"Naruto! You bastard, I'll kill you!!" Sasuke shoved Naruto away with all his strength, gagging violently with his head turned to the side. His whole body radiated killing intent.
Naruto doubled over as well, retching and yelling, "Ugh! My mouth is going to rot!"
"Uh… it's… it's my fault!" the boy in the front row stammered, realizing he had caused the accident.
But soon, a group of furious girls—whose beloved prince Sasuke had just been stolen—surrounded Naruto with murderous intent.
The scene that followed was so brutal that Itsuki couldn't even bring himself to look.
Shaking his head, he found an empty seat far away from the chaos and sat down.
"It… Itsuki-kun!"
A soft, nervous voice came from beside him.
Itsuki turned his head in surprise. In all the commotion with Naruto and Sasuke, he hadn't noticed that he had sat next to Hinata.
Her face was bright red, her hands nervously rubbing at the hem of her clothes—just like when she saw Naruto in the original story.
"Hinata-san, good morning." Itsuki gave her a gentle smile and quickly looked away, not wanting to put pressure on her.
That warm smile left Hinata dazed for a moment, and some of her nerves melted away.
"Let's… do our best together today!" Hinata whispered.
Itsuki smiled and nodded. "You should work hard too."
Hinata's heart skipped. Itsuki-kun is so gentle. I never noticed it before…
Meanwhile, Naruto—the boy who had stolen Sasuke's first kiss in public—was beaten into a pig's head by the furious girls.
Oddly enough, seeing Naruto's punishment made Sasuke's anger ease a little.
"Hmph. Idiot." Sasuke turned toward the window with a snort.
Before long, their homeroom teacher Iruka entered. After giving a few words of encouragement, he began announcing the team divisions.
"…Team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto."
"So cool!" Naruto cheered with both arms raised, while Sakura groaned in disappointment.
"…And Uchiha Sasuke."
"That's great!" Sakura shot her arms into the air, while Naruto instantly deflated.
"Team 8: Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino."
Hinata's eyes dimmed with disappointment. She glanced at Naruto in front of her, then subconsciously turned to look at Itsuki beside her.
"Team 9: Chie Mai, Itsuki, and Ryota."
Itsuki glanced around and quickly identified his teammates.
Chie Mai was the only one with a family name. She looked fairly ordinary compared to the Four Flowers of Konoha—her looks above average at best. But her figure stood out, even at a young age.
Ryota, on the other hand, was timid and forgettable—his presence in class even lower than Itsuki's own.
In terms of ability, Chie Mai's theory scores were average, and her practical ability was below that. Itsuki was middle-of-the-pack overall. Ryota was just barely above the bottom.
Iruka's claim about balancing team strength was clearly nonsense.
"Team 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji!"
Sakura secretly flashed a victory sign at Ino, making her grit her teeth.
Still, after seeing the future video, Ino had no doubts about her teammates. She just couldn't stand Sakura's smug face.
After waiting a while, the jonin instructors arrived one by one to take their teams away.
"I'm Endo Daisho. Team 9—Chie Mai, Itsuki, Ryota—follow me."
A square-faced man in his thirties stood at the classroom door. One glance, and it was clear he was a supporting character.
Chie Mai and Ryota followed eagerly, full of expectations for the future.
Itsuki gave a polite farewell to Hinata, then followed.
These "extras" were destined to be sidelined from the main story.
But Itsuki wasn't worried—he had his Fabrication System. He would carve his own path into the plot.
Now that he had obtained the Sharingan, the next step was to gain another ability. The future video hadn't shown what it was, but Itsuki had already left hints. Surely the System wouldn't send that ability somewhere else, right?
At the training ground, Endo Daisho wasted no time.
"First, let me tell you something." His expression was serious. "Next, you'll undergo a practical test. It's going to be very difficult."
Chie Mai and Ryota exchanged nervous looks.
"Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be recognized as genin," Daisho continued coldly. "The rest will return to the academy for further training."
"In other words, this is an elimination round—with a failure rate of 66.7%. Be prepared."
"If you don't fight me with the intent to kill, you won't stand a chance!"
He set an alarm clock on a nearby rock and sat down cross-legged. "You have thirty minutes to rest and prepare. Then the test begins. The three of you against me."
Ryota's legs trembled. "Are you kidding me? Another test after graduation? Against a jonin? This is hopeless! We're destined to fail!"
Chie Mai stayed calm. "Not necessarily. He said nine will pass. That means there's a chance."
Ryota buried his head in his hands. "None of those nine spots will be ours. I'm at the bottom, you and Itsuki are barely mid-tier. How could we possibly compete?"
Chie Mai's eyes sharpened. "If you give up, we're guaranteed to fail. Are you willing to accept that? At least it's three against one."
"Since we can't avoid the test, we might as well fight. Who knows—we might just pass."
Itsuki glanced at her in surprise, then nodded.
Even without the System, giving up without a fight was cowardice. He'd struggle until the very end.
Ryota reluctantly agreed, forcing himself to stand straighter as they began discussing strategy.
But deep down, Chie Mai sneered.
With our strength, it's impossible. But if we fight well, maybe one of us could squeak by. And I'll make sure that one person… is me.
Her plan was simple: motivate Itsuki and Ryota to carry the fight, then stay hidden until the right moment. When the chance came, she'd strike from the shadows and seize victory for herself.