Shen Uchiha wanted to deny everything, but he couldn't!
Didn't Nawaki get labeled as a bad kid who liked boys last time? And before that, Shen Uchiha got called out for saying Nawaki was lovesick.
Hmm? Thinking about it like this, could the negative effect actually target Nawaki? But Shen Uchiha had no intention of testing it himself—the Little Iceberg clearly wasn't someone reasonable!
"Women are just unreasonable!"
He lived by that ancient wisdom like it was gospel. As for whether someone was masculine or not? Well... try that and you're looking at three years minimum—something Shen Uchiha didn't even want to think about.
"What? Are you afraid of losing to a girl?" Nayou challenged again, watching Shen Uchiha remain silent.
This time, Shen Uchiha—who usually started trouble—had finally been cornered himself. If Nawaki and Chief Uchiha ever found out about this, they'd definitely feel immense gratitude toward "Little Iceberg" Nayou, shouting praises and demanding more.
"Why should not attacking girls mean I'm scared? If everyone challenged me to a duel like you do, what would that make me? I'm not your test subject." Shen Uchiha bluntly saw through Nayou's thoughts.
The Little Iceberg clenched her fists furiously—she now knew brute force wouldn't work. How about playing soft? No way—that wasn't happening. She couldn't understand why this guy had such a silver tongue. Didn't he know how rare it was for a girl to go to such great lengths just to invite him to a duel? Was there no chivalry in him at all?
(Uchiha Shen: Sorry, chivalry doesn't exist in my dictionary.)
"..."
"What's wrong? No words left?" Seeing Nayou speechless, Shen Uchiha pressed further—he decided to properly educate this Little Iceberg.
"I can promise not to challenge you for the next year!" To Shen Uchiha's surprise, Nayou replied like this.
"As if I'd accept your promise!" That's what Shen Uchiha thought, anyway. If he said that aloud, though, things might escalate—and someday he might wake up in a sack courtesy of some beefy Hyuga clan member.
Thinking this, Shen Uchiha grew troubled. Agreeing would bring future problems from the Hyuga clan; refusing would label him a coward—and maybe still end up in a sack. Let's be honest, with how prideful the Hyuga were, whether they won or lost, someone would surely suffer.
"Fine, I agree!"
Shen Uchiha figured although he might stop being 'human,' he could still stay a 'man.' As for troubles from the Hyuga clan? Wouldn't his father just sit back and let it happen?
The Uchiha were known for covering up for their own, no matter what they did. Just look at Sasuke—when Orochimaru targeted him, Itachi made plans on his deathbed. When Sarada was in danger, did Sasuke hesitate? Not one bit. This whole "protecting our own" tradition—surely it didn't start with Fugaku, right?
Nayou nodded and then stood up, turning to face Shen Uchiha with a determined stance. In an instant, the students in the classroom scattered like cockroaches caught in the light, scrambling into corners.
Obviously! Background characters might have sucked at surviving, but they sure knew how to read the room. One wrong move and the director would kill them off instantly.
Still, there were those unafraid of dying, like the ever-reliable Ino–Shika–Cho trio—the classic team-up of genius, workhorse, and beauty—and the ever-invisible Aburame kid who nobody even noticed half the time—they were all front row spectators.
Faced with the charging Little Iceberg, Shen remained calm as he chakra into his legs. Then he raised one finger and beckoned casually toward his opponent.
The Little Iceberg's Byakugan showed heavy caution, allowing her to see clearly the dense web of chakra covering his legs.
"Genius? You certainly deserve that title for being able to inject chakra so evenly into your cells. But I'm not bad either!" Determined to defeat him, Nayou launched her attack against Shen.
"Shua!"
Unfortunately for her, her fist only struck the afterimage created by his rapid movement. Through her Byakugan, she spotted Shen standing behind her with a smile.
"Don't underestimate the Byakugan—I have you completely locked down," Nayou declared before using the momentum from her turn to deliver a powerful kick toward him.
Once again, her attack missed.
"You might be able to see me, but can you actually keep up with my speed?"
Though his words were bold, internally Shen was anything but calm—the Little Iceberg had nearly grazed the hem of his Uchiha coat earlier. He decided to unleash his full speed.
Nayou quickly realized he'd become even faster now. Her Byakugan could still barely track his movements, but her body's reflexes were struggling to keep up.
To the audience below, Shen moved like flickering lightning—constantly vanishing and reappearing—while Nayou kept just narrowly missing him. Only a few individuals in the crowd could barely track these dazzling exchanges, each believing both fighters likely already possessed Chunin-level strength.
"Shen Uchiha, why won't you dodge?!"
Feeling like a puppy on a leash being manipulated by the enemy, Nayou stopped attacking, her chest rising and falling heavily, droplets of sweat tracing from her delicate face onto the classroom floor.
Without uttering a word, Shen quickly injected fire chakra into his right hand before launching a punch straight at Nayou.
"Hong!"
Nayou barely managed to dodge this sudden strike. From her Byakugan, she saw how his chakra surged violently in his right arm as it approached her, igniting the air along the path of his punch. She then noticed everything directly along the linear trajectory of that blow had been impacted by the attack.
The Ino–Shika–Cho and other front row spectators immediately stood up and retreated to the back rows. Expecting an exciting fight earlier, they now felt rather conflicted: Is this really the same species? Staying around these two for five years would definitely ruin one's confidence!
"Huff… huff…"
Still catching her breath from the close call, Nayou's slender figure heaved gently while visible beads of sweat soaked through the back of her pure white kimono—whether due to exhaustion or shock remained unclear.
Slowly retracting his punched arm, Shen said, "I do still count as a man, right?"
"Oh, I see—you're quite the sore loser after all." Nayou seemed to forget everything that'd happened moments ago, her rosy lips curling upward slightly.
"Likewise, Little Iceberg-chan."
A master of wordplay with the wisdom of an ancient lineage, Shen feared no verbal duel. Luckily, his emotional intelligence surpassed that of the hot-headed heir of the Senju; otherwise, he might've simply blurted out something like Nawaki would: "Surrender already—you're outmatched!"
That way, the Konoha Daily would have another big story to report tomorrow.
"Who's 'Little Iceberg'?"
Seeing that Shen didn't attack again, Nayou relaxed and began chatting with him casually—her true purpose was to seize this opportunity to restore her stamina.
"It means you don't smile much—you come off as emotionally distant." Shen, seeing through her intentions, also wanted to properly rest.
Dodging attacks nonstop had been absolutely draining for Shen.
Time passed as they chatted back and forth on stage until eight o'clock. When Nishinodera walked in, he found the two of them half-heartedly chatting on stage.
"Would someone care to explain what exactly happened?" Nishinodera asked, puzzled by the sight of three rows of desks pierced straight through.
"Teacher, we were just exchanging study methods. I just got a bit carried away and broke the desks." With that, Shen turned his back to Nishinodera and flashed a big smile toward the audience. "That's right, isn't it, guys?"
Right! Like any of them could afford to disagree—life wouldn't be peaceful afterward if they did. The students wholeheartedly agreed with Shen's explanation, especially Heiji, who supported it with unwavering conviction.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!