashed, he felt the difference.
"Damn... his explosive power has increased!"
A sharp pain shot up Iruka's forearm, forcing him to take a step back. Years of combat experience told him his arm was probably already bruised.
Though it wasn't a serious injury, Iruka understood what this meant—Nobuyuki's Taijutsu had reached a level where he could genuinely threaten him in battle.
Up until now, their training sessions had been more like a teacher guiding a student. But from this moment on, it would be real sparring.
"At this rate... he might surpass me sooner than I expected."
Iruka sighed, feeling both proud and frustrated.
Nobuyuki, however, waved off the compliment with a modest smile.
"That's impossible, sensei. You're a Chunin, after all. I still have a long way to go."
Despite his words, both of them knew that talent could shorten that gap much faster than expected.
Iruka sighed again, rubbing his sore arm.
"As a teacher, it's tough having a student who's too talented..."
He shook his head in mock defeat.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Nobuyuki nodded and then pulled out two small paper boxes from his bag, offering them to Iruka.
"Sensei, these are for you. My mushrooms finally finished growing last night, so I brought some as a thank-you for your guidance."
Iruka blinked in surprise.
"You grew these yourself?"
"Yeah, my mom said they're best for tempura."
Iruka scratched his head, a little flustered. He wasn't used to receiving gifts from students. After a moment, he smiled and accepted them.
"Tempura, huh? Sounds like Maitake mushrooms. This is quite a rare treat—thank you, Nobuyuki."
Nobuyuki simply waved it off as nothing. Then, as he turned, his gaze landed on Naruto Uzumaki, who was sitting alone on a tree stump.
Naruto noticed and immediately scowled.
"Oi, what are you staring at, Nobuyuki?!"
Without changing expression, Nobuyuki picked up a slightly smaller paper box.
"This one's for you. Come down and take it."
Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
For as long as he could remember, he had been shunned by his classmates. Most ignored him outright, and Nobuyuki, though not hostile, was no different—he never paid him any attention.
But now, Nobuyuki was offering him something... just like he did for Iruka.
For a moment, Naruto wondered if he was dreaming.
Nobuyuki remained as calm as ever, waiting.
Slowly, a grin spread across Naruto's face.
"Hehe..."
"Well, I don't even like mushrooms that much, but since you're giving them to me, I guess I'll accept them!"
With a dramatic flip, he jumped off the tree and swaggered over, grabbing the box.
After that, Nobuyuki quietly left the training ground.
Later, he handed out more mushroom boxes to Shikamaru and Choji in the classroom before turning to leave again.
Just as he stepped out, Iruka and Naruto entered, still carrying their boxes.
Seeing him leave, Naruto blurted out,
"Oi, Nobuyuki! Class is about to start! Where are you going?!"
Before Nobuyuki could respond, Iruka answered for him.
"Nobuyuki's skills have already surpassed the first-grade curriculum. I applied for him to attend advanced classes, and it was approved yesterday. From now on, he'll be auditing second-grade Ninjutsu classes."
For a moment, the classroom fell silent.
Then—
"Wha—?!" Naruto's jaw nearly hit the floor.
The other students had similar reactions. Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, and Hyuga Hinata all looked stunned.
Even Shikamaru, who usually couldn't care less, lifted his head from the desk and glanced at Nobuyuki.
But the most interesting reaction came from Sasuke Uchiha.
His fists clenched tightly, his teeth gritted in frustration. He tried to act indifferent, but the tension in his posture was obvious.
Nobuyuki swept his gaze over the class, noting their expressions.
A smirk tugged at his lips.
"Heh... after all that grinding, I finally get to show off a little."
Of course, a little flexing was fine, but he wasn't about to overdo it.
With that, he turned and walked toward the second-grade classroom.
The moment he stepped inside, an odd thought popped into his head.
"New Dungeon Unlocked: Ninja School Second Grade."
As if in response to his strange thought, the atmosphere of the entire classroom shifted.
Dozens of unfamiliar second-graders turned their heads to stare at him.
Every single one of them had unreadable expressions.
Nobuyuki took it all in and suddenly grinned.
"A whole class full of eager opponents... This is paradise."