When Asuma saw Seiryū's smile, he immediately became furious and shouted, "You hateful guy. If it weren't for you, why would we be doing these awful problems?"
"In today's practical class, I'm definitely going to beat you black and blue."
It was simply too infuriating.
Doing practice problems really could improve grades, but doing one or two was enough.
Now everyone had a copy, and everyone was back on the same starting line. What advantage was left?
Not only was the advantage gone, they were still being tormented by these awful problems. How could anyone not feel resentful?
Many people were holding grudges, just waiting for the practical class so they could thoroughly beat Seiryū and vent their anger.
Seiryū spread his hands. "Can you blame me? I didn't expect my problem book to be favored by Hokage sama and compiled into a textbook for everyone to study. I'm helpless about it too."
Things had developed somewhat beyond Seiryū's expectations, but the outcome was very good. Very nice.
The Third Hokage had not been stingy at all, purchasing the rights and giving Seiryū a considerable sum of money.
Seiryū could now be considered modestly wealthy. He had more savings than Shinku, enough to open a shop in Konoha.
This brought him one step closer to his dream of opening a barbecue restaurant next to Ichiraku Ramen. It was truly a joyous occasion.
Asuma took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the urge to punch Seiryū on the spot.
Grinding his teeth, he said, "Fine. Just wait for the practical class later. I've been learning combat for a long time. This time, I won't lose to you again."
That was not an exaggeration.
As the Hokage's son, his education was extremely important. He had already begun learning combat before entering the Ninja Academy.
He was confident he could take first place.
[Ding. As the future Soul King who will rule the Three Realms, the Host should remain unmoved in the face of provocation. The Host can face members of the Five Great Noble Families without blinking, let alone members of the mid tier noble Ōmaeda Clan. Please fully display your power in the practical training.]
[New Quest Received: Defeat the provocateur, Ōmaeda Shun.]
[Quest Reward: Shunpo.]
As expected.
Hearing the system prompt, Seiryū's eyes lit up.
Sure enough, the system only triggered quests when there was conflict, and when he was aware of it, or rather, when the system was aware of it.
This was good. He now understood some of the system's rules.
In the future, he could try to stir up a bit more trouble to trigger quests.
Of course, stirring up trouble required moderation. He could not be too high profile.
When necessary, he still needed to hide his strength. After all, there were still a few troublesome people in this village.
Seiryū sighed and said, "I've already said it. I'm not very experienced in practice. Combat is still difficult for me since I haven't been through much of it. Asuma-kun, please go easy on me later and don't embarrass me too badly."
That was actually true.
Seiryū had not really fought many people before.
However, aside from the genius Kakashi, others should not be too overwhelming, right?
Even without using the Monster Strength Fist, Seiryū felt quite confident.
Some people nearby were speechless.
Here he went again, saying he was not good at practice.
Did this guy ever say anything truthful?
That said, this time it sounded more believable. Aside from a few individuals, practical combat was not really something these children were familiar with yet.
Kakashi, who was nearby, glanced at Seiryū and thought to himself, "Father said I already have Genin level strength. I wonder what Seiryū's strength is like."
He had already been surpassed by Seiryū in both the written exam and the practical shuriken throwing class.
Recently, Seiryū had become well known because of his problem book. Even some Chūnin and Jōnin knew there was a genius in the Ninja Academy.
This made Kakashi feel somewhat unconvinced.
Especially since some of the problems in that book could not even be solved by his own father. That made him even more curious about Seiryū.
He wanted to compete with him.
For some reason, he felt he could vaguely understand Guy's feelings.
Might Guy, whose emotions were stirred, felt a surge of passion and gave Kakashi a thumbs up. "Kakashi, let's have a passionate sparring match later too. I haven't slacked off these past few days. I'm even stronger than before."
Kakashi fell silent.
He decided to take back his thought about understanding Guy. They were still quite different.
Rolling his eyes, Kakashi said helplessly, "The practical class isn't about sparring with whoever you want. You have to draw lots."
"Huh? There's a rule like that?" Guy was stunned for a moment, then broke into a wide grin, his white teeth gleaming as he laughed. "Hahaha. I believe we'll meet. Youth will not betray us."
Kakashi replied perfunctorily, "Yes, yes."
Because Obito was late again, the class was delayed by a few minutes.
Led by Oda, the students arrived at the academy's training ground.
Clearing his throat, Oda addressed the class. "Students, today we will demonstrate the results of your basic taijutsu training. Practical combat is something every ninja must experience, and I hope you all take it seriously."
"I won't waste any more time. Let's begin drawing lots. Students whose seat numbers are called, please step forward."
The rules were simple.
First, a round of matches decided by drawing lots. Then, the winners would continue drawing lots until first place was determined.
Written exams, practical classes, combat classes. Every course at the Ninja Academy had rankings.
The Academy trained ninja, and this profession was inherently cruel. If someone did not have sufficient mental resilience, it was better to give up on becoming a ninja and go home to farm.
"Twelve. Twenty."
As Oda called out the seat numbers, two students stepped forward to the center.
Seiryū glanced over and saw that they were unfamiliar faces, so he did not pay much attention.
At Oda's signal, the two students formed the Seal of Confrontation and began their clumsy sparring.
First year students had not learned much ninjutsu yet.
They had only studied basic taijutsu for a little over two weeks, so how strong could they be?
Still, since they had already refined chakra in their bodies, their physical fitness was far superior to that of children from Seiryū's previous life.
As a result, they fought back and forth in a fairly respectable exchange.
After about a minute, a winner was decided. Seat number twelve won.
After the two formed the Seal of Reconciliation, it was time for the next match.
As the lot drawing continued, Oda looked at the next two numbers, showed a faint smile of interest, and announced, "Thirty six and forty one. Please step forward."
Kurenai poked Seiryū in the waist and said excitedly, "Oh, Seiryū, it's your turn."
(To be continued.)